How It All Started – Part One
In this series we will study the beginnings and evolution of circle track racing. Over the years there were three distinctly different aspects that mostly influenced the performance of the cars in this sport. First on the list is the all important chassis and overall design of the cars, next the power train technology and the evolution of power, and last and of equal importance is the improvement in the characteristics of the race tracks themselves.
Each of these three areas of circle track technology has evolved since the very beginning of circle track racing. Chassis and setup technology had become very sophisticated as we plunged into the computer age. Developments that came as a result of the space program and aircraft industries research and development enabled race car parts manufacturers to build stronger and lighter components.
The engines that power stock cars have evolved, not in the basic design of being simple heat exchange devices, but from the standpoint of improved ignition systems, intake designs, carburetion and exhaust systems. Improved valve train components have allowed these engines to live at much higher RPM’s than ever before.
With the improvements in chassis and engine design, also came a transition in track design. The asphalt tracks are now designed by computer modeling before the sub-grade is shaped and the first yard of asphalt is laid down. Even the dirt tracks are groomed better thanks to the availability of more sophisticated equipment and techniques that have come along over the years.
Many of us assume that circle track racing began in the post WWII era from 1947 on, but it actually began soon after automobiles first became popular. Then later on, after the war as thousands of soldiers returned from the European and Pacific theaters, many were trained and skilled land vehicle and aircraft mechanics drawing their experience from helping keep the machines of war operational.
They had been forced into early adulthood, and knuckled down and done their duty. They were now ready to take on the responsibility of raising a family, but also in need of recapturing some of their lost youth. Racing was the perfect medium for many to achieve that goal. While the post WWII period certainly marked the beginning of the rapid growth and mass popularity of the sport, its’ debut on a national level came much earlier in our history.
The earliest circle track races took place more than twenty years earlier and attracted much public interest. Here are some facts that many modern day circle track racers, including myself, were not aware of.
The First Speedways – The Indianapolis Motor Speedway, opened in 1909, and is of course the first great speedway ever built, but in the 1910’s and 1920’s many other large race tracks were constructed. While the Indy track was surfaced with brick (originally of rock and asphalt), another surface was utilized that now seems quite odd, wooden boards.
During the period between 1911 and 1928, many wood race tracks sprang up around the country with relatively huge crowds attending the races. Most were built by a company named the Prince Speedway Company. At the time, the material and equipment was not available to construct these speedways out of a more durable material. Asphalt paving was known and had been around in some form or another for thousands of years, but as with brick paving, it was hard to come by and very expensive.
The Des Moines Speedway which was built entirely of wood was typical of the tracks of this era. These were not “short” tracks, most being 1.25 to 2.0 miles in length, and due to that, a considerable amount of lumber was needed. Wood, at that time, was cheap, plentiful and could be easily assembled and shaped into a smooth surface with elevated turns.
The problem was that wood is not a durable material, especially when exposed to the weather. Few of these tracks lasted for more than a couple of years and none more than five. One vacated track disappeared in less than two years due to people stealing wood for heating and building material.
In 1911, the first of the wood tracks was constructed. Oakland Motordrome was one-half mile in length and had 40 degrees of banking in the turns. It was a perfect circle, the first true highbanked track, designed after the popular velodrome bicycle race tracks.
Other notable board tracks included an oval track built in 1926 in Miami Beach that was 1.25 miles long with 50 degree banking. The top speed was an astonishing 142.93 MPH. Just one race was run before the track was destroyed by a massive hurricane that struck that same year.
Several wood tracks were built in California. The first race at San Carlos, aka the Greater San Francisco Speedway, drew 40,000 fans in 1921. The Beverly Hills Speedway cost $500,00 to build in 1929 and lasted less than five years. The Beverly Hills Wilshire Hotel stands on the site today.
Other Wood Tracks Around the Country – If you think that the Chicagoland Speedway was the first for that city, it is not. In 1916, a 2.0 mile wood track was constructed with 17 degree turns and some 85,000 fans attended its first race. Stadium style bleachers were built to accommodate the thousands of curious spectators. By 1918 it was gone. Its demise was probably hastened by the fact that the promoters ran off with the purse during a rain delay at the very first race.
Today’s Charlotte Motor Speedway again is not a first for the city of Charlotte, NC. The Charlotte Speedway was built in 1924 of wood and was 1.25 miles in length and banked 40 degrees. Atlantic City Speedway, 1926 to–’28 was 1.5 miles long with 45 degree banked turns. It was the fastest of the wood tracks with a top speed recorded at 147.727 MPH. Other states that had wood tracks included Maryland, Missouri, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Washington State.
Interesting Notes – Other interesting notes collected from those who have knowledge of those days are that this racing had certain uncommon hazards. It was not unheard of for a driver to spend some time after a race picking splinters out of his face. Pieces of wood would be ripped from the surface, fly up, and imbed themselves in the drivers exposed skin. At speeds that exceeded 140 MPH at these races, it is easy to understand how that could happen.
