For the Dingley Family: Part II- Bert Dingley and the Vanderbilt Cup Races
Last Sunday's Part I of the profile of Bert Dingley reviewed his performance in the 1906 American Elimination Trial and the 1906 Vanderbilt Cup Race. Today, the series concludes with photos that were previously sent to the Dingley family of his participation in the 1906 American Elimination Trial and the 1910 Vanderbilt Cup Race:
In the 1906 American Elimination Trial, Dingley was asked by his friend Herb Lytle to be the mechanician for a Pope-Toledo racer. The dynamic duo was featured on the cover of the September 20, 1906 issue of Leslie's Weekly.
The Pope-Toledo's headquarters were based at the Bulls Head Auto & Wagon Shed in Greenvale.
Their #2 Pope-Toledo finished fourth to apparently qualify as one of the five American cars. However, the car was disqualified for being towed to restart during lap 8.
Bert Dingley returned to the Vanderbilt Cup Races in 1910 as the driver of the #22 Pope-Hartford.
Here Dingley (right) posed with his teammate Jack Fleming (left) with a member of the Pope-Hartford team. Note the California flag that was proudly displayed.
Dingley can be seen here taking the Westbury Road from Old Country Road on to Ellison Road. Note the spectators watching from the trees and telephone poles.
At the end of lap 8, the #22 Pope-Hartford was running strong in fifth place among the field of 30 cars in the 22-lap 278 mile race. Note the men in the service "pit". The 1910 pit rules were revised allowing two of the pit crew to assist and driver and mechanician. However, this assistance was limited to the replenishment of water, oil, and fuel and the replacement of tires. These crew members could also crank start the car.
His car finished in tenth place, completing all 22 laps at an average speed of 59.90 mph. Jack Fleming finished in sixth place in the #17 Pope-Hartford.
In 1914 he was seriously injured while driving an Ono at Tacoma and spent months recovering in the hospital. Bert Dingley died at the age of 84 on April 7, 1966 in Indianapolis, Indiana
Links to related posts on VanderbiltCupRaces.com:
For the Dingley Family: Part I- Bert Dingley and the Vanderbilt Cup Races
Comments
Howard,
The ONO was a Fiat S74 fitted with a 4 cylinder Pope Hartford engine (most likely a Portola). It was driven to 10th place in the 1915 Vanderbilt Cup race by Hughie Hughes.
Great stuff, Howard, as always. Bert also raced in the 1912 Indy 500.
Howard, I came across an interesting article that makes some points about Bert Dingley’s career. This is from August 1909 when he was entered as a Chalmers driver in the first races at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. He was in the 1905 James Gordon Bennett Cup and won the Wemme Trophy at the Portland Rose Festival (Oregon) in 1909. He also won the Shettler Trophy at Santa Monica in 1909. It’s all in this very brief article from the August 15, 1909 Indianapolis Star. http://firstsuperspeedway.com/articles/chalmers-ims-facility-detail
Mark, very neat. Thanks for the Dingley information.
Howard