“No race is won until the tape is crossed and I realized that all the time. It’s hard luck, but it’s all in the game. I did my best, and since I’ve lost out, I’m for the man who picked the prize.” – Ralph De Palma after the 1912 Indianapolis 500

 Few scenes across the decades of the Indianapolis 500’s history would more greatly move those that witnessed it than what happened just 3 miles short of the finish at the 1912 race. After leading 196 laps and holding a five-lap lead with 10 miles to go, Ralph De Palma’s Mercedes began hammering itself to death with a broken piston rod.