Frank Lockhart - "The greatest of them all."

Frank Lockhart, the most famous race driver of his time, died eighty years ago today, April 25, 1928, on the sands of Daytona Beach trying to set a new land speed record.  For my dad and his generation, Lockhart was the greatest driver of all time.  Race fans know the story of his victory as a rookie at the Indianapolis 500 and his short but phenomenal reign as the most feared driver on the big car circuit during the Roaring 20's.  Most have seen the photo of the sleek Stutz Black Hawk that  took his life. What most people don't know is Lockhart's Michigan connection and the story of how my father came to admire him so much.  To hear that story, read on. (vintage official Indy photo from the Al Blixt Collection)

Before getting to the Frank Lockhart Michigan connection, a little background on this racing legend is in order since not everyone knows the story eighty years later.

Frank's Early Rise
Frank Lockhart was born on March 5, 1903 in Dayton, Ohio. (Thanks to reader John Bayer who is working on a bio of Frank for the correct date and place.) He moved to Inglewood, California in 1909 with his mother and brother when his father died.  His love affair with speed started early.  At the age of 20, Lockhart started to win regularly at local "outlaw" tracks (those not sanctioned by the AAA Contest Board) including the newly opened Ascot dirt track in his modified Model T Ford. Racing great Peter DePaolo, in his 1935 autobiography, Wall Smacker, described Lockhart's unique talents as both a driver and race car builder: "He was a natural mechanic, an artist with mechanic's tools, so he converted an old Ford into a racing car and joined the "outlaws" and soon proved a consistent winner." His rising reputation soon attracted the attention of Harry Miller, whose cars were battling those built by the Duesenberg brothers for AAA supremacy.  In 1925, Miller put Lockhart in a 3.0 liter Miller dirt racer which Frank drove to victory after victory on the tracks of southern California.

Rookie Indy Winner in 1926
In the spring of 1926, Harry Miller hired Lockhart as a relief driver for his team of factory cars.  He was not scheduled to start but fate intervened.  An independent Miller driver/owner, Pete Kreis, became ill with the flu.  Kreis is reputed to have said, "Put the kid in the car" from his hospital bed.  Lockhart took his chance and never looked back. (Official photo, Indianapolis Motor Speedway, 1927)

Gordon Kirby describes what happened in his article "The Lockhart Legend",

"On race day,he quickly moved up the field, taking the lead before the race was interrupted by rain. After a restart Lockhart battled with Harry Hartz who had finished second n the 500 in 1922 and '23 and would subsequently win the 1926 AAA National Championship. But during the 1926 Indianapolis race Hartz flubbed a pit stop, leaving his ignition turned off.  It was Lockhart's opportunity to run away, and he was leading by two laps when the race was cut short after 400 miles by a second bout of rain. For a quarter century, until Troy Ruttman won the 500 at 22 in 1952, Lockhart was the youngest man to win at Indianapolis."

Lockhart won four more championship car races in 1926, proving the rain-shortened Indy win was no fluke.  He went on to win the 25, 50 and 150 mile races at Charlotte, NC, and the 250 mile race at Altoona, PA. In 1927, Lockhart won the 200-mile race at Altoona, the 25 and 50 mile races at Charlotte, and the 65 and 75 mile races at (Rockingham) Salem, NH, for a total of nine AAA wins in two years.

All of these wins were on the famous high-banked board tracks that flourished briefly in the 1920's. Made of pine boards with banking up to 50 degrees, these tracks drew huge crowds to see racing at fantastic speeds for the time.  Indeed, in May of 1927 on the 1.5 mile Atlantic City board track, Lockhart set a qualifying record of 147.729 mph with his supercharged 1.5 liter Miller.  Thirty-three years would pass until 1960 before another driver would lap an an American superspeedway at a faster speed.

Frank Lockhart A Sensation In Michigan

After his spectacular Indy win at the age of 23, Frank Lockhart was the sensation of American racing.

On Sunday, June 27, 1926, the Detroit Free Press announced that six top Indianapolis drivers would compete against the best of the local chauffeurs in a AAA sanctioned 100 Mile race at the Michigan State Fair Grounds. A crowd of up to 20,000 was expected to see the newcomer Lockhart duel veterans like Ralph DePalma (1915 Indy winner), Ira Vail, Babe Stapp, and Cliff Woodbury as well as local stars like Bruce Miller and Elvin Ross.  The State Fair track, like most fairgrounds, was a one-mile dirt oval originally designed for horse racing, not the high speeds of the Millers and Fronty Fords that would compete at speeds up to 80 mph. This was likely the first event there sanctioned by the AAA Contest Board that controlled all "legitimate" racing at the time.

