Gold and Glory Sweepstakes

Gold and Glory Sweepstakes


Inaugural Race - 1924
In 1911, the inaugural Indianapolis 500 mile race was run. This great classic today attracts more than 400,000 spectators, is the biggest single-day sporting event in the world and is known as "The Greatest Spectacle in Racing."

A little known fact is that in 1924 another great racing spectacle was created 7 miles to the NE of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.   It was The Gold and Glory Sweepstakes. This event was the idea of Mr. William Rucker, an African-American, who served as president of the Indianapolis Colored Speedway Racing Association. It was Mr. Rucker who thought of having a national event and induced the promoters of the time to back the idea.
100 mile Spectacle
This race was a hundred-mile event, run on the dirt track at the Indiana State Fairgrounds. The inaugural event took place on August 2, 1924. The event was held annually until 1936. Besides Mr. Rucker, the principals of the event included promoters Harry A. Earl and O.E. Schilling, officials of the C.I.&W. Railway.
Read on as the Black Circulars of the time recorded this historic event:
The first annual Gold and Glory Sweepstakes was scheduled for a 2:30 pm start, but rain and threatening skies pushes the opening laps past 3 pm. The crowd roars as the pilot car enters the pits and the race is on! The #3 Sneider Special, Ben Carter of Indianapolis, takes the initial lead in the 100-mile derby. He leads most of the first half of the race, before a lengthy pit stop knocks him out of contention. On the 88th lap a flat tire causes the #3 Sneider Special to spin in the first turn, jumping the fence, turning turtle, with Carter underneath. He was rushed to the hospital, where it is learned that he is only slightly injured, but badly shaken up.

Pre-race favorites Chicago's Will Jefferies, in his 4-cylinder Frontenac Ford, and Ernest Stevens, in Bill Bottoms Dusenberg experienced cheers and groans as bad luck applied her whip to the plucky pilots. Stevens blows his motor on the 33rd turn and skids toward the outer railing, but regains control and brings it to a stop in the middle of the track. The car is out of commission and pushed off the track. Jefferies moves up to the #3 position by the 9th turn only to be forced to pit with engine trouble. He returns to the track six miles down, but is the fastest car and by the 52nd turn, makes up the distance and is in the lead. On the very next lap, he's in the pits and out of the race with a broken water jacket causing his car to overheat.

John Simmons inherits the lead and paces the race towards its conclusion. Malcolm Hannon runs 2nd during this period one lap down. Simmons performance was the marvel of the stands throughout the long grind, the little yellow job humming around the course with the same steady pace. On the 98th turn Simmons slows and enters the pit, but his crew is not expecting him and wave him on. This allows #10 Malcolm Hannon to make up the distance and take the lead! On the 99th mile Hannon leads Simmons by 4 car lengths. The finish was a thriller as about 50 feet separated the two with Hannon emerging victorious and the crowd in a full roar.

Over 12,000 spectators witnessed the Inaugural Gold and Glory Sweepstakes. It was a huge success and led to an annual classic up until the mid-30's. It spawned other Negro speed Classics throughout the Midwest and various Colored racing clubs and organizations.

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