The 115th Anniversary of the Opening of the Long Island Motor Parkway and the 1908 Motor Parkway Sweepstakes
Today we celebrated the 115th anniversary of our favorite racetrack and parkway.
115 years ago on this date, October 10, 1908, the Motor Parkway held its first races on the newly constructed 9 miles of the Long Island Motor Parkway. The Sweepstakes races held that day were the preliminary races for the big Vanderbilt Cup Race planned for two weeks later. The Motor Parkway was then officially open for business and the public immediately after the Motor Parkway Sweepstakes Races.
The cars in the Oct. 10, 1908 Sweepstakes Races were classified by their sales price. Entries were divided into five categories:
• Motor Parkway Sweepstakes: cars selling for over $4,000.
• Garden City Sweepstakes: cars selling between $3,001 and $4,000.
• Meadow Brook Sweepstakes: $2,001 to $3,000.
• Jericho Sweepstakes: $1,000 to $2,000.
• Nassau Sweepstakes: cars selling for under $1,000.
In honor of the 115th anniversary, we'll look at some of the rarely seen photos from the start of the day's race.
Greg O.
Announcer Peter Prunty kicks off the day's events exactly 115 years ago.
Prunty and Jefferson De Mont Thompson at the start.
Colonel Jefferson De Mont Thompson was an important figure in both the Vanderbilt Cup Races and the Long Island Motor Parkway. Thompson was chairman of the AAA Racing Board and chairman of the Vanderbilt Cup Commission.
The grandstands for each of the Vanderbilt Cup Races were all unique due to the stands accommodating the increasing crowds each year. Here were the new larger stands for the 1908 races.
The Judges and Timer's stand for 1908
Officials ready for the start in the judges stand.
Willie K. Vanderbilt, Jr. and other race officials at the start.
Two starters for the Garden City Sweepstakes.
The #G25 Stoddard-Dayton driven by H. Tuttle who finished 5th at the end of the day, and the #G26 Buick driven by Robert Burman who finished 4th.
'The Pits'
For the first time in a US automotive contest, pits were introduced for each race team assisting in the fueling and maintenance of the race cars during the contest.
The entire completed length of Motor Parkway was not necessary for the race. In this photo, we see course workers blocking off the unused portion of the Parkway. This view looks east on what is not Eisenhower Park. In the distance, the ubiquitous windmill of the Emily Ladenburg Estate can be seen in the distance.
Comments
Don’t think I’ve ever seen the last image here. I screenshot it and marked it below