It is no wonder that 21-year-old Al Blixt, already smitten by racing fever, made it a point to be the fair grounds that day. He kept careful notes in the program showing that Lockhart set a new track record of 44.6 seconds, nearly two seconds faster than the second qualifier, Cliff Woodbury.  When the checkered flag fell, Lockhart had come home the winner followed by Woodbury in 2nd and Lansing driver Elvin Ross in third.  Lockhart collected the $3,000 winner's purse and set off to return to the board tracks of Charlotte, Rockingham and Altoona. (For a complete record of Lockhart's races 1925-1927, go to www.champcarstats.com) Lockhart was making headlines across the country.  His next visit to Detroit was bound to be a sensation.   

Lockhart returned to Detroit on September 11th that year.  Al Blixt was there again to see this exciting new driver.  This time the 100-Mile race was coupled with a match race between Lockhart and the legendary Ralph DePalma. Referred to as "Genial Ralph DePalma", he was described as "the smiling son of Italy, the most colorful of all race drivers that the brick speedways and the dirt has ever known: winner of the Indianapolis 500 in 1915 and near winner four other times - DePalma holds all dirt track records from 1 to 25 miles and the car which he is driving today is the car in which these records were established."  So, it was the brash newcomer against the seasoned veteran in the best two out of three 5-mile match races.  Who would prevail?  Well, we will have to wait to find out because the paper the next day makes no mention of the match race.

Instead, what occupied the Detroit Free Press that day was the fact that Lockhart had won another 100 Mile grind at the Michigan State Fairgrounds. Lockhart's image was in the middle of the front page of the sports section noting that  Leon Duray had finished second. He collected at least $4,000 for the day's work.  If he won the Match Race, which is likely, he took home another grand.

At this point, Lockhart had put his winnings into purchasing his own cars.  He began making changes to the Miller engines and superchargers that improved performance but angered Harry Miller. Clearly, it was more than just driving skill that put Frank Lockhart out in front on race day.  He was a brilliant racing innovator with a passion for speed.  That passion would be the making of his legend and the reason he died.

To all appearances, Lockhart was on his way to his second consecutive victory at Indianapolis 500 in 1927.  Driving his own 91.5 cu. in. Miller-powered creation, Frank had won the pole with a new record speed of 120.100 mph and led the race through lap 110 when a connecting rod came loose relegating him to 18th place.  It was another darkhorse, 27-year-old Purdue dropout George Souders, that came home the winner after starting in 22nd place in a Duesenberg.

So, it was no surprise the following week that it was George Souders on the cover when the champ cars came to Detroit for a 100-Miler on June 5, 1927.  This began a tradition of Indy drivers making Detroit their first stop after the 500 that lasted from 1927 to 1933. (Watch for the full story of the Michigan State Fair Track coming in the future.)

The results, however, were the same. The Detroit Free Press article began,

"Frank Lockhart, youthful Los Angeles driver experienced no trouble with his Miller Special at the State Fair Grounds oval yesterday afternoon and, after taking the lead on the first lap, made every pole a winning one to gain first place in the 100-mile sweepstakes before a record crowd.

"Lockhart's time for the distance was 1 hour, 17 minutes and 38.78 seconds for an average of approximately 78 miles an hour.

"It was really a two-man race with Cliff Woodbury, of Chicago, at the wheel of a Boyle Valve Special trailing the pacemaker over the entire distance.  Neither pilot was forced to stop for repairs or tire changes."

Lockhart raced one more time in Detroit. On October 16, 1927 three races of 50 miles each were held by the AAA Contest Board in what was called the "First Annual National Dirt Track Championship Auto Race".  The best dirt drivers in the nation were there including Lockhart, Babe Stapp, Wilbur Shaw, Cliff Woodbury, Billy Arnold, Louie Schneider, Ralph DePalma, George Souders, Deacon Litz, Ira Vail and Fred Frame.  That list includes quite a number of drivers who would be Indianapolis 500 winners at some point.  Sadly, I haven't been able to locate the results of that race yet.  But win or lose, Frank Lockhart had made an indelible impression on many race fans, including my father.

