"Bad Idea Hat" (taoistlumberjack)
01/09/2014 at 11:18 • Filed to: None
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"Bad Idea Hat" (taoistlumberjack)
01/09/2014 at 11:18 • Filed to: None | 6
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It's really the last place you would ever expect to find a race course. Put-in-Bay, Ohio, is located in the middle of Lake Erie, and is more famous worldwide for a somewhat minor naval battle during the War of 1812. However, from 1952 to 1959 (and once in 1963), it was the home of the Put-in-Bay Road Races.
South Bass Island, on which Put-in-Bay is located, is just under two and a half square miles of land. Out of this limited space, the original organizers carved out of public roads a roughly 3 mile bent rectangle shaped circuit. As the track was very rough, entrants were limited to cars under 2 liters displacement (1.5 liters for dedicated sports racers). Many would race with much less than that.
The first year was literally a washout, with rain stopping the race on lap 4. 30 cars participated that year, and the only direction to go was up. The 1953 field was mostly MGs (the first race was a stock MG race), with just under 40 entrants. By 1959, there were five races with large grids, populated by a huge variety of the most famous sports cars of the day; Fiat, Lotus, Porsche, Alfa Romeo, Triumph, Morgan, and the old hand MG all fill out the races.
The final race in 1963 had around 100 cars entered, some entries being turned away. The course was modified to avoid downtown, but that didn't avoid controversy as the races came to an end due to a heavy crash involving one of the racers. Luckily, nobody was severely injured, but the Put-in-Bay Road Races had come to an end.
For the next nearly four and a half decades, the island remained quiet; no races were held, until in 2009, Put-in-Bay saw the start of a new era of races, but with a familiar twist. The races are now held on the island's airport, but with historic cars from that amazing era of racing. 80 cars participated in the 2013 edition, including roughly 40 entered for the races. While the street circuit at Put-in-Bay may be dead, the races live on for another generation of Jalops.
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Yowen - not necessarily not spaghetti and meatballs
> Bad Idea Hat
01/09/2014 at 11:23 |
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Wow awesome, thanks for sharing!
I have a number of friends that go there to party in the summer, never knew it was home to a racetrack!
RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht
> Bad Idea Hat
01/09/2014 at 11:27 |
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Not "Putin" Bay, then? Okay... jerks.
Deal Killer - Powered by Focus
> Bad Idea Hat
01/09/2014 at 12:15 |
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Nice write up. My father grew up on Put in Bay, and remembers the races held back then. His uncle ran one of the local auto repair garages and probably serviced some of those cars. I still have some relatives located on the island, and we had a family reunion there this summer. Oh, and Perry's victory over the British in the War of 1812 wasn't minor naval battle. You don't get a memorial like this for a minor scuffle on a lake.
jmgadget
> Bad Idea Hat
01/09/2014 at 12:19 |
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Just a quick boat ride away and I didn't even know about the former or new races being held there. Thanks for the info!
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Bad Idea Hat
> Deal Killer - Powered by Focus
01/09/2014 at 12:33 |
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I know, I was being sarcastic. When you look at the major naval battles being fought in Europe involving giant fleets, though, the perspective becomes a bit small.
JR1
> Bad Idea Hat
01/09/2014 at 13:32 |
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When do these races take place? I live in Ohio and would love to go to one! Love learning about local history
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Bad Idea Hat
> JR1
01/09/2014 at 13:44 |
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August 25-27 this year. I'm trying to find a way to make it, but work and a new baby is going to make it difficult.
http://www.pibroadrace.com/2-uncategorise…
This would make one hell of a Great Lakes Jalopnik meet-up.
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Bad Idea Hat
> jmgadget
01/09/2014 at 13:46 |
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Funny story, I didn't even realize that there were historic races here until I started doing research. Bridgehampton was the impetus for this whole dead track thing, and I've always been amazed that they held races on the island. The entire thing is just amazing to me.
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Bad Idea Hat
> RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht
01/09/2014 at 13:46 |
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I've tried to type it that way, accidentally, so many times.
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Bad Idea Hat
> Yowen - not necessarily not spaghetti and meatballs
01/09/2014 at 13:48 |
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Thanks, and I'm happy to show people hidden racing history.
I've known many people who go on vacation to the island. It was quite a few years ago that I found out there had been races there (thanks to the racing circuits database), and I've been interested in the place ever since.
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JR1
> Bad Idea Hat
01/09/2014 at 13:55 |
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That's my first weekend at college in BG, it's a stretch but I think that would be a kick ass Jalop meet up
GreenN_Gold
> Bad Idea Hat
01/21/2014 at 18:14 |
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Having been to Put-In-Bay, I was half expecting this to be an article about racing golf karts.