Santa Monica Road Race Course
{{Short description|Motorsport track in the United States}}
{{Infobox motorsport venue
| name = Santa Monica road race course{{cite web|url=http://www.champcarstats.com/tracks/santamonica.htm|title=Santa Monica Road Race Course|website=ChampCarStats.com|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220131173300/http://www.champcarstats.com/tracks/santamonica.htm|archive-date=2022-01-31|url-status=live}}
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| location = Santa Monica, California
| coordinates = {{coord|34.039|-118.488|region:US-CA_type:landmark|display=inline,title}}
| image = 1912 Santa Monica Road Races.jpg
| image_caption = 1912 Santa Monica road races{{cite web|url=https://www.firstsuperspeedway.com/photo-gallery/santa-monica-road-race-1912|title=Santa Monica road race 1912|website=First Super Speedway|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201210004052/https://www.firstsuperspeedway.com/photo-gallery/santa-monica-road-race-1912|archive-date=2020-12-10|url-status=live}}
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| opened = July 10, 1909
| closed = March 15, 1919
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| events = American Grand Prize
Vanderbilt Cup
| miles_first = true
| layout1 = 1909–16
| surface =
| length_km = 13.546
| length_mi = 8.417
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| layout2 = 1919
| surface2 =
| length2_km = 11.845
| length2_mi = 7.36
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The Santa Monica road race course was an American race track consisting of public roads. Established by a consortium of Southern California auto dealers who sought to promote cars, buying them as well as racing them, at a time when they were rather rare in Los Angeles, the Santa Monica road races lasted for ten years.{{cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2001-jan-31-hw-19023-story.html|title=Racing down Santa Monica's Ocean Avenue, way back when|last=Solomon|first=Charles|date=January 31, 2001|website=Los Angeles Times|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201210004051/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2001-jan-31-hw-19023-story.html|archive-date=2020-12-10|url-status=live}}
Inaugural event
An estimated 50,000 people attended the 1909 Santa Monica road races. Harris Hanshue was the winner of the heavy-car division in an Apperson Jackrabbit and Bert Dingley won the lightweight division in a Chalmers-Detroit Forty.
1912 races
The free-for-all race of the 1912 event was won by Teddy Tetzlaff in a Fiat. He was awarded a medal for the win.{{cite web|url=https://www.firstsuperspeedway.com/photo-gallery/santa-monica-road-race-souviner|title=Santa Monica road race souviner|website=First Super Speedway|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201105074040/https://www.firstsuperspeedway.com/photo-gallery/santa-monica-road-race-souviner|archive-date=2020-11-05|url-status=live}}
Vanderbilt Cup and American Grand Prize
Santa Monica hosted both the Vanderbilt Cup and the American Grand Prize in 1914 and in 1916. A fatality occurred in practice for the 1914 event when a car crashed into the crowd and killed a spectator.{{cite news|title=One killed and five hurt at practice spin|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/3433856/|newspaper=San Francisco Chronicle|date=February 17, 1914|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220131171947/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/3433856/death-of-auto-race-spectator-lewis-smith/|archive-date=2022-01-31|url-status=live}} The 1916 event was marred by a total of five deaths: After a mechanician had been fatally injured in practice,{{cite news|title=Auto road race practice written in blood|url=https://digital.smpl.org/digital/collection/outlook/id/42024|newspaper=Santa Monica Bay Outlook|date=November 10, 1916}} driver Lewis Jackson and three people lining the road died as a result of a crash during the Grand Prix race.{{cite news|title=Racing auto leaps track; four killed|url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1916/11/19/104694549.pdf|newspaper=The New York Times|date=November 19, 1916|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181001181304/https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1916/11/19/104694549.pdf|archive-date=2018-10-01|url-status=live}}
Final race
A record crowd of 150,000 people saw millionaire sportsman Cliff Durant drive his Chevrolet Special to victory on a shortened course in 1919.{{cite news|title=Auto racer is killed when car upsets|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=fFhRAAAAIBAJ&sjid=BWgDAAAAIBAJ&pg=4769%2C1329906|newspaper=The Gazette Times|location=Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania|agency=Associated Press|date=March 16, 1919}} Walter Melcher sustained fatal injuries when his car overturned.
Further reading
- Osmer, Harold L.; Harms, Phil E. (April 16, 1999). [https://www.hotrodhotline.com/feature/bookreviews/07realracingrp/ Real Road Racing: The Santa Monica Road Races]. Chatsworth, California: Harold L. Osmer Publishing. {{ISBN|978-0-9659533-1-3}}. Book on the history of the Santa Monica road races.