1915 Road Race in Point Loma

[mrondeau]

There's an interesting article in the UT C- section about a road race run in Point Loma in 1915. 50,000 spectators, 18 racers and a very interesting and dangerous course laid out on dirt roads topped with decompossed granite. The course had a 2 mile long straight as well. Check it out if you get a chance.

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2009 ... e-in-1915/

[John Straub]

Thanks for posting that Mark...it was a great read.

A couple of things the article does not talk about, before the race there was a gigantic automobile parade along Broadway in Downtown San Diego preceded the road race.

Also, "Bad Bill" Carlson's Maxwell that finished second only 1 minute 47 seconds behind in a almost 5 hr. race in that 1915 event, still runs. Many of you that attend the Coronado Speed Fest Vintage Races have seen that same car with a the same number 17 on it running at that event.

That's awesome ...how many of our Porsches are going to be racing 93 years from now?

John

[Cajundaddy]

Good pull Mark,
Auto racing was new and a very big deal back then. My Great Grandfather was race promoter for the International Corona Speedway 1913-1916. It was held on circular Grand Boulevard in downtown Corona. The first 100 mph auto speed record was posted there to huge spectator crowds.
http://www.dailybulletin.com/ourpast/ci_5292555

[gocart]

I just bought an awesome book from the San Diego Historical Society's book store in Balboa park. It is called San Diego Motorsports, 100 RACING YEARS. It is a collection of articles and photos by Johnny McDonald which is published by Ramona Home Journal. It is a fantastic archive of racing history in San Diego from Barny Oldfield right up to El Cajon and the Coronado speed festival. It has several pages of photos from the Point Loma race of 1915.
I'll post some scans if someone can help me figure out how to post them here.

[ttweed]

I'll post some scans if someone can help me figure out how to post them here.

Gordon-
The BBS administrators have not allowed attaching or uploading files directly to the forum server with your message, as some other boards allow--most likely for storage space reasons. The photos must be hosted elsewhere and then links to them can be included in the post. What you need to do is upload the scans to an image hosting site like Photobucket or Flickr, then insert the URL of each image you want to include from that site into your post here using the image tags (when you are posting a message, you can click on the "Img" button in the menu bar above the text entry box and it will insert the tags for you, then paste the URL between them). The forum software will then go out to the image hosting site, retrieve the image from there, and display it in your post when someone views it. A more specific explanation is available in the BBCode help guide: http://forum.pcasdr.org/forum/faq.php?mode=bbcode#f50

HTH,
TT

[ttweed]

It is a fantastic archive of racing history in San Diego from Barny Oldfield right up to El Cajon and the Coronado speed festival.

Does it show or talk about the road racing at Qualcomm, errr, Jack Murphy, errr, San Diego Stadium back in the '60s, Gordon?

TT

[John Straub]

That is a great book...I got mine at the "Goodguys" Hot Rod Show in Del Mar a few years ago.

John

[ronaldtrotter]

Great book. Bought it when Johnny talked to PCA at the Auto Museum. I'm old enough to have watched Billy Vukovich and Roger Ward race in Balboa Stadium. Granted I was really young but remember the midgets there very fondly.

[Mike]

There's an interesting article in the UT C- section about a road race run in Point Loma in 1915. 50,000 spectators, 18 racers and a very interesting and dangerous course laid out on dirt roads topped with decompossed granite. The course had a 2 mile long straight as well. Check it out if you get a chance.
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2009 ... e-in-1915/

Is it possible to retrace the track today?
Was Rosecrans the 2 mile straight?

[John Straub]

Ron...that is so cool! I remember my dad took me there to watch, but I don't remember very much about it.

Tom...yep, they talk about the Stadium races in the book. Gordon may be able to post some stuff about it. A few years ago I wrote about some of our Region members running in those...Dick Barbour, Denise Sherman, Alan Johnson and someone else I don't remember.

Mike...they have the course marked out, I'll post some directions later.

John

[richard]

Shall we meet say 3 AM this Saturday at the corner of Rosecrans and Shelter Island?

[gocart]

There are three chapters about the stadium. There were two SCCA races in '67 and '68. On the map in the book the label says "San Diego Stadium International Raceway". Later chapters talk about the Mickey Thompson races inside the stadium and vintage races in the parking lot.

You can still drive the Point Loma track, as it was on roads that still exist.

The best venue might be at the Del Mar race track. Remember when they used to do the IMSA races there? Let's rent Del Mar for our next DE.

I'll try to get some photos posted when I get a chance. I've done the post elsewhere and link here dance before. I was just hoping there was a trick of some sort to be able to post directly from my hard drive.

[John Straub]

Gordon...that would be great.

I still have some old photos I took at the Stadium races B/W if I can find them.

Richard...thats not a bad idea.

[John Straub]

It looks like the two mile straight was Point Loma Boulevard with a left at the end heading up to Chatsworth then with another left down Santa Monica onto Canyon Rd and back onto Point Loma Boulevard. The "Start/Finish" was on Point Loma Boulevard.

John

[gocart]

Here are some scans. Well the link... Snapfish' images won't post here.
http://www2.snapfish.com/slideshow/Albu ... 830211022/