Drama Over De Palma Entry

The Indianapolis Motor Speedway management scrambled to scare up a ride for Ralph De Palma in the September 9, 1916 Harvest Classic. De Palma, whose own car was damaged, first was assigned to Peugeot previously driven by Ralph Mulford. But the day before the race he was assigned to a different Peugeot originally planned for Charlie Merz. Ticket sales were slow for the race and attracting a big name like De Palma into the entry list was deemed paramount. The 1916 winner of the Memorial Day Classic, Dario Resta, had already announced he would not appear due to a damaged engine in his Peugeot. De Plama, the defending champion of the 1915 Indianapolis 500 had missed the 1916 race when Speedway management did not budge on his demands for an entry fee. De Palma's appearance was a kind of mending of fences.