The Origns of Oval Track Racing....

[Don Capps]

Rather than continue to irk, bore, and distract those on the F1 and NASCAR fora with any further discussion involving automotive history and the issue pertaining to the possible origins of oval track racing and, thereby, interfereing with the placing of comments dealing with the here-and-now, I thought it best to re-open the discussion here.

Here is how the discussion began:

Originally Posted by MAX_THRUST
Oh and oval racing started in europe and then was done properly in the US.

This was followed by:

Originally Posted by Don Capps
Having managed to miss any previous mention of this historical feat, the birth and development of oval racing being European in origin, I would be interested in knowing more.

Which was then followed by:

Originally Posted by nigelred5
ever Heard of The Brooklands?

Which led to my response:

Sorry, but to claim that Europe -- and Brooklands in particular, is the origin of oval track racing simply does not seem to square with the research done by automotive historians.

The Narragansett Fair Grounds in Cranston, Rhode Island, had an oval track racing event for automobiles as early as September 1896. This may have been the first automobile race in the modern sense of the term -- cars comppeting head-to-head on a closed track. Indeed, you can even find an oval track contest between two self-propelled "steam wagons" in Wisconsin in August 1878.

By the opening of the Brooklands track in July 1907, oval track racing was already quite commonplace in the United States. In 1905, the American Automobile Association held the National Motor Car Championship -- the earliest such automotive championship that we are aware of -- that was conducted exclusively on oval tracks. One of those tracks, Morris Park, was converted to use exclusively for automobile contests that year.

When the Brooklands track held its first event in July 1907, there had already been many, many autombile races held on oval tracks in the United States. I literally have page after page after page after page of such race records prior to the opening of Brooklands, easily, the number ofsuch events is well into the hundreds I would guess.

If we automotive historians have been so terribly mistaken all these years, then please correct our errors regarding the origins of oval track racing.

Which then prompted this query:

Were these US tracks banked ovals?

If this is suggesting that the banking of the Brooklands circuit made it a "true" oval as compared to the American tracks, then I would question that assumption.

The addition of banking was made to several of the American ovals by the advent of Brooklands in the Summer of 1907, the practice of banking turns already taking place in several instances. Being dirt or clay tracks, the degree of the banking was relatively shallow, but banking none the less. However, the many velodromes that supported the sport of bicycle racing, which provided a number of the earlier racers on the American tracks, Oldfield being one of several who made the transition.

Again, Brooklands was the first facility of its type, but it should be noted that few other such facilities were built in Europe at that time, although a few did follow some years later in France and Spain.

A factor which benefited the growth and development of oval track racing in the United States was that many states passed laws outlawing parimutuel betting at horse races in the early years of the Twentieth Century.

Again, I suggest that it might be difficult to build a good case of the origins of "oval track racing" being European -- which would include Britain.

[Don Capps]

to my knowledge, they weren't paved, nor banked, but I accept there had been automobile contests on fairgrounds and horse tracks, neither of which were unique to the US at that time. the Brooklands is however generally acknowledged as the first purpose built, paved race track for automobile racing and happens to be a high banked, "squished" oval. It's open to much debate where the first sanctioned race was.

I am unaware of the requirement that an oval track used for automobile racing had to be paved and/or banked to be accepted as an oval track. Again, if one wishes to keep pushing the issue of Brooklands as the first such facility of its kind and, therefore, germane to the issue of where oval track racing originated, I would suggest otherwise. Oval track racing existed years before Brooklands was built. That the Brooklands facility was truly unique at the time and contructed using an ovoid-type design is not an issue. What seems to be at issue is the origins of oval track racing, which given when it was constructed would exclude Brooklands.

The instances of horse tracks being used in Europe for automobile racing during the years that track racing was developing and then triving in the US are few and far between. Only the introduction of Brooklands established a major presence of oval track racing in Europe, although it was essentially confined to Britain for all intents and purposes.

As an aside, please define what is meant by "first sanctioned race," since that is not the same as the "first race" by any means. That there is "much debate" regarding many of the "firsts" regarding automotive history and automobile racing such as the "first race" is scarcely a surprise given that few define their terms of reference very clearly.

[D-Type]

Most European horse racing tracks are grass while many US ones are dirt. Therein lies a major difference. If, as is almost inevitable, the cars chew up the track it is far easier to reinstate a dirt surface compared to re-growing the grass.

[Rollo]

If you add all of the necessary qualifiers, then the I think that the claim for the 'World's First Purpose Built Race Track "For Cars"' was the Lakeside Auto Speedway near San Diego, which opened on 20th April 1907, Brooklands opened on 17th June 1907.
There are notices in the "The San Diego Union" newspaper which extend back to April 7 and the paper published results in it's Monday edition on April 22. There was a Centenary celebration in 2007 to mark the occasion as well.

[markabilly]

I am amused to see this major battle brewing over who should have credit for being the first to run around in a circle....



