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September 4, 1916 Cincinnati Speedway Poster Print

stevo — Sat, 04 Sep 2010 13:06:29 +0000

94 years ago today !!

1916 Cincinnati Speedway Poster Print

Track Location: Sharonville, Ohio, the track was proposed and construction begun in 1914. Local businessmen who where the financial bakers included Albert Lackman, R.K. LeBlond, George Wiedemann, William Welbon, L.J. Cooper, and Harry Shockly, the track was built by Harry Hake. The 2 mile Board Track opened September 4, 1916, and shut down in December of 1919. The staightaways were 70 ft. wide with turns that were banked 17 degrees, 33 degrees at the very top. The track was a near exact copy of the Chicago board track, and after closing and being abandoned in the early 1920′s, was dismantled and the lumber was shipped to Chillicothe, Ohio to be used in the construction of Camp Sherman during World War I. The site is currently ocupied by the U.S. Post office and other businesses.

The first race, September 4, 1916 was won by Johnny Aitken, who ran a 300 mile AAA sanctioned race at an average speed of 97.059 miles an hour, before a crowd estimated somewhere between 27,000 and 30,000. The winning car was a French Peugeot. With the 1917 Indianapolis 500 being cancelled due to the war, the Decoration Day (Memorial Day) classic was held at the Cincinnati Motor Speedway May 30, 1917. Fast time in qualifying was set by Ralph DePalma at 109 miles an hour. The race winner was Louis Chevrolet who averaged 102.18 miles an hour, finishing in 2 hours 26 minutes 47 seconds. The crowd was rumored to be 65,000, one of the largest sporting event crowds in Cincinnati history.
The last auto racing event was a 48 hour endurance race for Essex Automobiles held in December of 1919.
In August of 1919, discussions were held by several Cincinnati men who were both Stock Holders in the Cincinnati Reds and the Cincinnati Speedway, to possibly move the Reds home World Series games to the Cincinnati Speedway in Sharonville. The games, provided the Reds won the pennant, could be played in front of 100,000 people after the Speedway’s seating was arranged. The Reds eventually did win the World Series over the Chicago White Sox, but played all home games at Redland Field in Cincinnati.

Monday September 4, 1916 | 150 laps/300 miles 1st International Sweepstakes; Winner: John Aitken; Car: Peugeot #11
Pole position: Howard Wilcox
Fatalities : Riding Mechanic Bert Shields; Hometown: Unknown; Car: Stutz #5
Driver Gil Anderson, along with riding mechanic Bert Shields, were involved in a lap 84 accident that killed Shields and seriously injured Anderson.

August 28, 1932 Oakland Speedway Program Poster Print

stevo — Sat, 28 Aug 2010 13:00:13 +0000

1932 Oakland 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.

click here to buy the 1932 Oakland Speedway Program Poster Print in the Amazon WebStore

1947 Carpinteria Thunderbowl Midget Racing Program Poster Print

stevo — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 13:00:20 +0000

1947 Carpinteria Thunderbowl Midget Racing Program Poster Print

1947 Carpinteria Thunderbowl Midget Racing Program Poster Print. Measures 17 inches wide x 22 inches tall. One of two program posters prints we have from Carpinteria. 1947 and also another from 1956 Jalopy Races. Both super cool posters.

Free shipping on orders thru the Amazon WebStore with 2 or more posters.

August 2, 1975 Calistoga California Sprint Car Poster Print

stevo — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 21:37:11 +0000

1975 Calistoga California Sprint Car Racing Poster Print

In 1937, as the Model A was dominating America’s roadways when a promoter with the colorful nickname of “Fancy Pants” came to Calistoga with a ‘fancy’ idea. He believed the town’s horse racing track was ideal for another kind of horsepower. He persuaded the town’s leaders to promote a car race on the Napa County Fairgrounds. About a dozen cars showed up for an afternoon of hippodrome-style speed exhibitions. It was the beginning of a tradition that has endured for over 70 years.

Except for the years of World War II, when all racing in the nation was put on hold to conserve fuel and rubber, Calistoga Speedway has hosted open-wheel race cars. From spindly wire-wheeled wonders with four-cylinder engines to midgets and the V-8 powered, winged and modern sprint cars of today, Calistoga’s first racing heroes were family names that are still found in the Napa Valley, such as Figone, Normi, and Pacheteau.

