THE LONGPORT SPEEDWAYWhen anyone mentions automobile racing on the beach, most average racing enthusiasts will say Ormond Beach in Florida. From the first race there in 1902 until Paul Goldsmith won the last race in 1958, beach racing has always been associated with Florida, or more specific, Daytona. If you try to associate Atlantic City, New Jersey with beach racing instead of the Miss America Pageant, the boardwalk or casinos, you might get a lot of strange looks from people. But long before there were casinos, the Miss America Pageant or for that matter, paved roads in the city, there was automobile racing on the beach there.When the idea first came up for racing on the beach in Atlantic City, there were more horse drawn carriages than cars, womens bathing skirts had to be at least 23 inches long and a trolley running from one end of the Island to the other cost ten cents. The date was July 29, 1905, the same day that Cape May, NJ started hosting races on the beach down there. Talks about racing on the beach before were shunned by local officials since racing was considered a dangerous sport. But as soon as Cape May proved that spectators would show up to watch the daring speedsters, it was a whole new ballgame.Four days later on August 2, 1905, a meeting was held at the Windsor Hotel to incorporate a club to regulate racing on the beach. At this meeting, headed by Commodore Louis Kuehnle, the Automobile Club of Atlantic City was formed. Members of the club knew the beach area well so after careful consideration and debating, the track site was chosen. Known as South Atlantic, the track would start at 24th street in Longport and would run two and a half miles up the beach to Fredericksburg Avenue in Ventnor. At fifty yards wide, it would be capable of starting 5 cars abreast, two more that the Cape May track could start. Although it was two and a half miles long, the majority of the races would be run on a one-mile section of the track with the finish line being at the Ventnor Pier in Ventnor.On August 3rd, the day after the track was formed, it was incorporated with a capitol of $5,000.00 worth of stock. Enthusiasm was high as $2,000.00 worth of the stock was bought up right at the meeting at $10.00 per share. Also, rules and specifications for the cars that were going top race were set. They were made so that anybody wanting to race would have a chance to be competitive. There were classes like the light-weights (cars weighing 551 to 851 pounds), the heavy-weights, (cars weighing 1432-2204 pounds) and touring cars that had to start with only the driver and at the halfway point, stop and pick up three passengers, then finish the race. There would also be a class for Stanley Steamers and White Steamers. The most talked about race was going to be one mile "Free For All" which would be open to any and all cars wanting to race.Cars were first allowed to ride down the track surface on August 19, 1905. On August 30, a photo appeared in the Atlantic City Daily Press showing nine cars side by side on the track. This publicity photo was shot to prove that the Atlantic City track was far more superior than the one at Cape May, thus leading to more competitive and exciting racing. As opening day approached, three entries were received that had everyone talking. Scheduled to race on opening day were Henry Ford, Barney Oldfield and a little known driver new to racing in America by the name of Louis Chevrolet. Ford and Chevrolet would go on to build two of the biggest automobile empires in America.OPENING DAYThe Longport Speedway officially opened on September 2, 1905, under the sanction of the American Automobile Association. Thirty thousand people showed up for the first day of racing. Some were lucky enough to get a grandstand seat for fifty cents. The rest lined the entire course. The air was filled with excitement as all drivers were set for the scheduled seventy-four events, but Mother Nature had different plans. Before the first wheel was turned in competition, the rains came and washed out the days activities. Monday the 4th was the rain date for Saturday's cancellation since racing on Sunday would not take place. A huge crowd turned out and the first race on the Atlantic City beach course was soon underway. Thousands of spectators watched as Walter Harper, driving a 10HP Stanley Steamer, won the first event on the Longport Speedway. The fans were in awe watching the daring speedsters racing along the beach; some approaching the 100 MPH mark. As the races progressed, the crowd kept pressing closer to the track area and after just five events were run, an unruly mob rushed the beach and the races were cancelled again. The only other race that day was run after the crowd dispersed. At 7:00 PM, Henry Ford's car, driven by Walt Kulick, broke the one-mile record held at Cape May when he ran the mile in 37 seconds flat for a speed of 97.30 miles per hour. This was almost scientific since the Shore Line trains that ran to the shore from Philadelphia didn't travel this fast.When the people showed up the next day for the races, they were met with a two-mile wire fence to keep them back. Mayor McClellan of Ventnor swore in the entire Atlantic City Police department the night before as Ventnor Special Police officers with strict instructions to arrest the first man, woman or child that crossed that wire fence. The races went off without a hitch. Ten events were run with such noted drivers as world record holder Walter Christie, Henry Ford, Walter Harper, A. L. Campbell and Edward Wilkie. (Contrary to Henry Ford only running one race as a driver, he DID race on the beach in Southern New Jersey).One of the drivers who made headlines at the Cape may track was a woman named "Mrs." Fitler. She was said to be one of the best drivers there. Mrs. Fitler told the newspapers that she would come to Atlantic City and challenge any woman in the country but specifically made the challenge to Joan Cuneo, a well-known racer who drove a White Steamer automobile. Meanwhile, up in Vermont, Cuneo of Richmond Hill, Long Island, read about this challenge in the paper. Cutting her