Los Angeles herald., 1910-01-09
ROAD RACING
GROWS IN FAVOR
STATISTICS SHOW SPORT RE-
CEIVES SUPPORT
Of the Twenty-seven Events Recorded
in the Last Year Two Were
Held Out of Los
Angeles

RoAD-RAcINo STATISTICS OF 1903
Number of road races ........................ q
Number OF miles 'odyv
Average distance of each race .............. III
Average miles per hour each race......,.....422
Fastest road race, Riverhead, class 4.....699
Slowest road race, Los Angeles-Phoenix. .24S
Longest road race, Los Angeles-Phoenix.. $50
Shortest road race, Portland .........-......43S
Number of starters .........................' 20
Average number of starters ................ sA
Number Of cars allowed to hnish.......'.' VI
Road racing statistics compiled from
Motor Age files for the season of 1908
show that this branch of motor com
petition is growing in popularity
among the makers in the United
States, who have given 1t more sup
port than ever before and with corre-
spondingly better results, in that for-
eign competition has been successfully
met and the American stock car mas
in a majority of cases triumphed over
+he foreign product. In this country
this year there have been twenty
seven road races, counting the various
class events, and in these 223 cars
have started. OF this number elSnt-
cen of them have been of foreign
make. vet the tables show only one
victory for an imported machine-that
af tt1e Fiat in one Of the classes at
the Riverhead, L. l.
Interesting comparison may be drawn
between 1908 and 1909. In 1908 there
we're twenty-one road races in TINS
country. as against twenty-seVen IN
1909 In 1908 the total distance OF
t,yentv-one American races was 4Sl4.4
miles, or an average of 22s.9 miles
race. In 1909 the twenty-seven races
distanced 51oO miles, or an average OF
211 miles.
In this country sixty different makes
of cars took part in the twenty-seVen
road races, and the first places were
divided among fourteen dlfferent
makes. In the United States it was
battle royal for supremacy between the
Chalmers-Detroit and the Buick, winch
concerns were the strongest supporters
for road events among the American
makers.
A compilation of results would seem
to give the honors to the Chalmers,
which started twenty-five cars in the
various events and came home first
in five, finished second three times
and third twice. This left twelve cars
unplaced. The Buick record shows
twenty seven starts, of which number
five were firsts. two seconds and two
thirds. The Pope-Hartford was the
dark horse of the year, and its four
first places were gathered on the Pa
cific coast, the most sensational of
which was the Portola meet, in which
it won the little class at an average
pace of 65.7 miles an hour.
The Chalmers best performance
was in the Wemme cup at Portland,
Ore, where Dingley averaged 5S.7
miles an hour in a forty. The best
record for a Chalmers thirty was in
the Massapequa cup on Long Island,
when Joe Matson averaged $50.
The Buick has to it's credit the fast
est road race of the year, both in this
country and abroad-the 69.9 miles an
hour of Chevrolet at Riverhead, not to
forget his fast lap in the Vanderbilt.
in which he averaged 76.5 miles an
hour. The Simplex has a most eX-
cellent record, having won twice and
started only four cars. Apperson had
ten chances, and besides two firsts
was in the money three other times.
Maxwell, while it won only one race,
was a consistent performer, and the
speed of the little car was well demon
strated The Stoddard, which quit
the racing game after Indianapolis,
did well earlier in the year and out on
the coast annexed a fast race. The
Alec made only two starts and won
one of them-the Vanderbilt. In the
other, at Lowell. it looked a victory
when Grant got to the front and with
only three laps to go, when tire came
off and caught in the driving chain.