![]() Motor Age described the leg from Barstow to Needles as follows: “Durant in the Chevrolet No. Davis in the Simplex was running a close third. The storm cleared on the desert between Victorville and Barstow, but the new problem was mud.Īrriving in Barstow, the veteran Oldfield, with his mechanic George Hill, was in the lead in his big, white, wire-wheeled Stutz, but a youngster, Durant in the Chevrolet, was hot on his tail. Many of the autos had trouble in the snowy El Cajon Pass, but, with the exception of the Alco and the Metz #11, which turned over in the snow, all remaining racers arrived at Victorville in a two-hour span. One of the first “machines” out was the Alco driven by Bill Taylor, who skidded into a telephone pole. But, it wasn’t long until, according to a lengthy report published in the November 19, 1914, issue of Motor Age, “one by one the mechanical camels were conquered by the desert and mountain roads.” Initially, they stuck together, checking in at San Bernardino only seconds apart. Starting at 5:30 a.m., the drivers and their mechanicians (mechanics) left Los Angeles on the 696-mile route at two-minute intervals after a pouring rainstorm. On November 11, 1914, avid racing fans line up along West Gurley Street anxiously awaiting a glimpse of the first racer into Prescott. It was a very rugged array of cars that lined up for the race. Most of the autos were stripped-down stock cars. Drivers Nikrent and Davis were both previous winners of the Cactus Derby, Nikrent in 1909 and Davis in 1913.Īutomobiles which would run the race included Alco, Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet (2), Cole, de Dietrich, Ford, Kincaid Special, Kisselkar, Metz (2), Maxwell, Paige (2), Simplex, Stutz and Thomas. Drivers included well known road racers Ted Baudet, Bill Bramlett, Louis Chevrolet, Olin Davis, Cliff Durant, Louis Nikrent and Berna Eli “Barney” Oldfield, the “Grand Old Man” of auto racing. On November 9, 1914, at daybreak on a chilly, overcast Monday, twenty racers lined up in Los Angeles for the start of the Seventh Annual Cactus Derby. In 1914, however, the organizers of the Derby changed the course, adopting a northern route that extended the race by 132 miles and encompassed the communities of Needles, California, and Prescott. In all but the final year of its existence, the Cactus Derby was conducted over a 511-mile route that roughly tracked today’s Interstate 10. It also served to demonstrate the need for a good road between Los Angeles and Phoenix. The race gave manufacturers the opportunity to promote their automobiles and related products – everything from tires to magnetos. In Arizona, the annual Los Angeles-to-Phoenix Road Race, otherwise known as the “Cactus Derby,” was held each year from 1908 through 1914. Research Center (Archives) Information arrowĪs the automobile was beginning to gain popularity in the early years of the twentieth century, auto racing was evolving into a sport of national significance.Territorial Women’s Memorial Rose Garden arrow.
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