Panoramic Auto Racing History

The Library of Congress has some great photos of early American auto racing, panoramic style. Go to their site, search for "panoramic photographs automobile racing," (use that exact phrase, I find search and navigation there flakey) and you should see ten links to some really neat panoramic images, all from events prior to 1920. Several are of board tracks at Cincinnati, Sheapshead Bay and Chicago.

Here are descriptions:

• The last major race of the year at Ascot Park in 1916, won by Dario Resta that year's national auto racing champion and winner, Indianapolis 500.
• This is the Carona, California Road Race of 1913. The race was won by Earl Cooper, an outstanding talent of the era.
• Sweeping view of the Cincinnati board track speedway and crowd in 1916.

• Cincinnati board track speedway, 1916. Starting line-up of drivers. Race was won by Johnny Aitken in a Peugeot.
• Starting field of the Cincinnati board track speedway 300 mile race, 1916.
• Indianapolis Motor Speedway aviation meet, 1910. The Wright brothers, among several others, competed for awards such as altitude records and flight duration. 21-year-old Walter Brookins set the world's altitude record flying for the Wrights. The event was held in June and Brookins had only learned to fly in March.
• Sheepshead Bay, New York board track speedway, 1915. Gil Anderson in a Stutz won the race and two-time Vanderbilt Cup winner Harry Grant was killed in practice. Indianapolis Motor Speedway founders Carl Fisher and Art Newby served on the board of directors for this speedway and Fisher was president briefly before resigning just after launching the business.

Check out the link below for the shot of the Carona, California road race (1913) as a sample.