(orchestral music)
(bright orchestral music)
(pleasant orchestral music)
(percussive orchestral music)
(thrilling orchestral music)
(car whirring)
(man laughing)
- Oh, Billy, you're driving too fast.
- Mom, don't worry.
- Slow down.
(thrilling music)
(tires squealing)
(Billy laughing)
(soft orchestral music)
- The way I figure it,
another thousand dollars
and she'll be ready for Indianapolis.
- I wouldn't give you
another buck and a half.
- But, Reno, this is the
fastest iron in the business.
- How many years have you
been taking this pile of junk
to the race, Red, six, seven?
- Eight.
- And you never even qualified.
- Yeah, but we broke a
steering knuckle last year.
- [Reno] And the year before?
- Hey, Red.
- Huh?
- You think this is enough clearance?
- Well, I'd give it a
couple thousand more.
- Thanks.
- Tell you what I'll do,
Red, I'll buy the garage.
- What do you want with a garage?
You already got the racetrack
and the two best cars.
- But the cars aren't mine.
They belong to my daughter.
- Yeah, I know.
So the other owners can't
score for the association
that you're winnings go to your own purse.
- Hey, Reno.
(Happy laughing)
Did you see me get fouled up yesterday?
(Happy laughing)
- Yeah, that's tough luck, Happy.
- Man, man, I was way out on the road
when this little old engine soured out.
(Happy laughing)
Hey, Red, take a look
at one of those plugs.
(Happy chuckling)
- Well, it looks like
your mixture is too lean.
- Yeah, that's what I figured.
- I'll make you a deal, Reno.
- Yeah.
- Another thousand now
and I'll take care of
your cars for a year.
- Not a chance.
- Okay.
Then you better find
yourself another mechanic
for Number One.
- Hey, wait a minute.
You don't want to throw good money away.
- I'll take care of Lagel's car instead.
- Hey, you can't do that to me.
I got a mortgage on this place.
- You know what you can
do with it, don't you?
(tires squealing)
(upbeat music)
- Out of the way, Mack.
Hi.
- Yeah?
- Which one of you guys is Red Stanley?
- Right there.
- Over there?
- [Red] Uh-huh?
- Can you use a first-rate
mechanic around here?
- Like who?
- Like me.
- Oh, you're good, are you?
- Well, I hate to brag, but
I'm about the best there is.
- Maybe you better hire this
kid to take my place, Reno.
- Maybe I better let you
have that thousand dollars.
- And now you're talking.
Sorry about the job, kid.
I need another mechanic like
I need a hole in my gas tank.
(wistful orchestral music)
- How do you like that?
A picture of my father.
Must've been taken a long time ago.
- Hey.
What's your name?
- Coy, Billy Coy.
- Cannonball Coy's kid.
- Yeah, that's right.
That's my father.
- I was with him at Indianapolis.
- I know, that's why I
came down here to see you.
- Well, maybe you know
I was sitting next to
him when it happened.
- Yeah, that was back in the days
when they used to carry a mechanic, huh?
- Uh-huh.
We were right on the north turn.
Less than a lap to go.
- I know.
Well, he sure was a great
driver though, wasn't he?
- Uh-huh.
- I hope someday I can
be just half as good.
- You'd have to be good, kid.
- Oh, I know that.
- What happened to her?
I mean, where is she?
- What happened to who?
- Mary.
I mean, your mother.
- Oh, she's here.
She's with me.
- Are you in town?
- Yeah, we got here this morning.
- Oh.
Hey, I can find you
some kind of a job, kid.
- Well, that's great of you, Red.
- I haven't seen her for 17 years.
(whimsical music)
I'll bet she's still a fine-looking woman.
- Oh yeah, she's fine.
- Uh-huh.
Well, how's she feeling?
- Good.
Say listen, Red, when can I start to work?
- Oh, anytime now.
Right away, get yourself some overalls.
Hey, kid, take that back to your mother.
- Oh, would you like to see her sometime?
- Huh?
Yeah.
I sure would, now that you mention it.
- Well, why don't you come over tonight?
- Yeah, why don't I?
- I don't know.
Why don't you?
(Reno laughing)
- And what I said to you goes.
- All right, Romeo.
I'll send you a check in the morning.
(Reno laughing)
(hammers banging)
- Say, Mack, where can I find a pair of...
You're a girl, aren't you?
- Yeah, and take it easy on the curves.
- Well look, all I want to do is find out
where I can get a pair of overalls.
- Well, there's a locker
over by the washroom.
You might find some there.
- Well, I wouldn't have...
If I had known you were a
girl, I wouldn't have...
You know.
(Billy laughing)
- Ha, ha, ha.
Why don't you stop laughing yourself out
and help me put this wheel on?
- What wheel?
- What do you think this is, tin?
- Oh, oh.
Sure.
Take it easy around the curves.
(Billy chuckling)
(Red whistling)
- Hey, Billy, lock this
door when you leave.
- Yeah, I'll do that old thing, Red.
- See you tonight.
- Goodnight, baby.
(Happy laughing)
Goodnight, Bill.
(soft orchestral music)
- Hey, knot-head, what
are you doing to my car?
- Nothing, I-
- Well, get out of it and stay out.
- My, it's nice to see you again.
Come on in.
You haven't changed a bit.
I'll take your hat.
I said hat.
- Oh.
I just thought I'd bring...
I mean, you used to like peppermints.
- Oh, oh, Arthur.
- Chocolate-covered.
- You remembered.
Have one?
- Huh?
Oh.
- Don't be so frightened, Arthur.
I'm not a young girl anymore.
I'm a worn-out, middle-aged woman.
- You still look good to me, Mary.
- I'll put your hat away.
- Oh yeah, sure.
- Sit down.
- Thanks.
- Have some candy.
- Hiya, Mom.
I got news for you.
I'm a working man.
- Oh, Billy, really?
- Sure.
All I had to do was
mention Cannonball's name
and Red gave me a job just like that.
- Oh, Billy, that's wonderful.
- I guess I'm just
a lucky guy.
Not everybody had a
father like him, huh, Mom?
- I guess not, dear.
- Oh, Mrs. Coy.
Mrs. Coy, what is this
between you and fellow Red?
(whimsical music)
- Why, Billy-
- Oh, don't give me
that surprised routine.
You should've seen the look on his kisser
when he was talking about you.
Oh, what a schmo.
Haven't seen her in 17 years.
Still a good-looking woman, huh?
I'll bet he thought you were
the belle of the ball, huh?
- Oh, Billy-
- May I have the next waltz?
(Billy humming)
- Billy-
- And then,
along came Cannonball, bashful shmo,
and the rest of these guys
had to jump right out of the window
because Cannonball was a champion.
Still a champion.
- Billy, but-
- But nothing.
Look, he'll be here any minute now.
And I'll bet he'll have a
box of chocolates in one arm
and his hat in the other,
and I'll bet he won't know
which is which.
- Billy, we have company.
- Oh, hiya.
(Billy humming)
(whimsical music)
Hiya, Red.
- Hi.
Don't be formal, just call me Schmo.
- Well, I knew you were
there all the time.
Didn't I, Mom?
I knew he was there?
- I don't think so, dear.
- How do you like that?
Can't even trust your own mother.
- I think you ought to apologize.
- That's all right, Mary.
- I insist.
You apologize to Schmo.
(Billy laughing)
- Excuse me, will you, Red?
- Sure.
- Forgiven?
- Right.
- Can I have one of your candies?
- Uh-huh.
- Mm, peppermint.
Say, who's this guy, what's this guy,
Vic something or other,
what's he got to do
with driving those Number One cars?
- Vic Sullivan?
- Yeah.
- Well, he drives 'em.
- Is he any good?
- High point man in the midgets this year.
- Way till I get a hold of
one of those little jobs.
I'll drive his ears off.
Say, you don't know a guy with a hot iron
that needs a good chauffeur, do you?
- Did you ever do any racing?
- Did you ever see that
little job of mine?
- [Red] Yeah, I noticed you had one.
- Well, I beat everything up in Idaho.
- Did you ever drive it
on a regular racetrack?
- Regular racetrack, not exactly.
- Well, that's a little different.
- How could it be a little different?
If I never get the chance-
- Suppose we change the subject.
- I'm never gonna change the subject, Mom.
Maybe you like working in the cannery,
but I don't like to see you do it.
I don't like to see you wear
the same dress for five years.
If I wanted to stay poor,
I would've stayed in Idaho.
I want to make dough, real dough.
Not the kind you get from
working in a grocery store.
- Look, kid.
There's only a few chauffeurs
making any money in this racket.
And there's hundreds of
kids already sh**ting
for the eight or 10 jobs
that really pay off.
- Red, I don't care if
there are a thousand.
They get in front of me and
I'll drive right over 'em.