Lockhart's Date with Destiny

Gordon Kirby picks up the story: "By the autumn of 1927, Lockhart had become entranced with the idea of setting a land speed record and he sold car manufacturer Harry Stutz on the idea of building a LSR (Land Speed Record) special with twin Miller straight-eight powerplants.  In company with a brilliant pair of engineer brothers named John and Zenas Weisel who had assisted him with his Champ cars, he set to work on the project.

With twin superchargers, the 3 liter, V-16 produced more than 550 BHP at 8,300 rpm and tests at both the Curtiss Aircraft and US Army wind tunnels projected that the 2,700 lb car could exceed 280 mph.  Called the Stutz Black Hawk, Lockhart's elegantly streamlined, white  and silver car represented a revolution in size compared to the lumbering behemoths which dominated the record runs of those days in the hands of Englishmen Henry Seagrave and Sir Malcolm Campbell and American Ray Keech.

Lockhart first ran the Black Hawk on the sands of Daytona in adverse weather on February 28, 1928, only to crash into the sea.  He narrowly escaped drowning and was taken to hospital suffering from severed tendons in one hand, shock and bad bruising, but two months later he was back for another try."

Wilbur Shaw, who later would win the Indianapolis 500 three times, was another young driver at Daytona on April 25, 1928.  He had come at the invitation of Frank Lockhart to try to set the four-cylinder world's record over a measured mile at Daytona Beach.  He watched his friend make his final attempt and described the horrific sight in his 1955 autobiography, Gentlemen Start Your Engines:

"Lockhart announced that he planned to run early on the following morning.  I stayed...in the timing stand as Frank averaged better than 203 miles an hour against the wind.  Even under normal conditions, with only a slight breeze, it was possible to add as much as fourteen or fifteen miles an hour while running with the wind and Frank needed to pick up only ten miles an hour on the return trip for a new record of 208.

"We waited as his crew re-iced the engine, which was cooled in this manner instead of by a conventional radiator. We watched his car gather momentum as he finally started back and approached the measured-mile section of the course.

"Half way through the measured mile, a rear tire blew out. The car veered suddenly to the left into soft sand. The body of the car tore loose from the frame and somersaulted, end over end, for almost five hundred yards.  On the third somersault it pitched Frank at least seventy-five yards ahead of where the car, itself, finally stopped.

"I was one of the first to reach him but he was beyond help."
(Two photos above from Shaw's Gentlemen, Start Your Engines.)

So ended one of the most remarkable and intense careers in all of racing history.

Footnote

I watched my father make prints in his darkroom many times as I was growing up. By the age of 12, I was sneaking in on summer days to make prints from some of his wonderful old racing negatives. This image was one of only a few displayed on the wall of that darkroom.  My dad never forgot his early hero, Frank Lockhart.  Until I began researching this story I really didn't understand why. 

Now, I do.

Comments

[Dale]

Harry Miller was my Great Grandfather. I have always been interested in the history behind the Lockhart Death. Always thought it was the Aerodynamics until now

[Juanita Hines]

Frank Lockart was my uncle no LIE, i never got to meet the guy, but i wish him well up there in heaven, as i'm a Earnhart fan GO DALE up there in heaven, but you 2 are gone but never forgotten from me or any of your fans or family.... Frank this is from your great Niece Juanita Lockhart keep those tires rolling up there in heaven God Bless....

[Michael Ferner]

The Oct 16, 1927 race you mentioned ("Dirt Track Championship") was won by Cliff Woodbury on a point basis. He won two of three 50-mile heats, and finished third in the last for 24 points. George Souders was second twice, and won the last heat for 22 points, second overall. Wilbur Shaw and Dutch Baumann finished 3rd and 4th overall, respectively. No info on Lockhart.

[Kevin Allgire]

Thanks for another great story.I have a few message board that I visit and I have posted your website on them so other race fans can visit your site.

[Kevin Triplett]

Another outstanding article, Al. Like your Dad, my father thought that Frank Lockhart was the best driver he ever saw race, and he never go over Lockhart's death.

There has been some controversy through the years as to whether it was a blown tire or aerodynmaics forces beyond contemporary understanding that caused the fatal crash.