Racing at Playa Del Rey - 1910

Dave Lewis in the Stutz number 10 and Charlie Merz in the number 7 National run wheel-to-wheel at the world's first board track designed for automobiles, the Playa Del Ray Motordrome near Los Angeles. This photo was taken at the 1911 race meet at the Motordrome. The big shocker of the inaugural race meet in April 1910 was Caleb Bragg's defeat of Barney Oldfield in a match race. Fiat driver Bragg, a newcomer, was matched against Oldfield in his world record-setting Blitzen Benz as a replacement for Ralph De Palma, whose Fiat suffered mechanical failure.
 
Do not confuse this track with the Beverly Hills Speedway, which was built 10 years later in 1920.