- Billy, put a shirt on.
- Now wait a minute.
- At once.
- Don't hit me, will you please, Mom?
Please, I'm-
(towel snapping)
Ow.
- Don't speak to your mother that way.
- Take it easy will you,
Red, going around the curves?
(Red chuckling)
(fanfare music)
- Ladies and gentlemen, this is Jack Colin
welcoming you to Carrell Speedway
and the mighty hot rods of
America here this evening.
And you're going to see
plenty of grand activity.
We might mention at the
present time the cars
are preparing to go
into their time trials.
Each car is given three laps
in order to obtain its best time.
- Well, Red, you made this
into a real racing buggy, huh?
- Uh-huh.
Now look.
If you turn over, scrunch
down and pull your head in.
- Don't worry about me,
but thanks for the advice.
Oh, driving one of these
hot rods is kids' stuff.
I'll win myself a couple or three races
and wait and see one of
those guys will be asking me
to drive one of those big cars.
- Oh yeah?
- Yeah.
- Okay, Coy, on the track.
- All right, let's go.
- [Jack] Billy Coy.
The road has cleared out for Billy Coy
and he's coming out onto
the track right now.
You can see him.
Billy Coy moving onto the speedway.
Yes, sirree, for three laps to qualify now
for the fast speed race.
This round is part of the final.
With the green flag.
(car thrumming)
(thrilling music)
Here comes, Billy, now.
And he raises his hand-
(car thrumming)
(car booming)
(car revving)
(car whirring)
(tires squealing)
(thrilling music)
(car thrumming)
(car whirring)
(tires squealing)
(car revving)
And he's moving forward down the red line.
There he is, ladies and gentlemen.
(car whirring)
(tires squealing)
(thrilling music)
(soft orchestral music)
That's all for Billy Coy,
ladies and gentlemen.
Being moved into the pits now.
And they'll make last-minute
adjustments on that car
prior to the fast speed race
that will be this evening.
- Nice going, kid.
- Pretty good, huh, Red?
- You better go a little
higher on that north turn.
- I'll think about it.
Check the plugs, Red.
(soft orchestral music)
- Big wheel.
- He's just like his old man.
- Hiya.
- Hiya.
- Hi, Billy.
- One dog, please.
- One dog?
- Hey, you're really flying out there.
- What do you want on an empty track?
- What do you want out there, hurdles?
- $1.80.
- I'll bet I know what you feel
about the track being empty.
- She's a sharpy.
- [Happy] Oh, sharp as
scissors and twice as snippy.
(Happy laughing)
- Is he nuts?
- [Happy] Sure, I'm a
race driver, ain't I?
- That's very funny.
- You mean that you can drive faster
when there are cars out there.
- Your attention, ladies and gentlemen.
- That's right.
- Your attention please.
- Here.
- Oh, oh, thanks.
- Qualifying for the fast
speed race this evening
for six laps, Number 31, Peters McGonagal.
Car Number 23 driven by Billy Coy.
Car Number 48-
- Give me a gander,
I'm gonna drive right over 'em.
(racer laughing)
(announcer shouting)
(cars revving)
(tires squealing)
(cars crashing)
(tires squealing)
(cars crashing)
- [Announcer] Your attention,
ladies and gentlemen.
The following cars failed to finish.
Number 23, Billy Coy.
Number 62, Johnny-
- I'm sorry you're thrown out, Billy.
- It's just tough luck.
- Of course it was.
What happened?
- What's the difference?
I lost, didn't I?
- Yeah.
Well, I just wanted you to know
I was sorry you didn't win.
- Thanks, buddy.
- That's all right.
- If you want to know,
I took the turn too low.
- Oh.
- Wait until next time.
I'll run those guys right off the track.
- Sure you will.
- I'll have that iron of mine
running just like an Offy if I...
Hey, you gonna be busy Saturday night?
- Huh-uh.
- Will you meet me in front
of Red's at eight o'clock?
- Uh-huh.
- It's a date?
- It's a date.
Oh, eight o'clock?
- Eight o'clock.
- Okay.
- Um.
I'd like to see Mr. Stanley.
- Who?
- Arthur Stanley.
- He don't work here.
- Why, he's the owner of the pla...
- Oh, you mean the boss.
Hey, Red.
- Hello, Mary.
- Could I speak to you a moment, Arthur?
- Sure, come in, come in.
Come in, Mary.
Well, this is a surprise.
- I was just passing, Arthur.
- Sit down.
Sure, anytime.
- I wanted to speak to you about Billy.
You helped him rebuild his hot rod
into a racing car, didn't you?
- Yes, Mary, but-
- And in his very first
race, he had an accident.
He could've been k*lled.
- But look, Mary-
- You're encouraging him, aren't you?
- If he's gonna race anyway,
I don't want him to be k*lled
because some dumb mechanic
forgets to fasten a bolt.
- What is there about racing
that you can't resist?
Why do you want to risk your lives?
Time after time after time.
You or Billy or anybody else.
- Well, I guess it's for the same reason
that men hunt gold and
drill for oil wells.
It's like Billy says.
It's a chance to hit the jackpot.
Look at those cups up there.
And the big one is filled
with hundred dollar bills.
Now if you can win the
500 in Indianapolis,
you can get rich.
Whew.
(Red chuckling)
- Reno, why should I
drive for 30% of the purse
when every other chauffeur
on the track is getting 40?
- And you make more
money than any of them.
- Well, it figures.
I'm the best driver.
- Mm-mm.
I gave you the fastest car.
(buzzer blaring)
Yup?
- [Secretary] Mr. Riley,
your daughter's here.
- Send her in.
Hello, baby.
- Hi, Dad.
Dad, I need some money.
I need a lot of money.
- Well, well, what's on your mind?
You want to buy yourself a hot rod?
- No.
Are you two through talking?
- Don't worry about him.
Go ahead and speak up.
- Well.
I...
Dad, I want to buy a dress.
- A dress, you?
You must be kidding.
- No, I'm not.
I think it's about time I had one.
- Well, baby, if that's
what you want, okay.
How much is a dress gonna cost?
- Well, gee, I'm not exactly-
- 20, $30 maybe.
You could shop around.
There's a lot of sales.
You might even get one for 15 or less.
- Listen, if my girl's gonna get a dress,
she's gonna get a good one.
Here's a hundred bucks.
- Oh thanks, Dad.
Thanks a lot.
(sweet music)
- [Reno] Wait a minute, Lou.
- What's the matter, Dad?
- The hair.
- Thanks, Dad.
- I wish you could be
that generous with me.
- You'd look nice in a dress.
(Minnie humming)
- Well I'll be busted.
- Surprised, Minnie?
- What are you doing with
all that paint on your face
painted up like an Indian?
And what are you doing with that thing on?
- I have a date tonight.
- A date with a boy?
- Sure.
How do you like the things I bought?
- Two dresses?
What are you squandering all
your money on dresses for
when you got a closet full of clothes?
- [Lou] Oh, I haven't got anything at all.
- [Minnie] You haven't got anything?
Why, you got more pretty things in there
than most boys your age.
- What's the matter with you, Minnie?
A girl can't go out
wearing things like that
on a first date.
- And you can just take this thing back
to the burlesque show where you got it.
- Will you please unpack my shoes, Minnie?
(pleasant music)
- My, these sure are pretty, Ms. Lou.
That boyfriend of yours
sure must be something.
- [Lou] He's wonderful.
- He'd have to be to make my
baby wear things like this.
- Zip me up, please.
- Is he tall?
- Not exactly.
- Medium?
- Well, no.
- Well, what does he look like?
- Oh, you'll like him, Minnie.
He's kind of a short Gary Cooper.
He's really very handsome.
He has icy blue eyes and a firm jaw
and high, intelligent forehead,
and he looks like Gary Cooper,
James Mason, and Charles
Boyer all rolled into one.
- Uh-huh.
What does he look like
when you unroll him?
(door knocking)
- How about it, girls?
Minnie, where's my daughter?
- There she is, Mr. Reno.
A combination of Ingrid Crawford
and Bergdorf Goodman all rolled into one.
- Well, stand up, honey.
Let me get a good look at you.
(swelling orchestral music)
- Oh, Daddy.
I can't walk in these things.
- Of course you can walk, darling.
Sure you can walk.
There's nothing to it.
I have been wearing these high
heel cowboy boots for years.
- But I just know I'm going to fall.
- You won't fall, darling.
Now lookie here, listen to me.
There's nothing to it.
All you do is just put your weight forward
on your toes, see?
Lean forward.
Bend your knees slightly.
And when you feel a pain
in the small of your back,
then you're walking comfortably.
See, nothing to it, look.
(Minnie laughing)
Come on, hon, let me see it.
Come on.
That's it.
You made it.
That's my baby.
