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Indianapolis 500 Speedway Race 1941 |
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Indianapolis 500 year 1941 |
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A Martha's Vineyard Web Site |
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Three Car Crash on the Sixth Lap |
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LOUIS TOMEI NO 53 Car: H3 Special; motor Offenhauser. Age 30 from VanNuys, CA |
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EMIL ANDRES NO 19 Car: Kentucky Tank Special; motor Lencki. Age 30 from Chicago. Drove relief in 1935, in 1936 went out at 467 miles; in 1938 forced out by
accident at 120 miles; in 1939 out at 55 miles with a broken water manifold and last year was flagged down after Shaw had won in the rain. Qualified this year at 122.266 |
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JOE THORNE NO 5 Car: Thorne Special; motor Sparks. Age 26 from New Rochelle, NY, Tucson, Ariz, and Encino, Ca. Came to Indy as a spectator in
1933 after graduation from Rutgers. In 1934 found a job as a mechanic for Lou Moore. Attempted to qualify in 1936 an 37 but failed; ninth in 1938; seventh in 1939 and fifth last year.
Qualified this year at 1121.163. Joe #5 and Emil # 19 went out of the race in the fifth lap when they were wrecked. |
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On the sixth lap, in a closely bunched field, the car driven by Louis Tomei, a front wheel drive machine, tried to pass some other cars and dropped below the
white apron line on the inside of the track. Emil Andres was alongside Tomei's car and Joe Thorne was slightly behind. When Tomei went below the white line his tires cut into the dirt and shot the car
back on the track. The wheels of the Tomei and Andres car locked and forced Andres into the wall. Prior to the race Andres car was in the garage when a fire broke out and his crew had to carry the car
out piece by piece from the blazing building. The crew worked up to race time assembling the car having lost many special tools in the fire. To make matters worse the wrong fuel was put in the tank.
The crew was going to start it anyway but was told it would blow up if they did. AAA officials threatened to start the race without Andres and he countered that if they did he would push the car into
the middle of the track and leave it there. Meanwhile as his crew was siphoning off the wrong fuel and refilling it when the pace lap had started and Andres spent the entire pace lap catching up. After
the wreck and returning to the pit he refused an interview except to say he had been hit from behind. |
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A Martha's Vineyard Web Site by Classic Car Collector. Com |
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