MY FIRST RIDE

Daywalt Earned 88c First Year He Raced

By JIMMY DAYWALT

My first real racing experience was in 1947.  I went to a sprint race at Logansport which George Tichenour won.  It looked like a lot of un and I heard that it paid well.  I decided right then that racing was for me.

At Logansport I heard that there was a race car for sale in Ft. Wayne.  Bob Brown, who lived in my home town of Wabash, and I decided to buy it.  We did, the next day, for about $?00.  There was only one draw-back.  It was completely dismantled.  It took us a full month to rebuild it.

The first time I drove it - again at Logansport - I had the fourth fastest qualifying time, but it burned out a rod and I couldn't race it.  I drove in 16 races that summer.  I kept track of everything I bought - bolts, paint, etc.  I sold it at the end of the season.  Counting everything I made exactly 88c on the deal.  That was the end of my car ownership.

The fifth time was the charm for me at Indianapolis.  I passed my driver's test in 1949, but didn't make the race.  In '50 I didn't get a ride.  I crashed in practice in '51 and failed to qualify in '52.  But I joined the Sumar team in '53 and placed 6th, winning rookie of the year honors.

I qualified in the middle of the front row in '54 but crashed while I was running second.  Last year I drove the Sumar Streamliner to ninth.  This year I'm back in the Sumar roadster and, like everyone else, hope we win.