The payouts were substantial. For a typical 150 mile race, the winner was paid $3,000. That is equal to some $60,000 in today’s money while second received $30,000, and third $15,000 in equivalent money. The average American earned maybe $500 – $750 a year in those days, so this was very good money.
The cars themselves were a far cry from what we would come to expect in a circle track car. The straight axle front ends that were common with wire spoke wheels were no good for making high speed turns. The high banking was essential so that all of the forces on the cars were downforce with very little lateral force which the wheels and suspensions could not tolerate. When a wheel did break, it was catastrophic.
There were a number of deaths associated with this period, drivers as well as spectators. A political cartoon placed in the newspaper following a big race in which a death occurred showed gladiators carrying a fallen comrade out of a stadium, a reference that circle track racing seemed to be viewed as a “blood sport”.
The End of Early CT Racing – the coming of WWI, the Great Depression and WWII spelled the end of circle track racing to a great extent. After the second World War ended, racing resumed on a much larger and more permanent scale.
Tracks that were built during the post war period and that still stand today include: Greenville-Pickens, 1946; Salem, Stafford, and Rockford, 1949; Martinsville, 1948; Riverhead, 1949; Hickory, 1951; Eldora, 1954; Ace, 1956; and the Grandest of them all, Daytona, built in 1959 after years of racing on the sands of the Atlantic Ocean beach.
Most of these early tracks were dirt surfaced tracks. The Federal-Aid Highway Act was established in 1956 which created a network of asphalt highways across America. This created a huge market for asphalt and private manufacturing plants sprang up all across the country. Due to the large volume of sales to the government road contractors, for the first time, asphalt paving was accessible and cost effective for use as a circle track racing surface.
While many of the circle tracks across America and the world are now asphalt or concrete, most still remain dirt. The surface we race on certainly dictates how our cars are constructed and how we setup those cars. Asphalt is characteristically consistent in grip and, in most cases, has a smooth surface.
Dirt tracks are constantly changing as to surface contour, composition (smooth black clay to slick sand coating) and grip related to the moisture content of the hour. Even features like the existence or not of a top berm or cushion to run off of or a soft, moist bottom to use to get more grip off the corners are all inherent and changing characteristics of dirt tracks.
While engines, setup, and chassis are common concerns between the two groups, tire selection and grooving treatment is unique to dirt racing. Asphalt teams usually all run the same brand of tires with the same rubber compound for each race track. For most dirt track teams, tire selection is open to all brands and they do their own preparation as to tire grooving.
As circle track stock car racing divided into the two distinct groups, dirt and asphalt, the construction of the cars necessarily became unique to each genre. Stock classes in both of these groups remain very similar thanks to strict, “strictly stock” type of rules, but as we look to the future and move up the food chain into the faster fabricated chassis classes, we can see the evolution that has taken place.
From the late 1940’s to the mid to late 1980’s, all stock cars were just that, stock. The process of preparing the cars for competition involved stripping off all unnecessary material such as back and passenger seats, floor and trunk covering, door and overhead coverings, etc. The chassis were also strengthened in places prone to abuse and cracking. Roll bars were installed for safety reasons and to stiffen the chassis.
In the late 1960’s, I watched as a show room stock Dodge was being prepared to compete as a Grand National (the fore runner of the Monster Energy Cup Series) stock car. This was literally an everyday car bought at a local dealership and trailered to a shop in the Daytona Beach area.
The vinyl roof was stripped off, seats, chrome trim, head lights and tail lights were removed, the interior was stripped, the control arms were strengthened with strips of steel welded on, and new fender wells were welded in to accommodate the larger racing tires. A full roll cage was built around the interior with supporting tubing extending to the front and rear suspensions. Today’s stock class cars continue that tradition. Racers can still acquire a “stock” car and cheaply prepare it for competition. This class of stock cars represents the bulk of circle track stock car racing in America.
Through the years, and in all of the types of circle track racing, the strongest transmissions, rear differentials and suspension systems were sought out and adapted through a process of elimination. As we entered the modern era in the 1970’s, little thought had been put to chassis setup technology. Teams basically ran what was available and other than durability issues, lived with how the cars handled.
Early 1950’s through 1970’s front suspensions were either double A-arm types with coil springs, torsion bar sprung, or strut lower control arm with A-arm upper links using a coil spring. Even the tried and true straight axle system was still used on some types of modifieds.
The rear suspensions could be coil spring supported or leaf spring design depending on the make and model of car. Again, these 1947 to late 1970’s cars were stock from front to rear with little or no modifications to the primary suspension systems other than to make them endure the punishment of competition.
In Part Two of this series we will explore the golden years of circle track racing where the popularity of the sport will begin to grow on a national level. From early 1970 through the early 1990’s, stock car racing became much more sophisticated and technology began to transform the way the cars were constructed, which made the cars somewhat safer and much faster.
Sources:
Chuck Groninga – Red Lion Racing
Larry Ball Collection
Klassix Auto Attraction
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