The first races were sanctioned by the Bay Cities Roadster Racing Association and later the American Racing Association. The track hit its stride as a racing destination under the nurturing hand of another well-known Calistogan, Louie Vermeil, owner of the former Owl Garage on Washington Street, whose association with the track spanned over 40 years. Initially, he was a mechanic and later a car owner. By 1960, Vermeil and others had formed the Northern Auto Racing Club, now known as the Golden State Challenge Series, to boost the professionalism of sprint car racing. For the next 25 years, Calistoga Speedway was known as the “home” of the Northern Auto Racing Club while Vermeil presided as president.

Some things have changed over the years. Admission price in the early years was a mere 55 cents. The fastest cars of the hippodrome days took more than 30 seconds to turn a lap on the half-mile oval. To be sure, they were daring speeds at the time in rough cars with narrow tires. But they seem tortoise-like compared to speeds of modern sprint cars, which rocket down the long straightaways twice as fast at more than 120 miles an hour.

Over the years, Calistoga Speedway has hosted some of the best drivers of their eras. Indy car veterans Jim Hurtubise, Bob Veith, Freddie Agabasion (’52 Indy pole winner), and Earl Motter raced here in the ’50s and ’60s. Some of the best race car drivers of the next generation took their place, including 20-time World of Outlaws champion Steve Kinser and Tony Stewart, who has gone on to win championships in the United States Auto Club, the Indy Racing League, and NASCAR stock cars. Many of the drivers on the track’s all-time win list became nationally known for their talent, even if they raced primarily in Northern California, as the track gained a reputation for requiring the best effort of the area’s best drivers in order to win.

Today, Calistoga Speedway continues its tradition of presenting special events for some of the region’s most competitive racing series, including the winged sprint cars of the traveling Civil War and Golden State Challenge series and the traditional sprint cars and midgets of the United States Auto Club.

by Bill Sessa

July 18 – 19, 1953 Paradise Mesa Drag Strip Poster Print

stevo — Sun, 18 Jul 2010 13:00:30 +0000

1953 Paradise Mesa Drag Strip Poster Print

57 years ago …!! it was 1953 at the Paradise Mesa Drag Strip. This poster print measures 17 inches wide x 22 inches tall. An awesome reproduction poster print.

At Paradise Mesa, a strip southwest of San Diego California which opened in 1951 on a a site once notorious for “chaotic illegal sprint bashes,” competition was about equally divided between two and four wheeled vehicles. At the end of a day’s racing it was often a cycle that emerged on top. Still, there were four wheeled machines competing which looked a little like something purposefully designed, as opposed to having merely been “stipped to the bare essentials.” These machines were classified as “modifieds,”, a traditional dry lakes designation for a one-seater built on a narrowed frame.
It was at Paradise Mesa that many of the first drag racers emerged who became houshold names to hot rodders nationwide.

July 4, 1921 Tacoma Speedway Poster Print

stevo — Mon, 05 Jul 2010 13:00:05 +0000

1921 Tacoma Speedway Poster Print, measures 17 inches wide x 22 inches tall. Did a little Google search and found an awesome site with some great Washington State History. During its years of operation between 1912 and 1922, the Tacoma Speedway, located in Lakewood, hosted some of the big names of racing, rivaling the best in the world. The “Who’s Who” of races — “Terrible” Teddy Tetzlaff, Earl Cooper, Barney Oldfield, among others — left rubber on that track. Others left their lives. The grandstands closed in 1922, and the site is now (2004) home to Clover Park Technical College. Lakewood is a suburb of Tacoma.

1921 Tacoma Speedway Poster Print

The track was built by a group of Tacoma businessmen led by Arthur Pitchard, president of the Tacoma Automobile Association. They collected backers and built a five-mile, all-dirt track, which opened in 1912. The track ran around what is now Lakeview Avenue, where the grandstands stood, to Steilacoom Boulevard to Gravelly Lake Drive to 112th Street. The first races were held on July 5 and 6, 1912.

“Terrible” Teddy Tetzlaff, a famous racer of the day, was set to headline the first race that year. He was kidnapped days before the race, however, and held for ransom. Rumor has it he was held in a Tacoma brothel.

“When his bosses came to pick him up, he didn’t want to leave,” Herstad said.

The track changed quickly in those first few years. It shrunk to a 3.5-mile course in 1913, then in 1914 to a two-mile track. The shorter course was roughly what is now Steilacoom Boulevard and Gravelly Lake Drive to 100th, then back to Lakeview.

July 4, 1933 Los Angeles Air Races Poster Print

stevo — Sun, 04 Jul 2010 13:00:53 +0000

1933 Los Angeles Air Races Poster Print

Today is July 4 th !! Happy Birthday America !! Back in 1933 there was the Los Angeles Air Races. This poster print measures 17 inches wide x 22 inches tall. A great reproduction poster from the 30′s.