Vanderbilt Cup Races

Two articles from 1938 pertaining to the opening of the Motor Parkway bike path in Queens.  Note that the flags in the photo match those shown in the original post and the cyclists appear to be the Girl Scouts of which the first article refers.  The uniforms also match two cyclists shown on the right side in the original photo. From the “NY Daily News” of June 15 and July 10, 1938.

From The Opening of the Motor Parkway Bike Path- July 9, 1938

The race was postponed until October 25 due to rain on the original date and was held on the Sheepshead Bay track.  Oldfield raced a 60 hp Knox with Johnson in a 90 hp Thomas Flier.

From Greg O.'s Garage: From the Helck Family Collection- Barney Oldfield and the "Green Dragon"

An example of Oldfield’s defiance of the established rules of the AAA was his race in 1910 against the world boxing champion, “negro” Jack Johnson (I’m using the term “negro” here as it appeared in the articles of the time). 

Here’s a video of the race in which Oldfield defeated Johnson (courtesy “firstsuperespeedway.com” and Mark Dill).

https://youtu.be/zrQWWgHZT7U

Note the incorrect date which shows 1911.  Also, as pointed out in this article from “firstsuperespeedway.com” Oldfield tried to make the moving pictures as entertaining as possible by making the race appear closer than it was by using the same clip over and over again. 

https://www.firstsuperspeedway.com/blog/oldfield-vs-jack-johnson

From Greg O.'s Garage: From the Helck Family Collection- Barney Oldfield and the "Green Dragon"

Al, it is a great question! Barney Oldfield was constantly in conflict with the AAA, the sanctioning sponsor of the Long Island Vanderbilt Cup Races during this period and often suspending from racing in their events: https://www.mmshof.org/index.php/inductees/inductees/314-barney-oldfield-2

From Greg O.'s Garage: From the Helck Family Collection- Barney Oldfield and the "Green Dragon"

Al,
It makes sense. How was the fastest man alive not included in the Vanderbilt Cup Races in the beginning? The first year of the Cup Races in 1904, he held every record at all the big tracks that year in the Green Dragon….I believe Barney’s exclusion from the Vanderbilt Cup Races was more socioeconomic than anything else.

Read this and let me know what you think.

https://toledosattic.org/essays/101-abstracts/biography/105-ess-oldfield

From Greg O.'s Garage: From the Helck Family Collection- Barney Oldfield and the "Green Dragon"

Thanks Howard and http://www.vanderbiltcupraces.com for Keeping American Automotive Racing History Alive! Give my Best to the Black Beast!
You Know Me

From Greg O.'s Garage: From the Helck Family Collection- Barney Oldfield and the "Green Dragon"

Howard, Meant on Long island. Any idea why not?

From Greg O.'s Garage: From the Helck Family Collection- Barney Oldfield and the "Green Dragon"

Great painting of Howard and great photos from Robert!

From Mystery Foto #24 Solved: A wonderful painting of Howard Kroplick in the Alco Black Beast by Joe Pep

Completion of the article.

From Mystery Foto #26 Solved : The J18 Mitchell racer driven by Frank Zirbes at the Start Line

Additional info. on driver Frank Zirbes who was employed by the Mitchell company for many years and drove their cars in many endurance runs.

From Mystery Foto #26 Solved : The J18 Mitchell racer driven by Frank Zirbes at the Start Line

#18 Mitchell
Frank Zirbes
The Jericho Sweepstakes, one of the races of the 1908 Motor Parkway Sweepstakes.
October 10, 1908
Fred Wagner, possibly Jefferson DuMont Thompson

From Mystery Foto #26 Solved : The J18 Mitchell racer driven by Frank Zirbes at the Start Line

Al,

Barney raced in two Vanderbilt Cup Races:

-The 1914 Vanderbilt Cup Race held in Santa Monica. He finished second in the #7 Mercer:
http://www.champcarstats.com/races/191401.htm

-The 1915 Vanderbilt Cup Race held in San Francisco. He finished seventh in the #1 Maxwell:
http://www.champcarstats.com/races/191505.htm

He was entered in the 1916 Vanderbilt Cup Race in a Delage, but did not appear.
http://www.champcarstats.com/races/191613.htm

Enjoy,

Howard

From Greg O.'s Garage: From the Helck Family Collection- Barney Oldfield and the "Green Dragon"

Greg, Thanks for the comprehensive article on Barney Oldfield….however, don’t believe he ever participated in any of the Vanderbilt Cup Races ???

From Greg O.'s Garage: From the Helck Family Collection- Barney Oldfield and the "Green Dragon"

-The race car
-The driver

The #18 Mitchell driven by F. Zirbes who came in 3rd with a time of 3:46:07 for the 140.76 mile contest.

-The race and its date

Jericho Sweepstakes, Sept. 10th 1908

-Kudos question: Identify one or more officials in the Mystery Foto

The official on the right could be holding a rolled up flag making him possibly Starter and Clerk of the Course Fred Wagner.

From Mystery Foto #26 Solved : The J18 Mitchell racer driven by Frank Zirbes at the Start Line

Barney Oldfield, Master Driver of the World & America’s Legendary Speed King. Thanks for keeping American Automotive Racing History Alive! http://www.firstsuperspeedway.com, www.brownfoxbooks.com.

From Greg O.'s Garage: From the Helck Family Collection- Barney Oldfield and the "Green Dragon"

I liked the Zeppelin hangar!  Huge.

From Kleiner's Korner: A U.S. Army Signal Corps (Mineola) Scrapbook

Thanks for sharing that car event right in NYC!

From The 1954 Carnival of Cars parade down Fifth Avenue

From “The NY Daily News”, July 30 and August 9, 1942.

From Long Island Motor Parkway Bridge Series: #11 Little Neck Road Motor Parkway Bridge in Queens

Found on this website the 1910 Marquette-Buick (#27) that raced during the 1910 Vanderbilt Cup Race on Oct 1, 1910. Its driver was Bob Burman with Howard Hale as mechanician. Guessing the race preparation is at the Marquette-Buick headquarters on Sept 1910

From Mystery Foto #25 Solved: Harry Grant preparing the Alco "White Beast" for the 1910 Indy Races

Enjoyed seeing Professor Kraft’s collection of unique rare photos of early motoring here in Levittown, Long Island. Amazing that this set has been preserved all these years and now available for all to access at anytime.

Happy Father’s Day Ted, and to all the Dads out there!

From VanderbiltCupRaces.com Exclusive Part I: From the Hall/Kraft Family Album-Previously unpublished photos of the 1909 Vanderbilt Cup Race