Sunday 4th March 1934

The great Ernie Triplett-Al Gordon duels in AAA Pacific Coast Championship races came to an end after a tragic accident on the dusty 1-mile dirt oval at the California Mid-Winter Fairgrounds. Triplett and Gordon were dueling for the lead when they came upon Swede Smith’s car. Smith had hit another car stalled on the track for many laps. Triplett, Smith and a mechanic that had run to Smith’s aid all died in the resulting accident and Gordon suffered a broken nose and other facial injuries.