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Laurel Speedway: 1925
July 11, 1925. Our third look at the lineup on Laurel Speedway's board track. National Photo Company Collection glass negative. ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/05/2012 - 1:11pm -

July 11, 1925. Our third look at the lineup on Laurel Speedway's board track. National Photo Company Collection glass negative. View full size. Jaw DroppingI just cannot get over a track made entirely from wooden planks. The fact the corners are so steeply banked too... Wow, just, wow... Good Seats Still Available Dash for a New Record Championship Auto Race (click to enlarge) Splinters!In his book "500 Miles to Go" racing legend Wilbur Shaw talked about racing on board tracks like this. He said that splinters of varying sizes flew into his arms around where his elbows stuck out and that kids would sneak under the track and poke their heads up through the track where the boards weren't "in the groove." He didn't like racing on board tracks but a paycheck was a paycheck. Can't imagine many drivers wanting to race in those conditions today. (The Gallery, Cars, Trucks, Buses, Natl Photo, Sports)
Speedway Racers: 1925
... 1925. Prince George's County, Maryland. "Bicycle races at Laurel Speedway." National Photo Company Collection glass negative. View full size. ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/13/2013 - 3:26pm -

July 18, 1925. Prince George's County, Maryland. "Bicycle races at Laurel Speedway." National Photo Company Collection glass negative. View full size. So,I'm guessing the fourth fella from the left is either A) not a touchy feely kinda guy B) itchy to get the race started and stop this photo nonsense C) disturbed that he forgot his cycling shorts Sans SpandexAh, the days before obnoxious kits (and helmets). Old SchoolAs far as I can tell every bike is single-speed and none had brakes. Track BikesTrack bikes are pretty much the same today. No brakes, one gear, and no freewheel so no coasting. You just apply back pressure to slow down. At least two of these have brake levers, though. You wouldn't see any brakes at a track race today. Looks like a wood track, too. Watch out for slivers! 4th from the leftThat old guy (he's gotta be at least 30!) is going to get dusted by these kids! He apparently thought he was going golfing judging by his pants. FixiesTrack racers are still usually fixed-gear brakeless speedsters today. But these guys haven't dreamt of the solid wheels and carbon fiber you see now. Track BikesThese bikes are a bit strange in one respect: they are classic track bikes (single gear -- you brake by trying to stop peddling) with touring type front forks. Current "racing" bikes have nearly straight front forks. Rat trapsLooks like they are using "rat trap" pedals. I still use this style pedal on my mountain bike. Most riders use a clipless pedal today with matched biking shoes. Board racing was awful!One spill and the board track turned you into a porcupine. Board tracksBaltimore-Washington Speedway was a 1.125 mile wooden oval with 48-degree banked corners, and was built by Jack Prince, an Englishman who basically was the father of board track construction in the U.S. He was an ex-bike racer. It was operational between 11 June 1925 and 25 September 1926, so these guys raced (on a Saturday) just five weeks after it opened. All of the board tracks' primary users were race cars, not bikes, although Prince based his design on bike racing's wooden velodromes. From my article "Racing on Wood": "With boards stacked on edge, 16 to 20 feet long or so, two inches by up to eight inches wide, 24 tracks were built in the U.S., all but two of them ovals, with banking in some cases as much as 50 degrees. Today's Daytona has 31-degree banking, Talladega has 33, Bristol 36, California Speedway and Pocono 14, and Indy might as well be a giant cafeteria tray with its relatively flat nine degrees. For promotional purposes it was not unknown for owners to claim higher banking for their new track than for the last one built, so precise measurement could be snookered occasionally." AND: "The 'boards' didn't last long. Their champion proponent, builder Prince, died in 1927. The 1929 stock market crash was no help. The tracks' average life was four seasons. Altoona, which ran from 1923 into 1931, had the longest career. Not much was known about preserving wood outdoors without creosote (too slippery) to provide stable, even surfaces able to withstand the pounding of race cars capable of covering 220 feet a second." Faster guys on the insideThese fine racers are obviously arranged by speed, with the guys near the outside lane looking like they're just there for kicks. I also notice that the tires look like 27 x 1-1/4 size, which is 32mm, compared to the modern 23mm tires. Just one of the many things that have changed in bike racing. Dusie on the boardsThe racecar is a 1925 Duesenberg Eight Speedway Car, driven at the time by Peter De Paolo. The car apparently sold for 330,000 dollars at the Monterey Sports and Classic Car Auction in 2007. The guy so comfortably ensconced on the front is undoubtedly waiting for the real racing action to commence. Captain Pedantic hereThe city of Laurel is in fact in Prince Georges County (which technically should be spelled without the apostrophe, since it was spelled that way in the original charter almost 400 years ago). However, the old (long-gone) speedway was just about an ant's tiptoe over the line into Anne Arundel County. (The Gallery, Bicycles, D.C., Sports)
