William H. Pickens

Thanks to auto racing history researcher Ken Parrotte we can all enjoy articles attached here that provide insight to race promoter William Hickman Pickens. Pickens is now largely forgotten, but in the first quarter of the 20th century he was a prominent motorsports promoter who frequently worked with the super star of the day, Barney Oldfield.
 
Pickens, refered to as Oldfield's manager in the 1905 article attached below, discusses struggles his driver was having with his Green Dragon racer that weekend at the Harlem horse track that weekend. The article was published on May 25, 1905 in the Chicago Tribune and is packed with numerous interesting details. Mentioned is that it was at this event that Carl Fisher set a track record, perhaps the only time in his brief driving career that he led the time charts. Louis Chevrolet eclipsed Fisher's speed later in the day. Keep in mind this was the first year of Chevrolet's driving career. Also on hand was John Walter Christie, who, the article reports, was representing the Automobile Club of America (ACA) in his iconic Christie racer. Christie's big prize at the meet was his victory in the Harold E. Thomas Trophy race. Other drivers called out are W.H. Winchester (E.H. Green's Franklin), Charles Soules (Pope-Toledo), and Webb Jay (White Steamer). Chicago millionaire C.A. Coey is also mentioned as competing as was Edgar Apperson in one of his Apperson racers. Ray Harroun, referred to as, "R.W. Harroun," is called out for designing, constucting, and driving a skelatal-frame small car of his own design. This machine is referred to as, "the Baby Carriage." I suspect this racer was a car he drove at the Ormond Beach time trials of 1907.
 
Interesting to note is that officials conditioned the track by scraping it to a hard surface with a plane. The loose dirt, it is explained, was usually in place to cushion the knees of the horses when they ran in competition. It's worth mentioning that Oldfield and Fisher squared off in a match race where the Green Dragon prevailed. Most of the event results are presented in a table.
 
The next attached article, Pickens-Strang News is a brief piece announcing that Pickens and Lewis Strang were parting company with Buick, led by William Durant at the time. The article puts into question the continuance of the Buick team in 1910, but they did return with their other two drivers, Louis Chevrolet and Bob Burman. Also, it notes that Pickens was departing for Germany and on his to do list was the acquisition of the Blitzen Benz for Oldfield. There is insinuation that Pickens would likely head an expanding Benz team, but that proved to be an overstep in speculation. Apparently, Strang's departure was amicable as Buick presented him with the race car he had driven to victory in the G&J Trophy at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The severance also included a check for $3,333.33 bonus, a third share of the team's 1909 winnings.
 
The third attachment, the obit story from July 1934, sheds more light on Pickens' career. While he is best known for promoting automobiles and motorsport, he was also active in airplane stunts, professional tennis, and marathon running. Lincoln Beachey and Ormer Locklear were among his best-known aviators, Suzanne Lenglen was a legendary professional tennis player, Paavo Nurmi was a premier marathon runner, and the football icon Harold "Red" Grange. He worked with C.C. Pyle, the famous sports agent that represented Lenglen and Grange.