Arizona Road Racing & Hillclimb History

The Arizona Road Races website is dedicated to the memory of Gary Peacock who inspired this chapter of Arizona Racing History

Hillclimbs & Road Races

Road Racing came to Arizona early.  The first Los Angeles to Phoenix Road Race, sometimes called the "Cactus Derby", was run in November 1908.  This was likely the first organized race within the Arizona territory, sanctioned  the American Automobile Club (AAA)  and sponsored by the Maricopa Auto Club and the Arizona Republican newspaper.  The race concluded on November 9 at 6:33 PM when F. C. Fenner and his riding mechanic, "Happy" Forbes stopped their White Steamer in front of the Arizona Republican office.  A silver cup was awarded to the winner.  "Black Bess" had run the 500 mile race across the desert from Los Angeles to Phoenix in 30 hours and 36 minutes.  The original route roughly followed today's interstate 10,  via Pomona, Ontario, Palm Springs, Indio, across the Colorado River by ferry at Ehrenberg, then east through Salome, Buckeye and on to Phoenix.  There had been four cars entered in the race.  A Kissel Kar owned by Leon Shetter, driven by C. H. Bigelow and Bert Latham; an Elmore "Bulldog" driven by owner A. J. Smith with help from George Dade and a Franklin "Greyhound"  - owner & driver not recorded. The vehicles, stripped down to the bare essentials and loaded with extra water and gasoline,  were ready to take on the deep washes and rutted trails that passed for roads in Territorial Arizona.  Amazingly, all four cars finished the race and within a very short time of one another.  The Kissel Kar came in second at 7:41, the Elmore third at 8:45 PM and the Franklin finished last at 9:50 PM. 

As you can see from the photograph of Bisbee, Arizona has some very beautiful and treacherous two lane roads that were suitable for an exciting road race.  Some of these roads seem to hang off the side of the mountain, and in the 1950s-70s, very few had guardrails.  Most racers today lament the fact that soaring insurance rates prevent a return to the exciting street races of yesteryear.  So, relive your fifteen minutes of fame via our website, whether uphill in Clifton with your VW buggy, or on the streets of Phoenix with a Grand Prix car.

(c)2010 Jim & Nancy Schaut. Our mission is to preserve the rich history of automobile racing in the American West.   Although this site deals primarily with auto racing before 1980, we also cover the current nostalgia racing scene. 

We have done our best to credit the proper people for information contained on this site, but it is sometimes impossible to find the original source.  We welcome your comments & corrections. If you would like to submit items to the site, please send them  to Nancy.