Speed Racer: 1925
July 18, 1925. Laurel, Maryland. "R.J. O'Connor, inter-city championship bicycle races, Laurel Speedway." National Photo Co. glass negative. View full size. He does. ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/13/2013 - 3:34pm -

July 18, 1925. Laurel, Maryland. "R.J. O'Connor, inter-city championship bicycle races, Laurel Speedway." National Photo Co. glass negative. View full size. He does."Who wears short shorts?" BrakelessFixed gear -- no freewheeling. Great for fast track and stunt riding. Not so good for stopping. Get it wrong and over the handlebars you go. FixieTrack racing bikes still have no brakes (and no freewheel device). The rider slows down by pedaling slower. They are still raced on wooden tracks, including in the Olympics. The tracks today are generally better finished and polished, since falls are common. Look at those huge splinters! This fixed-geared arrangement has become very trendy lately, to the point it has a cutesy name: "fixie." Handsome BrakelessAlso a handsome rake! No Stopping HimYipes! There doesn't seem to be any braking mechanism on his bike. (Unless there is a foot brake that isn't apparent.) Also wondering what the sprocket lettering represents. [BSA -- Birmingham Small Arms, a British maker of bicycles and motorcycles. - Dave] Other points of interestNote the mold lines on the tires, and the axle hole through the crimped fork ends (rather than a slot). HairodynamicAll that riding has sculpted his hair into a modern 2009 look! BSABirmingham Small Arms, which began as a gun manufacturer, produced bicycles in the first half of the twentieth century. During WWII they made a folding bike for British Airborne paratroopers. After the war production switched to motorcycles, and in the 1950s and '60s "Beezers" were legendary racing bikes. They couldn't keep up with Japanese manufacturers, though, and by the early '70s the company was kaput. Progress of another sortWhat housing block or shopping mall now covers the "Laurel Speedway"? Enquiring minds, etc.! Fixie popularityWhen I was a courier in DC (89 to 97) only riders with major experience and major balls rode track bikes. It takes much more skill to stop quickly. Now every skinny jeans-wearing hipster rides a fixed gear bike, geared to stop easier and usually with a flat handlebar. Of course a lot more people are riding bikes these days. Funny how all it took to get more people in this country to get back on bikes was super expensive gas and a serious recession. Baltimore-Washington Speedwayhttp://www.wheelsofspeed.com/mdhist.html Baltimore-Washington Speedway - Laurel, MD 1.125-mile wood oval (7/11/1925 - 9/25/1926) The track, featuring turns banked at 48 degrees, was built by Jack Price in early 1925. The site is now the property of the Laurel Pines Country Club. Stupid Bike TricksMy dad raced in San Jose in the 1930s. When I was a kid down on the central coast, he had a bike like this that he'd let us use. Long before it became fashionable to do crazy stunts on a bikes, we'd ride hell-bent for leather from the top of our street toward the beach. About halfway down, we'd stand up on the (absurdly skinny) seat. Usually we'd still hold onto the handlebars, but sometimes we'd stand all the way up for part of the ride and then jump back down to stop. It's amazing that any of us made it to adulthood. I Agree WholeheartedlyDefinitely a handsome rake! Pure rideI still have my track bikes from the 70's. Pure ride - who needs 20 gears? Back in the day, our jerseys and chamois were wool, we knew how to repair our own bikes, nailed our cleats on and rode because we loved to. And we laughed at those who spent a fortune on a bike and could not ride a straight line. Even more fun was zipping past some turkey on a road bike while on a track bike and doing it in the hills of the SF Bay Area. (The Gallery, Bicycles, Natl Photo, Sports)
Splinter Alley: 1925
July 11, 1925. Another look at the lineup on Laurel Speedway's board track. National Photo Company Collection glass negative. ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/26/2011 - 3:22pm -

