The millionaire sportsman William Kissam Vanderbilt was a car enthusiast. He drove some of his own high powered speed record cars in the first years of 1900. Knowing about cars and driving, he donated a silver cup for a US race series and called it the Vanderbilt Cup.

The first Vanderbilt Cup was organised in 1904 on the Long Island open roads. Many protesters, such as local farmers, came to the fore and protested the races to be held. In the end, the protests changed into pure enthusiasm, also as the cup races brought many people into the Nassau County region, in need for one or more overnight stays.

“Chain your dogs and lock up your fowls” was written on sideboards before the first race, heralding the coming sensation. The race became a real happening and the many onlookers even threatened to block the roads at the end of the race. Almost directly the problem of the Vanderbilt races became itself: the more than one hundred thousand spectators. In 1905, even about 500.000 spectators lined the Vanderbilt Cup track. Imagine that many people alongside a 30-mile track!The Krug’s Hotel Corner and the Old Westbury hairpin became the most beloved corners, attracting too many spectators directly next to the track. A deadly accident in 1906 led to postponing the race in 1907.

From 1908 on, the new-laid Long Island Motor Parkway was incorporated in the course, which served its duty up untill 1910. Then, from 1911 on, the Vanderbilt Cup races disappeared completely on Long Island. From then on, they were combined to the Grand Prize races. First exited to Savannah, then to Milwaukee and later two times to Santa Monica and once to San Francisco. Altough both last places were on the beautiful Westcoast, the Vanderbilt races never reached its heyday succes of the Long Island era anymore.
   In this category, only the Long Island Vanderbilt Cup races are discussed, so up to 1911. Staring from 1911 on, they are dealt with under „Grand Prize + Vanderbilt 1912-1916“.

Much more and wide better information on the Vanderbilt Cup races can be found in “Vanderbilt Cup Races of Long Island” of Howard Kroplick, as well as on www.vanderbiltcupraces.com.And Mark Dill’s site “First Super Speedway” www.firstsuperspeedway.com is likewise filled with information, not to forget his book “The Legend of the First Super Speedway”.

In „A Pictorial History of the Automobile“ the chapter of the Vanderbilt Cup Races gives a short survey of its history, here: The Vanderbilt Cup Races 1903-1937 hathitrust