 1912 Santa Monica road races[2] | |
| Location | Santa Monica, California |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 34°02′20″N118°29′17″W / 34.039°N 118.488°W /34.039; -118.488 |
| Opened | July 10, 1909 |
| Closed | March 15, 1919 |
| Major events | American Grand Prize Vanderbilt Cup |
| 1909–16 | |
| Length | 8.417 mi (13.546 km) |
| 1919 | |
| Length | 7.360 mi (11.845 km) |
TheSanta Monica road race course was an Americanrace track consisting of public roads. Established by a consortium ofSouthern California auto dealers who sought to promote cars, buying them as well as racing them, at a time when they were rather rare inLos Angeles, the Santa Monica road races lasted for ten years.[3]
An estimated 50,000 people attended the 1909 Santa Monica road races.Harris Hanshue was the winner of the heavy-car division in anApperson Jackrabbit andBert Dingley won the lightweight division in aChalmers-Detroit Forty.[3]
The free-for-all race of the 1912 event was won byTeddy Tetzlaff in aFiat.[2] He was awarded a medal for the win.[4]
Santa Monica hosted both theVanderbilt Cup and theAmerican Grand Prize in 1914 and in 1916.[1] A fatality occurred in practice for the1914 event when a car crashed into the crowd and killed a spectator.[5] The1916 event was marred by a total of five deaths: After amechanician had been fatally injured in practice,[6] driverLewis Jackson and three people lining the road died as a result of a crash during the Grand Prix race.[7]
A record crowd of 150,000 people saw millionaire sportsmanCliff Durant drive hisChevrolet Special to victory on a shortened course in 1919.[3][8]Walter Melcher sustained fatal injuries when his car overturned.[8]