Ralph DePalma Pushes to Finish Line

[Olen McGuire]

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).


http://autoracingmemories.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=153&pictureid=943
Library of Congress


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