Now, I've got something special for you.
Look at that.
- Oh, Daddy.
That's for being such a very nice father.
- Thank you, baby.
- Now help me put it on,
because you know what?
- What?
- I have a great big date tonight.
- Well.
- Well, if that don't beat all.
When she was five years old,
she was playing football
and driving a racing car.
And now she's 19 years old
and just learned how to walk.
(Reno laughing)
(car whirring)
(pleasant music)
- Buddy?
- Hi, Billy.
(whimsical music)
- What was the matter?
- It's a rough sidewalk.
- You had a rough trip.
Well, you're all dressed up.
- Oh, it was just a little
thing I had around the house.
Would you like to take the car?
- Well, I wasn't planning on this.
Oh, careful.
I mean, I wasn't planning
on you being all dolled up
or anything.
- Well, a girl can't go out in
jeans all the time, can she?
- No, but with me the way
I'm dressed and you...
I wasn't planning on going
dinner dancing or anything.
- Oh, we don't have to.
Why don't we take a ride?
- A ride?
Look, bud, to tell the truth.
Remember those two special
carburetors that you showed me
the other day?
- The ones I was working on?
- Yeah.
Well, I thought that maybe I'd
get rid of my two old carbs
and put those two specials in tonight
and that's what I thought we'd do.
- Oh, sure.
Sure.
- Well of course, we don't
have to do it tonight.
Or you could show me where
they are and I could...
- Well sure, I'll show you where they are.
- You don't mind?
- Not at all.
- Oh, well that's swell.
Oh.
I mean, if I'd had known
that you were dressed
the way you are, I'd
have gotten dressed too.
We would've done something
what you wanted to do.
(thrilling music)
(cars revving)
- Tighten down the fourth plug.
- I'll figure she's geared just right.
- Hey, Deacon, I hear you're
looking for a chauffeur.
- I was looking for one.
- Well, it looks like you're running
in a little bit of luck,
because I won the main at
Carrell last week, you know?
- Hot rods?
- Oh, why don't you shut your mouth?
- Why don't you stay in
your own league, knot-head?
- Sorry, kid, I signed
Happy Lee this morning.
- Happy Lee?
Oh, well he's a swell driver, Deacon.
You got a good boy.
Thanks anyway.
- So long, knot-head.
- So long, phony.
- [Mechanic] You want a
little rich on the outside?
- Sure.
(Billy sighing)
Hiya, kid.
- Hi, Hap.
Hello, Eddie.
I hear you got yourself a ride.
(Happy chuckling)
- Gonna make little old Four Bits here
run like a buck and a quarter.
(Happy laughing)
- If anybody could do it, you're the guy.
- Hey, I know where you can
get yourself a ride too.
- Yeah, where?
- It's a Hoodoo Wagon.
- A Hoodoo Wagon, what do you mean?
- [Eddie] He means it's a green car.
- Oh.
Oh.
- See, a driver won't touch a green car.
- Yeah, I know.
- Guy drove one in the
big race at Indianapolis.
Got his iron out in front for 490 miles
and less than a minute to go.
You know what he did?
Put it through a wall
and got himself k*lled.
(Happy laughing)
- [Eddie] Haven't you ever
heard about green cars before?
- Yeah, Eddie, I know all about it.
- Oh, this guy was a real
big shot back in those days.
Maybe you remember him.
The name was...
What was his name, Ed?
- His name was-
- Cannonball Coy.
- That's it, Cannonball Coy.
(Happy chuckling)
- If you're interested, he was my father.
(doorbell ringing)
(romantic music)
- Who is it?
- It's Schmo again.
(Mary laughing)
- Oh, Arthur.
This is a nice surprise.
- Well, I thought I'd come
over and listen to the radio,
if you don't mind.
- Well of course I don't mind.
Come on, sit down.
I'll turn it on for you.
- Thanks.
- Any particular station?
- Yeah, turn it onto 980.
- 980.
Nine.
There you are.
- [Radio Announcer] Good
evening, sports fans.
Here we are at the world's
fastest quarter-mile dirt track.
Culver City, home of the Mighty Midgets.
- They're broadcasting the auto races.
- Oh, Arthur, I don't want to hear them.
- Well, you'll want to
hear this one, Mary.
The boy's driving.
- Oh, Arthur.
- George phoned me from the track.
He thought I'd like to listen to it.
- [Announcer] And here they come
in the last qualifying heat.
It's six laps for the six men to try.
On the boards, the track record holder,
Reno Riley's Number One Junior
with Vic Sullivan at the wheel.
And on the outside, it's Billy Coy
in that Green Super 73, the Hoodoo Wagon.
This is Billy Coy's first
time out in the m*dget.
Tonight, he's defying a bit
of racing superstitions.
- Get away from me with that Hoodoo Wagon.
I'll run you into the fence.
- You get in my way and
I'll drive right over you.
(cars whirring)
- [Announcer] Here they
come now, wheel-to-wheel
down to the starting line.
(cars thrumming)
And they're off.
(cars thrumming)
(cars whirring)
They're really pouring it on.
Sullivan and Billy Coy
are fighting for the lead
as they go into the first turn.
Here comes Billy holding the
flow as he takes the turn.
(cars whirring)
(tires squealing)
(cars thrumming)
(wall crashing)
- No!
- Ladies and gentlemen, stay back.
Please remain seated.
Just as soon as we know
the condition of the boy,
we'll let you know.
- Oh, not Billy.
Don't let it be Billy.
(siren wailing)
- [Announcer] The track ambulance
is racing across the field.
And it's Car Number 73,
the Hoodoo Wagon that's crashed out there.
It's Billy Coy in the Hoodoo Wagon.
- Oh god, not again.
- Take it easy.
He'll be all right.
- The yellow flag is up.
That's the caution signal
that drivers are slowing down.
We're still waiting here tensely.
Everybody is tense.
- Oh god, not Billy too.
- [Announcer] The pit crews
are swarming across the track.
They're running toward the wrecked car.
Well now, there's the driver.
He's out of the car and on his feet.
He signals the crowd he's okay.
(crowd cheering)
- Oh, Arthur, he's safe.
He's safe?
- Sure, he's safe.
He's going to have a
charmed life, that kid.
Take it from me.
You just leave it to me.
- Hiya, Billy.
- That was a dirty trick.
- Yeah, yeah.
- You see me run that Hoodoo
car through the fence?
- I sure did.
(fists thudding)
- Get him, Billy.
Slug him.
Give him that jab.
Keep that right hand up.
Bury him.
No, no, the left, the
left, keep the left up.
(fists thudding)
That's it, now you got him.
Oh, ow.
- All right, cut it out, cut it out.
Break it up here, you two, break it up.
Somebody grab him there.
What is it with you two guys?
- You try to run me through the rail again
and I'll k*ll you.
- What's the matter, can't
you take it, knot-head?
- Now stop it, you two, or
I'll have you both fired.
- Crisp, isn't it?
(Happy laughing)
- Anybody need a doctor?
- Yeah, I do.
Smart young man here
decided to put his hand
on a red-hot exhaust pipe.
- Boy, and am I burned up.
Wow.
- How about it, doc?
- Hand like this, he'll be
able to drive in about a week.
- All right, I'll quit for the night,
right after the main event.
- You'll quit right now.
- Oh listen, doc, the
car's already qualified.
- Driver's disqualified by
me, and that's official.
- Well, who am I gonna
get to drive my car?
- Not my worry.
- Well, how about me, Deacon?
- You?
- Sure.
- Not on your neck.
I got 6,000 bucks tied up in old Four Bits
and I'm not gonna let any
green kid take her out
and put her through a fence.
- Oh, he's all right, Deac.
He beat me twice in the hot rod.
- Three times.
(Happy laughing)
- Yeah?
- Yeah.
Oh, give me a chance, will you, Deacon?
And let me show you what I can do.
- All right.
(Happy laughing)
(cars revving)
- [Announcer] And here comes Billy Coy
into the winner's circle.
So let's give him a great big hand.
(crowd applauding)
And here's Dame Dolores Raymond
to present a trophy to the winner.
- Hello, sweetie.
I guess I give this to you.
- Well, where's the
kiss that goes with it?
- Oh, is that part of the deal?
- Sure, kiss him.
Get your picture in the paper.
- Here.
(Billy chuckling)
- Wow.
- Where do I come if I want an encore?
- Well, I'm at the Club Argentina.
Drop over anytime.
- Fine, I'll do it.
- Do that again.
I want to get a closeup.
- I'll pay you to say it.
- Okay.
(crowd whistling)
Oh, I hope you got your money's worth.
- I sure did.
(both laughing)
(fanfare music)
(car revving)
- [Lou] Billy.
Billy.
- Hi, Billy.
- Howdy, Red.
- Well, where have you been all day?
