Editing Eddie Rickenbacker (section)

== Automobile racing ==

[[File:Eddie Rickenbacker - Maxwell - San Francisco 1915 3.jpg|thumb|Rickenbacker at the [[1915 American Grand Prize]] at [[San Francisco]]]]

To draw attention to his company's car, Rickenbacker entered a 25-mile race in [[Red Oak, Iowa]]. He failed to finish in his first automobile race after crashing through an outer fence. That summer, Rickenbacker went on to win most of the dirt track races he entered, including five of six races at Omaha's Aksarben Festival in October. When reporting on races, newspapers misspelled his name as Reichenbaugh, Reichenbacher, or Reichenberger, before settling on Rickenbacker.<ref>"Firestone Back in Race Meets Again," ''Daily Telegraph'' (Atlantic, Iowa), July 12, 1910: 1.</ref><ref>Lewis, W. David. ''Eddie Rickenbacker: An American Hero in the Twentieth Century,'' Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, 2005. p. 47.</ref><ref>"Fast Time at Motor Races." ''The Omaha Bee''. October 3, 1910.</ref>

The following May, Lee Frayer invited his protégé to join him in another racing venture: the first ever [[Indianapolis 500]]. As relief driver, Rickenbacker replaced Frayer in the middle portion of the race, driving the majority of miles and helping his former boss take thirteenth place. The next year he drove Frayer's Red Wing Special by himself but was forced out after 100 miles with mechanical difficulties. Rickenbacker quit his sales job and went on the county fair circuit with a Flying Squadron team.

In October 1912, the [[American Automobile Association]] (AAA) cracked down on drivers known for flouting safety regulations. Rickenbacker was barred from the track for the next twelve months.<ref>Lewis, W. David. ''Eddie Rickenbacker: An American Hero in the Twentieth Century,'' Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, 2005. pp. 59–60.</ref> He joined the automobile workshop of [[Fred Duesenberg|Frederick]] and [[August Duesenberg]] in [[Des Moines, Iowa]]. For the next year, he worked sixteen-hour days at $3 a day, developing a Mason race car, named for Duesenberg's chief investor.

In July 1913, Rickenbacker received dispensation from AAA to compete in his hometown Columbus 200-mile race. Somehow, he kept his racing reinstatement through the rest of the season. He won three times and finished the season in 27th place on the AAA standings with 115 points.<ref>Rickenbacker, Edward V. ''Rickenbacker: an Autobiography.'' Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1967. p. 75-78 {{ISBN|978-0-13-781005-5}}</ref><ref>Lewis, W. David. ''Eddie Rickenbacker: An American Hero in the Twentieth Century,'' Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, 2005.  pp. 60–63.</ref> In 1914, the Duesenberg team separated from their investor, [[Maytag-Mason Motor Company|Edward R. Mason]]. Winning the prize money became vital for Rickenbacker because he would be out of racing for the season if Duesenberg ran out of funds. With some hard driving, he won the Fourth of July race at Sioux City. A third-place finish by another Duesenberg driver brought in $12,500 and ensured that the team would complete the season. Rickenbacker finished the year in sixth place in the AAA standings.<ref>Rickenbacker, Edward V. ''Rickenbacker: an Autobiography.'' Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1967. p. 72-73.</ref><ref>Lewis, W. David. ''Eddie Rickenbacker: An American Hero in the Twentieth Century,'' Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, 2005. pp. 66-68</ref>

Rickenbacker was now a national racing figure, earning the nickname "Fast Eddie".<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Zabecki |first=David |author-link=David T. Zabecki |title=America's Top World War I Ace |journal=Military History |volume=26 |issue=3 |pages=80 |date=August–September 2009 |issn=0889-7328 |url=http://miar.ub.edu/issn/0889-7328 |access-date=August 12, 2016}}</ref> One sportswriter called him "the most daring and...the most cautious driver in America today."<ref>Adamson, Hans Christian. "Eddie Rickenbacker." New York: Macmillan Company, 1946, p. 112.</ref> The top-ranked [[Peugeot]] team lured Rickenbacker away from Duesenberg at the start of 1915. However, a couple of bad outings caused him to abandon Peugeot and switch to the [[Maxwell automobile|Maxwell]] team. Looking back decades later, Rickenbacker called this "the major mistake of my racing career".<ref>Rickenbacker, Edward V. ''Rickenbacker: an Autobiography.'' Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1967. p. 78. {{ISBN|978-0-13-781005-5}}</ref> Still, he finished the season ranked fifth among all racers, with three victories to his credit. In September 1915, Rickenbacker received financial backing from [[Indianapolis Speedway]] owner [[Carl G. Fisher|Carl Fisher]] and his partner, Fred Allison. They made Rickenbacker the leader of a new [[James A. Allison#Prest-O-Lite|Presto-Lite]] team, giving him free rein over three drivers and four mechanics as they developed four Maxwell Special race cars.<ref>{{cite web |title=Eddie Rickenbacker in a Maxwell Special (photo) |url=http://content.lib.auburn.edu/u?/eddier,886 |access-date=August 12, 2016 |website=Auburn University Digital Library}}</ref>

