Ralph De Palma was born Raffaele De Palma on December 18, 1883 in Troia, Italy. His parents immigrated to New York City in the 1890's, and De Palma always considered New York City to be his home. Although christened Raffaele, De Palma Americanized his first name to Ralph at an early age.
De Palma graduated from high school and then attended Stevens Institute in Hoboken, New Jersey, but did not graduate.
As a youth De Palma was interested in all kinds of racing. He was a quarter-mile runner on a National Guard track team. Later he became a bicycle mechanic and then a bicycle racer. He won half a dozen races as an amateur and finished second in a six-day race. He then became interested in motorcycle racing for a couple of years, winning most of the races he entered.
About 1902 De Palma entered and won a bicycle race under an assumed name, was discovered, and was suspended from all athletic competitions for five years. The lifting of the suspension coincided with De Palma's entry into motor racing.
His involvement in motor racing occurred by accident. He was working as an automotive mechanic when, two days before the Briarcliff road race in April 1907, one of the drivers was hurt. De Palma volunteered to replace him and drove in the race. Although he did not win, his career as a driver had begun.
His earliest successes were as a member of the Fiat team. De Palma's first major victory was in Philadelphia in 1908 at the Old Point Breeze Race Track when he drove a mile in less than sixty seconds, then a world's record for that kind of track. He toured the country in 1909 racing on dirt tracks. He won the National Dirt Track Championship in 1908, 1909, 1910, and 1911. He was the American Automobile Association national champion in 1912 and 1914, the winner of the Vanderbilt Cup in 1912 and 1915, and the winner of the Elgin National Road Race in 1912, 1914, and 1920. His triumph in the 1914 Vanderbilt Cup Race was especially gratifying, since he defeated his bitter rival Barney Oldfield.
De Palma was never seriously injured in a race, although he did break a leg in 1909 at Danbury, Connecticut, and in 1912 in Milwaukee his car collided with another racer, went out of control, and overturned in a cornfield. Two cornstalks penetrated his thigh and abdomen, and he was hospitalized for eleven weeks.
Although De Palma considered his victory in the 1915 Indianapolis 500 Speedway Race his greatest triumph, his most famous race was the 1912 Indy. During that race he was leading by five laps when on the one-hundred-ninety-fifth lap a connecting rod in his Mercedes broke and the car began losing oil and power. The car came to a stop approximately a mile from the finish. He and his mechanic, Rupert Jeffkins, then pushed the car across the finish line to a standing ovation from the crowd. De Palma's unusual finish was naturally disallowed and the record booklists De Palma as having come in eleventh, even though his car was the second one across the finish line. De Palma's Mercedes experienced the same mechanical difficulty at the same stage of the race in the 1915 Indy, but he was able to nurse it home just ahead of Dario Resta's Peugeot to capture the $25, 000 first prize.
His average speed of 89. 94 miles per hour set a record for the Indy that was not surpassed until Jimmy Murphy's 94. 48 miles per hour in 1922. De Palma never won the Indianapolis 500 again, although at his death he held the record of 613 for laps being in the lead.
De Palma was involved in the mechanical as well as the racing aspects of the automobile. In 1914 he became interested in engineering and research and went to work for the Packard Motor Car Company. Two years later he established the De Palma Manufacturing Company in Detroit for the production of racing cars and engines. He was responsible for many engineering advances, which he often used while racing. He was the first person to road-test four-wheel brakes in the United States.
With American entry in World War I, De Palma sold his business and enlisted in the Air Service. He earned a captain's commission and became director of flying at McCook Field, Dayton, Ohio. After World War I, De Palma rejoined the Packard Motor Car Company and resumed his driving.
He appeared in the major American and international races. He finished fifth in the 1920 Indy 500, fourth in 1922, and seventh in 1925. He finished second in the French Grand Prix in 1921, the first one held after World War I, and won the Canadian Championship in 1929. De Palma was elected to the Racing Hall of Fame in 1954 and to the Helms Hall of Fame. After his retirement from racing De Palma worked for the Ford, Studebaker, Cadillac, and Ranger Aircraft companies. From 1946 to 1956 he was employed by the General Petroleum Corporation, officiating at economy road runs and lecturing on safe driving before high school audiences.
Ralph De Palma drove in 2, 889 races, winning 2, 557. Both his percentage of victories and total number of victories were probably all-time records. He was the greatest driver of his era, surpassing the exploits of such legendary figures as Barney Oldfield and Eddie Rickenbacker. He won approximately $1. 5 million during his career. In 1919 at Daytona Beach, Florida, driving a Packard with a 905cc engine, De Palma set a world speed record of 149. 875 miles per hour, breaking the old record by 8 miles per hour. In 1973, he was made a posthumous member of the Automotive Hall of Fame in Dearborn, Michigan. In 1991 he was inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame. He was named to the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame in 1991. He was inducted in the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in 1992. In 2006, De Palma was inducted into the Elgin (IL) Sports Hall of Fame.
De Palma's cautious driving reflected his personality. He was the opposite of the publicity seeking, flamboyant, and foolhardy Oldfield.
De Palma was the brother of 500 competitor John De Palma and the uncle of 1925 Indy winner Peter De Paolo.
