Vanderbilt Cup Races

i just read my ny times and saw the article on the vanderbilt cup races. i have lived a few blocks from the vanderbilt motor parkway for 26 years and have always been interested in the history of the race as well historic automobiles and the colorful characters that have shaped the early history of the automobile. the article and your website has provided me with a great deal of wonderful information that was previously unobtainable to the average person.for instance, i did not know that louis chevrolet drove in the race 4 times, but did you know that the last automotive job he held was as an assembly line worker for chevrolet…...go figure…but thats a story for another time…..again many thanks for all the wonderful information..kevin

Kevin, thanks for the feedback on the website.

Louis Chevrolet always drove hard in his four Vanderbilt Cup Races (1905, 1908, 1909,and 1910). In the 1910 Vanderbilt Cup Race (22 laps over a 12.64 mile course), Chevrolet led the the race after 7 laps averaging 72 mph. He lost the lead and then regained it during lap 14. However, his Marquette-Buick broke a steering knuckle on lap #16 and crashed into a spectator’s car. The resulting death of his mechanician Charles Miller helped put an end to the Vanderbilt Cup Races on Long Island.

Griffith Borgeson’s book “Golden Age of the American Racing Car” provides an excellent chapter on Louis Chevrolet:

http://books.google.com/books?id=MDMFSp7xTp0C&pg=PA61&dq=Louis+Chevrolet&sig=9LuehLOZuDDSC2oM3IYrDIubc2Q