Vanderbilt Cup Races

It’s the Polo Grounds, of course. But then, again, I’m 75 y/o and my father took me there in the ‘50s and I went to see the Mets w/one or more of my friends when they had to use the field starting in ‘62 before Shea was completed in ‘64.
I recognize the midget cars. And the track was probably made of wood. But to discern the exact year is hard. First, night baseball started to be used in 1935 during the Depression. And the event might have been held during the War. But It just seems to outlandish for me that the event would have been held during either of these eras. So, my conclusion is that the races were done after the War. However, I don’t know how they would have been run during the baseball season. I imagine that they would have been run either shortly before or shortly after the baseball season. When?  I haven’t a clue. However, I was born in ‘48 and I started to read at four; my closest aunt was a school teacher. But I didn’t start to read newspapers regularly until I was in 2nd grade at PS 162 in Bayside where each parent had to buy a student subscription to the old NY Herald Tribune. And I never heard it mentioned on the radio. So, the way I figure it, the races must have been between the end of the War in ‘45 and ‘53.

From Mystery Friday Foto #8 Solved; Midget Racing at the Polo Grounds & The Marty Himes Collection

1958 Stock car racing at the Polo Grounds. I think the track was made of wooden boards.

From Mystery Friday Foto #8 Solved; Midget Racing at the Polo Grounds & The Marty Himes Collection

Love this and look forward to seeing it, especially that “racer” reception desk!

From Damianos Realty Group pays tribute to the Long Island Motor Parkway and the Vanderbilt Cup Races

Really enjoyed this article. Glad to see a local business keeping the history alive. Especially liked the old panels from Newsday.

From Damianos Realty Group pays tribute to the Long Island Motor Parkway and the Vanderbilt Cup Races

Amazing tribute. Any relationship to Bethpage Lodge keepers Ida and Louis Damiano

From Damianos Realty Group pays tribute to the Long Island Motor Parkway and the Vanderbilt Cup Races

It’s the Polo Grounds, home of the N.Y. Giants baseball team, and later, the Mets.

I’m more of a baseball fan than a racing fan, but I’ll guess that those are midget racers and the track is made out of wood.

From Mystery Friday Foto #8 Solved; Midget Racing at the Polo Grounds & The Marty Himes Collection

Gram, I also have a short article on the Autocar Hotel bus that Mr. Clark wrote for a local newspaper many years ago. I would be glad to share if it is of interest.

From VanderbiltCupRaces.com Exclusive: Unpublished Long Island Automotive Museum Photos from 1958 to 1962 Part 3

Wow! thanks Lee Irwin. we did not come across that post card in our collection (or researching online) anywhere! great to see that Austin Clark had one made for his Bugatti. thanks for sharing!

From VanderbiltCupRaces.com Exclusive: Unpublished Long Island Automotive Museum Photos from 1958 to 1962 Part 3

The stadium is the Polo Grounds, home of the New York Giants
The type of track (and how it was constructed) was “1-1/2 inch thick tongue and groove pine boards of varying widths created the track surface secured by cleats to the pre-engineered aluminum stringers with stainless steel fittings.”
The type of racing was board track midget racing
The year was 1948
Answers about the track and its construction are from Kevin Triplett’s Racing History: https://triplettracehistory.blogspot.com/2016/10/post-war-midget-board-track-racing-this.html

From Mystery Friday Foto #8 Solved; Midget Racing at the Polo Grounds & The Marty Himes Collection

    Polo Grounds, New York

From Mystery Friday Foto #8 Solved; Midget Racing at the Polo Grounds & The Marty Himes Collection

This is the Polo Grounds where the NY Giants played.  This is a “board track” where midget/sprint race cars competed.  The year of the picture is 1958.

From Mystery Friday Foto #8 Solved; Midget Racing at the Polo Grounds & The Marty Himes Collection

Great historical Motor Parkway shots Al Kleiner, taken from newspaper clippings at the time! Likely Westbury Av over the trolley line, or could be the crossing over Rt 110 with trolley as well. The busy environment points towards Rt 110.

From Kleiner's Korner: A 1909 Motor Parkway Construction Update

I’m amazed at how much the design of the cars has changed just a few short years after the days of the Black Beast.

From Mystery Friday Foto #7; Solved; Gentlemen, Start Your Engines for the 1912 Milwaukee Vanderbilt Cup Races!

Bergerac, in Dordogne.

From Mystery Foto #26 Solved: The Two-Tone Tucker 1046 in 1956 at Sebring, Florida

And also in the town of Cherbourg, in Normandie.
https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fichier:Blason_ville_fr_CherbourgOcteville_(Manche).svg

From Mystery Foto #26 Solved: The Two-Tone Tucker 1046 in 1956 at Sebring, Florida

I think that this car had been in the France town of Bergerac (Dordogne).
https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bergerac_(Dordogne)#/media/Fichier:Blason_ville_fr_Bergerac_(Dordogne).svg

From Mystery Foto #26 Solved: The Two-Tone Tucker 1046 in 1956 at Sebring, Florida

The F is for France. Did this car went to France ?

From Mystery Foto #26 Solved: The Two-Tone Tucker 1046 in 1956 at Sebring, Florida

Good stuff Art!
The bridge over the trolley road would be Westbury Ave I presume.

And that very well may be Sydney Jones in front of the Meadow Brook lodge looking west at the Whaleneck bridge.

From Kleiner's Korner: A 1909 Motor Parkway Construction Update

Beautiful property. I remember my parents taking me as a child, touring this and other “Gold Coast” estates that were built by the 19th century industrialists. A good lesson on history and the development of our capitalist economic system which has enabled America to lift more people out of poverty than any other system. Still is the case today. We must protect it.

From Video of the Week: William K. Vanderbilt Jr.'s Summer Estate: Eagle's Nest - Centerport, NY

Hey guys, our Howard was a town historian for North Hempstead and did a book from Arcadia Publishing that did his other books of North Hempstead. You might want to check it out if has any photos of the area in question?

From The Roslyn Hill Climb in the 1901 Long Island Endurance Test