Yes, it’s true. While motorsports history has been very kind to the Daytona and Ormond Beaches in Florida, historians often overlook when Cape May, New Jersey, rivaled Florida for the title of the beach racing capital of the world. MLH digs in…..
Automobile racing on the beach began in 1902 in Ormond Beach, Florida, marking the notable start of NASCAR. However, the city’s famous connection with racing began in 1903 when the Winton Bullet won a Challenge Cup by two-tenths of a second against the Olds Pirate, putting the Daytona Beach area on the global automobile racing map. Did you know Cape May, New Jersey, was also a hotbed for beach racing back to 1905? Read on.
New Jersey has a storied tradition of beach racing, including an epic 1-mile beach race in Cape May that took place during the summer of 1905. The exhibition featured the likes of Henry Ford, Louis Chevrolet, and speed record holder Walter Christie. At the time, the Cape May beach was deemed the “finest racing beach” in the world.
Only the famous Ormond Beach, Florida strip, was considered better than Cape May for racing new machines on the beach. All eyes were on Cape May on August 25, 1905, when Henry Ford, Louis Chevrolet, A. L. Campbell, Walter Christie, and 25 other drivers/machines came to race for two trophies. The Cape May Trophy would be awarded for the best time over a one-mile straightaway beach course. The other cup (0), called the Kilometer Cup, would be awarded for the best time on the beach’s kilometer course. The race, scheduled for July 29, 1905, was postponed due to rain and held the following day. Christie was victorious in his 8-cylinder, 180-hp Blue Flyer and took his great machine over the course several times. In these heats, the times were very close to the record; in three heats, his time was 25.2 seconds or 90.72 mph. Finally, as the spectators and officials looked on, he was clocked at 25 seconds flat (89.28 mph) – a new kilometer record. The later August races were run in subpar conditions, but as you can see below, traveling at over 90mph on a beach in 1905 was pretty impressive. Racers would move on to Atlantic City the following weekend.
Wildwood, New Jersey – TROG brings beach racing back to the Jersey beach the first weekend in October… lots of Dirty Rock and Roll… Night Of The Troglodytes, and lots more!
https://www.facebook.com/theraceofgentlemen/
Known as The Race of Gentlemen, the event has been revived since the 1950s by a local club called the Oilers of New Jersey. For one weekend in early October, racers, gassers, and fans gather on the beach in Wildwood, New Jersey, for one of only two instances of beach racing in the United States. The Mr. Local History Project looks at this iconic event and its history.
Tucked between the Atlantic Ocean and one of America’s most popular boardwalks, the smells of cheesesteaks, french fries, and pizza mix with gasoline, roller coasters, water parks, and balloon games to bring a carnival feel to The Race of Gentlemen, a three-day motorsports festival on the Wildwood beach.
A crowd of almost 15,000 people makes their way to Wildwood, New Jersey, America’s doo-wop capital, to compete or cheer not necessarily for any particular driver but for the sheer joy of the racing experience on a beach. Sponsored by The Oiler’s Car Club of New Jersey, revived over the past decade by Mel Stultz, Michael Kliman, Tom Larusso, and approximately six others, it carries on the tradition of Jersey beach racing that dates back to the 1800s.
The inaugural Race of Gentlemen was held in 2012 on the beach in Asbury Park, NJ, just days before Hurricane Sandy landed. After the inaugural TROG event in Asbury Park, Wildwood, New Jersey, became the event’s home. The move 100 miles south was necessary because Super Storm Sandy destroyed the Asbury Park beach.
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