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In 1915 captains of the America’s new auto racing industry rambled into peaceful Richfield with a concept designed to capture the attention of Twin Citians: The world’s most advanced auto race track was to be built in village’s southeast corner. Frank A. Wheeler, a major figure in the Indianapolis all-brick motor speedway and chief promoter of the new track, boomed that new race site would be the “greatest in the world.”
Schedulers chose Labor Day, September 4, 1915, for the Twin City Speedway’s coming out party. The event attracted racing’s greatest drivers, including Ralph DePalma and his Indy winning Mercedes, Dario Resta in a Peugeot, Gil Anderson and Earl Cooper, both in brilliantly-painted white Stutzes, and Barney Oldfield, the most famous American driver of the age, bringing a Delage. Eddie Rickenbacker served as Oldfield’s co-driver and set the track record at 114 miles per hour in practice.
A crowd of 30,000 gathered for the big 500-mile showdown. They cheered as Resta charged to an early lead and enjoyed the race despite seeing some notables drop out due to mechanical problems. The concrete track gave the racecars a terrific pounding, forcing them into frequent and long pit stops. More than half dropped out of the race. The Stutzes handled the track best, requiring only five stops. Cooper finished less than a quarter-second ahead of Anderson to claim the $20,000 first prize. He averaged 86.35 miles per hour, and the race took nearly six hours to complete.
A new reporter blamed the “roughness of the concrete track” for causing the breakdowns. Fatigued driver O. F. Hable said, “That’s the toughest ride I ever took.” Indeed, there had been some concrete breakup even before the race. The following spring, frost heaves rendered some parts of the speedway unusable. Some called into question both the materials used for the track and the quality of the work crews building it. The Twin City Speedway never hosted another major race, although some minor auto competitions were held there. Less than two years after the first race, the track owners declared bankruptcy. The infield of their abandoned Richfield track took on an unwanted nickname, the “342-acre farm enclosed in concrete.”
The story of the Speedway is one of many stories told in the comprehensive history of Richfield currently being written by author Frederick Johnson for the Richfield Historical Society. The book, Richfield: Minnesota’s Oldest Suburb is scheduled for release in fall of 2007. Books will be available to pre-order soon. For more information on the book project, ordering a copy or becoming a sponsor of the book please contact the Richfield Historical Society at 612-798-6140 or sta...@richfieldhistory.org.