Dangerous Days

Lakewood was a track where many came to push their cars to the edge. Here, a driver pushes his car off into turn one during what appears to be a practice session (note the empty stands). Unfortunately, many pushed their luck too far during the track’s early days, and paid the ultimate price.

Lakewood, much like it’s cousin Langhorne Speedway in Pennsylvania, was known not only for its speed, but also for its danger.

At least six drivers lost their lives at the one-mile speed plant prior to the war.

The first occurred in 1921, when O.T. Barr, a driver from Champaign, Illinois, was killed during an open wheel event. He was piloting a car out of Bainbridge, Georgia, when the accident occurred.

In 1925, Macon’s Hildreth S. Taylor lost his life during a July 4 race. Taylor worked as a mechanic and was married. Little else is known of the accident.

Those who lost thier lives at Lakewood were memorialized on a special plaque that was presented to the Georgia Racing Hall of Fame in Dawsonville during the first Lakewood Reunion in 2008.

Atlanta native Jack Argoe, who worked for Beaudry Motor Company as a mechanic, was one of two racing brothers. Argoe was trying to qualify his Miller 4 “Argoe Special” when he suffered a steering failure just after he had passed the grandstands into turn one. His car crashed through the fence, coming to rest against a tree outside the track. Argoe died en route to nearby Grady Hospital. He was 24 years old.

The first motorcycle fatality to occur at Lakewood was a man known as Easy Pickens from Greenville, S.C. Little has been uncovered about Pickens or his accident, which is believed to have occurred in either 1934 or 1935.

Colorado racer Lloyd Vieaux, known as the “Flying Frenchman”, had broken the AAA big car speed record at Lakewood on July 22, 1934, turning a lap at 43.4 seconds. During the first heat race later that day, Vieaux was trying to retake the lead from Tommy Sawyer when his car went out of control, crashing in front of the grandstands on the fifth lap. Vieaux was killed.

Missouri native Ward Hobbs was practicing for the July 4 events at Lakewood, piloting the Studebaker Special, when the car went through the fence and came to rest outside the track. Hobbs was pronounced dead an hour later at an area hospital.

By the end of the AAA race on Labor Day, 1946, two more names would be added to the list.