1981 Riverside Stock Car Racing Poster Print
Today in history,29 years ago today…. the 1981 Riverside Stock Car Racing Poster Print. A flashback from 1981 here in SoCal. I do not carry many prints from the 80′s, however this is a cool one. Sharon Hodgdon 200, Warner Hodgdon 400 …Riverside . This reproduction print measures 25.5 inches wide x 11 inches tall.
1949 Oakland Stadium Speedway Program Poster Print. This reproduction poster measures 17 inches wide x 22 inches tall. A classic retro print from Oakland California.
1949 Oakland Stadium Speedway Program Poster Print
The Oakland Speedway was the first motor racing track near Oakland, California, a one-mile, banked dirt oval track built in 1931, which operated throughout the Great Depression and postwar years. The track featured AAA National Championship races with Indy cars and drivers from 1931 until 1936, when the AAA pulled out of the West Coast. Thereafter the track still featured racing by members of the Bay Cities Racing Association, in roadsters and motorcycles, as well as Big Cars, stock cars, and midgets. It was known as the “fastest dirt track in the Nation”.
In 1931 the Oakland Speedway was built near Oakland, but actually was located between Oakland and nearby Hayward, California, on the site of what is now Bayfair Mall in San Leandro, California.
Annually each fall the track hosted the “Oakland 500″ race. Many of the local East Bay races were exhibited by the Bay Cities Racing Association (BCRA). In 1948 local East Bay driver Bob Barkhimer quit racing to become the Business Manager for BCRA. In 1949 Barkhimer took over San Jose Speedway and also started his own association (CSCRA), and in 1954 he co-founded west coast NASCAR.
Among top drivers who were killed at the Oakland Speedway was Clyde Rea Bray, who had held second place in the A.R.A. points in 1939, behind champion Wally Schock. Bray had come in 5th in the Oakland “500″ that year. Two years later, on Labor Day, 1941, during the Oakland Speedway 500 race, on the 356th lap, Bray was fatally injured after being thrown from his car, after it sailed over the south fence.
Among legendary top race drivers who got their start at the Oakland Speedway was Bob Sweikert, the 1955 Indianapolis 500 winner. On Memorial Day, May 26, 1947 at the Oakland Speedway, Sweikert drove his own handbuilt track roadster in his debut race for prize money, and finished second.
1949 Orange Show Stadium Midget Racing Poster Print. Measures 17 inches wide x 22 inches tall. Second of the three from this race track. Located in San Bernardino, California. Awesome print !!
1949 Orange Show Stadium Midget Racing Poster Print
1951 Orange Show Stadium Midget Racing Poster Print. Measures 17 inches wide x 22 inches tall. Orange Show Stadium located in San Bernardino, California. This reproduction poster print is from 1951. We have three from that stadium , 1948, 1949 and this one from 1951.
1951 Orange Show Stadium Midget Racing Poster Print
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1931 Legion Ascot Speedway Poster Print. This print measures 17 inches wide x 22 inches tall. 1924-1936
1931 Legion Ascot Speedway Poster Print
Los Angeles, California….Technically not in Lincoln Heights but should be noted for its proximity and historical importance. It opened in 1924, and met its demise after the main grandstand burned in 1936.
The racetrack was located along Soto Street from Valley Blvd. to Multnomah St. Now Multnomah Elementary School and a housing tract is built on top the racetrack.
The five-eighths mile Ascot Speedway began life as the New Ascot Speedway on January 20, 1924. The banked oval that was originally dirt but constant applications of road oil soon produced a surface that was similar to pavement. The cars that raced at Ascot throughout the years were the ancestors of what we today call “sprint cars”.
From 1924 to 1927 the track was only moderately successful under the promotion of several groups. In 1928 the Glendale American Legion Post took over the promotion and brought in the cars and drivers of the American Automobile Association (AAA). The AAA was the leading racing organization in the country and controlled all the major speedways including Indianapolis. The soon to be legendary Legion Ascot Speedway was born!
The hard working Legionnaires did an excellent job of race promotion and soon crowds of 10,000 and more were flocking to races held on Sundays in the winter and under the lights on Wednesday nights. The big crowds brought big purses and torrid competition.
The races attracted the best drivers in the country and Legion Ascot was creating its own stars. Men like Bill Cummings, Al Gordon, Ernie Triplett, Kelly Petillo, Wilbur Shaw and Rex Mays tangled in hard fought and crowd pleasing races. Winning a feature race at Legion Ascot could pay up to $800—a figure that would come close to buying a house in Los Angeles in the 1920s and ’30s.
Legion Ascot, at a time when top movie celebrities had their pictures taken with their racing heroes.
Movie stars rubbed shoulders with the rich and famous and served in honorary capacities…..they sought the honor.
The speed and competition came with a price. From 1924 to 1936 some two dozen drivers lost their lives in spectacular crashes. The death toll was one reason the Glendale American Legion bowed out of race promotion in early 1935—the other reason was that the emergence of midget auto racing that was cutting into the crowds at Ascot.
The track became Ascot Motor Speedway and racing continued. On January 25, 1936 the final tragedy struck during a race for two man Indianapolis cars as Al Gordon and riding mechanic Spider Matlock were both killed in a crash.
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1946 Dooling Brothers Tether Car Poster Print. A great print from 1946. This reproduction ad measures 22 inches wide x 17 inches tall.
Wikipedia: Tether cars were developed beginning in the 1920s-30s and still are built, raced and collected today. First made by hobby craftsmen, tether cars were later produced in small numbers by commercial manufacturers such as Dooling Brothers (California), Dick McCoy (Duro-Matic Products), Garold Frymire (Fryco Engineering) BB Korn, and many others. Original examples of the early cars, made from 1930s-60s, are avidly collected today and command prices in the thousands of dollars.
The cars are about 12-24 inches long, 3-4 inches wide, run on rubber tires 3-4 inches in diameter, have a cast metal body (usually magnesium and aluminum, but also fiberglass and wood bodies), and have robust gear drives. Engines are nitro or methanol fueled, with displacements from 0.09-0.61 cubic inches (1.5-10 cubic centimeters). Early engines (prior to 1960s) had spark ignition systems. Later engines use glow plug ignition. The cars are tethered to a central post hitch by a steel cable and run around a circular track of 19.9 meters in diameter.
Current racing activity in the U.S. is governed by the American Miniature Racing Car Association with three racetracks in NY, CA and IN. Contemporary cars run at speeds of up to 200+ miles per hour giving them the reputation as fastest model cars in the world. After push-starting the car the driver decides when to take the speed measurement. As soon as he presses a button the time for 8 laps, which equal to 500 meters, is accurately measured by 1/1000s.
1946 Dooling Brothers Tether Car Poster Print
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This retro poster print is one of four prints of Gilmore Oil .Gilmore Oil –What began as a farmers market and grew to be a successful dairy farm, resulted in Arthur Fremont Gilmore striking oil at the turn of the century in Los Angeles, California. The Gilmore family took their fortune and became very active in the community, constructing Gilmore Stadium in 1934 with the very first race track specifically designed for midget racers.
This reproduction poster print from 1937 measures 15.5 inches wide x 21.5 inches tall. Makes for a great gift.
1937 Gilmore Red Lion Oil Co. Advertisement Poster Print
Blogging about the posters I have to offer.
