Team story
Origins
Indianapolis knew Clyde Adams's cars long before the Drivers' World Championship began. During the 1930s, his chassis appeared with various engines: Miller, Sparks and later Offenhauser. Jimmy Snyder took an Adams-Sparks to pole position and second place in the 1939 Indianapolis 500, a result outside the future Formula 1 championship.
The Formula 1 journey
The World Championship appearance came in the 1950 Indianapolis 500. Bayliss Levrett started seventeenth in car number 24 and shared the driving with Bill Cantrell. The car stopped after 108 laps: both drivers are listed in twenty-seventh place, but these were not two cars or two finishes.
The Offenhauser suffered an oil-pressure problem.
Historical timeline
Three chapters in the story of Adams
Three episodes to revisit the people, cars and races that shaped this journey.
First appearance · Indianapolis 500
Bayliss Levrett · Indianapolis 500 1950. The recorded position is P27; this number alone does not show whether the driver completed the race distance. This is the first recorded race start, or the first entry if the team never started a race.
Sporting landmark · Indianapolis 500
Bayliss Levrett · Indianapolis 500 1950. The recorded position is P27; this number alone does not show whether the driver completed the race distance. This marks the first win or podium where one exists, otherwise the highest recorded placing for this constructor.
Latest recorded appearance · Indianapolis 500
Bill Cantrell · Indianapolis 500 1950. The recorded position is P27; this number alone does not show whether the driver completed the race distance. This is the last race start attributed to this constructor in the archive, not necessarily the end of the organisation behind it.
A distinctive way of racing
Adams built chassis for oval racing, without a team contesting the full European calendar. The chassis designation, engine name and the name given to the car by its entrant could coexist. His history also includes George Robson's 1946 victory in an Adams-Sparks, before the World Championship was established.
What remains
Between 1950 and 1960, Indianapolis awarded World Championship points while retaining its own technical and sporting environment. Levrett and Cantrell's retirement is simply the Adams episode that fell within the championship. Snyder and Robson's successes remain part of the American history of the Indianapolis 500, without retrospectively becoming World Championship results.