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Formula One: Former USGP Steward Smyth confident of Indy success

25 February 2000

Posted By Terry Callahan
Motorsports Editor, The Auto Channel

INDIANAPOLIS-- Bill Smyth never thought he would ever see Formula One cars race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, but now that they will be he gives a "thumbs-up" to the inaugural United States Grand Prix at Indianapolis on Sept. 24.

"I think it will be a success," Smyth said. "In the long run, it will be a great asset to the Speedway."

Who, you may ask, is Bill Smyth?

Well, he was the chief steward of the first USGP held at Sebring, Fla., in 1959 and later the executive director and chief executive officer of the United States Auto Club from September 1969 until spring 1974. He has been involved in auto racing since before World War II.

Though he never sat in a race car with the engine running, his officiating duties have run the gamut from midgets to sophisticated Formula One cars. He now is retired in Pompano Beach, Fla.

"Itll be interesting," Smyth said about the appearance of F1 cars at Indy. "The press will be behind it. A lot of people will be interested in Indianapolis in foreign countries."

Smyth grew up in the small town of Chester, N.Y., which once was the home of harness racings famed Hambletonian event. Bill Lawrence also built race cars there, and Bill Schindler drove them, three times at Indy. Smyth hung around Lawrences garage as a kid and trailed along to the races.

The American Racing Drivers Club (ARDC) was formed in 1939, with Henry Banks as president. Smyth served in the Army in World War II, then became an inspector for the Internal Revenue Service after graduation from St. Bonaventure University. He would attend ARDC midget races and make sure the promoter was paying the 20 percent amusement tax in effect at the time.

This led him to joining the ARDC as its business manager in 1948. Eventually, Jim Lamb, secretary of the AAA Contest Board, asked him to officiate a sports-car race in Albany, Ga.

So when Russian-born Alec Ulmann finally arranged to present a United States Grand Prix F1 race on the runways of an Air Force base in Sebring, Smyth had attained the status of FIA representative in the U.S. So after officiating at the Nassau races in the Bahamas, he was asked to be the chief steward for the introductory F1 race in the U.S. The Automobile Racing Club of Florida, formed after the AAA pulled out of racing in 1955, sanctioned the event.

It was held on Dec. 12, the weather was cold, and the fans didnt warm to the event.

Probably the only known driver to many was Rodger Ward, who had won the Indianapolis 500 the previous May. He participated in a USAC midget, falling out after 21 laps with a faulty clutch. Some of the more prominent international drivers who participated were winner Bruce McLaren, who was 22 and remains today as the youngest F1 victor ever, Jack Brabham, Innes Ireland, Wolfgang von Trips, Phil Hill, Stirling Moss and Graham Hill.

"There was a goof-up in qualifying," Smyth said.

The gaffe went like this. Harry OReilly Schell was a fun-loving American born in Paris. His father was involved in European racing in the 1930s and after his death in a car accident, Schells mother, Lucy, took over the team and brought Rene Dreyfus to the Indianapolis 500 in 1940. Schell accompanied the team and then became a race driver after World War II. He was killed in a crash while practicing in the rain at the Silverstone circuit in England in 1960.

Schell showed up at Sebring with an underpowered Cooper-Climax. He had been practicing about 11 seconds behind the front-runners in qualifying. Suddenly, late in the day his speed jumped to 3:05.2, good enough for the outside of the three-car front row of the starting grid. The Ferrari drivers vigorously protested on race morning when they learned he was elevated to such a lofty position.

"He did cheat," Smyth said.

Schell was running on a virtually empty track and took a right off the S-turns that led right back onto the racing surface. He cut six seconds off his time, pushing Ferraris Tony Brooks into the second row.

Smyth called in Schell for consultation.

"He said if there was a dispute, he would start at the rear," Smyth said. "We said, No, well go with what timing and scoring had."

Schell kept quiet that day but later bragged about his deceit.

In the race, Moss snatched the lead immediately from his front row spot to the left of Brabham and Schell only to fall out with a broken gearbox five laps into the race. The Ferraris of Brooks and von Trips tangled early and were taken out of contention.

The race then appeared to belong to Brabham. But his car ran out of fuel with the finish line in sight up a hill. McLaren slowed briefly, then powered by Brabham to take the checkered flag. Frenchman Maurice Trintignant, in another Cooper-Climax, took second, ninth-tenths of a second back. Brooks, recovering from a two-minute pit stop following the accident with his teammate, completed the podium.

Brabham, meanwhile, pushed his car up the hill and across the line to claim fourth. He was the last driver to receive a championship point for turning the fastest lap in a race.

Smyth left the ARDC in 1952 to begin selling advertising for Chilton Publications. He was moved to Dallas where he became acquainted with Carroll Shelby, who later introduced him to Houstons John Mecom. That led to a job with Mecoms race team, the stint with USAC and then later involvement with Mecoms New Orleans Saints NFL team.

"Then I retired," he said.

Smyth still attends major races around the country. He holds 36 tickets for the Indianapolis 500 and Brickyard 400. He hopes to get the same 36 for the United States Grand Prix.

Text provided by IMS

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