Dario Resta - Coming To America

Coming To America

In early 1915 he was brought to the United States by Alphonse Kaufman, an America importer of Peugeots, to drive Kaufman's Peugeot EX3. In February he won the United States Grand Prix at San Francisco followed by a victory in the Vanderbilt Cup. After leading during the final stages of that year's Indianapolis 500, he finished second to Ralph DePalma when his car skidded and he had to make a pitstop for tires. Resta then drove his blue Peugeot to victory in the inaugural 500-mile (800 km) race on the board track at the Chicago Speedway on 26 June 1915. The race received eighteen pages of coverage in the 1 July 1915, issue of Motor Age magazine.

The following year in 1916, en route to winning the United States National Driving Championship, Resta repeated as the winner of the Vanderbilt Cup plus he won the Indianapolis 500, the Chicago 300, the Minneapolis 150 and the Omaha 150 races.

With World War I raging in Europe and the United States entering the war in 1918 races were reduced to a minimum. During 1918 Resta drove a Peugeot at a race in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn, a minor event with only a handful of racing drivers. During this time Resta dedicated his time to his business and moved his family to Bakersfield, California. During his time in California, Resta created a small racing track at Buttonwillow, California; the track still exists and is used by racing fans to this day.