Are Green Racecars Bad Luck?
As St. Patrick’s Day draws near, many folks find themselves digging through the closet for something green to wear. But not at Speedway Motors. As a business owned by a family of racers, you’ll find no green in our branded apparel. You see, there's this old racer's superstition about green. But why green? And where the heck did that all start?
As we started to dig into this, we wandered around the Museum of American Speed, looking for green cars. In 150,000 sq. ft. of vintage racecars, you know how many we found? Only two. What gives? Well, here’s the origin story, so far as we can tell.
Allegedly, it all started on September 16th, 1911 at the New York State Fairgrounds in Syracuse. Lee Oldfield is at the wheel of a Knox racecar resplendent in a gleaming coat of, you guessed it, green paint. At some point during the race, he is involved in a crash that sends his car into the stands, killing eleven spectators. Oldfield would go on to lead a long life, all the while believing that his crash was the source of the racer’s aversion to green.
No doubt Oldfield’s grisly crash contributed to the myth, but it more prominently entered the collective consciousness in 1920. Board track racing had become popular due to the thrill of seeing cars and motorcycles screaming around a high-banked track made from actual boards. But the action came at a price and fatalities were common for racers and spectators. Gaston Chevrolet was not only Chevrolet co-founder Louis Chevrolet’s younger brother, he was also a partner in the Frontenac Motor Corporation and reigning Indy 500 champion when he entered a board track race at Beverly Hills Speedway on November 25th, 1920. Driving a green Frontenac, he was involved in a crash with Eddie O’Donnell on lap 146 that killed Chevrolet, O’Donnell, and O’Donnell’s riding mechanic Lyall Jolls. Gaston’s fame no doubt made the crash newsworthy across the country and may in fact have been the moment that green became so spooky.
So there were a couple nasty and tragic crashes over a hundred years ago, how has this myth continued to live on? Maybe racers just can’t help but be a little superstitious. Your author can’t wear sunglasses when crewing for a car (long story). There’s the one about eating peanuts at the track. You might even have your own weird hang-ups like my sunglass aversion. Ultimately, a group of people who are willing to do anything to win are also likely to buy into just about any hocus pocus that we think will give us an edge or keep us from an outcome worse than losing the race. But, as racer and Museum of American Speed historian Bob Mays put it, “You know who usually ends up being unlucky? Those who are unprepared. That matters far more than what color your car is or what color sweatshirt you’re wearing.”
Wise words Bob. But I’m still not going to wear my sunglasses.