Cory Palm

Christian, Dad, Husband. Director of Broadcasting, Purdue Athletics. Author, “Perfect Warriors: Touchdown Tony Butkovich and the 1943 Purdue Football Team”

[Cory Palm @palmcory]

Today is the Day! Buy my new book here: https://t.co/QI5i1hH4A9

DM me for personalized, signed copies!

[Cory Palm @palmcory]

@On3 @Brett_McMurphy I’m all for loosening the standard a bit for Mike Leach. Very deserving. But do the same for Joe Tiller.

[David Burge @iowahawkblog]

Happy Indianapolis 500 Day to all who celebrate from Dave's Car ID Service! Today we pay homage to Indy's "Junk Formula" Era of 1930-37.

Why celebrate a formula for junk? Let me give you some context. At its inception Indy featured some cars that were pretty much stock. In that first 1911 race, the 5th place finisher was a stripped-down but otherwise complete stock Marmon 32 passenger car that was street-driven to the track. It was in the realm of possibility for a regular upper-middle class Joe with cojones and a dream to participate.

That all changed quickly, especially after WW1. By then it was strictly a rich man's sport, dominated by very exotic and expensive specialized racing machines, primarily Millers and Duesenbergs. Rules demanded smaller and smaller engine displacement. Until 1922 cars were limited to 3 liters (183 cubic inches), then from 1923-25 2 liters (122 ci) and starting in 1926, 1.5 liters (91 ci). The reduction in displacement was to curb speeds in an age where death on the track was common, but also to spark innovation.

Those rules worked almost too well. Geniuses like Harry Miller and the Duesenberg brothers figured out ways to coax ever more power out of ever smaller engines: overhead cams, integrated head-engine block casting, arrays of carburetors, exotic superchargers.

Those cars, to me, are the Sistine Chapel of American car racing. But they were incredibly expensive, and you had to have one if you wanted to be competitive at Indy. This all but closed off the field to anyone who didn't have cubic buttloads of cash.

That was okay for a while. During the Roaring Twenties there were plenty of high-living Gatsbys who wanted to sink some mad money into the exciting glamorous world of big time auto racing.

But then came October 29, 1929.

The Black Tuesday stock market crash wiped out a good number of those Indy-curious Gatsbys, kicking off what would soon become the Great Depression.

Enter Eddie Rickenbacker.

Best known as a World War I fighter ace, Rickenbacker was already famed as a successful racing driver for Duesenberg before the war. In 1927, the war hero had enough financial backing to buy Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Less then two years later he was faced with a grim reality: there were probably not going to be enough entries in the 1930 race to fill the 33-car grid. The economy's impact on ticket demand meant that the total prize purse for 1930 would be reduced from $98,000 to $54,000, and the winner's share from $50,000 to $18,000. Which made it even harder to attract entrants, etc. A vicious cycle that threatened to end the Indy 500 for good.

In response, Rickenbacker announced a new set of rules for 1930: displacement up to 6 liters (366 cubic inches) was allowed, supercharging was banned, there would be a return to Indy's mandatory ride-along mechanic rule 1911-22, and the field was expanded from 33 to 38.

This rule was derided by the high-dollar Miller and Duesenberg teams as the "Junk Formula," because it meant there'd be cars in the field with unsophisticated stock block engines. But that was sort of the point. It gave quasi-regular Joes and backyard mechanics a fighting chance to field a car at Indy, powered by a big modified Buick or Studebaker engine.

It didn't end the dominance of Miller & Duesenberg, who created their own bigass engines under the new rules, and no true "Junk Formula" car ever one. But helped keep Indy alive during 1930-37, amid the darkest days of the Great Depression.

[Cory Palm @palmcory]

I love that caution laps at @IMS are run at a speed that would get me thrown in jail on the highway. 🤣

[Patrick Ebert @PatrickEbert44]

I think @PurdueBaseball has a worthy case for postseason inclusion, No. 5 seed in the Big Ten Tournament, gave No. 1 UCLA all they could handle in quarterfinals, hopefully the selection committee sees it similarly

More than anything else, the Big Ten deserves more than 4 teams in the field

[Big Ten Baseball @B1Gbaseball]

"I like their team. I hope they get a chance to play next weekend."

🗣️ UCLA's John Savage on @PurdueBaseball

[Nick Yeoman @NYeoman]

This Wilford Brimley “America Made the Indy 500” piece from the 2013 Indy 500 has always stuck with me. It’s just soooooo spectacularly well written. Give it a watch if you’ve never seen it or if it’s been awhile.
🇺🇸 #Indy500 #Indycar

[Isaac Streeter @isaac_streeter]

No. 17 Oregon baseball HC Mark Wasikowski won’t be with the club for Saturday’s series finale vs. No. 16 USC

Waz’s daughter graduates Saturday morning with a doctorate of pharmacy from Purdue. He’s flying from Eugene tonight to watch her

Jack Marder will be acting HC #GoDucks

[mike carmin @mike_carmin]

Another thrilling comeback for Purdue baseball.
Down 4-0 in the B9, the Boilermakers scored five times to beat Indiana. One of Friday's heroes, Brandon Rogers, delivered a three-run double with two outs for the game winner.
Unbelievable.

[Sports Central LA @SportsCentralLA]

Matt Painter was this year's @WoodenAward Legends of Coaching Award winner! @CoachPainter tells @jillpainter about the first time he met Coach Wooden and the bond the two share 5:30/10:40! @cbslosangeles @BoilerBall

[Cory Palm @palmcory]

@WindowIsntOpen @AzzipTweets Great place, founded by a former @boilerfootball player Brad Niemeier!

[Cory Palm @palmcory]

This post is a must read for #Purdue fans. Thank you, A.J. Green.

[The Players’ Tribune @PlayersTribune]

Hey y’all, A.J. Green here. This is for Rondale. ❤️ https://t.co/xPQn50vyiB

[Cory Palm @palmcory]

@mstaudt1589 That didn’t age well…

[Big Ten Wrestling @B1GWrestling]

Down goes the #B1GWrestling reigning champ at 133 lbs 🚨

@PurdueWrestling’s 10-seed Blake Boarman just pulled off a B1G 7-3 upset decision over Lucas Byrd 👀

Watch the #B1GWrestling quadbox only on https://t.co/f6JY1FElYS 💻

[FOX College Hoops @CBBonFOX]

A little girl drew a picture for Braden Smith and the team, and Smith's reaction is priceless 🥹 @BoilerBall

[Cory Palm @palmcory]

https://t.co/X990y9xqjK

[Purdue Women's Basketball @PurdueWBB]

"Nya Smith Ice in the veins" 🥶

A look behind the scenes of our @BigTenPlus student crew from Wednesday night 📽️

[Cory Palm @palmcory]

@BradEbann @HammerAndRails The story is phenomenal, @BradEbann Purdue had to win the final two games without a half dozen starters who had been called to active duty with the Marines.

[Cory Palm @palmcory]

@HammerAndRails Only undefeated team in the country, including a win over a Great Lakes Naval team that beat Notre Dame. But it was the 1940s, so the Irish were named champions. For more: https://t.co/z4aq92Qkoo

[Jared Jesulaitis @JaredOn1017]

The season of 1943 is an interesting one. That's why @palmcory wrote a tremendous book on it called "Perfect Warriors" which is on Amazon.

[Cory Palm @palmcory]

@BoilerBall Nick T is the secret weapon! @nickterruso