- I guess I should've phoned you.
I quit this morning.
- Oh, you're gonna quit
working for a living, huh?
- A guy's a sucker to
work eight hours a day
for mechanic's wages.
- Say, you got something there.
- I make more winning one race
than I do around here all month.
- Yeah, but you might not
win another in a year.
- You haven't even got a car to drive.
- That's what you think.
You know that new iron that
Deacon Jones is building?
- Six Bits?
- Yeah, well Happy's gonna drive that
and I'm gonna take over number 50.
- Hey look, do me a favor, will you?
Drive the car a few weeks to make sure
before you quit your job.
- Red, suppose you do me a favor
and let me make my own mistakes, huh?
- Sure, go ahead and make 'em.
You got my permission.
- Want a smoke?
- No, thanks.
- You?
- No.
(George chuckling)
- Whew.
- Hi, Billy.
- Hey, hi, bud.
- I hear you're gonna ride Four Bits.
- Yeah, that's right.
- Oh, would you like to
put this on your helmet?
- What is it?
Oh, half a dollar, four bits, I get it.
That's cute.
- Yeah, I thought you might
like to have a luck charm to,
well, to sort of keep you out of danger.
- Thanks.
What you got in the box?
- New hat.
Wanna see it?
- Yeah.
- I got it today.
I just bought it.
How do you like it?
- That's a hat?
Look, I gotta get going.
I'll see you later, huh?
(orchestral music)
(car revving)
(cars revving)
(crowd cheering)
(fanfare music)
(cars revving)
(crowd cheering)
(fanfare music)
(cars revving)
Thank you, honey.
(crowd cheering)
(fanfare music)
(cars revving)
(crowd applauding)
(fanfare music)
(crowd chattering)
♪ There's a place you love ♪
♪ Then I kiss you till you're high ♪
♪ So happy you could cry ♪
(singing in foreign language)
♪ And if you pop the question to me ♪
♪ You drive me insane ♪
(singing in foreign language)
(audience applauding)
(dance music)
(singing in foreign language)
♪ That means you're such
a treat to the eyes ♪
(singing in foreign language)
♪ Look at you, if just for tonight ♪
(singing in foreign language)
♪ You've got a warm and lovable smile ♪
- You got a table for me, please?
- What is your name?
- Alexander Hamilton.
- I'm sorry, I have no Hamilton here.
- Well, I have a Hamilton here.
- Well, Mr. Hamilton.
I have your table right at ringside.
Right this way, please.
♪ I may say no no ♪
♪ If it makes you low ♪
♪ Then I kiss you till you're high ♪
♪ So happy you could cry ♪
(singing in foreign language)
♪ And if you pop the question to me ♪
♪ You drive me insane ♪
(singing in foreign language)
♪ When you want a kiss ♪
♪ I may say no no ♪
♪ If it makes you low ♪
♪ Then I kiss you till you're high ♪
♪ So happy you could cry ♪
(singing in foreign language)
♪ And if you pop the question to me ♪
♪ You drive me insane ♪
(singing in foreign language)
(audience applauding)
Thank you, ladies and gentlemen.
Tonight, we have a special guest with us.
If you want to see somebody drive a car
the way I do and he gets paid for it,
go out to the speedway tomorrow
and watch those m*dget cars.
And here's the daredevil
that you read about
on the sports pages, the fella
that drives them, Billy Coy.
(audience applauding)
Hiya, Speedy.
What are you gonna do
in the race tomorrow?
- Well, I'm gonna do my best.
And if I have to, why,
I'll drive right over 'em.
- Oh, that's wonderful.
That's a tip for all you race fans.
Say, Carlos, have you got
that can of buckshot ready?
- [Carlos] Si, Senorita.
- Well, let's shake it.
(percussive music)
- Well, if it isn't Barney Oldfield.
How's about me buying
you a wee drink, Barney?
The best.
McGregor's Heather Dew.
You don't even have to drink it.
You just take the cork out and inhale out.
- Oh, let me buy you folks a drink.
Waiter.
What will you have?
- Champagne with bubbles in it.
- What?
- And put a shot of gin
in it to make it bounce.
- Yes.
(dance music)
- A couple of more laps
and I'll have it right under control.
- Take it easy, Billy, you're
not driving a hot rod tonight.
(Billy laughing)
(dance music)
(dreamy music)
(tires squealing)
♪ I'm in the crowd, yet I'm all alone ♪
♪ I'm all alone with you ♪
- [Mary] Is that you, Billy?
- Mommy, you waited up for me.
Give me a kiss.
- Oh, Billy.
- Give me a kiss, honey.
- You've had too many kisses already.
- I don't feel well either.
- Oh, Billy, you're drunk.
- Mrs. Coy, I only had a couple.
- There's something I've got to tell you.
- Can it wait till tomorrow, honey?
- It's waited too long already.
(doorbell ringing)
- Oh, let it wait.
- Who can that be at this hour?
Who can that be?
- I don't know, I got friends.
I've got millions of friends.
Santa Claus.
- Well, we finally caught up with you.
You're under arrest.
- Blue Santa Claus.
- Under arrest, what for?
- He went through a 30 mile
zone doing 85 miles an hour.
What do you think you
are, a racing driver?
- Oh, well, could be.
- Come along, son.
We're gonna give you a nice,
long Christmas present.
- Where's your red suit, Santa?
Oh, Mommy, wait a minute.
Wait a minute, Mommy.
Where are they taking me?
(Happy laughing)
- Where's that balloon brain?
That's all I want to know.
- He had a date with Dolores last night.
Maybe he figures she'll
give him the trophy
without racing for it.
- Well, in another 10 minutes,
he won't be able to race.
- Don't think I wanted to bail you out.
- Okay.
- I did it for your mother.
- All right, you told me that before.
- What you did last night
gives a bad name for the whole sport.
- All right.
- If you want to drive fast,
save it for the speedway.
- So you wiped my bail.
Do I have to listen to
you lecture all night?
- And another thing.
I don't think you should drive tonight.
You're in no shape for it.
- Oh, what do you mean?
I'm as steady as a rock.
- Oh.
- Hey.
(car revving)
- Hey, Billy.
- Hi, Hap.
- Where you been?
- In jail, Deacon, in jail.
Come on, let's get this
loony bean out on the track.
I'll see you at the finish line, Red.
Oh come on, come on.
Let's go, Deacon, let's get it on the way.
Come on, mechanical
brain, you want me to win,
I'll be in the race.
Let's go.
(cars revving)
(dramatic music)
- [Announcer] Here come
the Mighty Midgets,
ladies and gentlemen,
into the west turn now.
This is the main event.
The big race of the night.
It'll be for 40 laps.
On the pole in the first
line is Fred Nichols.
On the outside of the first
line is Dorothy Whitehead.
Moving to the second
row on the pole, it's-
(Happy laughing)
- Hey, Billy.
(Happy laughing)
Good luck, kid.
- Same to you, Happy.
- [Announcer] Here, Car
Number 75, we have Happy Lee.
So we're getting ready for a start now.
And as soon as the green flag comes down,
these drivers will be
on their way for 40 laps
in the main event.
He's waving them over.
Here they come, speeding at the final-
(cars revving)
- Come on, Billy.
- Come on, Hap.
- Use those corners.
- Come on, Hap.
(cars revving)
- [Announcer] A team out here tonight
of Billy Coy and Happy Lee.
Happy in that Number 75
and using all his quick wit
for good luck.
Happy Lee now breaks over there
as he goes in between cars coming in
on the west turn again.
And Billy Coy is starting to move now too.
Billy back in fifth place now,
but Happy Lee is starting to move now
as he is progressing rapidly
and is in second position.
(cars revving)
- Come on, Billy, get all of them.
Get in front of the red one too.
(cars revving)
- Hey.
Look at Happy's wheel.
The left rear.
It's wobbling.
- He's gonna lose it.
- Hey, look at his wheel.
- Whose wheel?
- Number 75.
- [Announcer] His rear wheel.
And he might lose that
wheel, is Happy Lee.
And he knows nothing about it whatsoever.
- Tell him to stop.
(cars revving)
(crowd murmuring)
- Your wheel!
- The wheel, the wheel.
- Out.
(cars revving)
- [Announcer] No, Happy
Lee is still unaware
of just exactly what's happening and-
- Your wheel.
- Get away from him, Billy.
Don't get on top of him, Billy.
- [Announcer] The flag will go down.
Here it is, the yellow flag down.
And then each driver
holds their positions.
Each driver raise their hand.
What's the matter with Billy Coy?
What is he trying to do out there?
His friend is in trouble
and Coy is moving.
Coy is disregarding the yellow
flag, ladies and gentlemen.
(cars revving)
(car whooshing)
(cars crashing)
(expl*si*n booming)
(dramatic music)
- Help!
