MAY 31, 1919
GOUX WINS INDY 500
After a 2 year hiatus due to the war, motor racing returned to Indianpolis yesterday and fans witnessed a terrific race from Frenchman Jules Goux. Goux finished nearly a full lap ahead of Eddie Hearne to win the 500 mile race in his third attempt. Goux finished 3rd in both 1913 and 1914.
In the early going it looked like the day would belong to Howdy Wilcox but once again bad luck would strike the Indiana native. Wilcox, who has competed in all six Indy 500's but finished just twice, took the early lead and by lap 52 he was the only one on the lead lap. However, just like in 1915 when he started from the pole, Wilcox ran into engine trouble and was forced to retire on the 63rd lap.
Goux and Ralph DePalma would battle back and forth the next 10 laps before the Frenchman took the lead for good on lap 76. Goux would never been challenged the rest of the way, only relinqueshing the lead momentarily when he pitted on lap 170.
In real life Goux won the 1913 event, becoming the first European to win the Indy 500. He would finish 6th in both 1914 and 1919 as well as in the top 20 in 1920 and 1922. The real life winner of the 1919 Indy 500 was Howdy Wilcox.
Bad luck has really hit Wilcox in my sim replays. 5 times he started in the top 10 and had held the lead in each of those 5 races only to retire early on 4 occassions.
Code:
HOWDY WILCOX CAREER INDY RESULTS
FINISH
YEAR START REAL SIM
1911 19 14 33 clutch
1912 9 9 19 crash
1913 20 6 7 running
1914 3 22 27 pump
1915 1 7 24 engine
1916 6 7 3 running
1919 2 1 24 engine
PREVIOUS WINNERS OF THE INDY 500
YEAR SIM WINNER REAL WINNER
1911 Ray Harroun Ray Harroun
1912 Charles Merz Joe Dawson
1913 Theodore Pillette Jules Goux
1914 Arthur Duray Rene Thomas
1915 Gil Anderson Ralph DePalma
1916 Wilbur D'Alene Dario Resta
1919 Jules Goux Howdy Wilcox
FINAL RESULTS: 1919 Indianapolis 500
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ST FIN LAPS RUNNING or
POS POS CAR DRIVER COMP REASON OUT PIT
------------------------------------------------------------------
22 1 6 Jules Goux 200 Winner 4
8 2 14 Eddie Hearne 200 Running 5
3 3 32 Albert Guyot 199 Flagged 4
10 4 27 Ira Vail 199 Flagged 4
28 5 26 Tom Alley 199 Flagged 5
12 6 7 Louis Chevrolet 199 Flagged 4
27 7 21 Denny Hickey 198 Flagged 4
4 8 4 Ralph DePalma 198 Flagged 4
29 9 23 Elmer Shannon 198 Flagged 4
24 10 12 Kirt Hitke 196 Flagged 4
32 11 37 Andre Boillot 194 Flagged 6
16 12 41 Gaston Chevrolet 190 Flagged 4
25 13 15 Louis LeCocq 188 Flagged 5
31 14 9 Tommy Milton 146 Pump 5
26 15 17 Ora Haibe 145 Lost power 4
7 16 29 Art Klein 128 Crash 1 3
13 17 34 Lou Wagner 121 Stalled 4
33 18 36 J.J. McCoy 109 Vibration 3
9 19 8 Earl Cooper 95 Pump 3
19 20 28 Roscoe Sarles 94 Lost power 4
14 21 39 Joe Boyer 89 Oil leak 4
23 22 22 Wilbur D'Alene 85 Transmission 4
1 23 31 Rene Thomas 77 Joint 3
2 24 3 Howdy Wilcox 62 Blown Engine 2
21 25 48 Ray Howard 58 Vibration 2
30 26 43 Omar Toft 52 Gearbox 2
20 27 1 Cliff Durant 45 Blown Engine 2
15 28 2 Ralph Mulford 36 Stalled 1
11 29 19 Charley Kirkpatrick 34 Transmission 2
18 30 18 Arthur Thurman 24 Valve 1
6 31 33 Paul Bablot 23 Engine failure 1
5 32 10 Eddie O'Donnell 20 Engine failure 1
17 33 5 W.W. Brown 4 Valve 1
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WINNING TIME: 05:14:02
WINNING SPEED: 95.557 mph
MARGIN OF VICTORY: 65.10 sec
YELLOW FLAGS: 8 for 37 laps
JUNE 1, 1919
JOURNEYMAN KANSAS SHOCKS LEONARD
A fellow by the name of Rocky Kansas (20-4-5) is the new World Lightweight Champion after he shocked Benny Leonard in a bout in Philadelphia last month. It was expected to be another easy decision for Leonard, who had never lost in 24 previous fights. Neither fighter tasted the canvas but the judges felt the challenger had done enough to earn a split decision victory.
