Vanderbilt Cup Races

Congratulations to Michael Ferner of Bitburg, Germany for correctly identifying the drivers in VanderbiltCupRaces.com's first Mystery Photo Contest. Here are the five drivers who posed at an Automobile Oldtimers Club meeting in November 1940.

George Robertson was the first American driver to win the Vanderbilt Cup Race in an American car. Robertson can be seen here at a pit stop on his way to victory in the 1908 Vanderbilt Cup Race.

Wilbur Shaw won the 1937,1939 and 1940 Indy 500 Races and helped save the Indianapolis Motor Speedway from becoming an industrial park. Shaw also drove in the 1936 Vanderbilt Cup Race (finishing only 2 laps in a Gilmore-Offy Special) and the 1937 Vanderbilt Cup Race (finishing 9th in a Maserati V8Ri). This film documented Shaw's 1939 Indy 500 Race victory in the Maserati.

Montague Roberts was the initial American driver in the Thomas Flyer that won the 1908 New York to Paris Race. Roberts was the driver of the Thomas racers in the 1905 American Trial (seen here) and the 1906 American Trial. Both cars were not selected to represent the United States in the Vanderbilt Cup Races.

Ralph DePalma was winner of the 1912 and 1914 Vanderbilt Cup Races.

Erwin "Cannonball" Baker was a pioneering motorcyclist and automobile race driver known for his long-distance endurance runs. His driving inspired the Cannonball Baker Sea-To-Shining-Sea Memorial Trophy Dash, better known as the "Cannonball Run", which itself inspired at least five movies and a television series.

For winning the first Mystery Photo Contest, Michael Ferner will receive signed copies of "The Long Island Motor Parkway" and "Vanderbilt Cup Races of Long Island" and a reproduction of the 1905 Program Guide for the Vanderbilt Cup Race.