The Vanderbilt Cup Races

Alco #18 (1910)

Grant at the Westbury Turn (1910)

Courtesy of The National Automotive History Collection at the Detroit Public Library

The 1909 winner Harry Grant drove another steady race, taking advantage of the accidents and mechanical failures of other competitors. The crowd was dangerously close to the cars at the turn at Old Country Road and Ellison Avenue in Westbury.

Alco Wins Again! (1910)

Starter Fred Wagner waved the checkered flag as #18 ALCO stormed by to win the 1910 race. The final lap was full of the drama of a classic Vanderbilt Cup Race. Grant struggled to hold off 21-year-old Joe Dawson, also known as “The Indiana Whirlwind.” After Louis Chevrolet’s car retired, Dawson had the fastest car, pulling out a lead of more than four minutes on Grant by lap 17. But the poor judgment of a spectator who was hit by Dawson on the backstretch during the next lap determined the outcome of the race. Dawson stopped to check on the man, who suffered two broken legs, and then had to pit to repair his gas line. He spent the remaining four laps steadily gaining on Grant only to come up 25 seconds short.

The Winning Alco Team (1910)

Courtesy of The George Eastman House

Grant (center) and mechanician Frank Lee (at Grant’s left in foreground) posed with admirers after taking the Vanderbilt Cup Race for the second consecutive year. Grant used the same ALCO – certified by officials after the race as a stock car – in both his victories.

Featured Cars

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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