Racing Roadsters in the 50s!

You can look at hot rod competition moving in a few directions in postwar America: Land speed racing on dry lakes and Bonneville, the birth of 1/4 mile drag racing on air strips, and track racing, inspired by sprint cars and midgets, and typically run by jalopies on flat or slightly banked dirt tracks. The California Roadster Association (better known as the CRA) formed in 1945, in the Los Angeles garage of Mr. Babe Ouse . Ouse was no stranger to speed; he held dry lakes records in a Marmon and, like many veteran hot rodders, had grown tired of just racing the clock and wanted to race each other, wheel to wheel. That’s when the idea for the CRA took off. Most of the drivers that day were dubbed “Ash Can Derby” racers—guys with more guts than experience, fresh off the streets and dry lakes, figuring it out on the fly. It was raw, loud, and full of grit—the way real racing ought to be. And just like that, the CRA was off and running by 1946.

The Oakland Speedway & Stadium were hotbeds for CRA racing up north of L.A., drawing massive crowds and showcasing this same raw, postwar hot rod energy. The Oakland Stadium, nicknamed “The Oakland Bowl”, became a hub for roadster racing, drawing Bay Area crowds eager for speed and gladiator-like spectacle. Opened in 1946, the stadium featured a modern, fully paved 5/8-mile oval with steep banking of up to 17 degrees in the turns, along with a smaller ¼-mile track nested inside. Ford ’27 T roadsters roared around the Oakland Bowl in tight, thrilling races that emphasized driver skill, and with no roll bar, plenty of guts. By 1949, roadster racing was a regular attraction at the stadium, with organizations like the California Roadster Association promoting fiercely competitive events that helped elevate the sport’s profile. The CRA’s presence brought top regional talent and intense rivalries to the track, further cementing the Oakland Bowl’s reputation as a cornerstone of California’s burgeoning postwar hot rod racing culture.