I was talking with my local motorcycle dealer and he did research on local board tracks here in Wichita. We had 2 and Eastborough had 1. They had a $5000.00 race in Eastborough it rained the first day it was to start. They postponed the race till the next weekend. Racers and mechanics stayed with local folks and did odd jobs to make some money why waiting to race the next weekend.
This was extremely interesting... One story I heard several years ago about a race at one of these tracks, not sure when or where this happened, but the track had some pretty good-sized holes in it, and there were kids under the track who would poke their heads up through the holes to watch the cars coming, then duck down before they got hit. A driver in that race pulled in the pits and dropped out of the race, traumatized. When somebody asked what happened, he said something to the effect of, "Somebody must have been decapitated because every time I got to that corner, I kept seeing heads on the track." Racing was brutal back then, and a racer's life was very, very cheap, no two ways about it.
I'm just starting this but about 20 years ago I read a wonderful book, 'The Golden Age of the American Racing Car', which I still own, and it really was the thing that got me into cars. I'm actually really happy to see a long format video about this (alas, this is audio only) and I must thank you for covering it
In Salt Lake City, you can still see part of the Wandamere board track curve at the Nibley golf course that was built after the park was closed. Odin Johnson was from Salt Lake. Barney Oldfield was racing bicycles in Salt Lake when he was asked about racing cars even though he'd never driven a car!😮
How did I miss this when it first came out? Awesome episode Brian , excellent job covering one of the most fascinating times in racing history! Thank you! Hemi Joel
The high banked concrete ovals of that period suffered as well. Brooklands the classic example, Maroubra in Sydney, several in Europe, some are still standing but not useable,,, well maybe for offroad cars. Great when built but got very rough quite quickly. And the fatalaties happened.
The banked corners slumped and got rough. Monza and Alvus both had high banked sections but the have become unusable. These tracks were not ovals though Monza was used as an oval on occasion. I am just glad that the Monza banks were there for the filming of "Grand Prix". I think the last time they were used was for a sports car race in the late 1960's. I understand Brooklands was getting pretty rough before WW2 ended racing there. War time aircraft manufacturing operations took out some of the banking although some of the corners are still there.
Thank you for your work here, Brian. 70 minutes of narration, I assume without editing. You are the Flying Wallenda Family of voice overs. I was flipping channels yesterday and an episode of "What on Earth" on the science channel (secret nazi ....something....something?) and they analyzed satellite video of oval and circular landmarks that turned out to be abandoned board tracks from the 1920's. and if i want to view it again the discovery channel will make me PAY FOR IT! How dare they!!?? Your NHRA TV work is in the same League as Steve Evans, Dave McClelland, Bob Frey, and some of the others that had that role over the years. And you've done a great job disappearing your eastern Massachusetts accent!
Very interesting. My daughter and I are working on the history of my family's connection to the Altoona Speedway. My great uncle, Frank Cramer was the president of the Speedway Association and ended up owning and racing Miller Specials in the 1920s, one of which was called the Chromolite Special.. Your podcast was so much fun to listen to and learn a lot more of the history. We all know racing is dangerous but board track racing set a high standard when it comes to creating "spectacle".
Just thinking of all that work to frame and build a 1.5 and even 2 miles track out of wood like that is incredible and I couldn’t imagine running those speeds on wood like that especially when it started to wear which I’d imagine it wore down pretty darn quick! Pretty fascinating to me
Barney Oldfield started as a bicycle racer. Hired by young Henry Ford to drive his 999 racing car which looked like a huge bed frame with a giant engine and a seat, no bodywork. Eddie Rickenbacker raced bicycles on board tracks, too. He went on to be the top Allied WWI flying ace, downing 20 German airplanes, owned The Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and president of Eastern Airlines.
Great job on some real racing history....the local Chicago board track was torn down right after WW1 with the boards & land used to build the VA Hospital
Very awesome history here. Thank you so much for your research on this topic. Just a couple corrections though. world war one broke out in 1914. Usa however didn't get involved until 1917. World war one also ended in November 1918 and not in the early 1920s.
