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194 C A R M E L M A G A Z I N E • S U M M E R / F A L L 2 0 1 7 S P E E D I N G T H R O U G H T H E Del Monte Forest New eBook Chronicles Pebble Beach Road Races B Y B R E T T W I L B U R CHAPTER ONE "The Pebble Beach Road Races began in 1950 from an idea of John (Jack) Morse, then President of the Del Monte Proper ties Company, (today the Pebble Beach Company), and San Francisco indus- trialist and race car driver, Sterling Edwards. Morse and Edwards contracted with the Spor ts Car Club of America, Inc. to organ- ize, plan and structure the Road Races in the Del Monte Forest. The Road Races were amateur events and all of the officials and people who worked on the picturesque course were volunteers creating a party type atmos- phere. For the competition, the race cars had to be licensed for driving on public streets and many of the drivers drove directly to the Road Races in their race cars. The dangerous roads used in the circuit were narrow with tight turns and short straightaways. The track was lined closely by trees and an ever-changing number of spec- tators, which made passing another compet- ing car a treacherous task. The initial race car track was 1.8 miles long and the next year, 1951, a loop was added to extend the track to a 2.1-mile lap. The narrow roads surrounding the Stables used as the racing circuit were mostly paved asphalt, but some por tions were on dusty dir t and loose gravel. In 1950, the European style of driving was used with the race course running clockwise, with all turns to the right. The Star t line was located across from the Stables on Por tola Road and from there, the drivers would take a right on Sombria Lane, right on Drake Road, right on Stevenson Drive and turning right on Por tola Road, returning to complete the loop back to the Finish/Star t line." —Chapter 1 from the new eBook "Pebble Beach Road Races in the Forest, 1950-1956," by Barbara Briggs-Anderson, with 200 historic photographs by Julian P. Graham available for Kindle and Kindle app on all e-readers. I n the early days of West Coast motor racing in California, Julian P. Graham photographed the thrilling and electrifying Road Races in the Pebble Beach Del Monte Forest. Participants were mostly amateur car enthusiasts who drove the latest sports cars: Ferraris, OSCAs, Cadillac Allards, Maseratis, Porsches and Jaguar XK120s. In Barbara Briggs-Anderson's new eBook, "Pebble Beach Road Races in the Forest, 1950- 1956," 200 of the hundreds of photographs taken by Graham were selected to showcase the drivers in their race cars amid all the riveting action of the thrills and crashes along the nar- row, curvy roads of the Del Monte Forest. The races were moved to Laguna Seca Raceway in 1957, after Ernie McAfee crashed his 4.4 Ferrari into a pine tree in Pebble Beach in the 1956 race and perished. Every August, his- torical cars, some of the very ones which once raced through Pebble Beach Forest, compete at Laguna Seca at the Mazda Raceway; this year's Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion takes place August 17-20. Graham's photographs of the euphoric winners of the biggest races—Phil Hill, Bill Pollack, Sterling Edwards and Carroll Shelby—capture the emotions of their stunning triumphs. The historic images bring to life the passion and dedication for the motor racing of John Von Neumann, Jim Kimberly, Bill Breeze, Ken Miles, Roger Barlow, Fred Knoop and Jack McAfee, to name a few. The vintage photographs highlight the exciting, adrenaline-charged moments of 1950s' leg- endary sports car racing. Through Graham's photographic lens, there survives an assemblage of the thrilling action, exuberance, enthusiasm, and the motor racing passion that was expe- rienced by one and all who participated in and witnessed the Pebble Beach Road Races.