In 1915, newspapers began spelling his name with a second "k" more frequently, with his active encouragement. He also decided his given name "looked a little plain" and adopted a middle initial, signing his name 26 times with different letters before settling upon "V."<ref>Rickenbacker, Edward V. ''Rickenbacker: an Autobiography.'' Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1967. p. 66 {{ISBN|978-0-13-781005-5}}</ref> The ''[[Hartford Courant]]'' referred to him as "Edward Victor Rickenbacher" after his win at [[Sheepshead Bay Race Track|Sheepshead Bay]] in 1916.<ref>"Richenbacher Popular with Fans." ''[[Hartford Courant]]''. May 28, 1916, p. Z10.</ref>

In the 1915–16 seasons, Rickenbacker won at Sioux City for the third year in a row, as well as [[Tacoma Speedway|Tacoma]] and [[Sheepshead Bay Race Track|Sheepshead Bay]] (New York). In September, he was in a three-way tie for the championship with [[Dario Resta]] and [[Johnny Aitken]]. He needed a win at the Indianapolis Harvest 100 to take first place. He had the lead in the penultimate lap but had driven his car into the ground. Driving on three wheels, Aitken passed Rickenbacker's broken-down Maxwell Special. Rickenbacker called it "one of the grandest free-for-alls I ever was in."<ref>Life Story, vol. I, p. 141. Eddie Rickenbacker papers, 1915–1972, Ohio State University Rare Books and Manuscripts Library, Columbus, Ohio.</ref> He finished the year in third place in the standings but with a win in [[Los Angeles]]. He was now one of the most famous race car drivers in America and was earning $40,000 a year.<ref name=":18">{{Cite web |last=Sengupta |first=Narayan |date=2020-07-16 |title=Eddie Rickenbacker |url=http://www.usaww1.com/ |access-date=2022-09-04 |website=American Aviators of WWI}}</ref>

Signing with the British [[Sunbeam Motor Car Company#Sunbeam Motor Car Company|Sunbeam]] team for the upcoming season, Rickenbacker sailed to England to work to develop a new race car. Before he could disembark at Liverpool for his new job with Sunbeam, Rickenbacker was detained by two plainclothes agents from [[Scotland Yard]]. A 1914 ''[[Los Angeles Times]]'' article had fabricated a story claiming that the young driver was Baron Rickenbacher, "the disowned son of a Prussian noble."<ref>Wolf, Al. "Sportraits," Los Angeles Times. July 26, 1945, p. 11.</ref> With Britain deep into [[World War I]], Scotland Yard considered him a potential spy.

In England, Rickenbacker worked at the Sunbeam shop in [[Wolverhampton]] during the week and spent weekends at the [[Savoy Hotel]] in London. The English police surveilled Rickenbacker the entire six weeks he was in England and for another two weeks when he was back in the United States.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Farr |first=Finis |url=https://archive.org/details/rickenbackersluc00farr |title=Rickenbacker's Luck – An American Life |publisher=Houghton Mifflin Company |year=1979 |isbn=978-0-395-27102-5 |location=Boston |pages=[https://archive.org/details/rickenbackersluc00farr/page/36 36]–37 |language=en |url-access=registration}}</ref> In 1917, after his experience as a suspected spy and to anglicize his name, he officially changed the spelling of his name from Rickenbacher to Rickenbacker.<ref name=":18"/> A few years later, he settled on the middle name "Vernon" after the brother of his boyhood crush, Blanche Calhoun.<ref>Life Story, vol. 2, pp. 468-469. Eddie Rickenbacker papers, 1915–1972, Ohio State University Rare Books and Manuscripts Library, Columbus, Ohio.</ref>

[[File:1916Indianapolis500Field.jpg|thumb|Rickenbacker (second from right, White #5) lined up to start second in the [[1916 Indianapolis 500]]]]

=== Motorsports career results ===

==== Indianapolis 500 results ====

{{col-begin|width=auto}}
{{col-break}}
{|class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
!Year
!Car
!Start
!Qual
!Rank
!Finish
!Laps
!Led
!Retired
|-
![[1912 Indianapolis 500|1912]]
|16
|13
|77.300
|22 
|21
|44
|0
|Bearing
|-
![[1914 Indianapolis 500|1914]]
|42
|23
|88.140
|19
|10
|200
|0
|Running
|-
![[1915 Indianapolis 500|1915]]
|23
|19
|81.970
|20
|19
|103
|0
|Rod
|-
![[1916 Indianapolis 500|1916]]
|5
|2
|96.440
|2
|20
|9
|9
|Steering
|-
|colspan=6|'''Totals'''
|356
|9
|
|}
{{col-break|gap=1em}}
{|class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
!Starts
|4
|-
!Poles
|0
|-
!Front Row
|1
|-
!Wins
|0
|-
!Top 5
|0
|-
!Top 10
|1
|-
!Retired
|3
|}
{{col-end}}