Somebody help me!
Billy or somebody help me!
My legs!
I can't-
- Let go.
Happy.
- Billy!
Somebody help me!
- Billy, you'll get burned.
- Happy.
Let me go.
Happy.
Happy.
(dramatic music)
(somber music)
(Happy laughing)
- [Happy] Hiya, Billy.
- Hello, Hap.
Too bad about Happy Lee.
- Yeah.
- I tried to pull him out.
- Sure.
- He was my best friend.
- Yeah, I know.
- Red, you know that.
Happy was my best friend.
Why doesn't somebody say something?
All right, come on.
Somebody say something.
- You wanna hear it, do you?
Okay, I'll give it to you
straight from the gearbox.
A lot of us here make our
living driving race cars.
Most of us try to stay alive
when we get out on that track.
It's a tough enough racket
without asking for trouble.
So then a punk comes along
who says he's gonna drive right over us.
The only reason we don't
smack him down right away
is because we figure he don't mean it.
We figure he's just
flapping his big mouth.
But you did mean it,
didn't you, knot-head?
A guy got k*lled because you
tried to beat the yellow flag.
You drive right over him, didn't you?
- It was an accident, Vic.
- Not an accident.
Not when you ask for it.
When you ask for it, it's m*rder.
- My own father got k*lled
in an accident that way.
Red, you know that.
My own father got k*lled, didn't he?
- That's the difference
between you and your old man.
When you got drunk last night,
another driver got k*lled.
When Cannonball got drunk,
he only k*lled himself.
- What are you trying to hand me?
- About you being drunk last
night, that's no secret.
You were loaded.
- I was not.
What's this about my father?
- Cannonball?
He was a lush, everybody knows that.
- That's a stinking lie.
- Why don't you stop kidding yourself?
Your old man was a souse and a chaser.
Ask anybody.
Ask Red.
He finally had one dame
and one bottle too many
and he got his neck broken.
- That's a stinking lie.
(fists thudding)
(lockers banging)
(fists thudding)
- Come on, break it up.
- No, let him off.
(fists thudding)
That's enough.
- Oh, let me alone, will you?
Mom.
Mom!
- [Mary] What is it, Billy?
Billy, what is it?
- Mom, what kind of a man was my father?
- What has-
- Never mind about that.
What kind of a man was my father?
Where was my father the
night before his last race?
- I don't know.
He didn't come home.
- Was he drunk?
- Oh, he was in no condition to drive.
Red begged him not to-
- Red rode with him.
- He has to protect him.
- What happened, Mom?
- Well, I was watching
them from the grandstand.
Towards the last, I began
to hope that they'd make it.
That was the worst part
of it, hoping again,
because as soon as I did, he
went straight into the wall.
When I got to him, he was dead.
(somber music)
- Then he was drunk.
- Oh.
He was always irresponsible.
- And he chased after women too?
- I suppose so.
- Oh, Mom, how could he do that to you?
I always thought he was such a great guy.
I always wanted to be just like him.
- Oh don't, Billy.
- Don't cry, Mom.
Don't cry.
Somehow, I'll...
(Mary sobbing)
Don't cry.
- Go ahead and take one of these.
- Thanks, Red.
- Oh, what are you doing here?
- Well, Red, I came back to ask you
if I could have my old job back.
- What for?
- Well, I'd like to drive Number Six, Red.
I'd like to take her out right now
and get used to her, you know?
I'll train for Indianapolis
just like a fighter
would train for a fight.
Red, I want to know that motor,
you know, just like a book.
I want to see what she'll
do in the turns and-
- I'm sorry, kid.
- You mean you can't use me, Red?
- I can't afford you.
- Well, you don't have to pay me anything.
Pay me what you like.
- No dice.
- Thanks anyway.
- Hey, I've just been looking for you.
- Yeah?
- Red's rebuilding Number 50.
- So what?
- Well, it'll take him two or three weeks.
So I'd go out and get myself
another ride if I were you.
- Does that mean I'm
all washed up with you?
- Do you know what you cost me yesterday?
6,000 bucks.
- So what?
You risk your dough, I risk my neck.
It's 60-40.
- Well, you don't need to
risk your neck anymore.
Not on my account.
How about that estimate, Red?
(tools clattering)
- Kinda gave me the
checkered flag around here.
- Yeah.
- They think I tried
to hit him on purpose?
- Uh-huh.
- Well, do they think I liked
putting the wheel through the wall?
- Look, I got work to do.
Go tell your troubles to
somebody else, will you?
m*rder*r.
- Is that you, Billy?
Bill.
Bill.
Bill.
(somber orchestral music)
You're home early.
I thought I'd come up and
see if you had any socks
that need mending.
Here's a pair that could
do with a little attention.
Anything you want to talk about?
I'll take these downstairs.
- Mom?
- Yes, dear?
Yes?
- Nobody wants me anymore.
- Oh, Billy.
Oh.
I wouldn't say that, dear.
- I asked every owner over at the track.
They were all after me last month.
Now nobody wants me.
- Why don't you give it up, dear?
Everybody has to stop
racing sooner or later.
Maybe this is the time for you to quit.
- I can't quit, Mom.
I can't quit while I'm a failure.
- Well, a man can fail at one thing
and be a success at something else.
- I can't.
Driving is what I do best.
If I fail now, it means I'll fail
at everything I do all my life.
- Billy, did you ever stop to really think
how I must feel when you're
out at the racetrack?
Every time your father drove,
I had to sit in the grandstand
and pray that he'd still be
alive when the race was over.
Every lap he drove, I died a little.
If he drove a hundred laps,
I died a hundred times.
Then Indianapolis.
And now I'm having to go
through the whole thing all over again.
Every time you're on the racetrack,
I don't draw a deep breath
till you're home again.
Every time the telephone rings,
it seems to me I can't bear it.
- I'm sorry you feel that way, Mom.
- Oh give it up, Billy.
Give it up before it's too late.
- I can't, Mom.
I'm sorry, but I can't.
But you said something
that started me thinking.
You said a guy could fail at one thing
and make good at another.
Well, a guy could fail at one place
and make good someplace else.
- Yes, dear, that's true.
- Well, then I don't
have to stay around here.
Well, I can go back east
where the big cars are
and the big dough.
- Oh.
- Oh, Mom, I'll send for you
as soon as everything is all right.
- Don't worry about me, Son.
Just take care of yourself.
(orchestral music)
- Billy.
- Hi, Lou.
- I'm terribly sorry about Happy.
You must feel just awful.
- Thanks for saying that.
Nobody else did.
- I heard Deacon say
you weren't gonna drive Four Bits anymore.
You want me to talk to my father?
- Never mind.
I'm through driving around here.
I'm getting out.
- Out of racing?
- Out of California.
I'm going back east.
- Is it because of her?
I saw you go into that
nightclub last week.
- Well, if you would've waited 10 minutes
you would've seen me come right out again.
- Oh.
- It's just I wanted someone
to tell my troubles to.
- Look, Billy, if you
need someone to talk to...
- I can always talk to you, can't I, Lou?
- You know you can.
- I'm gonna level with you.
You know that cute little
hat you wore the other day?
- Oh, the silly thing with the feathers?
- No, no, it was a swell-looking hat
and a swell girl was wearing it too.
But right now, I haven't got time
for any other kind of gear except this.
- Then I won't be seeing you anymore?
(romantic music)
- Are you gonna be in
Indianapolis on Memorial Day?
- Uh-huh.
- I'll be there too.
- Then I'll see you there, won't I?
- You got a date, Lou.
(fanfare music)
(cars revving)
(fanfare music)
- What do you hear from the kid?
- Oh, you know how boys are.
He doesn't write much.
But he does send me a
money order every week
with love scrawled across it.
(Red chuckling)
- Well, he's doing good now, all right.
Won three straight main events.
- I wish he'd never win a
race, then perhaps he'd quit.
- Oh now, Mary.
- Oh, I'm upset, Arthur.
I had a bad dream last night.
He's driving at Salem tomorrow.
I saw him driving straight
at a concrete wall.
He smashed right into it, head-on.
Then I heard a cry, like
a little child crying.
- That was no hunch, Mary.
Those were your fears you were dreaming.
- Oh, I hate racing.
I hate everything about it.
- Oh no, no, you don't.
You don't hate everything about it.
You don't hate me, do you?
- No, I don't hate you, Red.
(romantic music)
- Begging your pardon,
Mary, but I love you.
I'll take care of you.
I'll take good care of you.
- Take care of Billy, will you, Red?
Please take care of him.
(car crashing)
(ominous music)
- Well listen, thanks a lot.
Bye.
(doorbell buzzing)
- Come in.
- Hiya, Mommy.
- Billy.
Oh, darling.
- Doll.
How are you?
- Oh.
How are you?
