Video “Drive the 1937 Vanderbilt Cup Race Course at Roosevelt Raceway”
In response to criticisms about the 16 curves of the 1936 Vanderbilt Cup Race course at Roosevelt Field, the circuit tor the 1937 race was revamped to encourage faster speeds and make the American cars more competitive.
The schematic for the 1937 course shows the 7 curves and the 3.3 mile circuit reduced from the 4-mile 1936 course.
The reconfigured course can be seen in this 1937 aerial. The road on the left is the Long Island Motor Parkway. The road on the diagonal going north/south is Merrick Avenue. Today, the former Fortunoff's Store was located at the top of the course on the right off Old Country Road in Westbury.
A closeup of the aerial shows the "hook" entrance to the Meadow Brook Lodge and the Motor Parkway Bridge over Merrick Avenue. West of the lodge you can see the outline of the temporary road that was used to connect the parkway with Ellison Road for the 1908 to 1910 Vanderbilt Cup Races.
The winner of the 1937 George Vanderbilt Cup Race was German Bernd Rosemeyer in the #4 Auto Union.
Rosemeyer completed the 90 laps of the course in 3 hours and 38 minutes, an average of 82.564 miles per hour.
In June 200, Acclaim Entertainment released a PC Dreamcast game "Spirit of Speed 1937". Beginning at the one minute 24 second mark, the game simulated driving two laps on the 1937 Roosevelt Raceway course.
Links to related posts on VanderbiltCupRaces.com:
Film "1937 Vanderbilt Cup Race, Westbury, New York"
Film “Rosemeyer’s Victory in the 1937 Vanderbilt Cup Race”
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