Grand Avenue in Corona, California, forms a circle three miles around, giving the city its nickname: The Circle City. From 1913 to 1916, three international car races were held there. Over 100,000 spectators came to watch and the purse (the amount the winner received) was second only to Indianapolis. In 1916, Bob Burman’s car lost a front tire, and went into the crowd. Several people were killed and many more were injured. Bob himself was fatally injured and died later at the hospital. Bob’s wife, Helen, did have a dream that he would be killed and had begged him not to compete. As he lay dying, a woman attempted to steal a diamond pin he wore for luck. Officers stopped the woman and ordered her searched by nurses, who found the pin in her corset. The Pendrell family is entirely fictional. The car crash that killed Bob Burman was an accident. No one ever claimed to have tampered with the vehicle and no one convinced the female thief to steal Mr. Burman’s diamond pin. The dream (as far as we know) was Helen Burman’s and not the dream of her friend.