- Fine.
- How's your leg?
- Oh, it's as good as new.
- You got my letter?
- Yeah, about you marrying Red?
- Red.
Oh, he's such a fine man.
- Hello, kid.
- Hi, Red.
- Hey look, I hope it's
all right with you,
me getting married to your mother.
- Yeah, sure, it's all right with me.
- Why, what's the matter with you two?
I thought you liked each other.
- Yeah, we like each other.
- Now look, kid.
There's one thing I want you to know.
The reason why I wouldn't
let you drive Six
is because you were too inexperienced.
- Yeah, sure.
- Well, I didn't want you
to get your neck broken.
- Uh-huh.
- But I never thought
you had anything to do
with Happy getting k*lled.
- You didn't?
- No.
You weren't over-driving the yellow flag.
You were just trying to catch up with him
to show him he was losing his wheel.
- That's the way it was, Red.
- We all know that now.
- Honest?
- Sure.
- You know, I didn't
write you and Mom much
after you got married, did I?
- No, you didn't.
- Didn't get to congratulate you,
but congratulations now, Red.
- Thanks, kid.
Thanks a lot.
(Mary chuckling)
(engines revving)
- Yes, ladies and gentlemen,
another day of qualifying
here at world-famous
Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
And let me tell you newcomers
to the automobile racing game
that these time trials I'm
viewing in Indianapolis
are indeed rough, wild,
and certainly dangerous.
How many of you know
what I'm talking about?
You've seen the days previous to this day
of qualifications where
the cars have wrecked
into the retaining wall,
and they've turned over
and caught on fire-
(car revving)
When the car is completely out of control.
Now again, the time trial
situation is at hand,
and these cars must travel around a huge
and certainly very dangerous
two and 1/2 mile oval
four times, that's a
10-mile qualification run
and all these drivers are-
- [Lou] Billy, Billy!
- [Announcer] Attempting to
break every track record-
- Hiya, buddy.
- Gee, I'm glad to see you.
- All right, all right,
break that up, you guys.
You heard me.
- Say, what are you doing
down here in the pits?
You know women aren't allowed down here.
- Oh, I'm okay with the g*ng.
They won't squeal.
- Oh.
- I was hoping you'd be here two weeks ago
in time to get a ride.
- Well, they didn't let me
out of the hospital until Wednesday.
- Would you like me to introduce
you to some of the owners?
- Gee, that'd be swell.
Say, by the way, whatever
happened to Number One?
Have you qualified yet?
- No, we haven't tried yet.
- You haven't qualified yet?
- Huh-uh.
- Why?
- Oh, Vic and Dad are having
some kind of an argument.
They're over in the garage now.
- Well, what are we waiting for?
- [Vic] I'm through horsing around, Reno.
It's 40% of the purse or I walk.
- You've got no place to walk.
You've got no car to ride.
It's too late now.
- Okay, my friend, I'll drive
Number Six for Red Stanley.
- Can't do that either, he's
already got a chauffeur.
- Huh-uh.
He had a chauffeur.
Sunny quit last night.
- Why?
Because Number Six couldn't
make 125 miles an hour
and it'll take 125 to qualify.
- Well, Sunny didn't know how
to handle a front-wheel drive.
I do.
After all, Number Six has the
same power plan as this car.
And if I can make it with this one,
I can make it with Number Six.
(Reno chuckles)
So long, Reno.
- Hey, wait a minute, Vic.
You can't do that.
Don't be a dummy now.
What are you...
- Daddy, you remember
Billy Coy, don't you?
- Yeah, hello, Billy.
- Billy won the 100 mile
race in Dayton last month.
- He did?
- And the 59 feature at Richmond.
- No fooling.
- He got second in Oswego
and a trophy dash at Williams Grove.
- What is that, in midgets?
- No, sir, big cars.
- Well.
Ever handle a front-wheel drive, son?
- Oh, I handled a
front-wheel Offy at Dayton.
- Yeah, we might be able
to make a deal here.
How would you like to drive
Number One for me in the 500?
- I'd like it just great.
(car revving)
- Here comes Vic Sullivan
out of the north turn
into the home stretch straightaway
driving the Stanley
Special Car Number Six.
Will he take the white flag
signifying one lap remaining to go?
Will he take it, will he take it?
He does not take the white flag.
- He'll never qualify.
- He does take the white flag
at all.
- Pull him, lads.
Pull him off the track.
- A chance to make
a few last-minute repairs and adjustments.
And two more chances to qualify
the car for the big race.
- Hi, Reno.
Too bad about Red.
- Well, son, you all ready
to blow off those turns this morning?
- Sure am.
I'll keep that throttle right
down to the floorboard all the way.
- No brakes, huh?
- No brakes.
- That's what I like about
the way you drive, kid.
You got initiative.
Now, remember what you used
to say out in California.
You used to say I'll drive right over 'em.
- Did I?
- Yeah, I was there the day
you drove over Happy Lee.
- Forget about it, Reno.
- Boy, did you jump that yellow flag.
I'll bet you beat it 20 yards.
- I didn't beat any yellow flag.
I was trying to catch Happy
to tell him he was losing his wheel.
- Oh, sure.
- Don't give me none of
that oh sure business.
You talk as if I tried to k*ll the guy.
- I didn't say you k*lled the guy.
I said you drove over him, all right?
So the boy got k*lled.
This is racing.
You gotta take chances.
- What kind of chances did
you ever take, you phony?
- Looks like I took one chance too many
when I hired a fresh kid to drive for me.
- Looks like you gotta try
and find another drive too
'cause I'm through, Reno.
- Why, you dirty little grease monkey.
- Billy.
Billy.
Billy.
You're not mad at me, are you?
- I'm not at you, buddy.
- Then why don't you go back
and talk to Red Stanley?
He's looking for a driver.
- What would he be looking for
anybody for when he has Vic?
- Vic couldn't get her up to
qualifying speed, so he quit.
- [Announcer] Yes, ladies and gentlemen.
We're in the midst of another
day of qualifications.
And right now, the starter
is waving all the drivers
off of the track so we can prepare
for the next time trial,
which will be on the speedway
in just a moment.
(cars revving)
- Well, how was she, Red?
- Well, you can see for yourself.
One 19 eight.
- Oh, I don't know.
It doesn't seem to have
any soup on the turns.
- Well, I reset the plugs.
I changed the adjustment
on the carburetor.
I switched the fuel.
- What's that?
- What's what?
- That doesn't look the same
supercharger that Reno had.
His was way bigger.
- Well, Dad had a special job put on.
They said it would compensate
for the higher temperature.
- Yeah, I thought of that.
I tried to get one.
- You left Boss?
- Sure.
- Well come on, let's get started.
Get in the car, Vic.
- All right, Reno.
Don't blow your gasket.
I told you I'd drive it and I will.
- We got 10 minutes to qualify.
Come on, start the motor.
- Contact.
(car revving)
Well, come on.
- It won't start.
- What do you mean it won't start?
Well get under the hood.
Check the plug.
Come on, do something there.
- Move, move, move, move.
Come on, get in there.
- [Mechanic] How are you gonna start?
There's no blower?
- What do you mean no blower?
I put it on myself.
Look, Reno, if you're
trying to get cute with me,
I'm gonna bust you wide open.
- Me get cute with you?
You bring back that supercharger
or I'll have you fired for life.
- He can't bring it back.
- What do you mean he can't bring it back?
- [Lou] Because he
doesn't know where it is.
- Do you know where it is?
- Sure, it's on Number Six.
- Red took it.
I'll have him arrested.
Get a cop, get-
- Red didn't take it.
I gave it to him.
- You gave it to him, why?
- Because there wasn't
another one in Indianapolis
and I wanted Billy to have a chance.
- So you gave him my supercharger.
- No, I gave him my supercharger.
It's my car, isn't it?
- Oh.
- [Announcer] Now on the speedway
for the third and final trial,
the Stanley Special Car Number
Six driven by Billy Coy.
- That's all.
I warned you about having those
kind of children, remember?
- If I...
(hammer banging)
(car revving)
- [Announcer] Now he's taking
things along those angles,
waiting for that green flag
to be on his way for 10 miles
four times around this huge
two and 1/2 mile track.
Here he comes.
He's waiting for that flag to come down,
but he did not take the flag.
- Come on, kid.
(car revving)
- Less than three miles out.
Listen to her sing.
- [Announcer] Hand did not go in there,
which signaled the starter
that he did not go to start,
and therefore he'll roll around once more
and instead he'll take the
flag as he moves in over there
on the south turn.
(car revving)
(car booming)
(car revving)
Now, Billy Coy will be
heading into that very,
very dangerous and far north turn angle-
(car screaming)
We'll see if he'll take
the flag this time.
Everybody's standing and
watching his hand goes up
in the air.
