Team story
Origins
Jimmy Davies’s number 76 Parks entry brought the Pawl name to the 1951 Indianapolis 500. The customer was L. E.
Parks; IMS describes the chassis as a Silnes-Pawl and the engine as an Offenhauser. Its origins lie in American workshops and race entries, not in the creation of a team intended for European circuits.
The Formula 1 journey
Davies started 27th and completed 110 laps before a transmission failure, appearing 16th in the results. The other years recorded in the archive are 1954, with Rodger Ward, and 1955, with Eddie Russo: those appearances also ended in retirement, without a podium placing.
Historical timeline
Three chapters in the story of Pawl
Three episodes to revisit the people, cars and races that shaped this journey.
First appearance · Indianapolis 500
Jimmy Davies · Indianapolis 500 1951. The recorded position is P16; 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
Jimmy Davies · Indianapolis 500 1951. The recorded position is P16; 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
Eddie Russo · Indianapolis 500 1955. The recorded position is P22; 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
Pawl is therefore a constructor designation, while Parks identifies Davies’s entry. The combined Silnes-Pawl name retained by Indianapolis is a reminder that a car’s attribution could include more than one craftsman.
What remains
These appearances count towards the World Championship because Indianapolis awarded championship points from 1950 to 1960. Their story remains that of the American race: Davies, Ward and Russo drove cars prepared for the oval, not a Pawl programme travelling between Monaco, Monza and Silverstone.