Six vehicles left Chicago on Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 28, 1895, on a cold and windy day. Only two of them returned, yet they all left their mark on history.

Here's what you need to know about the first car race in the US:

Who Won the Race?

With an average speed of 7 miles per hour, the J. Frank Duryea finished first, 7 hours and 53 minutes later. The official mileage covered was 54.36 miles, with 3.5 gallons of gas used, according to Encyclopedia of Chicago. The race is from Chicago to Evanston and back.

History reported that the Chicago Times-Herald sponsored the race in order to create publicity for the emerging American automobile industry. It worked, especially for the Duryeas, who sold 13 of their namesake Motor Wagons in the year following the Times-Herald race, more than any other carmaker in America.

What Inspired the Chicago Times-Herald To Come Up With a Car Race?

After hearing about the world's first automotive race in France, H.H. Kolsaat, the publisher of the Times-Herald, came up with the idea to hold the event and said that he was bombarded with proposals from budding "horseless carriage" manufacturers who had the idea but not the funds to build a vehicle.

If the race had been held on July 4, as Kolsaat intended, the Chicago-Waukegan-Chicago might have become an annual event. However, as the race occurred on Nov.28, 1895, the climate is not ideal for cheering on vehicles, let alone driving them, as per Smithsonian Magazine. 

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What Happened to Duryeas After Winning the First Car Race in the US?

The Duryeas are among the founding fathers of the American automobile industry, and the Chicago Times-Herald "motocycle" race is a significant part of their history. Following the race, they founded the Duryea Motor Wagon Company in 1896, the first company to mass produce an automobile.

While the Duryeas were not well-known during the postwar car boom, Smithsonian Magazine said that their win served to usher in the American auto age by giving the US a race to rival the 1894 Paris-Rouen race and demonstrating that cars could race in terrible weather.

How Well Did Automobiles Perform in 1895?

In his 1935 memoir, "Horseless Carriage Days," inventor Hiram Percy Maxim wrote that the vehicle he was working on in 1895 "shook and trembled and rattled and clattered, spat oil, fire, smoke, and smell, and to a person who disliked machinery naturally, and who had been brought up to the shiny elegance and perfection of fine horse carriages, it was revolting."

Meanwhile, si.com noted that Vermont passed laws in 1894 that required a vehicle to have three operators-one to go ahead 60 yards with a red flag during the day and a red lantern at night to clear the way-and limited a vehicle's speed to 2 miles per hour, similar to the Red Flag Act in England.

In today's world, the fastest cars can reach speeds of over 300 mph. This just shows how the automobile industry evolved through the centuries.

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