July 11, 1925. Another look at the lineup on Laurel Speedway's board track. National Photo Company Collection glass negative. View full size. Speed-Crazed Drivers Washington Post, Jul 11, 1925 14 Auto Entrants Qualify for Race Today at Laurel De Paolo Leads With and Average of 131.5 Miles for One Lap A wide board track, wrapping 80 acres of ground as a ribbon might encircle an ostrich egg, with a huge grandstand overlooking it all, is ready today to vibrate under the great motor gruel, the inaugural race at the Washington-Baltimore automobile speedway. Never level and in places almost up and down, it is to the arena of sixteen speed-crazed drivers, out on a Roman holiday to entertain the populace and in so doing to lower the world's speed records. Peter de Paolo, plucky aspirant for this year's motor racing fame, made himself and machine a fitting apparition on it yesterday and establishing a strategic place in today's get-away. De Paolo drove his racing Dusenberg around the course at a speed of 131.5 miles an hour, the greatest speed attained in the qualifying rounds. As a result he will have the preferred position at the start with Earl Cooper, who qualified Thursday with a speed of 129.8 miles an hour. ... An inspection of the approach to the track yesterday emphasized the traffic problem. While there is plenty of space to park machines both outside and inside the oval there is only a narrow road leading to it from the highway, a distance of about half a mile. Every effort, however, is to be made to keep traffic moving briskly. Those planning to go to the track in machines, should bear this in mind in arranging their running time. Special trains will be operated over the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. They run directly to the track. ... Arrangements have been completed for handling the vast crowd expected to attend the race. Two hundred District national guardsmen, under the command of Capt. P.G. Nevitt, are to cooperate with the Maryland guardsmen, State police and regular soldiers in regulating traffic both inside and outside the bowl. Capt. Nevitt's men are to assemble at the armory. He stated last night that any motorist who will come by, fill his car with as many guardsmen as he can take will be given free parking space at the track. Hard to ImagineIt would be hard to imagine a modern race car going that fast on a wooden track. It must have been a heck of a time keeping the car under control with those narrow tires going over the parallel boards. Incredible. What a thrill it must have been to see. Wow! I love these shots of the old wooden tracks. This track was 1.125 miles in length so I'll bet that the straight speeds were approaching something over 140mph, in 1925! Straight Eight Flatheads, I'll bet. Look! There's no fence separating the grandstand from the track and the infield is wide open. And those cars, I'm sure, were pretty heavy. The danger here is astounding. These guys were truly fearless. Wow, indeedThe Duesies and the Millers had straight-8 DOHC engines with superchargers. No slackers here! Just for the recordWith its 48-degree banked track, Laurel was topped only by the 50-degree track at Fulford-By-The-Sea, near Miami. (Daytona is 31 degrees.) There were 24 board tracks in 13 states built between 1905 and 1926. Most lasted only a handful of years because not much was known then about making the pine boards most tracks used durable enough to withstand the cars' pounding and the weather. There was creosote but it was not acceptable for track surfaces (no traction). I don't have in my files the highest lap speed at Laurel, but the record for the fastest single lap driven on a board track (championship car) was set by Frank Lockhart on the 1.5 mile 45-degree Atlantic City track, on May 7, 1927, in a Miller 91 rear drive with an average speed of 147.229mph. This record was not topped until 1960 at Indianapolis (and not on wood!) with a qualifying speed of 149.056 mph set by Jim Hurtubise. (The Gallery, Baltimore, Cars, Trucks, Buses, Natl Photo, Sports)
Board Track: 1925
July 11, 1925. "Auto races at Laurel, Maryland." The 1⅛-mile wooden oval at Laurel Speedway. National Photo Company glass negative. View full size. ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 09/04/2012 - 4:56pm -

July 11, 1925. "Auto races at Laurel, Maryland." The 1⅛-mile wooden oval at Laurel Speedway. National Photo Company glass negative. View full size. Sibling rivalryLooks like both Ralph and John DePalma were racing that day. Black BoxesFor a good while I kept wondering what were those neatly arranged squares in the outfield. I guess I'm slow on the uptake. Notice the Parking Lot?Every car in the lot is black. Finding your car after the race must have been hell! And sitting in the stands squinting into the glare from all those skimmers...... A Sea of Menall looking toward the track, and one lone woman with a parasol looking toward the camera. Interesting composition. Sharing a memory...There was a graphic design studio I worked in for a time and it (rather