Sebring, Florida was a small cow town located in the center
of Florida, many miles from the touristy coastal towns of the state. It was a
center for the cattle ranching industry.
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| Hendrick Field Sebring, FL |
During World War II the government
built a large training airport called Hendrick Field. After the war Alec Ulman
was interested in holding an endurance sports car race in the United States. His
idea was to run an event like the 24 hour Le Mans race in France. He was able to accomplish his dream by converting
the Sebring airport into a race circuit.
In March of 1950 the first Sebring race was held. The rules
were based on a handicap that would even out the different size engines
utilized by the racing sports cars.
Small engine cars could complete a shorter
distance than a large engine car and still win. The formula is based on the
Index of Performance that was used in the 24 hour Le Mans race. However, instead
of a 24 hour race, Sebring would be a six hour duration, in later
years to be increased to 12 hours.
Prior to the start of the race Fritz Koster and Ralph Deshon
had problems with the car they had entered to race. Vic Sharp, who was a
spectator to the event, offered his stock Crosley Hot Shot to the team. Fritz
and Ralph jumped at the chance. They removed the windshield and bumpers, installed a small plastic windscreen, and the preparations were complete.
That Crosley ran the full six hours without missing a beat
and went on to win the race! Two enthusiasts who watched this race were so
impressed by the Crosley’s performance they felt they could enter a Crosley in
the 24 hour race in France and had a good chance to win the Index of
Performance.
George Schrafft wrote a letter to the FIA stating they had a
Crosley they wanted to enter in the Le Mans race, while Phil Stiles wrote a
letter to Powel Crosley stating they had an entry to Le Mans and would Crosley
supply them with a Hot Shot car? To the friends' amazement both letters were
answered in the affirmative!
Crosley provided a Hot Shot chassis, and a very special
engine directly from the research and development department. Pappy Dwyer of Indianapolis,
IN built the actual car. Pappy was an accomplished Indy 500 constructor of
race cars. This special car looked like an early Marmon Indy race car in
miniature.
On completing the car George Schrafft drove out to
Indianapolis in his Aston Martin. Stopping off to borrow Mr. Crosley’s boat
trailer. George and Phil loaded the new race Crosley onto the boat trailer and
headed east to the New York docks so the car could be transported to France.
When they reached the Pennsylvania Turnpike they realized they had never driven
the race car. They pulled over to the side of the road, unloaded the Crosley,
took the license plates off the trailer and wired them onto the race car and
off they went.
Arriving in France George and Phil found out in night
practice that the stock headlights were not sufficient for high speed night
racing. No big problem as the Marchal Company was only too happy to install
their headlights onto the race car. Unfortunately, the small Crosley generator
could not supply enough electricity to run the lights. Once again, Marchal to
the rescue, with a larger generator that was installed.
This last item was to prove a fatal mistake. After racing
for about four hours and leading in both class, and Index of Performance the
generator bearing failed. Phil and George disconnected the generator which also
drives the water pump and proceeded to reenter the race. Ultimately the battery
lost all power and that ended the race for the Crosley.
Phil Stiles wrote of his race experience in an article for
Road and Track magazine, which led to my quest to find this race car.
Next….finding and buying this historic
race car.
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