Automobile racing, like the automobile itself, was still in its infancy at this time. It cost more to buy an automobile than a single-family home. A logical conclusion, then, that the first organized automobile racing was headed off by rich, playboy characters of the era.
William Kissam Vanderbilt, son of the well-established Vanderbilt family railroad empire, spent most of his spare time breeding champion racehorses, but also took an interest in motor racing. Frustrated with American road racing's lack of visibility, Vanderbilt founded his own road racing series, the Vanderbilt Cup, in 1907. His first venue of choice was Long Island, New York, close to his family estate. Practices were held there for the inaugural event in 1907, but immediately ran into trouble in the form of handfuls of spectator injuries, and several spectator deaths. This would prove to be a dark, lingering cloud over early motor sport.
Officials cancelled the 1907 event, but this was far from the end of the infant racing series' quarrels. Rivaling automotive clubs fought over guidelines, but one thing was certain: the venue would have to be moved.
Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the Milwaukee Mile were among the only race tracks that existed in the United States around the turn of the century. Most early automobile racing instead took place on street circuits, usually appearing in big cities and drawing enormous crowds, the pedestrians being the earliest iteration of crash barriers.
The scene was no different in 1908, when the Vanderbilt Cup, now renamed the Grand Prize Race of the Automobile Club of America, started in it's new location on the streets of Savannah, Georgia. Curiously, this makes Savannah one of the earliest cradles of motor sport in the United States. Think about that next time you're stuck behind a horsedrawn carriage on Victory Drive, the former road course's main straightaway.
With the help of the Savannah Automobile Club, and a convict labor force authorized by Georgia's governor at the time, a 25-mile road course quickly took shape. To help ensure Long Island's tragedies didn't occur again, the governor also sent state militia troops to assist local police in crowd control.
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| A ticket for a 6-seat box at the Savannah race. This equals out to around $1,200 in today's money. |
This, Vanderbilt's second attempt, proved a success-- only in the sense that a race actually took place this time. International attention focused on Savannah, but it would prove to be a double-edged sword. By 1910, when the sparse Grand Prix calendar landed back in Savannah, word had long spread across the country and overseas, and crowds outnumbered the ones at Long Island in 1907. Deaths of two mechanics at an earlier event that year threatened another cancellation, but the Savannah Automobile Club managed to save the event by proposing a shorter 17-mile course. Many of the European teams were not able to make it, but the race went on without incident.
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| Felice Navarro driving a Fiat in the 1910 Vanderbuilt Cup at Savannah. |
1911, however, brought more tragedy. The increasing popularity of the automobile meant that not all public roads could be closed during race days. Two accidents occurred during practice, one resulting in the death of a driver. Making matters worse, Savannah residents weren't happy about the continued use of convict labor and militia forces used by the organizers of the event. Those residents quickly changed the tides, and Savannah backed out for 1912. However, safety, or lack thereof, continued to be a huge issue. The 1912 race, held on another street course in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, saw yet another tragic death during practice. And this trend would continue throughout the early years of motor racing.
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| Wagner's non-fatal accident during practice at the 1911 Vanderbilt Cup. |
Savannah's road course would be the last purpose-made automotive venue in the state for some time. The story remained the same for most of the country. Throughout the 1920s and 30s, the only tracks to be found in the southeast were dirt ovals or rudimentary drag strips. With the exception of a handful of paved ovals which sprang up across the country, the 1940s were devoid of any sort of racing development. Georgia, and the rest of the country, would have to wait until the 1950s, when the road racing of early days finally made a comeback.
In 1944, the Sports Car Club of America was founded as an outlet for automotive enthusiasts. It took four years for the organization to move to sanctioned racing events, the first of which taking place at Watkins Glen, a village in upstate New York. SCCA was a grassroots organization, comprised originally of two brothers who raced the back roads of upstate. This marked a new beginning for automobile racing in the United States. Postwar cars were cheap, and hotrodding culture was in full bloom, not only in southern California, but all across the country from Kansas to Kennewick.
