Board speedways

Something that has always interested me but I have very little knowledge about is the board speedways that sprouted up in the US in the early part of the century. They have been mentioned in a couple of books I have read but not really expanded on. How many were there? Is there any photos of them? Did small boys really poke their heads through the rotting boards for a better view? (Can't remember where I got that from but it always stuck in my head as improbable)

What I do know. Well the first was in Playa del Rey California, 1910? Kansas City had one that lasted only two years before rotting away (1922-1924) and the idea spread from coast to coast with there being one built in Fresno and one in Atlantic City and thats about it.. I'm not even 100% positive on the above.

Also were there any board tracks built outside the US?

There was a short lived discussion about board tracks here... http://forums.atlasf...&threadid=74510

Some interesting discussion and links on this earlier topic:

http://forums.atlasf...&threadid=74510

Originally posted by FrankB
There was a short lived discussion about board tracks here... http://forums.atlasf...&threadid=74510

Followed two days later by

Originally posted by harryglorydays
Some interesting discussion and links on this earlier topic:

http://forums.atlasf...&threadid=74510

Why make a second reference to the same thread

Something from the thread on American going 'round in circles....

Originally posted by Don Capps


I think we've discussed this a time or two before, but I will try to see what I can do.

Road racing was a very common form of automobile racing in America during the years up to the early 1920's. The first motor racing event held on a closed track in the USA was at Narragansett Park at the Rhode Island State Fair on 7 September 1896. The track was an oval and usually given to hosting horse races. It was a less than stellar performance due to rains soaking the track, but photos of the grandstands should a very, very large crowd in attendance. Oh, an electric vehicle won, the Riker Electric with A.L. Riker and C.H. Whiting aboard.

In the early part of the 20th Century, a common part of many county and state fairs were horse races. Naturally, there was some crossover by those promoting horse races into the business of promoting automobile racing. However, road courses and oval tracks exited side-by-side for many years, competitors and promoters going from one to the other and back again. Not all horse racing promoters were enthralled with using their tracks for motor racing. The cars did considerable damage to the track surface -- as well as the fencing lining the track. Also, the stables were scarcely adequate for the job as garages and not many competitors were keen on the facilities.

Both road racing and track racing generally drew very good crowds. For road courses, the usual mantra that promoters couldn't make any money due to the layout is not quite accurate. What many of the clever promoters did was erect grandstands at all the best vantage points or simply control access to those points. Promoters also soon realized that shortening the road courses helped as well. The major problem that was difficult to find an easy solution for when road courses were used was policing the course. The problem was not necessarily people -- although that was a problem, it was the animals which wandered onto the course and into the path of the cars.

Several forces began to interesct changed the way races were conducted. First, in the early years of the century a reform movement which had been gaining steam during the 1890's, really got momentum during the 1905 thru 1920 period. Although alcohol is the best known target of this movement, one of the other targets was gambling, particularly waging on horse races. Many states outlawed betting on horse races or simply banned horse racing altogether. California passed several laws which essentially reduced horse racing to zero. This left many former horse racing tracks, such as the track at Ascot Park open for other uses.

Then, there was the velodrone phenomenon of which Major Taylor was the Leading Light. Velodrones sprang up all over the USA. As the velodrone fad began to die down, these tracks were recycled for motorcycles and then led to the planked board speedways. Initially, these planked board tracks were not that successful, but in 1915 they "suddenly" burst on the scene and would be a staple for over a decade.

Speedways were built of planked board, concrete (one being at Minneapolis-St. Paul -- on the site where MSP airport is today), bricks, and dirt. In 1915 and 1916, the AAA National CHampionship Trail had all these sorts of tracks, plus road courses and a point-to-point event on its calendar.

The promoters saw the advantges of speed tracks and began to lean in that direction. However, the lack of racing on road courses was also as much a factor of liability issues as the availability of track venues.

Stir in the development of ultra-specialized racing machines for track races, the effectiveness of the public relations machine at the Indianpolis Motor Speedway, and any number of other factors and you end up with why it turned out as it did.

This is an extremely abbreviated version of things, so it was not a single factor or even two or three factors, but a large number of factors which led to the primary mode of automobile racing in the USA being on ovals by the early-1920s.

I hope this helps.