Awesome content thank you. 👌 Picture above @100mph: Bottom half of track, (darker section), weight either side of dead centre? = and its a long high speed slide/slo mo tailwag. Top track, a couple of 6 inch humptydoos? (& worse than tram tracks), = vehicle instantly spat offline, driver ejected missile style🚀Am I right? 🤔😉
No mention of "Fulford-by-the-Sea"? A board track built north of Miami Florida by Carl Fisher who was the president of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway when it was built in 1909. Fisher's board track hosted one race before the "Great 1926 Hurricane" destroyed it. Carl Fisher ended up bankrupt because of the hurricane losses. It was rumored that salvaged wood from the track was used to rebuild the local community which is now part of North Miami.
Your setup of the board track racing evolution is invaluable to history I believe. your ability to tell a story is a great thing . I am an electrician and I have worked in many homes that are on the national historic register most of these homes are from the turn of the century or before. All work that is done must be approved by groups of engineers. I can tell you that a 2 by 4 from 1900 ish measures 2" x4" and so yes they did use actual 2 by 4's back in the day. fact
Where I live in nowhere, Tn we still have a lot of sawmills. Those boards are always true dimension unlike modern pressure treated wood that is 1\2" smaller on all sides.
Jimmy Murphy suffered his fatal injury during a race on the Syracuse, NY dirt track, not on a board track. Strangely he was killed BY a board on the track's outer fence that he hit. The board splintered and punched through the firewall of his car and impaled Murphy. He would have survived with modern medical care but this was 1924 so they cut the board to get him out of the car and took him to a local hospital where he lingered for several hours before his struggle ended. With modern surgery, blood infusions and antibiotics the story would have been different. Be glad you live now if you need medical care.
Ludlow Lagoon motorcycle track…was death knell for the amusement park and it’s motorcycle track. The site is still empty to this day. See Northern Kentucky Views..Kenton County…Ludlow for views of the amusement park.
During this time there were also barnstormers and they were wildly popular .There were many many occasion where a barnstormer would come into town and he would be part of the show at the racetrack airplane would race the car around the track women dressed up in their Sunday Best and the men in their finest suits with bol lar hats.Boise,Id
not to mention your research is orders of magnitude beyond a five minute google. You may have actually entered a LIBRARY for your info. (Libraries contain BOOKS and PERIODICALS and card catalogs and Dewey Decimal SYSTEMS and Elle Hitler) Alan Reinhart also deserves mention for his excellent work on tv and on track live commentary over the DECADES.
I would imagine that footage of the early days of racing cars or motorcycles is extremely limited to the point of being almost nonexistent. Motion picture cameras were not something that were commonly found, even among news media. There were no TVs, no internet, only silent movies that were shown in theatre's which would show a brief news program that lasted a few minutes to cover a number of nationwide events that were in the newspaper headlines. These were provided with subtitles as there was no audio except for music that played for the pre show and the movie. The almost exclusive way people got their news information was newspapers, some magazines, and to a lesser degree, radio programs. Any footage that was recorded is now 100 yrs old plus or minus a few years, film of that area was highly unstable and deteriorated relatively quickly. While later on there were typically multiple copies of footage preserved for historical purposes, in the era of the board track racing nobody really viewed recordings of racing events as something significant enough to warrant the expensive processes and facilities to safely store highly flammable and toxic chemical laden film. Whole I don't doubt their is some limited footage available the amount of time needed to resource it, nd secure the permission to use it would be a pretty big undertaking. And then what do you do to recoup time and money invested in trying to find and get permission to use footage if you fail to find any that is relevant for the video you wish to create?
You don't need the whole seat only the edge!!!!!! All l need assfault for ,is to get to the dirt track!!! All I need dirt for, is to get to the board track!!! Speed costs money !!! It all matters on how much insurance is involved!!!!!