But I do think that the origin or idea began with horse racing tracks

[Mark in Oshawa]

WE can argue whether it was Brooklands or some place else, I think in the end, the Americans perfected it and made it an art form. For those who don't get it, it is ok, you don't have to. You can watch or not watch, but you are missing out. Oval racing requires picking up the rhythm and discipline to get around those big corners in the most efficient manner as the car wears down its tires and fuel load. It evolves over the laps, and requires the driver to constantly adjust. Add in all the people you have to race, and all the sudden, it isn't just turning left.

Oval racing made sense in America because Americans were more concerned with the race. Still are. It is why NASCAR is the most popular form of racing...because it has passes for the lead constantly, and passing through the field. Ya, they are all turning left but it aint easy...

[D-Type]

Folks,

Please let's start by agreeing that most of us on one side of the Atalantic don't really know much about the history of the sport on the other. And once we've established what we do know, then we can start making criticisms from a position of knowledge rather than one of ignorance.

The ignorance cuts both ways. On an American Indianapolis centred site I have seen considerable surprise when pictures of Brooklands were posted. And when there was a discussion about the steepest banking they had barely heard of Monza and never heard of Avus, Montlhery and Sitges. And many Europeans don't realise that a lot of US racing took place on dirt ovals and in fact still does.

The entire tradition and culture of US racing is so different from Europe that it is difficult to draw comparisons. The language itself is different - in Europe a "road race" is a race on public roads closed for the race (Le Mans, Spa) while in the USA it means any race on a course with road-like features (Watkins Glen, Sebring, Laguna Seca). In Europe a "race track" is a purpose built facility (Silverstone, Nurburgring, Brooklands) while in the USA it is an oval, dirt or paved, whether banked or not.

[Don Capps]

If one conducts a review of the literature from the September 1896 automotive contests held at the Rhode Island State Fair Grounds, on site's the horse racing track, Narragansett Park, in Cranston, Rhode Island, and the first events held at Brooklands in July 1907, one will find little support for oval racing being European in its origin.

As is generally the case, the origins of oval track racing even in the United States resides in a miasma of often conflicting information and opinion. Even when using contemporary materials, one must be aware of factors outside of the automotive field and take them into consideration. These include the popularity of horse and harness racing which along with bicycle racing utilized the oval track as their venues. This meant that the infrastructure for automobile racing utilizing these tracks was already in place, to include those willing and able to promote such events. An additional factor regarding horse and harness racing during the first decade of the Twentieth Century in the US was the largely successful effort in many states to outlaw betting at horse and harness racing venues, which included both New York and California among others. It should also be noted that a number of the promoters and participants from the bicycle racing world moved their talents to the automobile racing world, Barney Oldfield being one of the best known to make the transition.

Although road racing got off to a relatively slow start in the US as compared to Europe, that is in the form of town-to-town events and circuits composed of open or public roads, there were numerous endurance and reliabilty runs prior to and after the inaugural running of the Vanderbilt Cup in October 1904. Indeed, the dozen years following that first Vanderbilt Cup race saw the creation of a number of road races in the US. However, the number of one mile and half-mile oval tracks used for automobile racing greatly outnumbered the road racing venues during this time, both co-existing during this period.

The argument often presented regarding the financial benefit or viability of using closed circuits, especially oval tracks, for automobile racing does have great validity, an example of Ockham's Razor at work. The relative ease of using the exsiting infrastructure of horse and harness racing, the facilities and support personnel, was quickly appreciated by enterprising promoters. The waning of the popularity of bicycle racing and the increasingly tenuous state of horse and harness racing made automobile racing an attractive alternative to many in the sports world.

It took some time for the velodrome concept to find its way into automobile racing, the Los Angeles Motordrome at Playa del Rey being the first noteworthy example, but beginning with the 1915 season there was a veritable explosion of purpose-made for automobile racing planked-board tracks in the United States. However, long before this happened oval track racing was a long-established force in the US. It should also be noted that American automobile racing borrowed the basic format of a horse or harness racing meeting, that is, being characterized by each meeting being composed of a number of relatively short events rather than a single large event.

In addition, the membership of the Automobile Club of America (ACA) and the various member clubs of the American Automobile Association (AAA) contained a number of those prominent in the horse and harness racing worlds. As mentioned above, the influence of how horse and harness racing were organized and the conduct of the meetings themselves are clearly present when this era of American automobile racing is examined. The vocabulary of automobile racing was influenced as well, "paddock" and "pole position" being but two of the terms that crossed over.

[Bob Riebe]

I do not know, but whereas the U.S. at one time had hundreds and hundreds of one-half mile oval tracks holding motor-cycle and motor-car races, for decades and decades, to try to put the home, and birth, of oval racing anywhere else seems rather pathetically childish.

[Don Capps]

I do not know, but whereas the U.S. at one time had hundreds and hundreds of one-half mile oval tracks holding motor-cycle and motor-car races, for decades and decades, to try to put the home, and birth, of oval racing anywhere else seems rather pathetically childish.

Which is why it is a perpetual topic on internet motor sports fora.