That means he's going to take the flag.
And once that flag comes
down, Coy's hand is still
in the air, and now he's
pulled his hand down.
Here comes the wind down the center
and Billy Coy will be
racing two and 1/2 miles.
(car revving)
(car screaming)
(car revving)
(car screeching)
Incidentally, Billy Coy
just turned the first lap
in 127.40 miles an hour.
- Okay, Billy.
(car revving)
- Here comes Billy Coy
completing lap number three.
And now, it's the white
flag comes down for him,
signifying only one lap remaining to go.
(crowd chattering)
- He's gonna make it.
- Keep your fingers crossed.
(car revving)
- [Announcer] By Billy
Coy on his second lap.
126.45 miles per hour,
and in lap number three,
115.40 miles per hour.
- What?
- I don't get it.
- He'll never make it now.
- What happened, could
it be the carburetors?
- I don't know what happened.
Well, I guess I gotta
start all over again.
Another year gone.
- [Announcer] Oh, what a tough break.
Think of it, 127.40 miles
per hour on the first lap.
On the second lap, 126.45.
And then, on that third lap, 115.40.
Ladies and gentlemen,
I can't understand what could've happened,
because in the fourth lap,
Billy Coy turned in 126.20.
It's a tough break indeed.
(helmet clattering)
- I'm sorry, Red.
- No, I guess old Number
Six just hasn't got it.
- [Announcer] The time is six o'clock.
The qualifying for the
big race is finished.
- Well, that's that.
- [Announcer] Car 92, Al Harmon driving,
will be the final 33rd car in the race.
He qualified with a speed
of 125.46 miles an hour.
Vic Sullivan, Car Number
One, failed to qualify
because of mechanical trouble.
- Mechanical nothing.
Due to robbery, due to thieves.
I'll have you arrested.
- Oh, get lost.
- And I'd sue you for damages,
but you haven't got anything.
You won't even have a garage
when I get through with you.
- I don't know what you're talking about.
- I'm talking about my supercharger.
You took it.
- Lou said it was a spare.
- I'm out of the race.
- Well, I got news for you, so are we.
- [Announcer] A correction
on Billy Coy's time,
Car Number Six.
Coy's official time, ladies and gentlemen,
is faster than that of Al Harmon.
Because of a blot on the electric
timer, the error was made.
So Billy Coy qualifies for the big race.
- You're brilliant, boy.
Wonderful driving, young man.
Oh, you made it.
You stole my supercharger.
- Well, I...
Oh.
(orchestral music)
- [Announcer] How do you
do, ladies and gentlemen?
This is Jack Colin
welcoming every one of you
to the 33rd running
of the 500-Mile National
Championship Automobile Race
here at Indianapolis, Indiana.
This is an international event.
Yes, people from all over the
world have been here for days.
The hotels are completely sold out.
It certainly is a wonderful sight
to see all of these people coming
from every state of the
Union out here to see
the greatest automobile race of all time.
(marching band music)
Well, ladies and gentlemen,
this is truly out of this world.
Old-time vintage cars now
parading down the homestretch
and, believe it or not,
under their own power.
Makes and models of days gone by
with driver and companion
attired in early 1900 clothes,
while down on the pits,
all 33 starting cars
are being checked over for
minor mechanical trouble
by the mechanics, the car owners,
and the remainder of the pit crews too.
Anything in the way of
mechanical difficulty,
you know, can keep a car
from starting the big race.
Right now, the cars are going to be shoved
under the speedway next to the pit wall
and the car owners
giving their drivers
last-minute instructions.
- Well, Red, is there anything
else you want to tell me?
- Yeah.
Now this is a long grind,
kid, so don't try to win it
in the first hundred miles.
Stay in striking distance
and be ready to come in.
- I got you.
I figure I'll come in for gas around 275?
- Yeah, that's right.
Now take a look at the north turn.
You see that crosswind?
- Yeah.
- Doesn't look like much from here,
but at the end of a
long race, it's m*rder.
Go in low and stay in the groove.
- I hope I got you, Red.
- That's all, I guess.
Good luck, kid.
- Thanks, Red.
- Good luck, Bill.
- Thanks George.
- Good luck, Billy.
I sure hope you win.
- Right, Lou.
- Get your mind on the race, lover boy.
- Don't worry about me.
- [Announcer] Attention
please, ladies and gentlemen.
The big moment is about to take place.
The big 500-mile Decoration
Day race is about to begin.
The cars are on the speedway.
The Peace Corps directly in front
of the first three lead cars.
The pace car driven
by the president of Indianapolis
Speedway Wilbur Shaw.
The lead cars on the pole, Duke Naylon.
In the center of the first row, Rex Maze.
And on the outside is Jack
McGrath, the three lead cars.
(cars revving)
Here they go, moving out of the south turn
down the backstretch.
And in the sixth row,
ladies and gentlemen,
the great human interest
story of this year's race,
the second generation of a famous name,
at the wheel of Car Six, the
Stanley Special, Billy Coy.
(crowd murmuring)
And, ladies and gentlemen,
I'd like to mention the fact
that Billy Coy is the
son of Cannonball Coy,
the great driver of yesterday,
who was k*lled at the north
turn of this racetrack.
(crowd murmuring)
Long-awaited moment, ladies
and gentlemen, is almost here.
The pace car coming out
of the northwest turn
down the straightaway with the 33 starters
following in their proper order.
They're coming down.
This is it, ladies and gentlemen.
The big 500-mile race is almost underway.
They're coming down now
to greet that green flag.
As soon as the flag goes
down, they'll be on their way.
And there it goes.
The race is on.
(cars screaming)
For 500 miles.
Duke Naylon running in the lead now
as they go to the southwest turn.
(thrilling music)
(cars revving)
Aptly is the plateau,
ladies and gentlemen.
Leading by six car lengths is Duke Naylon.
Rex Maze is running in second.
And for you California fans, Billy Coy
is running in 17th position.
(cars revving)
(dramatic music)
(tires squealing)
(car crashing)
And start climbing out of the car.
How those other cars got away
from George I'll never know.
It's unbelievable.
(dramatic music)
(cars revving)
Ladies and gentlemen,
these cars are moving.
Duke Naylon has broken
the one lap track record
at 128. and 1/2 miles per hour.
(cars revving)
(dramatic music)
(cars revving)
- Come on, Billy, come on.
(dramatic music)
(cars revving)
(tires squealing)
(car crashing)
- [Announcer] And it's
over on the northwest turn
of the inside wall.
He is turned over, ladies and gentlemen.
We don't know what kind of shape he's in,
if he can get out from
underneath that car.
We'll have to see.
(dramatic music)
(cars revving)
- Yup, he's okay.
- Wonder who that was.
- Ninth place.
- Oh, and he is.
Charlie Van Actor is okay and look.
(crowd cheering)
- Off the lawn.
- Okay, okay.
(cars revving)
(dramatic music)
- That's 200 miles, ladies and gentlemen.
It's Holland, Rose, Ellings,
Conner, and Billy Coy.
- Come on, Billy, come on.
- You gave him my supercharger.
That's what I can't understand.
- Oh, Father, do you have to
win all the races all the time?
- Yes.
- Well, you won't win this one.
Come on, Billy.
- They're entering the halfway
mark, ladies and gentlemen.
And still in the lead is Bill Holland.
But Billy Coy, Billy Coy
the California sharpsh**ter
is really moving up
and certainly displaying
fine sportsmanship.
There goes Bill Holland in
Car Number Seven in the lead.
(cars revving)
And moving by us now
in the grandstand corner goes Car Three.
(tires screeching)
(car crashing)
There was a close call.
(tires squealing)
(car crashing)
End over end, but he held onto the wheel
and kept that car under control.
The yellow flags are out,
ladies and gentlemen,
signifying all drivers
to hold their position.
There's a lot happening
out here this afternoon.
There's another spin.
Another spin in the far turn.
(tires squealing)
(cars crashing)
And the other one's turning end over end
down on the far turn.
The car's on fire, ladies and gentlemen.
And the driver, I think, is Saras.
He's laying on the track right now.
The drivers have their hands in the air.
That means hold their
position for the ones
behind their respective drivers.
They are taking Saras
off of the track now.
The other driver seems to be in very,
very bad condition right now.
That's Teem Marinaz.
The drivers are getting tired.
(dramatic music)
(cars revving)
The green flag is down again.
The green flag has gone down again.
Holland going to the pits
for a spark plug change.
It'll be just a matter of moments
before that car is back on the track.
- Bring him in for gas.
- Okay, Red.
(cars revving)
- [Announcer] Coy received
his instructions okay
from his pit crew, and will
be moving in now for fuel.
There goes Billy Coy to pit number six.
(tires squealing)
- Here you are, Billy.
How do you feel, kid?