So why did the drivers not ware face masks ?? - how many splinters do you need flattening out aginst the bone!! - before wereing a mask becomes a good idea ?
What would the mask be made of? The plastics of the time were either highly flammable (celluloid), or brittle (caesin, bakelite). Leather? Too much of an infection risk if pierced, too heavy to race with if made thick enough to not be pierced. Metal? Too heavy again - drivers wore soft leather flying helmets because the centrifugal forces on these tracks were high enough to cause problems if they wore anything heavier. Board tracks were a case where the technology of speed far outmatched the technology of safety, and many racers paid the price...
I woulda made myself famous with a thin steel Corinthian military style helmet. Probably about 4 pounds (on the heavier side for a modern motorcycle helmet) and certainly within the technology of the day.
The answer is quite simple, why do some people choose not to wear a helmet on motor cycles , and what ever the hell else they happen to be riding at the time!!!! Remember there is 2 kinds of riders, the ones that have wrecked and the ones that are going to wreck !!!!!!
Another EXCELLENT history lesson - thanks
I was talking with my local motorcycle dealer and he did research on local board tracks here in Wichita. We had 2 and Eastborough had 1. They had a $5000.00 race in Eastborough it rained the first day it was to start. They postponed the race till the next weekend. Racers and mechanics stayed with local folks and did odd jobs to make some money why waiting to race the next weekend.
This was extremely interesting... One story I heard several years ago about a race at one of these tracks, not sure when or where this happened, but the track had some pretty good-sized holes in it, and there were kids under the track who would poke their heads up through the holes to watch the cars coming, then duck down before they got hit. A driver in that race pulled in the pits and dropped out of the race, traumatized. When somebody asked what happened, he said something to the effect of, "Somebody must have been decapitated because every time I got to that corner, I kept seeing heads on the track." Racing was brutal back then, and a racer's life was very, very cheap, no two ways about it.
I'm just starting this but about 20 years ago I read a wonderful book, 'The Golden Age of the American Racing Car', which I still own, and it really was the thing that got me into cars. I'm actually really happy to see a long format video about this (alas, this is audio only) and I must thank you for covering it
In Salt Lake City, you can still see part of the Wandamere board track curve at the Nibley golf course that was built after the park was closed.
Odin Johnson was from Salt Lake. Barney Oldfield was racing bicycles in Salt Lake when he was asked about racing cars even though he'd never driven a car!😮
How did I miss this when it first came out? Awesome episode Brian , excellent job covering one of the most fascinating times in racing history! Thank you! Hemi Joel
Yes!!!! So excited to see this! I listened to the podcast a zillion times!
The high banked concrete ovals of that period suffered as well. Brooklands the classic example, Maroubra in Sydney, several in Europe, some are still standing but not useable,,, well maybe for offroad cars. Great when built but got very rough quite quickly. And the fatalaties happened.
The banked corners slumped and got rough. Monza and Alvus both had high banked sections but the have become unusable. These tracks were not ovals though Monza was used as an oval on occasion. I am just glad that the Monza banks were there for the filming of "Grand Prix". I think the last time they were used was for a sports car race in the late 1960's. I understand Brooklands was getting pretty rough before WW2 ended racing there. War time aircraft manufacturing operations took out some of the banking although some of the corners are still there.
Wow , now that is quite a look at history! A truly fascinating , and dangerous time , in racing . Many thanks for that.
Man this was awesome thank you for sharing!
Another great one!
Thank you for your work here, Brian. 70 minutes of narration, I assume without editing. You are the Flying Wallenda Family of voice overs. I was flipping channels yesterday and an episode of "What on Earth" on the science channel (secret nazi ....something....something?) and they analyzed satellite video of oval and circular landmarks that turned out to be abandoned board tracks from the 1920's. and if i want to view it again the discovery channel will make me PAY FOR IT! How dare they!!??
