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ByGordon, West Coast Champ,.’•:4iyured In One of Craclcups'* .f • *■ *iifAt Fair Grounds Trackp;wV’1 'IwJk'' ' “K#/^■Two spectacular crashes, and one g^ihor mishap, together with several Ijf^jrrow escapes' from crack-ups, fea- j'^|p?ea'the attempt to hold auto races iKv?9h the treacherous track at the Alta-iJJsiiiond Pair grounds Wednesday. Ip !oS%ne of the accidents A1 Gordon, ace jjjpjjHrfc track ’ racer of the West Coast, f¥)$Vas injured, and his car was wrecked.Officials of the Hankinson Speed-^ ways and of the Fair association de-^0 pi’ded to oall off the meet until Sat-urday, July 7th, because the track had ^ 'become hard and slippery due to Tues-day’a heavy rainstorm. The Altamont 10X track, called the dynamite track of 'M the Empire State” certainly lived up 5. i-0 ' its name Wednesday. Officials who have long been associated with the local Pair association said they had never seen the race coursfe ini!s'V v«•such a hard, slippery condition.'* Gordon was injured at the first turn $ below the grandstand, before the actual time trials1 were started. IJe w circled the track three times slowly,1 then opened up his Miller Special androared down the stretch into the firstrt-f'Ztt'X'3f;r..rwrv-’ I£turn. He broadsided, the car rippingdlin,f- out a section of the hub rail, hurdling$he wire fence and climbing halfway up a small tree in the edge of the ,f|. \yoods at the south £nd of the Pairf grounds. Gordon was taken to the/$• mils hospital, Schenectady, sufferingsevere cuts about his face and bruises about the body. However, he return-i e^'to Alfamont on Thursday, and ex-* pects to drive in the postponed racemeet tomorrow.•Bo^by Galli of Paterson, N. J., was th^ first to start a time trial. Hecircled the track four times, then signaled his readiness to start the trial. His McDowell Special, being used for the second time, and the first time here, was a wreck a few moments later. Roaring down the straightaway like a bullet, he broadsided into the first turn and hit the same depression that wrecked Gordon’s: machine. The. .thrill-seeking crowd of 3QG,0_.in the grandstand rose to their feet, expecting a crash, but,Sail rigjted the car aiid swung ' dnto the1 back stretch and into the upper turn. He shed I', downv.the track under the wire andwas clocked at 30 2-5 ‘ seconds, wheat suddenly his cair ^truck--fhb depres-g-£‘ ion agaih, turned broadside and rolled§ oyer against the hub rail at almostthe exact point where Gordon had gone through. Sail wont over with i?| the car, but climbed unhurt from*3 the wreckage. The rear end of thecar being supported -by the guardtail US ii ovprhirnpri pmhahly r.nvod-Sall. from being crushed. He wore a pf ndw Sfrhite crash helmet,” given him% by, admirers at Paterson, and this no doubt also figured, in . his escape frominjury‘s v,After Sail’s wrecked car had- been cleared from the track, Malcolm Fox of WestviUe, N. J., a runner-up at Indianapolis this year, started for his time trial. Driving a Hisso-Ambler Special, he negotiated the dangerous track safely in 30 1-5 seconds.George Wlngerter of Jamaica, 1*. I.,, set out next, but'skidded so dangerously on the lower turn that he was flagged in by the. AAA officials in charge.An inspection of the track followed, and Fox volunteered to drive' his car around the traok! to permit the other drivers to view what happened as the »small cars roared into the turn. On his second trip around the track Fox tore into the turn at high speed, skidded, and bounded against the hub rail, coming to a stop with the. front end badiy damaged. Fox escaped injury. After this crash,.a vote as to vfche-ther the races should be continued was taken among the Officials. Their p unanimous decision was to postpone -the events until Saturday^,..Rain checks were issued for Satur-•Vi. day’s races, and money was returnedto many who would be unable to attend on that date.
Newspaper Details
Altamont Enterprise
Altamont, New York, US
Fri, Jul 06, 1934
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CA, USA 01 Jan 2019
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