Watkins Glen Grand Prix, SCCA's inaugural racing event, took place on a street course that ran through the village of Watkins Glen, already a historic racing venue by that time. The 1948 event went off without incident, but officials knew that tragedy loomed unless an entirely different approach could be taken to Grand Prix racing. In 1951, SCCA formed the National Sports Car Championship from existing events like Watkins Glen, but turned towards the many air force bases left throughout the country. Air Force General Curtis LeMay, himself an automotive racing enthusiast, loaned Strategic Air Command facilities to the SCCA throughout the mid-1950s.
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| Cars leave the starting line for the 1952 Watkins Glen Grand Prix. |
Tragedy struck again in 1952, when a 7-year-old boy was killed while spectating at Watkins Glen. Several other spectators were also injured, and it was a nightmare for race organizers. Officials knew they'd have to act quickly if they wanted to keep sports car racing alive in the United States.
Road America was one of the first purpose-built asphalt road courses to appear as a result of the 1952 tragedy at Watkins Glen. Located in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, a town that had also hosted its own road circuit, it set the example for courses like it. In 1956, a permanent circuit was built at Watkins Glen. Now-legendary courses--Lime Rock Park in Connecticut, Laguna Seca Raceway in California, and Virginia International Raceway in Virginia--were all built the following year.
In 1959, construction crews broke ground for a new racing circuit in Effingham County, about 20 miles outside of Savannah. Roebling Road Raceway is now named after Washington Roebling II, a competitor in the 1910 Grand Prix race in Savannah. The 2-mile course is unique in that it's owned by the local branch of the SCCA, and has no spectator accommodations. As a result, it's one of the least expensive tracks to run on in the United States. MotorWeek even films its winter track tests there. What more could you ask for?
Soon after Roebling Road was finished, enthusiasts in north Georgia wanted a world class circuit to call their own. Fast forward to 1969, and enter: David Sloyer, a salsa (party dip, not South American dance) entrepreneur; Earl Walker, an engineering graduate of Georgia Tech; and Arthur Montgomery, an Atlanta politician who was largely responsible for bringing professional sports to the city in the mid-60s. These three men eyed a 750-acre plot of land in rural Hall County, Georgia, and hurried to convert the former farmland into a world class race track in time for the 1970 Can-Am race. Six months and an incredible amount of elbow grease later, and the 2.5-mile, 12-corner course was ready for racing.
Stirling Moss acted as race Grand Marshal, and 75 laps later, Englishman Tony Dean brought home the first ever trophy earned on the Braselton, Georgia course. In the years following, hero-names like Dan Gurney, Mario Andretti, Paul Newman, and Mark Donohue left their rubber on the asphalt Grand Prix course. But the opening buzz would be short-lived. In 1978, due to ongoing financial problems, the track was sold. Road Atlanta then changed hands in rapid succession, each new owner seemingly less stable than the one who came before. By 1993, the track had officially declared bankruptcy.
Almost immediately, a group of executives purchased the track from the bank, but the road to recovery would be slow. It wasn't until Don Panoz, founder of the neighboring winery Chateau Elan and inventor of the nicotine patch, purchased the track in 1996 that there was any sort of clear future for Road Atlanta. Dr. Panoz saw huge potential in the track, and with his business holdings in northeast Georgia, the purchase made complete sense. Over the next decade, Panoz successfully improved the grounds, repaved and reconfigured portions of the circuit, and even funded his son Danny's efforts to build the Panoz Esperante, a Mustang V8-powered sports car with a hand-built aluminum body.
