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Show Backseat I -J Driving 1 By RANK K. BAKM ".J Tslscram I parts KdMar War in Europe hu taken Knighti of the Roaring Road like John R. Cobb and Captain George T. Eyiton out of the cockpit and put them on a bicycle, according to Ted Allen, the Salt Laker who is secretary of the Contest Con-test Board of the American Automobile association. That is tha story ha f eta from Sammy Davis, sports editor of Tha Autocar, in a letter from London saying that all of lug-land's lug-land's racing heroes are being pressed into service in some capacity. Allen, who has been at home with hi pareata hare far a week, reveals that Captain Xyiton has been active in munitions work for several months. In fact, he was a stockholder m several sev-eral munitions plants when he drove his aevea-toa Thunderbolt to a world speed record hare two years ago, and wont to work in a military capacity immediately after returning to Ingtand. Sir Malcolm, who drove his Bluebird ltl.1211 m. p. a. kere In ISSs, kas kaea eaa- neeted with the mhtMry at ka-farmaMea ka-farmaMea far aavaral years. Bald Ralltoa, tha man wke S flawed tha ears far hath Bar Maleaha aad Cebh, Is rsprsssaMae hss gaverameat oa aaane ef Ma aasd-aeariag aasd-aeariag puwihasss have la the t'MSed Blatea, pesaenaakly eis phusa maters. In writing Secretary AHea that "you would be interested In eeelng speed kings like Cobb and Captain Eyston riding bicycles to work these days," Sports Editor avts also says that the aviation service has had a tremendous appeal with the country's men of speed. Some of the racers have had difficulty gaining admiasioa to the service, following spills oa the roaring road. Lord Howe, however, Is a notable exception. This man, who was 53 years old four years ago when he was driving In the Van-derbilt Van-derbilt race at New York City, has already secured a commission In the naval air force. . Naturally, the war with Its gasoline gaso-line rationing that forces theee men to ride bicycles to work will keep them out of the racing game for a time. This prospect led one observer to suggest to Secretary Allen not long ago that the "first caaualty of tha European war was the Bonneville salt flats." Allen Is sot Inclined to be as pessimistic about it, however. In fact, he believes that this moratorium mora-torium on the part of the Britons may be exactly what certain American Amer-ican enthusiasts need to catch up with tha English la this type of racing. "Americans have been at a loss S"i II il 1 aa ass PiSiaaai Stsaak t . Backseat Driving therefore, that we may come up with the motors a driver needs for such a car. That la one of our greatest needs at present." (CealteiM Frees Fratedln Pas I as to where to begin In recent years," ha aald. "They haven't known at what level to build. Cobb's plight In 1938 offers an example ex-ample of what I mean. He Imagined Imag-ined that a 330 m.p.h. car would be fast enough to break the record and his car Justified his plans by doing 350.2 m.p.h. In Its first official offi-cial assault upon tha record. But his mark atood for only 24 hours, made him king for a day only. Captain Eyston had more speed In hi car than wa expected and came back then to boost the mark still higher. Cobb took his car back to England to work out the refinement he needed to recapture recap-ture the record. "Americana at the moment are at aa even greater disadvantage. This measured mlla racing la an entirely new field here la this country. Salt Lake's awn Ab -Jenkins la gradually warklng Seward Se-ward this atratosphera af speed, but It takes more than ana year ta develop from scratch a ear capable af alx miles a minute. "Joel Thome, the lanky California Cali-fornia n, hepea ta make further progress toward this type af racing rac-ing during tha earning year. If hie present plana materialise, ha may bring a ear ta Utah for some tests and cracks at tha hour, twa and three hoar rune. In ether wamU k - n. ft- Imm - -I before trying ta walk if yen can consider these breathtaking pace walking, "There I another rosy outlook to the picture, too. After all, a lot of progress in the development of these high speed motors ha been made through military service. serv-ice. Many of the refinement on the motor the Briton have been using are such product. "England has no time now with the war to carry out such exacting exact-ing experimentation. Their mechanical me-chanical planls are already taxed heavily with the 'run of the mill' type of work for military purposes. As a result, the British are placing heavy order especially In the airplane air-plane field and this affords our engineers and draftsmen excellent opportunity to work out new theories the-ories in motors. It Is possible. |