The Vanderbilt Cup Race Scoreboards
Since the Vanderbilt Cup Races were all time trials, with racers starting at intervals of 1-2 minutes, it was necessary to track the drivers' lap times to determine their positions. To assist grandstand spectators, scoreboards listing the drivers' times were placed near the 1905 to 1910 start/finish lines.
Enjoy,
Howard Kroplick
1904 Vanderbilt Cup Race, Jericho Turnpike, Westbury
Since approval from the Nassau County court came only three days before the race, there was no scoreboard in 1904. The drivers' positions were announced through Peter Prunty's large megaphone.
1905 Vanderbilt Cup Race, Jericho Turnpike, Mineola
This two-tier scoreboard was placed above the officials stand/press box. These images captured the results after the race was completed.
1906 Vanderbilt Cup Race, Jericho Turnpike, Westbury
A similar two-tier scoreboard was placed across from the grandstand.
A unique map scoreboard was place above the grandstand.
Unfortunately, the map was printed backwards, for example, East Norwich was placed west of Roslyn.
1908 Motor Parkway Sweepstakes, Long Island Motor Parkway, Hempstead Plains
The Motor Parkway Sweepstakes featured five scoreboards for each of the five races.
1908 Vanderbilt Cup Race, Long Island Motor Parkway, Hempstead Plains
Another two tier sccoreboard.
Operators posted the total race time after each lap.
1909 Vanderbilt Cup Race, Long Island Motor Parkway, Hempstead Plains
For the first time, the scoreboards were not built on top of the press box. Note the restaurant and bar tent.
1910 Vanderbilt Cup Race, Long Island Motor Parkway, Hempstead Plains
Two separate scoreboards were built for the 1910 race.
The scoreboards tracked the driver positions for the Vanderbilt Cup Race and the two sweepstake races.
Comments
As I said before.this is all very interesting to me,that most of it still exsists and can be found with your help and everyone else. At this time I want to wish you all a safe and HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY
Unfortunately, the third picture under “1908 Vanderbilt Cup Race, Long Island Motor Parkway, Hempstead Plains” is quite unrelated to the previous two; it shows a right-angle scoreboard in two tiers. The other pair of boards are single tier. Help, please. Sam, III