In real life Kansas, a Buffalo native born Rocco Tozzo, briefly held the title in 1925-26. He twice faced Leonard for the Lightweight crown but was beaten both times.
Also last week, Art Magirl retained his World Welterweight Title with an 11th round knockout of Englishman Johnny Bansham.
JUNE 12, 1919
DEMPSEY DEFENDS HEAVYWEIGHT TITLE BUT LHW SWEENEY LOSES
Jack Dempsey improved to 31-0 with an unanimous decision over challenger Frank Moran (45-8-1) to retain the World Heavyweight Title. However, World Lightheavyweight Champion Bob Sweeney was unsuccessful in his first title defense. Sweeney lost a split decision to Ohio native Fay Keiser (23-3-2).
JUNE 28, 1919
TRAVERS WINS US OPEN
For the second time in his career New Jersey amateur golfer Jerome Travers has won the United States Open. Travers, who also won in 1915, finished 3 strokes ahead of Tommy Armour and Steven Adams to win the event at Brae Burn Country Club near Boston.
An opening round 63 on the par 72 course set the tone for Travers. The 42 year old shot 72 on Friday and ended the day tied with Francis Ouimet for the lead. On Saturday Travers pulled away from the pack with a tournament best 62 and he coasted home shooting 69 on Sunday.
Code:
TOP 10 FINISHERS AT US OPEN
NAME SCORE
Jerry xTravers 266
Tommy xArmour 269
Jayden Trimbole 270
Steven Adams 270
John Miller 271
Francis xOuimet 271
Al Shaw 272
Ewan Bradley 273
Carter Simpson 273
MacDonald xSmith 273
Jock xHutchinson 273
x- indicates real not fictional golfer
In real life Travers won the 1915 US Open as well as US Amateur Championships in 1907,1908,1912 and 1913. After winning the 1915 Open he never entered the event again. Walter Hagen was the real life winner of the 1919 Open at Brae Burn. In this sim Hagen finished tied for 31st at 9 under par.
JULY 16, 1919
DEMPSEY DROPS FORMER CHAMP JOHNSON IN 8TH
Jack Johnson is widely considered the greatest fighter of alltime in this sim world but it was clear this week that his time has passed. Johnson was knocked out in the 8th round by World Heavyweight Champion Jack Dempsey. Dempsey improves to 32-0 with the victory.
Johnson (71-8-1) announced his retirement immediately following the bout. He held the World Title on 3 different occassions (1902-1910, 1911-1912 and 1913-15) and was named Athlete of the Year 4 times. In real life Johnson was heavyweight champ from 1908-1915 and finished with a 79-8-12 record.
Also last week, Mike O'Dowd won a split decision over Johnny Wilson to claim the World Middleweight Title.
AUGUST 10, 1919
HAGEN CAPTURES PGA CHAMPIONSHIP TOURNAMENT
28 year old Walter Hagen picked the right weekend to win his first golf tournament of the season. After finishing second in last week's Eastern Open, Hagen scored a 14 under par 270 en route to victory in the second PGA Championship. It marked the first time in 3 years the Rodman Wanamaker trophy was presented as the event was cancelled each of the last two years due to the Great War. The event was held for the first time in 1916 when Long Jim Barnes claimed the title.
Hagen finished Friday tied with Harry Vardon for the lead at 6 under but pulled away from the pack on Saturday when he shot a 64 at the par 72 Engineers Country Club course. Hagen would finish 3 strokes ahead of Corey McKay with US Open winner Jerry Travers coming in third.
With the cancellation of the British Open this was the final major of the year. (The Masters will not begin play until 1934).
Code:
TOP 10 FINISHERS AT THE PGA CHAMPIONSHIPS
Engineers Country Club, Roslyn Harbor, NY.
NAME SCORE
WALTER xHAGEN 270
Corey McKay 273
Jerry xTravers 274
Long Jim xBarnes 275
Harry xVardon 276
Al xEspinosa 277
Robert Docherty 278
Gabe Williams 279
Charles Sullivan 279
Jorge Gomez 279
OTHER NOTABLES
Francis xOuimet 280
Jock xHutchinson 283
Olin xDutra 284
x- indicates real not fictional golfer
In real life the PGA Championship was a match-play event until 1958. Jim Barnes won in both 1916 and 1919. Walter Hagen won the US Open in 1919 but did not participate in the PGA Championship that year. He would win PGA Championships in 1921,1924,1925,1926 and 1927 to go with 4 British Open and 2 U.S. Open titles.