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| Above: The first car to come out of Panoz's Braselton, Georgia HQ: the Panoz Roadster. Below: A refined version of the Roadster, if you can call a beast with a 4.6L Mustang V8 refined: the Panoz Esperante. |
In 1999, Dr. Panoz decided it was time to start his own sports car racing series. The American Le Mans series has since become immensely popular stateside and internationally. Road Atlanta's Petit Le Mans race, now a 10-hour endurance event, just celebrated its 17th year. American Le Mans has competed with the Grand-Am Rolex Series, backed by NASCAR, since its founding, but ALMS has long been the fan favorite. NASCAR solved this problem by purchasing the American Le Mans Series, along with Road Atlanta and Chateau Elan in 2014 for a reported $22 million. This effectively merged the American Le Mans and Grand-Am Rolex series,' and shuffled around both drivers and racing classes.
But where has that playboy-racer spirit gone in the state of Georgia? Sure, one could argue that Panoz and Road Atlanta embody that, and they certainly do to an extent. But the American Le Mans Series still retains a great amount of blue collar appeal. Infield camping is the most popular way of spectating the event. The parking lots have their fair share of 911s, but for each of those, there are probably three Chevrolet pickup trucks or Toyota SUVs. Don Panoz, who famously took up smoking again after seeing Mario Andretti crash at one of his races, still prefers to jet around in a Panoz Roadster. And if you've ever attended Formula Drift at the track, you'll understand it's not all expensive chardonnays and Belmont Stakes derby hats.
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| Spectators pack the hill above turn 5, an area that gives an excellent view of "the esses" at Road Atlanta. |
Atlanta Motorsports Park, nestled in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains, seeks to solve that need. Opened in 2013, AMP is considered a "motor sports country club." Memberships range from the plebeian Karting/Mini-Moto all the way up to Diamond, which allows those willing to pay the $45,000 initiation fee up to 180 days of track time annually. It can also be assured these members will enjoy the track's various ammenities, which include horseback riding, a tennis club, fitness center, pool, and hiking and mountain biking trails. Now we're talking.
The 2-mile road circuit has at least two corners that were heavily inspired by both the Spa-Francochamp's circuit in Belgium and the famously-bumpy Carousel from the Nurburgring in Germany. And the CEO's didn't skimp when it came to a designer, either. Hermann Tilke, a former Formula One driver and one of only four circuit designers recognized by the FIA (International Automobile Federation), is responsible for north Georgia's racing country club. Tilke is also responsible for the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas, site of the only race on the Formula One calendar in the United States.
Tilke hasn't been without criticism though. Several Formula One stars, most notably Jackie Stewart and Mark Webber, haven't held back, describing Tilke's courses as "carbon copies of one another," (Stewart, in The Daily Telegraph, 2011) and built in such a way that they fail to penalize driver's mistakes. AMP hasn't been without its criticism either. Motorsports enthusiasts are wary of the high costs of membership, which seem to ward of a big segment of the racing community. Hopefully though, initial members will build up the capital needed for track owners to pay down development costs, and hopefully that will translate to the track becoming more accessible. But only time will tell.
Georgia's racing history has been a silent contender. We'll never get the acclaim that comes with California, or upstate New York's Watkins Glen. And to be quite honest, I don't think our facilities warrant the same sort of acclaim. But motor sport still has firm footing in the land of peaches and weird-tasting onions. In 1997, Savannah tried to revive the spirits of the 1910's with the first--and last--Indy Lights calendar race. Officials hastily constructed a 2-mile course on Hutchinson Island, across the Savannah River. Much like the early Vanderbilt Cup races, the series quickly fell apart, and now the Hutchinson Island Road Course is an out-of-place footnote on the Westin Savannah Harbor Resort's web page. Its only use comes from the occasional guest, and the yearly Savannah Speed Classic vintage races.
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| An early model 911 dives into a corner on the Hutchinson Island Road Course. |
Standing on River Street in late October, you might catch the riotous sound of a dozen flat-sixes fighting away out of sight across the water. It's only then that you can imagine what it might have been like on Thanksgiving Day in 1908, the moss-lined streets clogged with spectators, greasy team mechanics, and moustached French racing drivers ready to wind their way around the bluff where Oglethorpe landed some 170 years prior. And you can smile, knowing that the racket is echoing all the way up, nearly to Tennessee, and reminding us what a fine place we live in.
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