9 replies to this topic

[Cheater]

A very nice overview of board track racing.

[John Streisguth]

Reminds me of the story about the Atlantic City Speedway, built in 1926 but only in use for two years. 1.5 miles around, supposedly it was the fastest board track ever built. The outline is still visible in satelite photos

[garyvmachines]

Can you imagine !00+ mph on a board track on a  BIKE !!!! Granddad had some big attachments!!

And the dust and smoke... you know those bikes wear a handful in the turns!!!

 

Cool video.  

 

 GAV 

[TSR]

And over 130 mph for the supercharged  8-cylinder Miller cars on those 2 X 4s...

[Phil Hackett]

I wonder if my grandfather raced at those tracks. He was a motorcycle dealer for Cleveland and Reading-Standard in LA in the late 1910s to the late 1920s. He helped to organize cross-country races, hill-climb competitions and rallies in SoCal and raced those himself. I have a ton of pictures from that era.

[Rick]

Larry knows some info on a board track in Johnstown or Altoona, PA. He said it was as big a deal in the day as the Indy 500. Lots of casualties from boards coming up and...

[Dennis David]

[Cheater]

Biggest problem, as the tracks deteriorated, was the splinters that would often impale themselves in the cars and drivers.

From "the Golden Age of the American Racing Car" by Griffith Borgeson:

"You used to get hit with some terrific blocks and knots of wood. We all came in with pieces of wood bigger than kitchen matches driven into our face and foreheads. They'd go in, hit the bone, and then spread out. Then you had to remove them, of course."

I can't remember who wrote about this, but when the tracks got really bad they would develop holes in the surface. Sometimes kids would crawl beneath the tracks and watch the races for free by sticking their heads up through the holes, believing they could duck out of the way in time if a car was heading their way (and of course, the drivers were trying their best to avoid the holes, too). This unnerved one driver so badly that he stopped racing on any of the board tracks.

Here's a terrific Photobucket collection of images of board tracks and board track racing.

Board Tracks US 1910-1931

Here's a pic from that collection that will help to explain why the speeds were so high on the board tracks:

[Cheater]

Here's a short video, recently uploaded to YouTube, of the 1926 race at the Atlanta City board track
 
 

 

For more info on the Atlantic City race and the winner Harry Hartz, take a look at THIS item over at The Old Motor.

[racie35]

Boardies were brave souls... they run them still on dirt tracks, etc... I believe Davenport, IA, and such... still really cool but toned down.