Another Pyroil ad this morning, this time an earlier one. In 1934 the company wasn't claiming to have won six of the ten Indianapolis 500 races and they didn't have a dog spokesperson. My favorite is Barney Oldfield who gained fame for driving an Allis-Chalmers tractor at over 64 mph. Sounds like he was a big hit at the La Crosse county fair!
New Yorker Louis Meyer went on to be the first ever three-time Indy 500 winner, claiming the trophy as a rookie in 1928, in 1933, and in 1936 and he's credited with starting the tradition of drinking milk in the winner's circle. Meyer also was the first winner to receive a gift of the pace car, another tradition that continues to date.
Bill Cummings was an Indianapolis native who competed in nine Indy 500's, only winning in 1934. I'm not quite sure why the geniuses at the ad agency decided not to mention that he won the actual race in '34, opting instead for the brilliant statement that he won the Pyroil trophy using Pyroil. The Borg Warner trophy was commissioned in 1935 and wouldn't be presented to the winner of the 500 until the 1936 season.
