History of auto racing

 

Amatol [also known as "The Atlantic City Speedway"    Alcyon [Pitman Raceway] Flemington all were prestige races. 

Amatol was one of the famous ones. Built entirely of wood, racing surface included, it opened in 1926.  The Race House is still there, it's now a State Police regional HQ.

 

This is a link to an incredible site with hundreds of photos.  They have one of those setups that doesn't allow you to copy.

 

 

 

 

 

This a pic of Amatol under construction.  It took 4.5 million board ft. of lumber to build.  The track only operated for 2 years.  It was torn down in 1933.

Of note-  The main backer of the enterprise was, Charles Schwab, yes, that Charles Schwab.

 

 

Getting ready for a race at Amatol.    The Grandstands used 1.5 million bd ft to build and could hold 60,000 spectators, with standing room for 250,000 folks.

 

The Raceway was built on the site of the WWI Amatol Shell Loading facility.  The plant was built in 1918, employed nearly 10,000 folks, for which an entire town was planned and built. Today, not even a stick of lumber is left, of any of this.  It's part of a 2,000 acre State nature preserve.

 

 

 

I don't know if this is the same car, but in 1905 there was a famous race between Ford and Louis Cheverolet, on the beach at Cape May NJ.  Neither won the race, there were 2 others in the race who won by default when Ford's car was swamped by a wave, and Cheverolet's car got bogged down in soft sand.

 

 

Louis Cheverolet in the car he raced Henry Ford in at Cape May.  I have no idea as to what all of the stuff on the front is.

 

 

In 1970, drag racing changed forever.  This is a pic of Don Garlits as his transmission exploded.  The configuration of the Slingshot had the drivers legs straddling the trans.  The force of the blast tore off part of Garlits' right foot.

 

 

The explosion had the force and effect of a "military landmine", pieces flew everywhere.  You can see the clutch disc flying across the track.  The person circled lost an arm and there were several other near fatal injuries.

While in the hospital, Garlits' started working on a rear engine car.