POPCULTURE · HISTORICAL MARKER
Corona's Final Road Race - Start/Finish Line April 8, 1916
Pop Culture
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On April 8, 1916, at 1:00 p.m., the third and final Corona Road Race began near Third Street on Grand Boulevard with twelve drivers at the start line competing for a share of the $12,000 purse. Like the races of 1913 and 1914, the 1916 event ran 109 laps on a 2.77-mile circular course for slightly more than 300 miles. The recorded finishing times were Eddie O'Donnell, 3:29.52; Joe Thomas, 3:36.01; Eddie Mullen, 3:38.36; Teddy Tetzlaff, 3:58.04; and R.C. Durant, 4:05.24. Only E.S. Waterman remained on the track behind Durant, and officials flagged him into the pits before he completed all laps, making him the last person to drive around the municipal route at racing speeds. The race ended in tragedy when Bob Burman's car flew into a group of spectators, killing Burman, his mechanic Eric Schader, and local man W.S. Speer, while injuring five spectators. With paid attendance at about one-quarter of the previous races, totaling just 25,000 spectators, the event ended in both tragedy and financial failure.
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