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Race enthusiasts were treated to a grand spectacular during that Saturday,
July 2, 1949, Gold Cup Race, and Jim Clary offers us a wonderful
capsule of that race day.
According to the late Wild Bill Cantrell, the 1949 Gold Cup Race was the most exciting and the most memorable of all the races in his career. If you can imagine the sound, fury and excitement of the famous MY SWEETIE driven by Wild Bill Cantrell; SKIP-A-LONG driven by Stan Dollar; SUCH CRUST driven by Dan Arena; amd TEMPO IV driven by Guy Lombardo, all screaming around the Belle Isle turn. The late afternoon shadows beneath the Belle Isle bridge and the old waterfront buildings and skyscrapers in the distant haze present the perfect background for the bright and colorful blur of the deck-to-deck competition. It was 92 degrees that day as spectators squeezed along the Belle Isle bridge railing to watch MY SWEETIE capture the Gold Cup and and the fastest average speed (92.402) for three laps of the 2 1/2 mile course. How do we know it was 92 degrees that day? We know because as part of the research for this work, Clary aquired the hour-by-hour weather data provided by the National Climactic Weather Data Center in North Carolina. The research is where all the work and fun is according to Clary, who strives to "freeze" every detail of the time into his paintings. The faces of the four drivers of the famous boats depicted are hidden in the work through an artistic technique known as 'ghosting'. It is up to you to find them. Gar Wood is also hidden. [webmaster note: you'll need to see a real print to find most of them - the only one I can definitely see in the JPEG picture is Dan Arena. His face is built into the film crew stand on the bridge.]
All contents Copyright © 1999 Spirit of Detroit THUNDERFEST, except where noted.
Web page created by Brian Reed.
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