Well db you get some weekend reading while I'm gone. Leaving tomorrow early am to head north to Santa Rosa so I will leave you with some more of the story.
The dust ended up being a factor in one of the first track races resulting in a wreck. There were no seat belts or roll bars on these rustic race cars, so a roll over meant instant ejection. At least you hoped to be ejected, rather than stay in the car and be crushed.
Here’s the news account of the accident. “A slippery corner and a bank of dirt played a disastrous role in the events of the afternoon when Schuyler’s Gilmore special slid on a wet corner into a dirt bank, throwing a screen of dust which apparently blinded an oncoming car in which were Eldon Gilkeson and Maurice Cline. The Gilkeson car also threw dirt in the eyes of the next drivers, John and James Graton. In the whirl of dust, the Gilekson and Graton cars collided, with the Gilkerson car turning over and the occupants being thrown out of the car.”
Fortunately, all involved in the accident survived with only minor injuries. The 50 lap race, which started with nine cars, continued. In the end only three cars would finish. This was typical of these early races as either mechanical problems or even minor crashes would disable these delicate cars.
Following three road races in 1936 and ‘37, the first track race was run in June of 1938 and the second in September. This biannual format had been established for the road races and worked well for the track races too. The club would continue with two annual races into the 1950’s, although the cars would change and the tracks would occasionally be relocated.
Stay tuned. T-Club racers take a pause for a World War and then make their way to Buellton as a new generation of hot rodding jalopies take the track.[This message has been edited by the poor mans museum (edited 06-02-2005).]
