AUTOMOBILES IN RUSH
DASH IN SWIFT SPEED
Seven in Contest at Aviation and
Automobile Meet are Led by Buchanan Lyon of Durham in Thomas Flyer Five Miles
in 7 Minutes 9 Seconds
TWO RALEIGH
___________________
The Contest Was a
Spirited One and There Was Intense Enthusiasm Among the Thousands as the Fast
Racing Machines Swept at Terrific Speed Around the Half Mile Track at the Fair Grounds,
the Various Drivers and Mechanicians Showing Daring and All Possible Skill in
the Control of the automobiles, Which Made Time Fly as the Course Was Covered
in the Dash For the Laurels.
With
swiftness almost incredible, seven automobiles dashed at terrific speed around
the race track at the Fair Grounds yesterday afternoon while thousands looked
on and cheered, the enthusiasm being great, the hazardous racing against time
being conducted without a single mishap, and records being made which set the
pace in this section. And there will be more of this today.
It was at
the News and Observer Aviation and
Automobile Meet that this swift racking of machines was seen to the delight of
the many thousands who filled the grandstand, occupying every seat in the many
stands erected about the race track and crowded in great numbers about the
railing which shut in the race track. It was a speed contest of the perilous
kind with men half hanging from the car to balance these annihilators of space
as they swept around the curves and with increasing speed seemed almost to fly
along the straight stretches. And though the sport is a perilous one, there was
not a tremor on the part of the drivers who forgot all of self in the mad rush
to be first in the contest.
The
surroundings and the enthusiasm were such as to spur on men to their best
endeavors, and not once in the great speed contest but who rose to the occasion
and almost forcing his own will and determination into the machine in which he
rode made it almost human in the fight to stand first among its fellows, each
being in the rush to be hailed the victor.
Let the races begin
It was at 2
o’clock sharp that the automobile races were begun, each car in the contest
having as the work before it a dash of five miles, which is ten times around
the half-mile race track at the Fair Grounds. Each car made a fine record, and
only one, the Vellie, driven by R. Wayland Yates, fell by the wayside and this
car, which was making the fastest time in the two miles it kept going, ended
its course in the fifth lap, the car carburetors failing to act fast enough in
the use of the gasoline. If this car, entered by the W. H. Brewer Garage of
Raleigh, had kept the speed of its first four laps it had every prospect of
being a leader.
From early
in the day the crowds had begun to assemble at the Fair Grounds for the
automobile racing and the aeroplane flights in Curtiss machines by McCurdy and
Ely, and with from seven to eight thousand people present the automobile racing
was begun sharp on time at 3 o’clock. Raleigh
had a great representation, while from all the surrounding towns there came hundreds
to increase the thousands. Men and women were here o see the action in the air
of the marvels of the age, the gathering being representative one of the very
best life in North Carolina, while in the great throng, there were many who
came to study the scientific side of the Curtiss flyhing machines, as well as
to see to how great a speed an automobile could be driven. It was a great
crowd, and all in it were eager for the events of the day.
In the
judges’ stand the gentlemen in charge of the racing were all kept busy in making
the time of the speeding automobiles, the judges being Mr. R. D. Godwin, Mr. C.
B. Barbee, Col. Joseph E. Pogue, Maj. R. M. Albright, and Mr. M. W. Colcock, of
Cleveland, Ohio, the latter being on the race track, and acting as the starter.
As each machine started and ended its race, its name, driver and time were
announced from the judges’ stand.
The rush of
the automobiles around the race track was a sight to set the nerves tingling.
As the machines went at terrific speed the dust arose in clouds behind them,
while on the turns of the track the assistants to the drivers would swing
themselves way out towards the inner rail of the course in order to help the
turn and would then crouch back on the side step awaiting the next turn. As the
machine would pass the judges’ stand there was great shouting from the crowd.
The Prize Winners
As the
result of the contest the three prizes were awarded for the time made in the
five-mile dash as follows:
First—Thomas
Flyer, 60 horse power, entered by E. R. Lyon Motor Car Company of Durham . Driver Buchanan
Lynn. Time: 7 minutes 9 seconds.41.95 miles an hour. $50.
 |
| 1907 Thomas-Flyer http://theoldmotor.com |
Second—Jackson , 40 horse power,
entered by Raleigh Motor Car and Machine Company. Driver, H. D. Mitchell. Time:
7 minutes 12 seconds, 41.7 miles an hour, $40.
 |
| 1908 Jackson Touring https://www.pinterest.com/pin/375135843933518310 |
Third—Hinson,
60 horse power, entered by Carolina Carriage and Machine Company of Raleigh . Driver John Park. Time: 7 minutes 39 seconds
39.2 miles per hour. $30.
…
Men who have knowledge of other automobile races and the condition of various tracks say that the time made was most excellent and that as a half mile course theRaleigh track is
excellent for automobiles. The great crowd was enthusiastic over the contest
and it whetted up the appetite for the aeroplane flights of McCurdy and Ely which came after the
automobile races.
Men who have knowledge of other automobile races and the condition of various tracks say that the time made was most excellent and that as a half mile course the
[News and Observer (Raleigh, NC) 17 Nov 1910]