oddly) had a race car set in the middle of the office of the same type in the photos. I recall one office party where I (accompanied by my beer) finally worked up the gumption to climb into it. I remember sitting there, hands on the wheel, and just letting my mind wander back to a scene similar to the one in this photo. The car was much larger then I would have imagined. Amazing Uniformity of HatsWhat's with all the straw hats? It must have been the style in 1925 ... but still, did 98% of the men of the time wear the same kind of hat? It's really kind of freaky. [Check out this photo. - Dave] Hat DayMust have been Hat Day at the track. You know, they give away free hats. Also, the banking in turn 4 is not supported by dirt. It is actually up on supports , which you don't see anymore. To what degree?That has to be the most steeply-banked track I've ever seen! The corners appear to be way steeper than Daytona or Talladega. I wonder just what the degree of banking actually was. [48 degrees. - Dave] HiddenAnd not a Marx Brother in sight? Not even a Harp! Sea of HatsSkimmers or boaters were the hat of choice, much like ballcaps today. You can still get one, I love mine. Newspaper BrimsPlenty of folks have extended the coverage of their hats with sheets of newspaper. That's a lotta woodThe idea of a wooden racetrack for cars is incredible! It takes a hefty underlying support structure to keep the surface boards in place. Even with that the pounding of the racecars would loosen the nails and the resulting clickity-clack sound would have been very loud. I remember that effect from some wooden bridges we used to have around here. Unless all the wood was treated with creosote, the usual preservative back then, the whole track might rot away in a few years. Wonder how many years the track did last? Why wood?Why was it made of wood? [It was a relatively cheap way to build a banked racecourse. Board tracks were quite popular in the early part of the century. - Dave] Deadly SplintersBoard tracks were used for motorcycle racing at the time as well and taking a spill on the lumber was a nasty experience. LostHave you seen my dad? He was wearing a white shirt and a straw hat. Quite a lineupRalph was the only DePalma racing that day. The partially-obscured "DeP___a" was a misspelling of Pete DePaolo's name. Pete was Ralph's nephew, the winner of the 1925 Indy 500, and also the winner of this race. A list of the results can be found here. Interesting to see so many jackets on a day marked by "extreme heat." Board track racer Jim DavisA few years back I had the pleasure of meeting long retired board track racer Jim Davis, who raced motorcycles for the Indian Company beginning in 1916. He told stories of running over 100 mph on the boards and having splinters thrown up by other bikes with such force that they would pierce the protective leather gear. At the end of one race as he slowed to a stop he discovered he couldn't remove his foot from the peg of his bike and found that a large splinter had pierced the leather of his boot and wedged itself between parts of the bike. Fortunately it somehow missed his foot. It was all insanely dangerous but when you were 17 years old and could make $25 a week plus expenses and prize money, why not? Mr. Davis was a very polite man, friendly, and could tell racing stories 75 years after they happened like they happened last week. Finish LineThe results linked to in an earlier comment are interesting. All cars save one were a Duesie or a Miller and the average speed for the 250 miles was around 124 mph. Very impressive considering the venue! I wonder if it was AAA sanctioned. A board track legendNeedless to say, the elaborate framework of a board track allowed ample opportunity for boys to climb around under the track. A legend goes that during a race at Beverly Hills, a driver came into the pits pale and shaking. When asked what's wrong, he said "There has been a crash and I saw the guy's head bouncing down the track!" He was told there had been no crash. What he saw were local urchins getting the best view of a race imaginable; through holes in the boards. They would duck down as the cars passed and then pop back up as they cleared. Then and NowHere is the track today, overgrown but still recognizable: View Larger Map Woodpeckers not allowedThe official name of this track is The Baltimore-Washington Speedway and all races ran there were AAA sanctioned. It had 48 degree banked corners and was built by Jack Prince. However it was very short loved in that it was operational between the June 1925 and the September 1926. The first board track was built at the Los Angeles Coliseum Motordrome in 1910. The design was based on the velodromes still used for bicycle racing. Regarding the dress code of the day, considering that these were the days when men wore not only hats, but suits and ties to the movies, to ballgames, horse races and