Article ID: CBB933761604

Racing on Runways: The Strategic Air Command and Sports Car Racing in the 1950s (2013)

unapi

After World War II, a newly affluent middle class America enjoyed a rapidly growing pastime: sports car racing. The Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) began to sanction road racing in 1948. They wanted to galvanise the surge of enthusiasm for European two-seater performance cars. By 1952, sports car racing in the United States outgrew the original street courses, especially in regard to providing a safe environment for spectators. U. S. Air Force Gen. Curtis E. LeMay offered the use of the runways of Strategic Air Command (SAC) air bases to the SCCA, which reflected his own enthusiasm and would raise money to improve living conditions for his personnel. Soon, sports cars raced down the same runways used by SAC bombers and fighters. LeMay and SAC provided the venue for sports car racing to grow. A case study of the SAC sports car racing program illustrates how deeply play, sports, and leisure were interwoven with the automobile and American culture in the 1950s.

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Authors & Contributors
House, Kirk W.
Riikka Jalonen
LeCompte, Ted
Wachs, Martin
Crawford, Margaret
Turdean, Cristina
Concepts
Technology and culture
Automobiles
Technology
Automobile industry
Aircraft; airplanes
Recreation; play
Time Periods
20th century
20th century, late
20th century, early
19th century
21st century
Places
United States
Washington (state, U.S.)
London (England)
Russia
Germany
Finland
Institutions
United States. National Park Service
Ford Motor Company
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