Half-Mile Record - Knoxville 1909

This attachment contains a very brief item about a new record for the distance of a mile utilizing a half-mile track. The track was in Knoxville, Tennessee, but based on what I can glean from the Knoxville Raceway track Web site it is not the same track. The Web site indicates that the current Knoxville track has a long history, but did not start auto racing until 1914. This Indianapolis News article was published June 8, 1909.
 
The article reports that amateur driver Hamton A. Harth "smashed" the world record for covering the distance of a mile on a half-mile track. The time was one minute, nineteen and one half seconds. That was 0.5 of a second quicker than the previous period. Interestingly, a driver rated as a professional with the last name of "Cantrell," used the same car as Harth to improve the record time. He failed as his best effort was 1:21.