Starting Lineup: The 1908 Garden City Sweepstakes Updated: 2/15/16
On September 10, 1908, the AAA Race Commission announced plans to christen the Motor Parkway with an event called, “The Long Island Motor Parkway Sweepstakes.” Five concurrent stock car races were scheduled for October 10, 1908. The idea was to create an opportunity to test the new course, timing systems, and crowd control for the Vanderbilt Cup Race scheduled two weeks later.
The cars in the Sweepstakes Races were classified by their sales price. Seven cars participated in the "Garden City Sweepstakes", the race for the stock cars selling between $3,001 and $4,000. Each "Garden City Sweepstakes" car was identified with a "G" next to its number:
#G21 Stoddard-Dayton driven by A.R. Miller. Finished 3rd.
#G22 Chalmers driven by L.B. Lorimar. Finished 6th.
#G24 Palmer-Singer driven by Ray Howard. Finished 7th.
#G25 Stoddard-Dayton driven by H. Tuttle. Finished 5th.
#G26 Buick driven by Robert Burman. Finished 4th.
#G27 Knox driven by William Bourque. Finished 2nd.Declared the winner in March 1909, after the Sharp-Arrow was disqualified.
G28 Sharp Arrow driven by William Sharp. Finished 1st, averaging 56.4 miles per hour.Disqualified in March 1909 (see below.)
1908 Sweepstakes results as published in Automobile Topics
As noted in the March 11, 1909 issue of The Motor World, months after the race the Sharp-Arrow racer was disqualified and the Knox was declared the winner. Forwarded by Ariejan Bos.
Comments
According to this advertisement in the Saturday Evening Post of Nov., 1908, the Sharp Arrow ran on Michelin tires (3 new and 1 that had 6,000 miles). The latter tire didn’t seem to have a negative impact as the Sharp won the race, albeit having been disqualified later as noted above. Supposedly, owner and driver, William Sharp initially inquired as to the used tire being up to the challenge.