Tycoons, Scorchers, and Outlaws: The Class War that Shaped American Auto Racing (Palgrave Pivot)

Palgrave Macmillan is the global academic imprint of the above companies and has companies and representatives throughout the world. Tycoons, Scorchers, and Outlaws charts how auto racing was shaped by class tensions between the millionaires who invented it, the public who resented their seizure of the public roads, and the working class drivers who viewed the sport as a vocation, not a leisured pursuit. Tycoons, Scorchers, and Outlaws charts the class and cultural origins of auto racing in America, arguing for the first time that auto racing was invented by millionaires who viewed the new sport like horse racing, where ownership and patronage counted for more than skill on the track. It reveals how these elites' plans to establish the sport along French lines with grand road rallies that usurped the common right of way were thwarted by a public backlash based largely on class. As these tycoons reluctantly moved racing onto tracks, they lost control to both manufacturers and working class drivers who saw the sport as a commercial opportunity. Soon the elite clubmen's grip on racing slipped away and auto racing emerged as a popular working class sport "A persuasively argued history of American auto racing from drivers as 'operatives' for wealthy owners to the sport becoming more broadly democratic. A fascinating class-based interpretation of a neglected topic in sports history." - Dr. John Springhall, Reader Emeritus at University of Ulster, UK, and author of The Genesis of Mass Culture: Show Business Live in America, 1840 to 1940 (2008) Cover 1 Half-Title 2 Title 4 Copyrights 5 Dedication 6 Contents 7 List of Illustrations 8 List of Illustrations -1 Introduction 10 1 Millionaires’ Toys 17 2 Scorcher Rule 31 3 Seizing the Open Road 62 4 Man or Machine? 93 5 Outlaws 116 Index 150 Front Matter....Pages i-viii Introduction....Pages 1-7 Millionaires’ Toys....Pages 8-21 Scorcher Rule....Pages 22-52 Seizing the Open Road....Pages 53-83 Man or Machine?....Pages 84-106 Outlaws....Pages 107-140 Back Matter....Pages 141-146