in this case, to auto races, it was expected to be a very hot day at the event thus the white dress code and straw hats. As a racer, the topic of board tracks has been one of my studies for several years all of which had some amazing historical value. That said, in my opinion, the board track in San Francisco was the most beautiful of all with a significant amount of historical value. It was built overlooking San Francisco to coincide with the 1915 Pan Pacific International Exposition (World's Fair), where the 1915 Vanderbilt Cup race was run. I have some beautiful photos of them and the cars. CamerasMakes you wonder what ever happened to the pictures they are taking down in the race lane, and if, some time in the future, Dave will find and post them. [A clever ploy. More here and here. - Dave] Google Maps imageI am fascinated by the Google Maps image posted below. I'd love to get into that property just to look around and walk the old layout and stand where such an amazing track was. Sadly, I'm in Arizona so it's not likely to happen. Hats and Plank roadsI can also attest to the terrific comfort of a straw boater. I got an antique boater recently (ca 1930s) and it's amazing how shady cool and comfortable they are. And yes, just about every man in America wore one. May 15 was the traditional "Straw Hat Day," when straws were "officially" sanctioned to be worn. Regarding the wooden track, this was also the era of plank roads. In an era when wood was tremendously abundant, miles and miles of highways were paved with wood. Even in Brooklyn, Coney Island Avenue was originally called Coney Island Plank Road. Laurel board trackWhen I was a kid, we used to ride our bikes in the woods there. Unfortunately, the current image above does't show any remains at all of the old track. 4 or 5 years ago they cleared the land. Now its just a grass field. About 10 years ago, when we found the track, we thought it was a road. We road our bikes on it and and discovered it was huge oval. Since the track was all sand, we thought it was once part of the horse track. Since the horse track is across the street(brock bridge rd), it only made sense to us. Wish it was still there since I now know what it is. (The Gallery, Cars, Trucks, Buses, Natl Photo, Sports)
Grease: 1925
"Bob McDonough, Laurel race." On his ribbon: "Baltimore-Washington Speedway DRIVER. Inaugural Opening. Saturday July 11, 1925." View full size. ... Miami, Omaha, and Tacoma, plus Kansas City, Missouri; Laurel; Salem, New Hampshire; Sheepshead Bay in New York. Most were ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 10/22/2012 - 10:54am -

"Bob McDonough, Laurel race." On his ribbon: "Baltimore-Washington Speedway DRIVER. Inaugural Opening. Saturday July 11, 1925." View full size. Just look at those eyesHe's exhausted. He's dirty. His hands and feet are probably still shaking. He could've died this day, horrible and bloody. He might die in the next race. And he wouldn't have it any other way. Error on the boards.McDonough was initially declared the winner of the instant event, but after the scoring cards were checked Pete DePaolo was granted the win. Yum!Nothin' like a lime after a hot, dirty race! About those board tracks(Details adapted from my magazine article "Racing on Wood"): There were 24 board tracks in the U.S. from California to New Hampshire, ranging in size from a half mile to two, with seven in California (Beverly Hills on Wilshire Boulevard near today’s Rodeo Drive; Cotati, Culver City, Fresno and San Carlos, plus two circle tracks, Oakland and Playa del Rey); three in Pennsylvania at Altoona, Bridgeville and Uniontown; Akron and Cincinnati, Ohio; Atlantic City and Woodbridge, New Jersey, Charlotte, Chicago, Des Moines, Miami, Omaha, and Tacoma, plus Kansas City, Missouri; Laurel; Salem, New Hampshire; Sheepshead Bay in New York. Most were designed and constructed by a former self-titled world champion high-wheel bicycle racer, Englishman Jack Prince. Playa Del Ray was the first built, in 1910, and the last major board track race was at Woodbridge on 10/18/1931. Average track life was just four years. Not much was known about protecting wood without using slippery creosote and the stock market crash didn't help. Frank Lockhart did the fastest ride ever on the boards, a race qualifying lap of 147.229 mph in a Miller 91 on the mile and-a-half Atlantic City 45-degree banked track near Hammondton on May 7, 1927. BTW Laurel's track was banked 48 degrees. Bob cleaned up real goodHere's McDonough at Laurel on 10/24/1925 holding a funnel covered with a cloth strainer while his fuel tank is topped off. Below that is a self-explaining Laurel poster. Played byBears a strong resemblence to Paul Newman, who became noted for his sports car racing skills, primarily in Datsuns. (The Gallery, Cars, Trucks, Buses, D.C., Natl Photo, Sports)
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