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ITed Chamberlain, Olean Driver, Averts Disaster When Auto Loses WheelWidely Known Racer Navrowly Escapes Death At HorneU Fair Friday—Ryker Special Drop'' Wheel On Turn Traveling Eighty Miles An Hour.Tearing down tho Mraight-of-ttay at an eighty mile clip, Ted Chamberlain, The Sherwood, North First Street, narrowly escaped death Friday when he lost the right front wheel ot his racing car and crashed Into a concrete wall. ,Ted had taken three laps around the half mile HorneU Fan* dirt track to warm up his motor, and had just clipped four-fifths of a second from the track record when he circled the track in thirty-two seconds, when the accident occurred.Ho had completed the turn and had given his Ryker Special the gas to try for an e\en faster round when the front end o! his car suddenly dropped.There was a spray of dust and a grinding. His car swerved abruptly to the right and headed directly toward the concrete wall that was four feet high and eighteen inches thick.The distance was twenty-five feet, Years of driving experience prompted Ted to act oven in lhat short distance. A sharp turn to tho left of the wheel brought the car partially around.Look outf ’m coming! he shouted to the spectators who lined the wall,Simultaneously,’ the loosened wheel cleared the wall, ha rely missed the heads of the spectators and landed In the midway. Then the car hit the wall, 'When he saw that the crash was inevitable, Tod attempted to crouch beneath the wheel to escape Injury but the force of the Imp.ict snapped his head back. A : nit Hurt inches long on tho back of his head resulted.Then the racer tipped up on . end. the lear wheels balanced for an Instant in the air.“That Instant seemed lo mo like twenty minutes with every fraciional part of the time expecting the car to go nn over and pin me underneath,” Ted declared.Rut fortune favored tho drlv-or and the car fell backward to land on nil wheels and roll backward for a foxv feel, ■Ted was removed from the wreckage and rushed to the Beth-csda Hospital, whore an X-ray was taken of his chest, When it was fund that no ribs had been broken, ho was released.Veteran of many races on all kinds of dirt tracks, Ted was accredited hy his follow dr Ivors as possessed of unlimited nerve. Many of them had predicted on various occasions that ono good crash would rob tho demon *Hv-er ot his nerve and make him yellow.That thought seemed to keep running in my mind, Ted e*ld today, l#anlt;! i went back to the track anil drove a borrowed ear in. two more races,■T placer! third In the five mile race and threw a rod At fifteen hulea to the twenty mile race.I guess I must have been, partially out of my mind because I talked almost inccssently at tho hospital and had to he lifted out of the car at the end of the race.*’Ted is in bed at the Sherwood today but expects to be up tomorrow'.'How about driving in the future. he was asked.Well, so long: as it is just a case of bad luck as a defective part in my ear. I elaim that I can drive but if T were to drive off the track and into the fences as some of the drivers do, I would quit the game at once.”“No. I have no intention of quitting: the track. The only thing r am sorry about is that i have no car to drive and I have several weeks of racing booked up ahead of me.”The accident at Horncll was caused by defective bearings although the wheels were thoroughly tested just before the race by Mr. Chamberlain’s mechanic.Three other drivers were injured m the Friday races:In the second event, a five-mile elimination race. Wesley Phalen of Stanley attempted to pass on the inside just as Wilburtou “Doc” La- { roche of Lockport entered tho turn west of the grandstand. The two cars locked wheels, shot off the track through a heavy fence, demolished a car parked in their path and plowed into a house in Kansas avenue. The body was stripped from Laroche’s car. He was unconscious when picked up. Phalen's car described a circle after hitting the house and headed back for the track before coming to a stop Laroche was taken to St. James* Hospital where an examination revealed he had two broken ribs, a broken arm, cuts and bruises, end possible internal injuries. He -was attended by Dr. Milton G. Burch. Pbalen was taken to Belhesda Hospital where it was found he had two broken ribs, a cut on the forehead and another on tho leg. Physicians regard hi3 condition as serious. *In the fourth event, a 20-mllc race, Earl BclHs of Hornell escaped death by a close margin when a tire blew up as he was rounding a turn on the final lap of the race and his machine plowed, into the fence. Beilis was thrown ten feet straight ahead but escaped with nothing more serious than a few cuts.Buys PropertyHenry Kdel, West Henley Slrcel, has |v*rcha-*eri tho property known 'uusher Park,” lo-lt; a tod on the Mooney oil farm. . near Allegany. He will conduel It as a Ailing station ami lunch 1 room * .
Newspaper Details
Olean Times
Olean, New York, US
Sat, Aug 25, 1928
Page 14
Full Page
Clipped by
Anonymous
NY, USA 03 Nov 2020
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