Automobile racing started soon after the appearance of autos themselves. Those first events, on public highways and byways, went from one town to another. Thus “road racing” was born. After WWI, racing continued on roads, except in the U.S., where competitions were mainly of the “circle-track” variety on ovals.
Due to the increasing popularity of sports cars after WWII, there was a resurgence of interest in road racing on our side of the pond. The problem was where to race? Going from town to town doesn’t hold much interest for spectators since cars speed by only once. So circuits on public roads—such as Bridgehampton, Watkins Glen and Elkhart Lake—developed. On the West Coast, starting in 1950, the premier event was on the roads of Pebble Beach, conducted by the San Francisco Region of the Sports Car Club of America.
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