Preparing for the 1906 Race
The 1906 Course
For the third time in as many years, drivers in the 1906 Vanderbilt Cup Race faced a new course layout. The construction of a new trolley line stretching from Queens to Mineola forced a redesign of the western section of the course from its 1905 configuration. The grandstand returned to its 1904 site on Jericho Turnpike in Westbury. The first 12 miles of the new 29.7-mile course was unaltered from 1905, including the turns at Jericho, East Norwich, and Bull’s Head Hotel in Greenvale. The remaining 17.7 miles presented hilly sections and more challenging turns than drivers had seen before. After heading south on Glen Cove Road, the revised course included a “Hairpin Turn” in Old Westbury, two new turns in Roslyn, the challenging hills in Manhasset Valley, and two more turns in Lakeville. The final challenges were a turn at Krug’s Hotel in Mineola and a nearby railroad crossing heading back east on Jericho Turnpike. In all, the course presented 11 turns per lap or a total of 110 during the 10-lap, 297-mile race.
Peter Prunty Announces the Racers
The center of attention at the start-finish line was announcer Peter Prunty, who wielded an imposing megaphone more than a yard long. He was the public address system for every Long Island Vanderbilt Cup Race, relaying messages phoned in from throughout the course.
The Unique Grandstand Map
New for the grandstand area was a large green map with the course outlined in white. It sat atop the grandstand and was used to help observers follow the race. Color-coded cardboard icons of race cars – red for America, blue for France, white for Germany, and yellow for Italy – were moved about on wooden pegs to indicate where cars were on the course. The map was a curiosity in that it was printed backward, as photographic evidence clearly proves. For example, East Norwich, located on the east section of the course, was shown above on the west side of the map.
Alva and O.H.P Belmont
Willie K’s mother, Alva (second from left), and his step-father, O. H. P. Belmont (third from left) watched the race from their front-row box seats. Alva was a regular attendee at her son’s races and always attracted visitors to her box seats just in front of the course.
Vanderbilt Confers with Officials and Delays the Start
When the scheduled 6:00 AM start time approached, referee William K. Vanderbilt Jr. (left) conferred with his longtime trusted aide and associate referee A.R. Pardington (center) and AAA Racing Board chairman Jefferson DeMont Thompson (right). Factoring reports from around the course that fog hung dangerously low, limiting visibility, they decided to delay the start by 15 minutes.
The Start of the 1906 Race -->
Motor Pkwy
Feature
The 128-page book by Howard Kroplick, a researcher and lecturer on the races, contains rare images of the races from the archives of major museums, libraries and private collectors. The book Vanderbilt Cup Races of Long Island will be available from Arcadia Publishing in March 2008.
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