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Ralph DePalma
From "Board Track: Guts, Gold & Glory" by Dick Wallen
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1882-1956
Motorsports Hall of Fame Biography
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Indianapolis, 1911. DePalma with his riding mechanic, Charles Bury. They started in the front row (No. 2, below) and finished 6th.
These two photos were submitted to Rumbledrome by Phil Schwarz, Bury's grandson.
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| With just five laps to go, DePalma
was leading the 1912 Indianapolis 500 when his car began leaking
oil. He nursed it toward the finish, but it stopped on the track
with less than a mile remaining. He and riding mechanic Rupert
Jeffkins climbed out and pushed the car that last mile to the
finish line. In the meantime, Joe Dawson passed them to win the
race, and DePalma was disqualified, but he and Jeffkins won a
standing ovation from the Indy crowd, and the newspaper photo
of the gallant effort did as much as anything to glamorize the
race to the American public. From HickockSports.com biographies. |
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Library of Congress
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Ralph DePalma and mechanic Tom Alley in the Mercedes that won 250-mile and 300-mile races at Elgin, Ill, Aug. 30 and 31, 1912.
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Ralph DePalma, winner of the 300-miler at Santa Monica, Calif., Feb. 26, 1914.
There is no date on this photo, but it is either the race on Feb. 26, or the one on Feb. 28, 1914, a 400-miler in which DePalma finished fourth.
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Published in The New York Times, June 13, 1915
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The front row at the start of the 1915 Indianapolis 500. No. 1 was Howard Wilcox in a Stutz, No. 2 was the winner, Ralph DePalma in a Mercedes, and No. 3 was Dario Resta, who finished second in his Peugeot. This "photo" has been heavily enhanced by an artist. The car numbers are exaggerated, the Peugeot is out of proportion for its position on the track, the dust clouds are probably fake.
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At Kalamazoo, Mich., probably 1915.
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Victory at Indianapolis, 1915
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Ralph
DePalma's Record in the Indianapolis 500
Ralph
DePalma's Record in ALL championship races
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From The Literary Digest, July 6, 1918
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In a 1937 interview, DePalma said he never liked board tracks because they required no driving skill. Read the article.
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Indianapolis. DePalma in a Miller, possibly 1925.
A scrapbook entry offered for sale on ebay. Yes, it says Ralph De Palmer.
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Barney Oldfield vs. Ralph DePalma at Brighton Beach. Circa 1914.
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Elgin, Ill., Aug. 20, 1915
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