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    The Worst Year in Racing
    The Worst Year in Racing
    The Worst Year in Racing
    Ebook63 pages44 minutes

    The Worst Year in Racing

    By J Louis Frey

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    About this ebook

    Auto racing is one of the most popular sports in America. By live attendance, television, radio, or internet it is viewed by thousands across the nation. Whether contested locally or on the big tracks, it has also been a bloody proposition. From its earliest endeavors it has left many broken bodies and lives.
    However, one year appears to stand out for its spectacular brutality. Killing both young and old by crashes, fire, and blunt force trauma. Drivers, crewman, spectators, and even photographers were in the line of fire. The story weaves from Maine to California and from Minnesota to Florida and everywhere in between. Events happened at dirt tracks, asphalt ovals, road courses and drag strips.
    Because of the fatalities many steps and improvements were made to eliminate the suffering. Car designs, fire safety, and track facility upgrades were all implemented to safeguard the sport.
    There is someone killed every year in auto racing accidents, but this was the worst year in auto racing.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherJ Louis Frey
    Release dateJun 14, 2013
    ISBN9781301460168
    The Worst Year in Racing
    Author

    J Louis Frey

    J Louis Frey has been an auto racing fan for over 40 years and continues to attend races. He is a racing writer and publisher. He collects racing books, magazines, and programs. Frey is married and has two children. He loves all types of racing cars!

    Read more from J Louis Frey

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      Book preview

      The Worst Year in Racing - J Louis Frey

      The WORST Year In Auto Raceing

      By J Louis Frey

      Smashwords Edition

      Copyright 2012 J Louis Frey

      Smashwords Edition, License Notes

      This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

      Table of Contents

      Preface

      Chapter 1

      Chapter 2

      Chapter 3

      Chapter 4

      Chapter 5

      Chapter 6

      Chapter 7

      Chapter 8

      Chapter 9

      Chapter 10

      Chapter 11

      Chapter 12

      Sources

      About the Author

      Preface

      The subject of this book is one that I have struggled with and debated about for some time. As a racing fan I didn’t want to appear to be insensitive about others pain, or seem to revel in a certain amount of bloodlust. These events took place when I was a child, before I was an auto racing fan. I take no pleasure in describing any details of a life snuffed out because of circumstances or accidents at a racing track. I have great respect and admiration for the men and women who sacrifice their time and efforts in the pursuit of speed and the sport of automotive contests.

      The first auto racing event in the US took place on Thanksgiving Day in 1895 in Chicago. It was won by James Frank Duryea competing on a 54 mile course. Duryea passed away in 1967. The first recorded auto accident in the US happened in March 1896 in New York City when a driver in a Duryea brand car hit a bicyclist, breaking her leg. The first deaths at an auto race in the US happened on May 31, 1902 on Staten Island in New York City, New York. During speed trials there an all-electric race car lost control and plowed into a crowd of spectators. One spectator, 58 year old Andrew Fetherston Sr, was killed. Another man died from injuries the next day, and a third man died one month later from complications. Four others received serious injuries but survived. The car was believed to be exceeding 70 mph at the time of the crash.

      On September 9, 1903 Barney Oldfield crashed his car in a race on the Grosse Pointe Blue Ribbon Track in Detroit, Michigan. A tire failed and Oldfield flew off of the track and narrowly missed some trees. Oldfield was slightly injured but a spectator was killed. The Ford car named Red Devil that he was piloting was repaired and the car owner hired another driver to compete in a race in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

      The driver was Frank Day, who tested the car and raced it on September 12. Day was going to try to break Oldfield’s five mile record on a one mile track. On the fourth lap he crashed into the fence, the car flipped over, and Day was thrown from the vehicle. He died shortly after the crash from head injuries. Day became the first auto racing driver to be killed in a crash in the United States. He was only 22 years old and a single man.

      I started this journey by going to the website motorsportsmemorial.com. Beginning the search and research with the year in question, I dug in. Some of the events and people’s names were ones I was already somewhat familiar with. Most of the

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