Brooklyn Daily Eagle Cover


While the press praised the entertainment value of the race, the death to a spectator also fueled editorials crying for crowd control reform. The bone of contention was the continued use of public roads. Two days after the race, AAA President John Farson appointed a special committee to look into developing a privately owned speedway. At an October 18, 1906, meeting William K. Vanderbilt Jr. was named president of a newly formed “Automobile Highway Association.” The company would later become Long Island Motor Parkway, Inc., responsible for developing the first road built specifically for the automobile.