Monday 7th September 1896

C H Whiting won the first motor race held on a racetrack. A crowd of 40,000 people watched Whiting drive a Riker electric car to victory over the five-lap mile-long dirt track course at the Rhode Island State Fair in Cranston, Rhode Island, US at an average speed of 24 mph. Whiting completed the race in just over five minutes to edge out seven others, six of whom were driving petrol-powered engines.