Your NHRA TV work is in the same League as Steve Evans, Dave McClelland, Bob Frey, and some of the others that had that role over the years. And you've done a great job disappearing your eastern Massachusetts accent!
Ditto here.👍👍
Very interesting. My daughter and I are working on the history of my family's connection to the Altoona Speedway. My great uncle, Frank Cramer was the president of the Speedway Association and ended up owning and racing Miller Specials in the 1920s, one of which was called the Chromolite Special.. Your podcast was so much fun to listen to and learn a lot more of the history. We all know racing is dangerous but board track racing set a high standard when it comes to creating "spectacle".
"Chromolite Special." One of my Favorites! I think they have it, much restored, at the IMS Museum.
Can you do a documentary/commentary on the Alaskan highway? That was a feat with early machinery...
BIG wheel - little wheel bikes were called a PENNY FARTHING. CHEERS from AUSTRALIA
58:55 - You forgot about Race of Two Worlds at Monza in 1957, but otherwise great podcast
I made an entire stand alone show on those races:
dorkomotive.com/race-of-two-worlds/
Just thinking of all that work to frame and build a 1.5 and even 2 miles track out of wood like that is incredible and I couldn’t imagine running those speeds on wood like that especially when it started to wear which I’d imagine it wore down pretty darn quick! Pretty fascinating to me
Great but perhaps you could add more pics for variety?
Barney Oldfield started as a bicycle racer. Hired by young Henry Ford to drive his 999 racing car which looked like a huge bed frame with a giant engine and a seat, no bodywork.
Eddie Rickenbacker raced bicycles on board tracks, too. He went on to be the top Allied WWI flying ace, downing 20 German airplanes, owned The Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and president of Eastern Airlines.
Great job on some real racing history....the local Chicago board track was torn down right after WW1 with the boards & land used to build the VA Hospital
Very awesome history here. Thank you so much for your research on this topic. Just a couple corrections though. world war one broke out in 1914. Usa however didn't get involved until 1917. World war one also ended in November 1918 and not in the early 1920s.
Glad I’m not the only one who was bugged by that
As usual, the USA always get late to the party only to claim they solved it all by themselves once it’s already over.
Awesome content thank you. 👌
Picture above @100mph: Bottom half of track, (darker section), weight either side of dead centre? = and its a long high speed slide/slo mo tailwag. Top track, a couple of 6 inch humptydoos? (& worse than tram tracks), = vehicle instantly spat offline, driver ejected missile style🚀Am I right? 🤔😉
Awesome job man.
No mention of "Fulford-by-the-Sea"? A board track built north of Miami Florida by Carl Fisher who was the president of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway when it was built in 1909. Fisher's board track hosted one race before the "Great 1926 Hurricane" destroyed it. Carl Fisher ended up bankrupt because of the hurricane losses. It was rumored that salvaged wood from the track was used to rebuild the local community which is now part of North Miami.
Your setup of the board track racing evolution is invaluable to history I believe. your ability to tell a story is a great thing .
I am an electrician and I have worked in many homes that are on the national historic register most of these homes are from the turn of the century or before. All work that is done must be approved by groups of engineers. I can tell you that a 2 by 4 from 1900 ish measures 2" x4" and so yes they did use actual 2 by 4's back in the day. fact
Where I live in nowhere, Tn we still have a lot of sawmills. Those boards are always true dimension unlike modern pressure treated wood that is 1\2" smaller on all sides.
Sir, WWI ended November 1918. This is not in any way denigrating your wonderful video. Thank you for all your work.
Awsome story man. You can tell how much time you put into these things.
Broooo I love your video ....just wish it had video .......
Jimmy Murphy suffered his fatal injury during a race on the Syracuse, NY dirt track, not on a board track. Strangely he was killed BY a board on the track's outer fence that he hit. The board splintered and punched through the firewall of his car and impaled Murphy. He would have survived with modern medical care but this was 1924 so they cut the board to get him out of the car and took him to a local hospital where he lingered for several hours before his struggle ended. With modern surgery, blood infusions and antibiotics the story would have been different. Be glad you live now if you need medical care.
