Early Board-Track Auto Racing

[Guest Silverghost]

My Father who just passed-away at almost 92 (1918-2010) often spoke of attending early Auto Banked Board-Track Races in the Atlantic City NJ and Suburban Philadelphia & New York City areas when he was a youngster .

These tracks were outdoors & made entirely of wood and were banked like early motorcycle & bicycle board race tracks~~~ only they were much larger !

Where exactly were these board race tracks located ?

What famous cars & drivers competed on these tracks ?

What speeds could these cars attain ?

I believe these tracks were also used for auto trial test endurance reliability runs~

I thought it may be fun an interesting for us to try to dig-up some old photos of these long gone and now forgotten race events !

All Photos Appreciated !

Edited December 23, 2010 by Silverghost (see edit history)

[hddennis]

Years ago I read an article that said you could always tell the racers who ran the boards by their faces. It said as the track wore it would give off splinters that hit the drivers faces and acted like dumdum bullets entering the flesh and exploding when it hit bone! Gave me a whole new respect for those early drivers! It also mentioned guys popping up through holes in the track to repair them during races!! Talk about dangerous jobs!!

Great source: http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=362482&showall=1

Howard Dennis

Edited December 22, 2010 by hddennis (see edit history)

[21raceabout]

"Board Track Guts, Gold & Glory" by Dick Whallen c.1990 Kutztown Publishing is the finest book on the topic; includes location and history of all the major tracks, construction techniques, race results and hundreds of photos.

[1937hd45]

Brad, You always bring up great subjects for discussion! I have a fairly good file of info on the Atlantic City Motor Speedway starting with the December 21, 1925 stock offering and building plan. Total cost was to be $425,000.00 and net earnings for three races was planned to be $470,000.00. All this paperwork is from the H.D.Carpenter files that I've had for almost 40 years now. I know a lot about his race cars and shops he used in Philadelphia, but would like to find some inforation on the man himself. He lived at 1505 North Broad Street, drove a 1919 Hudson INDY Race Car on the street, owned a 122 MILLER, and several RAJO powered drit track race cars, and invested in several race shops. Philadelphia in the 1920's must have been a great place for a car lover, so many race cars and nearby tracks.

[1937hd45]

Race ticket info and envelopes.

[Dave Mellor NJ]

There was a track in "Amitol" near Hammonton, NJ. The town wasn't much more than a raiload stop and they closed it down, I've heard, before the war because they needed the railroad for war use

[Rusty_OToole]

There was a real posh one in Beverly Hills California, it was torn down to make way for new houses around 1916. They built another one near LA but it was not as nice, not as successful either.

I think the biggest one was Sheepshead Bay near New York City. It was unusual in that it had a steel frame and wooden surface. MI auto tester Tom McCahill used to go out there to give hi speed demonstration drives to potential customers, when he sold Marmons in the twenties. Apparently it was open to the public to test their own cars during the week.

Speeds well over 100 MPH were common.

[Rusty_OToole]

Here's a wild one. A quick search turned up what purports to be the only surviving film of board track racing in the world. It was made in 1919 by the Czech distributor of Indian motorcycles, and the only copy in existence was found under the bed of an old lady in Prague in 1995.

BOARD TRACK RACING

[1937hd45]

Here is one of the best collections of Board Track memories. History Bring Out Yer Board Track Pics! - THE H.A.M.B.

[Restorer32]

Tommy Hinerschitz was a legend in early dirt and board track racing who only passed a few years ago. In the '90s he attended an event at the Easterm Museum of Motor Racing History as a member of the audience for a speaker but ended up telling stories of racing on a board track near Allentown or Reading as well as racing in Rio as part of a travelling circuit. He said the board tracks were far more dangerous than dirt track. The only serious injury he ever had was on a board track. Wern't some of the board tracks repurposed bicycle tracks?

[21raceabout]

I am looking for info anyone might have on the 1928 Decoration (Memorial) Day races at the Atlantic City board track. The feature was won by Ralph DePalma. Our Mercer was raced by Mr. Kimbark Howell to second place in one of the support races. Would really appreciate copys (will pay the costs) for anything related to that event.

[Guest Bob Call]

Two mile tract at Sheepshead Bay! Think of how many houses could be built with that much lumber. And dangerous, imagine how slick a board surface would be after a few races. Those guys had a pair.

[Rusty_OToole]

120 MPH on 3 inch wide tires made of cotton cloth dipped in tree rubber on a surface of wooden boards dripping with motor oil, in a car with no seat belt no roll bar no windshield and 2 wheel brakes. Safety equipment consists of goggles made of window glass cotton coveralls and a leather helmet. Yes I guess you could say that.

Edited December 24, 2010 by Rusty_OToole (see edit history)

[Guest cben09]

Hey,,Raceabout,,,,Do ya have anything on Rockingham at Salem Nh,,in use only briefly,,,the boards I mean,,,The track[horses] and Mall are still big today in spite of the big[total] fire a few years ago,,,Ben /Ma,, Limerick,Me]

[Guest sonnyheg]

How about Dexter Park in N.Y. They used to run a board track there and I or we used to race midgets there. Wow that was a long time ago....