A Brief History
On November 28, 1895, the first American auto race took place, the Chicago Times-Herald Race, a 54 mile event with a grand prize of $5,000. (If that prize sounds lame, remember that this is worth over $140,000 in today’s money.)
Digging Deeper
As the automobile was a new-fangled invention at the time, a proper name for the motorized conveyance had not yet been agreed upon and the Times-Herald called their event a “Moto-cycle Race.” Originally meant to be a race from Chicago to Milwaukee, the roads of the day were not smooth enough for those primitive cars to traverse, so the race was shortened to only 54 miles from a point in Chicago to Evanston (a suburb) and back.
Problems started before the race, originally scheduled for November 2. Many of the entrant vehicles were not complete and ready by race time, and a couple of the entrants were stopped by Chicago police on their way to the start point and ordered to have their cars towed by horses the rest of the way! Race organizers had to convince the Chicago City Council to pass an ordinance to allow motor vehicles on the streets so the race could be run.
Finally ready to go on November 28, by this time the weather had made the roads muddy and snowy. Despite 83 entrants, only 6 vehicle showed up to race, 3 four wheeled cars made by Karl Benz, a four wheeled car made and driven by Charles Duryea, and 2 two wheeled motorcycles. One of the racers was electric powered and ran out of juice almost immediately due to the cold weather. A Benz car hit a horse near the beginning and was out of the race. The other motorcycle could not manage a hill on the course.
Duryea led the other 2 Benz cars across the finish line in a blazing time of 7 hours and 53 minutes, only about 7 mph. The second place Benz finished over an hour later, with a replacement driver due to the original driver passing out because of the cold. Only those 2 entrants completed the race.
Despite what we today may consider a disastrous race, the newspapers of the day trumpeted the results across the country and people were impressed by the ability of the 2 cars to negotiate the mud and foul weather. Auto production started only a year later on a commercial basis and the rest is history (so to speak). Needless to say, Americans have been racing autos and motorcycles ever since, and today motorized vehicle racing is one of America’s most popular sports. The Indy 500, Daytona 500, and Cannonball Run all owe their heritage to this humble start.
Question for students (and subscribers) to ponder: Do you have a favorite auto or motorcycle race?
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Historical Evidence
For more information, please see…
King, Charles B. A Golden Anniversary 1895-1945: Personal Side Lights of America’s First Automobile Race. Publ. by Author, 1945.