Ludlow Lagoon motorcycle track…was death knell for the amusement park and it’s motorcycle track. The site is still empty to this day. See Northern Kentucky Views..Kenton County…Ludlow for views of the amusement park.
Thank you!
During this time there were also barnstormers and they were wildly popular .There were many many occasion where a barnstormer would come into town and he would be part of the show at the racetrack airplane would race the car around the track women dressed up in their Sunday Best and the men in their finest suits with bol lar hats.Boise,Id
not to mention your research is orders of magnitude beyond a five minute google. You may have actually entered a LIBRARY for your info. (Libraries contain BOOKS and PERIODICALS and card catalogs and Dewey Decimal SYSTEMS and Elle Hitler) Alan Reinhart also deserves mention for his excellent work on tv and on track live commentary over the DECADES.
36:18. Your knowledge of Racing History: Awesome. Your knowledge of Word History: Not so awesome. WW I ended Nov 11, 1918.
Yeah, 100% owning that fail.
@@brianlohnes3079 I appreciate your candor.👍
So there’s only one picture you managed to find?
balls of steel
Some footage would have been nice I couldn't make it through this
I would imagine that footage of the early days of racing cars or motorcycles is extremely limited to the point of being almost nonexistent. Motion picture cameras were not something that were commonly found, even among news media. There were no TVs, no internet, only silent movies that were shown in theatre's which would show a brief news program that lasted a few minutes to cover a number of nationwide events that were in the newspaper headlines. These were provided with subtitles as there was no audio except for music that played for the pre show and the movie. The almost exclusive way people got their news information was newspapers, some magazines, and to a lesser degree, radio programs. Any footage that was recorded is now 100 yrs old plus or minus a few years, film of that area was highly unstable and deteriorated relatively quickly. While later on there were typically multiple copies of footage preserved for historical purposes, in the era of the board track racing nobody really viewed recordings of racing events as something significant enough to warrant the expensive processes and facilities to safely store highly flammable and toxic chemical laden film. Whole I don't doubt their is some limited footage available the amount of time needed to resource it, nd secure the permission to use it would be a pretty big undertaking. And then what do you do to recoup time and money invested in trying to find and get permission to use footage if you fail to find any that is relevant for the video you wish to create?
World war one ended in 1918, not the mid twenties.
You don't need the whole seat only the edge!!!!!!
All l need assfault for ,is to get to the dirt track!!! All I need dirt for, is to get to the board track!!! Speed costs money !!! It all matters on how much insurance is involved!!!!!
No video :(
So why did the drivers not ware face masks ?? - how many splinters do you need flattening out aginst the bone!! - before wereing a mask becomes a good idea ?
What would the mask be made of? The plastics of the time were either highly flammable (celluloid), or brittle (caesin, bakelite). Leather? Too much of an infection risk if pierced, too heavy to race with if made thick enough to not be pierced. Metal? Too heavy again - drivers wore soft leather flying helmets because the centrifugal forces on these tracks were high enough to cause problems if they wore anything heavier.
Board tracks were a case where the technology of speed far outmatched the technology of safety, and many racers paid the price...
I woulda made myself famous with a thin steel Corinthian military style helmet. Probably about 4 pounds (on the heavier side for a modern motorcycle helmet) and certainly within the technology of the day.
@@ruckusracing419and you would’ve had a broken neck after a race or two
The answer is quite simple, why do some people choose not to wear a helmet on motor cycles , and what ever the hell else they happen to be riding at the time!!!! Remember there is 2 kinds of riders, the ones that have wrecked and the ones that are going to wreck !!!!!!
I mean, this was an era where you could walk to walgreens and buy morphine😂😂
I would like to see more old pictures while he narrates one picture and some man talking is not going to do it for me