2020 National Sprint Car Hall of Fame Inductee BILL CUMMINGS Collection Bob Mays Photo: Driver by Kevin Triplett and Bob Mays illiam C. ‘Bill” Cummings billed as “the fastest oiled track in Ferner identified as Karl Kizer’s Junior was a hero to Central the world”. “Century Tire Special” 91-cubic inch Indiana racing fans as he By 1929, Cummings was a con- Miller. Wgrew up on Indianapolis’ near west sistent winner as he drove a factory Cummings closed out his rookie side, two miles from Indianapolis supported Frontenac on the Hoosier AAA season in 1930 with a win on Motor Speedway, where he found circuit that included the Linton race the New York State Fairgrounds glory in 1934. Cummings spent his track, Huntington Motor Speedway, “Moody Mile” in Syracuse. With life in the city of Indianapolis, then and George Rogers Clark Speedway two wins to his credit as a rookie, died and was laid to rest there. in Vincennes. Bill began to expand Cummings finished third in the 1930 Bill Cummings the son of a race his travels to tracks in Dayton and AAA championship. With his aggres- car driver, began his racing career Hamilton, Ohio, and as far away as sive driving style, Bill Cummings on motorcycles but switched to St. Paul, Minnesota. He captured the had quickly become an established racing Big Cars during 1926. The 20-mile race for the “National Dirt racing star. following year, Cummings began Track Championship of the United During the winter of 1930-1931, to experience some success as he States” at Louisville, Kentucky, at the Cummings traveled the West Coast raced the ‘Deluxe Taxi’ Frontenac end of September after he was in- circuit and raced on big dangerous Ford Big Car on the dangerous jured in a crash at Roby Speedway in high-speed tracks that included Ba- Hoosier outlaw circuit with such Hammond, Indiana, in early August. kersfield and Legion Ascot Speed- legends as Frank Sweigert, Ira Hall, In 1930, Cummings got his shot at way where his nickname “Wild Bill” Francis Quinn, Bill McCoy, and the big time and in his first race in first came into popular use. Cum- George “Bennie” Benefiel on Hoo- an AAA championship car he start- mings drove for the team of Paul sier tracks such as Sunflower Park - ed from the pole position and won Weirick and Art Sparks and finished located between the towns of Brazil at the one-mile circular Langhorne eighth in the 1931 AAA Pacific Coast and Terre Haute - and Jungle Park, Speedway in Pennsylvania behind Southwest Big Car championship. which was north of Rockville and the wheel of the car that Michael For the 1931 AAA championship 80 | Dirt Monthly | July 2020 season, Cummings drove East coast Cummings strapped in car owner Floyd Smith’s ‘Empire at Legion Ascot in 1933. State Gas Motors Special’ a Mill- er-powered Cooper front drive creation. The car was one of three originally built in 1927 with Buick factory support by Earl Cooper. Cummings started the 1931 Indianapolis 500-mile race from the middle of the front row but retired early with a broken oil line and finished poorly. Over the course of the season, Cummings scored three second-place finishes and one third place to go along with two top-ten finishes to wind up 10th in 1931 AAA points. Cummings returned to the West Coast over the winter to close out his 1931 season. Bill won the 40-lap Thanksgiving Day feature at Legion Ascot Speedway ahead of Bryan Saulpaugh and Chet Gardner, then followed that up with a sec- Collection Bob Mays Photo: ond-place finish behind Saulpaugh season finale at Mines Field but front wheel onto the soft shoulder. in the Legion Ascot 100-lapper on the 600 points earned at the ‘500’ The car veered, plunged through December 20. were enough for Bill Cummings to the wooden guardrail on the bridge Cummings opened 1932 on the be crowned the 1934 AAA National approach near Adina Boulevard and West Coast behind the wheel of one Champion and the right to carry the traveled an estimated 50 feet into the of three new Miller 16 valve DOHC number ‘1’ through the 1935 season. waters of Lick Creek. Miller Big Car. After his win in the ’34 Indy 500, Three men pulled the unconscious Cummings won the coveted pole the best he could do on Indy’s bricks Cummings from the water and saved position for the 1933 Internation- was a third-place finish in 1935. He him from drowning. When he arrived al 500-mile sweepstakes with an scored four top-tens and two poles at Methodist Hospital ten miles average speed of 118.53 MPH for his in nine trips to the Indy 500. away, he was admitted in critical ten-lap run. On Monday night February 6, condition with a concussion. Cum- In the 1934 Indy 500, Cummings 1939, as he drove his passenger mings died on Wednesday morning worked his way through the field automobile along State Route 29, February 8 at age 32, survived by and took the lead on lap 72, and now known as Southeastern Avenue, his widow, Leota, and 10-year-old then battled Mauri Rose for the Cummings dropped the car’s right daughter, Earlene. win the rest of the way. Cummings completed the race one minute and 54 seconds faster than Louis Mey- er’s winning time from the previous year’s 500 to set a new speed record for the 500 miles of 104.863 miles per hour which earned him mem- bership in the Champion Spark Plug 100-MPH club. The four-cylinder Miller marine engine was the first four-cylinder engine to win the 500 since Gaston Chevrolet’s Frontenac in 1920. Cummings’ results for the rest of the 1934 AAA racing season were not spectacular with a pair of top ten finishes despite starting from the pole position at Syracuse and Springfield Illinois. The Boyle Miller engine broke a crankshaft in prac- tice and Cummings missed the Photo: Bob Mays Collection July 2020 | www.ThreeWideMedia.com | 81.