Page 73 - 2003 DT 12 Issues

What’s Inside!

Featured Articles
Car Race, part II..................................1

Special
Boot Tracks..........................................5
Quiz......................................................6

October 2003 Departments
News & Notes......................................2
Programs & Hikes...............................4
Desk Schedule....................................6
Bulletin Board.....................................8

THE GREAT AUTO Nevertheless, the odds-on favorite this tale as recounted in the Goodsprings
was Charles 0. Spencer of Goodsprings Gazette, Sept. 9, 1916:
RACE, 1916 driving his new Pierce-Arrow, dubbed “The race itself was a splendid

by his backers as the “big red demon.” exhibition. The course was poor and de-
by Jack Ryan
Goodsprings had been shocked by its cidedly slow. There were nine cars
(Continued from the September 2003, issue loss by a third of an inch in the hard-rock entered and it was decided to run the race
of the Desert Trumpet) hand-drilling contest. And it took hard against time with three cars to a heat.
the second place finish by Mrs. F. F. The first cars up were Howard Conklin’s
he last day of the Labor Day holi- Westfall in the ladies’ nail-driving con- Dodge . . . the Knox, owned and driven
day, a Tuesday, dawned on small test. But Charlie Spencer would erase by Kenneth Nikrent, and a Peerless,
Tgroups of intense men, the tink- all that in the biggest event of the holi- driven by Bud Horn. The Peerless quit
ers on nine gas buggies being readied day get-together. Goodsprings had bet before the first lap was completed. The
for the great auto race of 1916 in the its collective shirt on Charlie. Knox lost a plug out of its magneto and
upstart town of Las Vegas, Nev. The stopped but ran a good race.
worldwide love affair with the internal The Dodge, driven by Robbie
combustion machine was only a decade Robinson, ran a splendid race,
old yet the fever had spawned new in- circuiting the track for the five
dustries and mores, and brought towns laps without a hitch.
and nations closer and made travel time “The second heat brought
finite. forth a Mercer, from Arden,
Time. That was the focus of South- driven and owned by C.
ern Nevada that Sports Carnival holiday. Delcasse; a Chevrolet, owned
Whose buggy could run the course with- and driven by Watt Hooker,
out one of those infernal breakdowns? and W.E. Alien’s Marmon.
Most of all, who would finish first The Marmon stripped its high gear just
But beneath the towns’ braggadocio
among racers from as far off as Beatty? after the first turn and was out of the
was a nasty edge. Goodsprings, Search-
Summer holidays in Western towns no race. The driver of the Mercer could
light, Rhyolite all had populations of
longer centered on horse racing. Racing have made better time, but he made the
was done by daredevils in machines in miners . . . square-shooting sweat labor- statement that he was only trying the
these modern days. Last 4th of July ers. While Las Vegas was a railroad time of the Dodge, and according to his
a Dodge owned by Howard Conklin had town, its reputation reflected its large auto-clock he had accomplished this.
won the race. But he faced stiff compe- business community of lawyers, real The Chevrolet, a snappy little car, could
tition even with a driver as renowned as estate promoters, insurance agents and have made better time if the driver had
Robbie Robertson, whom the entrepreneurs. Resentment boiled let it out.
Goodsprings Gazette lauded thusly: among the neighbors, trusty blue-collar “The last heat brought out three
“This youthful driver has a great future; vs. wise guy white-collar. Under these goodsprings [sic] cars. Wm. Jolly’s
he has won three straight races, handles circumstances it’s strange nobody pro-
his car like a veteran, and is a popular tested when the judges were named. All
idol among Las Vegas fans.” were from Las Vegas. And therein lies Auto Race, continued on p. 7