vacation short to accept the challenge, she drove 500 miles to get back to Atlantic City to meet Mrs. Fitler. Cuneo was extremely upset when Mrs. Fitler failed to show up. Stating that she also would race any woman in the country, Mrs. Cuneo said she would stay in Atlantic City and enter the races with the Stanley Steamers in it. Good choice.The second race of the day was for the Steamers and Joan Cuneo entered her White Steamer. Joan not only became the first woman to race on the sands of Atlantic City, she won the first race that she ran in here. (In a match race against the famous Ralph DePalma in the early 1908, Joan Cuneo defeated him-thus leading to the AAA banning women from racing in that sanction the following year). Louis Chevrolet was scheduled to drive the Italian built Fiat but failed to show up. Some of the cars that were present this day were the Darracq, Pope Toledo, Maxwell, DeDion, National, Upton, Walters, Christie, Winton and the Jones-Corbin. There were also two Curtiss motorcycles that were present and ran in a race against themselves.Following the Vanderbilt Cup event on Long Island in October, a meeting was held to discuss the future of automobile racing on the Atlantic City beach. The club said it favored more races and the next race dates were set for November 13th and 14th. Meanwhile, the club had enlisted the help of Alfred Reeves, the sporting editor of the New York Globe and an experienced manager of automobile races, to promote the beach races. After meeting with the club, Reeves decided to postpone the November races and set the next race dates for Easter weekend of 1906. This was done to insure enough time in getting the best racers in the world to come out and race.A NEW YEAROn March 29, 1906, the club announced that 26 events were set for April 25th, 26th and 27th. A new race would be run this year. This would be the first "high gear' race on the beach. A prize would be given to the driver who covered the 1/4-mile distance with the "slowest" time in high gear. An official would be on board to make sure that the clutch or gears were not touched after starting. With one hundred eighty seven entries for the first event of the 1906 season, it looked like the New Year would surpass any event of 1905.April 25th dawned picture perfect. With clear skies, warm temperatures and a crowd of 10,000 people, it couldn't have been any better. Walter Christie broke his existing record; there were 80 HP Napiers turning the mile in less than forty-seven seconds and cars manufactured by Stoddard-Dayton, Acme, S+M Simplex and Mercedes all racing in the same event. The fans loved it and the drivers loved it even more. But the big disappointment came when neither Henry Ford, Louis Chevrolet nor Barney Oldfield showed up to race. Ford, who had a car entered in almost every race of 1905, did not have one car entered for the entire 1906 season. A record fifty-two events were run in 1906, and everyone who came out to witness any of these races sure got their fifty-cents worth. In the first two seasons of racing, the most serious injury occurred in the last event of 1906 when E. H. Rogers' Stanley Steamer exploded. Trying for a new record, a piece of the hood flew back and struck him in the forehead. What looked like disaster turned out to be only minor injuries. Beach racing in Atlantic City looked to be the future hot bed for racing anywhere, including Daytona.A SUDDEN DEATHAugust 5, 1907, started a brand new year for the daring men in their speedsters. Tom Berger, who won the City Championship race at the one-mile Point Breeze Speedway in Philadelphia on June 28th, was the opening day winner at the beach. It seemed that 1907 was going to be the year for automobile racing at the Longport Speedway. Just the first race meet of 1907 saw such racing greats as Montague Roberts, Frank LeLand (founder and designer of the Cadillac and Lincoln automobiles), Guy Vaughn, L. R. Burns and John Barr ready, willing and able to accept the challenges of any driver who would have the nerve to venture out on to the track and race them. These drivers put on the best show anyone had ever witnessed at the track up until now. But, it always seems to happen this way. As soon as something really good gets going, there is always something or someone lurking around a dark corner ready to spoil the fun and the Longport Speedway was no exception to this rule.The second race date for 1907 on August 8th saw the track packed with cars and drivers. The fans were in a frenzy awaiting the start of the most exciting form of racing anywhere in the area. The races went off under nice, sunny skies. One race after another, anyone watching was sure to talk about these races for a long time to come. But then race number thirteen came. Whether it was the number of the race or not, it turned out to be a very unlucky one. Following this race, the Longport Speedway suddenly ceased operation. Closed, over, kaput, done!! Maybe the townsfolk didn't like cars screaming in their back yard, sometimes as early as 7:00 AM as was the case when Henry Ford, A.L. Campbell and Walter Christie made record speed attempts on September 5, 1905. Maybe the officials in one of the towns the track ran through didn't want the speedway anymore. Whatever the reason was, nobody knows for sure but the Longport Speedway, on August 8, 1907, went out the same way it came in two years ago. Thousands of people present, the beach filled with racecars and Walter Harper, winner of the very first race, also won the very last.The grandstands at the finish line have long been gone. The only tire print laid in the sand today is from a beach patrol truck and the county road that was built just to handle the traffic has houses on part of it and the other part is nothing but bare meadow. Absolutely nothing exists today to even indicate that racing once took place on the beach in South Atlantic. And few people realize that where they get their suntans, build sand castles and do some surf fishing, 100 years ago the greatest spectator sport in the world, automobile racing, was taking place.Jon H. Cliftonraceintohistory@charter.com