#97 – Jules Goux Pops Champagne on the Way to Victory
Something that has always made
the Indianapolis 500 so special is that uniquely American. From the racing
itself, to the patriotism shown before the race all the way to the end with
traditions that only Americans could think of. But something that also makes it
special is the international flare it always has. But in the first two runnings
of the Indianapolis 500, of the 64 total entries, only six were non-Americans. For
the 1913 event, they matched that number with six European-born drivers coming
over the race. Jack Tower set the fastest speed in qualifying, but the field
was set by a blind draw giving Caleb Bragg the pole position and forcing Tower
to start from twenty-fifth in what was expected to be a wide-open race. While trying
to weave through traffic and get the front, Tower lost control of his car just
past lap fifty and the car flipped over resulting in a broken leg for Tower and
broken ribs for his mechanic Lee Dunning. Shortly thereafter, early leader Bob
Burman’s car burst into flames and put him out of contention. French driver
Jules Goux grabbed the lead and did battle with Bob Evans for most of the
middle part of the race. Now, when you think of drinks at the Indy 500, milk is
clearly what everyone thinks of. But that’s a tradition that didn’t start for a
couple more decades. What about champagne? That may not be what you think of,
but that’s what Goux thought of as something to boost his performance. As the
drivers came down pit road for scheduled pit stops, Goux would drink bottles,
yes, bottles, of champagne. Now, for the number of bottles that he drank, we’re
a bit unsure of. Some people that tell the story say that it was as many as
six. Clearly, whether it was the champagne or something else, something worked
really well, because after Bob Evans’ car failed, Goux was gone. He took an
enormous lead that he would not give up and went on to win the race by more
than thirteen minutes as he became the first non-American winner of the Indianapolis
500. So that’s the story of the winner of the 1913 Indianapolis, but that doesn’t
fully complete the story of this race. Why? Well, back in those wonderful days,
only the top-ten finishers received prize money. Oh, and by the way, the race
wasn’t over when the winner took the checkered flag. The rest of the top-ten
finishers had to complete the 500-miles no matter how many laps/miles they were
behind. And because of that, it led to a wild ending in a tight battle for
second between Charlie Merz and Spencer Wishart. As the two started their final
lap, Merz’s car caught on fire. But do you think that would stop bad ass
Charlie Merz from getting his money? Heck no! Merz kept driving the flaming car
around the track on the final lap. And that’s not all! Merz’s riding mechanic,
Harry Martin, decided he would exit his seat in the car and crawl onto the hood
of this MOVING car and attempt to beat out the flames. The crowd, as you would
imagine, were amazed at what they were seeing before their eyes. Merz coasted
home to finish third and receive the $5,165 prize money. And all I have to say
about this race is this: the winner of this race drank champagne throughout the
whole thing, a driver completed the last lap on fire while his riding mechanic
crawled to the hood of the moving car to preserve the prize money… let’s just
say, it was a different time.
