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REVIEWED: “LANGHORNE! No Man’s Land”, By L. Spencer Riggs
Written by: Gregg Leary   
06/22/2009
Charlotte, NC
 
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“Langhorne was brutally tough…the terrifying lower part of the track was nicknamed ‘Puke Hollow,’ and many great men did just that when rounding that infamous, high speed corner that alternately dropped out from under their spinning tires, only to throw them into the air at a meteoric clip. Langhorne liked to beat them up, slam them around and send them careening upside down in a cloud of dust and terror. It was a place few dared to go, fewer were able to beat, and no one ever tamed. It was Langhorne! No Man’s Land.”

OK, Spencer, you’ve got my attention! “LANGHORNE! No Man’s Land,” is 548 amazing pages containing over 1,000 historically significant black and white and color photographs, many published here for the first time. Dozens of color images capture cars, drivers, race action and Langhorne memorabilia including tickets, pit passes, programs, pennants, decals and patches. Riggs spent ten years researching and five years writing this incredible volume. 44 Chapters trace the history of the track from 1926-1971.

Brock Yates puts the allure and danger of Langhorne into perspective in his Foreword.

“Imagine today, in our politically correct, safety-obsessed world, a one-mile dirt circle (not an oval) canted on its axis so that drivers were in perpetual 100-mile-plus broadslides downhill to
a dreaded, mud-soaked pit called “Puke Hollow”…wearing no more protection than a t-shirt, gloves and a leather motorcycle helmet…in cars that offered no protection other than rudimentary seat belts. To face the brutal warfare of a 100-mile race in such conditions at a cruel and unforgiving place like Langhorne would today not only be unthinkable, but probably illegal.”

One of my pet peeves is photo captions that do nothing more than identify who or what is in the photograph. Tell me more! L. Spencer Riggs comes to the rescue. His cutlines help tell “the rest of the story.” Under a photograph of Fred Winnai in the cockpit, Riggs writes:

“Youthful Freddy Winai, winner of the first feature race at Langhorne, on June 12, 1926. Freddy drove the former Pete DePaolo Duesenberg to victory in the 50-mile main. Winnai learned a great deal about Langhorne by running a bulldozer to help build the track.” Talk about answering the “5W’s and the H” that a good journalist should. (Who, What, When, Where, Why and How.)

The first program contained an ad for Solvay Calcium Chloride, to control dust on “Race Tracks, Driveways and Tennis Courts.” Dust became a huge issue through the 20’s. Spectators left in disgust…”I’m not paying for what I can’t see.”

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