Board Track Motorcycle Racing History: A Thrilling Yet Deadly Spectacle of the 1910s

KustomGaras.com - Board track motorcycle racing was one of the oldest and deadliest forms of motorsport in history. Hundreds of lives, both racers and spectators, were lost in accidents during the relatively short era of board track racing. Despite the risks, it was one of the most popular forms of entertainment in America during the 1910s, drawing crowds of up to 10,000 spectators to each event. Young racers knew the dangers but chose to ignore them because the rewards were so great. Top racers could earn $20,000 (around $500,000 in today's currency) per year by racing on board tracks.

It's easy to understand why board track racing was so dangerous. These small but powerful motorcycles could reach speeds of 100 mph! Racers were inches away from the wheels and engines, the machines had no brakes, and collisions between racers were common. And spectators were separated from the track by nothing more than 2x4 boards nailed between flimsy posts.

The advent of motorized vehicles in the first decade of the 20th century led to the emergence of these racing events, initially to reduce illegal racing on public roads (apparently, illegal racing is a long-standing tradition, haha). The term "board track" began to be used in newspapers to describe these circuits in 1901, and the concept was similar to that of velodromes for bicycles.

The first major board track circuit was the Los Angeles Motordrome in the Playa Del Ray resort. It was so grand that it took 3,000,000 feet of lumber and 16 tons of nails to construct the pie-shaped track.

With its booming popularity, motordrome circuits were built across the country. The Salt Lake Telegram on July 4, 1910, reported a crowd of 8,000 to 10,000 spectators on the opening night of the Wandamere Motordrome. The races featured Jake De Rosier, a great Indian motorcycle racer, as the main attraction.

The Philadelphia Inquirer on June 15, 1912, reported the opening of the Grand Pointe Breeze Park Motordrome in Philadelphia. Pointe Breeze would become one of the most successful board tracks with weekly programs. Two of the era's leading motorcycle racers, Morty Graves and Eddie Hasha, were the featured riders at the Pointe Breeze opener.

The lack of attention to safety in board track racing was a factor that was only realized after the facilities were built. The Salt Lake Telegram on July 5, 1912, reported a serious accident in which a rider named Harry Davis was killed and seven spectators were injured when Davis' motorcycle crashed and broke a light pole. Throughout that summer, there were reports of racers or spectators being killed in accidents at motordromes.

The first major tragedy occurred at the motordrome in Newark, New Jersey, on September 8, 1912. The Lexington Herald on September 9, 1912, reported that two riders (Eddie Hasha and Johnny Albright) were killed when they crashed into the barriers. Four spectators were also killed in the incident and 19 others were injured. The story of the accident was carried in newspapers across the country.

The following summer, on July 20, 1913, a rider named Odin Johnson crashed; his motorcycle hit a light pole, setting off a tragic domino effect. The motorcycle's fuel tank exploded, exposed electrical wires from the light pole ignited the fuel, and then spread the fire to the crowd of spectators. The death toll was eight, as reported by the Salt Lake Telegram on August 1, 1913. In the aftermath, Johnson's widow vowed to dedicate her life to ending board track racing.

The two tragic accidents permanently tarnished the reputation of motordromes and eventually led motorcycle racing sanctioning bodies to ban board tracks in the late 1910s due to safety concerns.

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