Omar Toft, behind the wheel of his "Omar Special" #5, was one of 14 drivers who competed in the Montamarathon Classic held at the Tacoma Speedway on August 5th, 1916. The 300 mile race, the longest held in the Northwest, carried a purse of $10,000. Eddie Rickenbacker won with an average speed just shy of 90 mph; Toft finished 6th, winning $250. The usual July 4th date for the Montamarathon was usurped by a scheduled, two car grudge match between Seattle driver Jim Parsons and Tacoman Ulysses Audrey. That race was cancelled at the last minute due to Parsons' car troubles. Although an alternate program was presented on July 4th that included a head on collision between two locomotives, it was fast cars that Tacoma craved. Fans showed their displeasure by staying away from the August Race; only about 10,000 fans, about a fifth of the previous year's crowd, showed up on the 5th. TPL-1644, Speedway-046 (T. Tribune 8/5/16, pg.1; 8/6/16, pg.1; TDL 7/4/1920, pg. 1-C- history of the races)
<bdi><a href="https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q21714431" class="extiw" title="d:Q21714431"><span title="American photographer">Marvin Dement Boland</span></a>
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circa August 1916 <div style="display: none;">date QS:P571,+1916-08-00T00:00:00Z/10,P1480,Q5727902</div>
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