Against Death and Time: One Fatal Season in Racing's Glory Years (20 page)

Phil Walters celebrates his 1953
Watkins Glen victory. This brilliant
driver raced midgets and stock cars
under the name "Ted Tappet" in
deference to his high family who
considered professional automobile
racing below his station. Walters was
a decorated WWII glider pilot who,
following the 1955 LeMans race,
was headed to the Ferrari Grand
Prix team. But after witnessing the
carnage of the Levegh accident,
Walters quit racing in his prime
and opened a Volkswagen agency
on Long Island, never to race again.

Sports car racing in the 1950s was elemental at best. Smalley's Garage in downtown Watkins Glen served as the technical inspection station for cars competing in the amateur sports car races. In the foreground is the Italian-built Bandini
of Roger Merrill, Jr., while number 94 (with its top still up, implying that it was to be driven to the races) is the MG TD
of William Bastrup. Under the tent in the right background, a volunteer committee performed the technical inspection,
checking brakes, tires, lights, etc. A Jaguar XK 120 and MGTD can be seen at the left. (William Green Motor Library)

One of the greatest duels in Indianapolis
history unfolds in the opening stages of
the 1955 `500: Bill Vukovich dives below
the white line in turn one to pass Jack
McGrath, nearly driving on the grass
apron. The pair passed and re-passed
each other before. McGrath's engine
failed and Vukovich drove to his death.

French Gendarmes and rescue workers
attempt to treat the survivors following
Pierre Levegh's crash. While his MercedesBenz 300SLR race car never reached the
crowd, its engine and front suspension
assembly scythed through the throng,
initially killing 81 and injuring another
75-100. The final death toll has never
been officially determined, but many
believe it ultimately exceeded 100.

James Dean prepares to leave
a Los Angeles gas station after
filling the tank of his new
Porsche 550 Spyder. He will
then head north for his rendezvous with eternity at
Cholame, California later that
day. Behind him is parked the
Ford station wagon with
Dean's race car trailer. It will be
driven to the race at Salinas by
studio photographer Sanford
Roth and friend Bill Hickman.
It was planned to haul the
Porsche home with this rig.

The shattered wreckage of the
so-called "little Bastard" lies at the
roadside near Cholame, California.
The primary impact was directly
behind the left front wheel, meaning
Dean's body was protected only by a
thin layer of aluminum bodywork.
The fate of this automobile-one of
the most notorious in historyremains unknown to this day.

The skeletal remains of Pierre
Levegh's Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR
smolders atop the earthen barrier
intended to protect the crowd from
the speeding cars at LeMans. The
deaths were caused not by the automobile, but from its engine and
suspension bits that flailed through
the packed crowd. Levegh was thrown
clear of the wreck and died on the
track surface. In the background
are the pits mobbed with curious
onlookers. Race officials made the
decision to continue with the competition so that emergency vehicles
would be able to leave the crash site
unimpeded by the giant crowd
departing the track following an
immediate cancellation.