The second event in 1950 was the “Del Monte Trophy,” for
Classes D and E (1500-3000cc). The seven starters included the “Edwards Special
Sports Roadster,” driven by Sterling, of course. Others included four
supercharged MG-TCs. John Edgar entered his supercharged TCs for Bill Pollack
to drive. Bill would go on to win the main events at the next two Pebbles.
John Edgar (1902-1972) was one of those fascinating
characters who populated the fifties-era sports car scene. John, along with Pollack,
was also in the April 1950 Palm Springs. Edgar, the heir to a Ohio
manufacturing company fortune, moved to Los Angeles in 1943 and
enthusiastically joined the Southern California “car and motorcycle craziness.”
His first sports car was a 1947 MG-TC he bought from Roger Barlow’s Los Angeles
dealership (where salesman John Von Neumann sold a TC to Phil Hill).
Unsatisfied with its performance, Edgar took it to Ernie McAfee, who turned it
into a Ferrari-beating hot rod. For the rest of the decade, Edgar became one of
the leading wealthy “sportsmen” who sponsored the very best cars and drivers,
among them Jack McAfee, Carroll Shelby, Richie Ginther, Pete Lovely and Phil
Hill. John’s son, William Edgar, a
prolific motorsport journalist, has preserved his father’s legacy.
Pollack drove the Edgar TC in the Del Monte Trophy race. In
practice John had Bill use Edgar’s brand-new XK120 because he wanted to save
the TC for the race. Pollack’s remembrance of that race was memorialized in American
Sports Car Racing in the 1950s (1998 by Michael Lynch, Will Edgar and Ron
Parravano): “Ernie had that thing ready to orbit the earth. There were some big
Allards and Jaguars ahead of me. When the flag fell, I went up the outside of
the pace and was really hauling butt, going by everybody and got out in front.
But then, all of a sudden, the car just quit.” Edwards won handily followed by
two supercharged TCs.
“The Monterey Unlimited Class Race” was next on the
schedule. The “unlimited” meant that it included all cars over 3,000cc.
Originally, ten cars were entered, but at the last minute, three were
withdrawn. This left three XK120s including those of Phil Hill and Don
Parkinson, two Allards, a “Canon” special and an Auburn-Ford. This last was
interesting in that it was a 1933 model “Breexymobile” Auburn with a 1937
4-liter Ford engine. Among the Allards was Al Moss in his J2. (Moss started and
ran Moss Motors for many years). He was an
also-ran in this event, but the next year, he flipped his Allard at Carrell
Speedway and never raced again until in vintage some 40 years later. In
addition to the Allard, Al had an MG-TC he purchased new and kept for his entire
lifetime. He used to drive it from his home in Arizona to Monterey, race in the
Historics, and drive it home. A very cautious driver, he always finished dead
last.
Al Moss coming out of Turn 4 in his Cadillac-powered Allard
J2 at the November 5, 1950 race at Pebble Beach. Al started and ran Moss Motors
for many years. Moss Motors is an important source of parts for collectors as
well as vintage racers. (Photo: Al Moss Collection)
Michael Graham in his Cad-Allard took the lead and stayed
there. Phil Hill, trying to pass, had to take an escape road on the first lap
and dropped back to fifth. Back on the road, Phil passed one car after another.
At the checker, he was only 10 second behind Graham. During the race, Hill had
cooked his clutch. Don Parkinson came in third half a minute behind Phil.
The fourth and final race of the day was “The Pebble Beach
Cup,” a 25-lap main event. The field was open to the first four finishers of
the previous three races. Not all, however, decided to run. Although he
finished only fifth in the second race, Arnold Stubbs was on the grid in his
MG-TC with a V8-60 engine (the famous 2Jr). Stubbs was one of the very early
Southern Californians who participated with the Cal Club even before that first
Palm Springs. (He was Phil Hill’s navigator in the 1952 Mexican Road Race. They
finished sixth in a Ferrari). Although disqualified after the Cypress Point
event, John Von Neumann entered, so perhaps the SCCA officials had withdrawn
the disqualification by then.
A total of 13 cars and drivers sat on the grid waiting for
Al Torres to make his run up the side, turn, and drop the flag. Stubbs in his
MG took the lead followed by Michael Graham’s Allard and Bill Breeze in his
XK120. But on the second lap, Graham made a pit stop for repairs on his cooling
system. On the sixth lap, Breeze passed Stubbs and took the lead. By the 11th
lap, Phil Hill went ahead and went on to win.
Phil Hill in his modified XK120 Jaguar on his way to winning
the main event at the first Pebble Beach leading Bill Breeze in another Jaguar.
(Photo: Bob Devlin Collection)
During the time I was writing my book, Pebble Beach
Remembered, Phil talked to me about the race. He and his pal, Richie Ginther,
modified the XK120 extensively, having enlarged the 3.4-liter engine to 3.8 as
well as reducing the overall weight of the car. During the third race, because
his clutch had blown, Phil had to shift without it. He and Richie (Phil’s pit
crew) didn’t have time to fix it before the main event. He was supposed to
start in the middle of the pack, but the only way to get going was to
push-start the car. So he started at the tag end. The problem was that when the
flag dropped, the engine wouldn’t start. Finally, after a number of
push-starts, he was off and passing car after car. At about half way, he was in
front. But Richie held out the pit board reading: “Long Lead.” Since Phil
didn’t know he was leading, he assumed Richie meant someone name “Long” was
ahead. So he pushed harder and harder, trying to catch “Long.” When the
checkered flag waved, the engine was starting to overheat and wouldn’t have
made another lap. Phil Hill had just won the first important race of his
career. He went on to become America’s first World Champion. And 1950,
culminating in Pebble Beach, put road racing well on its way to becoming a
major factor in U.S. motorsports.
Race chairman Kjell Qvale presenting the main-event winner's trophy to Phil Hill. (Photo: Qvale Collection)
I would like to thank John Burkhard, Will Edgar, Michael
Lynch and Kjell Qvale for their contributions for this article. If you are
interested in more detailed accounts of the races at Pebble Beach, my book, Pebble
Beach Remembered (2005) is still in print. Call 800-289-3504. Kjell Qvale
is featured in two books written about his life: I Never Look Back (2005)
and Lunches with Mr. Q (2002). Bob Devlin wrote Pebble Beach: A
Matter of Style (1980). You can probable chase down copies of these two on
Amazon as well as American Sports Car Racing in the 1950s.
http://www.sportscardigest.com/history-of-the-pebble-beach-road-races/3/
[Source: Art Evans]
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