- Okay, Red.
Where do we stand?
- When you pull out of here,
you'll be fourth or fifth.
- She's purring like a kitten.
If we have any luck,
we're gonna take it all.
- Yeah, well, now watch out for
yourself in that north turn.
One mistake there and you lose it all.
- Don't worry, don't worry.
- All set, Billy.
- All right, I'll go.
- Oh, ladies and gentlemen.
What a sensational pit
crew for Car Number Six.
They refueled that car in no time at all.
Oh, wait a minute.
There's something wrong down there.
Car Number Six, it won't start.
It is not going to drive away.
It looks right now there is
something wrong with the engine.
Probably spark plugs.
Oh, what a tough break.
There comes plenty of cars by again.
Conners and Thornton have gone by.
Billy Coy's losing that precious time.
- Put that hood down.
- That's all right.
- All right.
That's all right, let's go.
Don't touch it.
- [Announcer] Oh, ladies and
gentlemen, will that car start?
Will it go?
It is.
It is back on the track.
There is a real break for good old Red
and Car Six is back on the speedway.
(cars revving)
Billy Coy has moved back
onto the speedway again,
ladies and gentlemen.
And Billy Coy has a lot of
mileage to make up right now
having been in the pits
even for that short time.
Now they're all moving around the turn.
Bill Holland is still in the lead
followed by Tommy Parsons,
George Conner, and Billy Coy
is back there fighting
it out for sixth place.
(cars revving)
(dramatic music)
There's a spin in the north turn.
(tires squealing)
(car crashing)
He's on the track.
He gets up, though.
He gets up.
What a spectacular crack-up that was.
(cars revving)
(dramatic music)
Lots of carbon vapor is being thrown
from the exhaust of the various cars
right onto the drivers' goggles,
and it's pretty tough when
they have to take one hand
off that wheel and keep wiping the vapor
off of their goggles.
Billy Coy, the boy from California,
is trying desperately to
move back into contention
for a first place, because Bill Holland
riding the Bull Crown is
right smack in the lead
and leaping at the present time.
But he's going to stay in the lead.
However, anything can happen at this track
because we've accidents all afternoon.
There's a starboard spin
down there on that far turn-
(cars revving)
(tires squealing)
But they're right on the track.
Can the drivers get by them?
And they are, but the yellow flag went out
and the drivers are
fighting out of their car.
Bale and Spalding.
A very close call indeed.
(cars revving)
Green flag is out, ladies and gentlemen.
The wreck has been
cleared from the speedway.
But right now on the backstretch,
we're watching Billy Coy as
he moves into fourth position
and he's challenging for the lead.
Bill Holland is still in first.
Jack McGrath is moving up
very fast on Bill Holland.
But here comes Billy Coy.
Here he comes, very
fast on the outside now.
Up there flanking Car Number One.
And he's on his way now
to lap Car Number 36.
The car is one lap behind Billy Coy.
Billy Coy's in third, McGrath in 2nd.
(cars revving)
- Come on, McGrath.
- Come on, McGrath.
- Come on, McGrath.
That's what I'm talking about.
He's a great driver, ain't he?
- That's my son.
- You mean you're Jack McGrath's mother?
- No, the other one, Billy Coy.
- Coy?
Come on, you Coy.
Come on, you Coy.
- Come on, Coy.
- [Announcer] This is one of
the most sensational races
I've ever seen in my life,
ladies and gentlemen.
There goes Billy Coy.
He has moved by the second
place of Jack McGrath
and he's still in second
place all by himself,
which means he's lined up-
- Signal Billy to pass seven.
- Right.
- [Announcer] What a sensational driver.
Cannonball's boy, as
great as his father was.
(car revving)
- He got it.
- What did I tell you?
That kid's got what it takes.
- I'll take my hat off by
the end of this thing, Red.
- [Announcer] The sign
he got from his pits
to pass number seven,
and that's Bill Holland.
(cars revving)
There's a spin.
There's a spin down there by Wilkins.
Bill Carrison is across the track.
(tires squealing)
(car crashing)
But he looks like
he's all right.
There is no gasoline on the speedway.
And there's no Carrison or Wilkins.
(cars revving)
Ladies and gentlemen,
what a sensational race
this boy Billy Coy is
running this afternoon.
Now he's starting to move up
on Bill Holland, the leader,
the old-time veteran who still
comes in Car Number Seven.
And of course, the newcomer
to Indianapolis Speedway
is Billy Coy.
Can Coy take Holland?
- Come on, Billy, come on.
- Come on, kid, you can do it.
Come on.
- It's very, very doubtful,
but you can't tell.
Anything can happen right now.
But Coy is showing the
old speed of his father.
He's moved up now body-to-body
with Bill Holland.
At first, it's Holland in the
lead, and then back to Coy.
But Coy is really starting to move up,
and he's very, very fast now.
And I think he might do it.
And he is going to do it.
He just passed Bill
Holland now has Billy Coy,
from the West Coast and
sprung into the lead.
Bill Holland's in second and
Johnny Parsons is in third.
- He's done it, Red.
We'll take your jacket off.
- If he only stays out of trouble.
- [Announcer] Now, ladies and
gentlemen, the flag is down.
The white flag is down.
One lap remaining to go now.
(dramatic music)
(cars revving)
(car crashing)
Into the far side of the crash wall.
And the whole wall is on fire.
One of the worst fires I've
ever seen here in Indianapolis.
And I will let you know who the driver is.
I'm sure it'll turn out fine.
(dramatic music)
- Can you tell who it is?
- No, I can't.
- It's Duke.
(siren wailing)
(flames roaring)
They've gotta drive through it.
- Where's Billy?
- [Announcer] Here comes Coy.
He's coming into the north turn.
And the cars in front of Billy Coy
are about 12 laps behind him.
They're going at a slower
speed, and they get away
and they're around the flames.
But here comes Coy.
Coy goes through.
- He's through.
- But he got through okay.
Look, ladies and gentlemen,
that Car Number Six is on fire-
- That's Number Six.
Look at that, look.
Look at the engine, it's on fire.
- Let's shut off his engine.
- He's on fire.
- He's on fire.
Jump, Billy.
- Jump on out.
- [Announcer] Now there's a good chance
he'll never even finish it
now if that car does blow up.
If those flames smack
into the the back half
of the lead tied to the
rear, he's a sure goner.
His poor mother is sitting in the stands.
We can certainly see how she feels,
because she witnessed when
her husband Cannonball Coy
was k*lled out here 18
years ago because a fire.
- Jump, Billy, jump.
- What is he gonna do?
He better jump.
Why doesn't he get out of that car?
He'd better jump, but no.
- Oh my god.
Billy, come on, jump out.
- [Announcer] He says he's gone this far
and he's gonna go all the way.
Bill Holland passes Billy Coy.
- Billy, get out of the car.
- Bill Holland's in first position now.
And Johnny Parsons-
- Jump out of the car, Billy.
- Jump out of it.
- [Announcer] Bill Holland is the winner,
ladies and gentlemen.
And Billy Coy is really
turning into flames.
(cars revving)
(dramatic music)
- Come on, we gotta get him out of there.
(flames roaring)
- Get him out of there.
- Come on, Bill.
- He's burning alive.
- [Announcer] It might be too late.
It might be.
He's trying to get out
of that car now quickly.
(expl*si*n booming)
(crowd cheering)
(car revving)
- Kid, your arms are burned.
Let's find a doctor.
- Never mind about my arms.
The race went up too.
- We rebuild and try again next year.
- Yeah, with whose dough?
- You came in third.
- But those cars had passed me.
- All but two were in another lap.
- In third?
- Yes.
That gives us enough to
build any car we want.
Come on, let's get your arms fixed.
- [Announcer] And now,
moving into victory lane
is Bill Holland, Car Number
Seven, the Blue Crown.
A runner-up for two years in a row.
And this year, 1949,
it's Bill Holland's year.
- He'll be all right, now, don't worry.
- [Announcer] Ladies and
gentlemen, your attention please.
Bill Holland has made one
of those wonderful sporting gestures
that make automobile racing
the sport that it really is.
He will not receive the
famous Borg-Warner Trophy,
the cup that has always been presented
to the winner of this race.
But he insists that the
officials award custody
of the Borg-Warner trophy to a driver
who did not win the race,
but who won the hearts
of the whole racing world with his skill,
his daring, and his great courage.
We present the trophy
to Billy Cannonball Coy.
(crowd cheering)
(triumphant music)
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Big Wheel, The (1949)
Moderators: Maskath3, GabrielAlejo2341, sidolanters, Maskath3, GabrielAlejo2341, sidolanters
Watch on Amazon Merchandise Collectables
The older Classic's that just won't die. Everything from before 1960's.
The older Classic's that just won't die. Everything from before 1960's.