Vanderbilt Cup

An international event, it was founded by William Kissam Vanderbilt II in 1904 and first held on October 8 on a course set out in Nassau County on Long Island, New York.[1] The announcement that the race was to be held caused considerable controversy in New York, bringing a flood of legal actions in an attempt to stop the race. The politicians soon jumped in, holding public hearings on the issue. Vanderbilt prevailed and the inaugural race was run over a 30.24 miles (48.7 km) course of winding dirt roads through the Nassau County area.

Vanderbilt put up a large cash prize hoping to encourage American manufacturers to get into racing, a sport already well organized in Europe that was yielding many factory improvements to motor vehicle technology. The race drew the top drivers and their vehicles from across the Atlantic Ocean, some of whom had competed in Europe's Gordon Bennett Cup. The first Long Island race featured seventeen vehicles and the newspaper and poster art promotion drew large crowds hoping to see an American car defeat the mighty European vehicles. However, George Heath won the race in a Panhard and another French vehicle, a Darracq, took the Cup the next two years straight. Crowd control was a problem from the start and after a spectator, Curt Gruner, was killed in 1906, the race was cancelled. Meanwhile, in France, the first Grand Prix motor racing event had been run on June 26, 1906, under the auspices of the Automobile Club de France in Le Mans. One of the competitors was American Elliot Shepard, the son of Margaret Vanderbilt-Shepard and a cousin of William Kissam Vanderbilt.

Learning from his cousin about the success of the French Grand Prix and the rapid expansion of Grand Prix racing in other European countries, William Vanderbilt conceived a way to solve the safety issue as well as improve attendance to his race. Vanderbilt formed a company to build the Long Island Motor Parkway, one of the country's first modern paved parkways that could not only be used for the race but would open up Long Island for easy access and economic development. Construction began in 1907 of the multimillion-dollar toll highway, to run from the Kissena Corridor in Queens County over numerous bridges and overpasses to Lake Ronkonkoma, a distance of 48 miles (77 km). The 1908 race was held over parts of the new highway and much to the delight of the large crowd on hand, 23-year-old local hero George Robertson from Garden City, New York became the first American to win the event driving the American Locomobile, which was the company's first gas-powered car and designed by famed engineer Andrew L. Riker[2] (built in Bridgeport, Connecticut) (in 1908, George Robertson (wearing #16) took the win in this car, ahead of fellow Locomobile pilot Joe Florida in third, becoming the first United States-built car to win in international competition).[3]

The Vanderbilt Cup was held successfully on Long Island until 1911 when it was showcased at Savannah, Georgia in combination with the American Grand Prize. The next year it moved to a racecourse in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, then for three years in California: Santa Monica in 1914 and 1916, San Francisco in 1915. The race was canceled after the United States joined the Allies in World War I in 1917. Some of the drivers who participated in the Vanderbilt Cup became famous names, synonymous with automobiles and racing such as Louis Chevrolet, Vincenzo Lancia and Ralph DePalma.

The Vanderbilt Cup was not held again until 1936 when William Kissam Vanderbilt II's nephew, George Washington Vanderbilt III picked up the cause and sponsored a 300-mile (480 km) race at the new facilities at Roosevelt Raceway. Once again, the Europeans were enticed by the substantial prize money and Scuderia Ferrari entered three Alfa Romeo racers. A lack of American competition and a less-than-exciting course layout saw the race run for only two years, both won by Europeans.

The Vanderbilt Cup would not return to the United States motor racing scene for more than twenty years. In 1960, sponsored by Cornelius Vanderbilt IV, it was run as a Formula Junior event and held again at Roosevelt Raceway. In 1965, 1967, and 1968, the Bridgehampton Sports Car Races were billed as the Vanderbilt Cup.

The original Cup is cast of silver and measures 2.5 feet (0.76 m) in height. It bears the image of William K. Vanderbilt II driving his record-setting Mercedes at the Daytona Beach Road Course in 1904. The trophy today is stored at a Smithsonian Institution storage facility and is not available to be seen by the public.[4]

The George Vanderbilt Cup is on display at Museo Nicolis in Verona.

Year	Winning Driver	Car	Venue	Report
1904	George Heath	Panhard	Nassau County, New York	report
1905	Victor Hémery	Darracq	Nassau County, New York	report
1906	Louis Wagner	Darracq	Nassau County, New York	report
1907: Not held
1908	George Robertson	Locomobile	Long Island Motor Parkway	report
1909	Harry Grant	ALCO	Long Island Motor Parkway	report
1910	Harry Grant	ALCO	Long Island Motor Parkway	report
1911	Ralph Mulford[5]	Lozier	Savannah, Georgia	report
1912	Ralph DePalma	Mercedes	Milwaukee, Wisconsin	report
1913: Not held
1914	Ralph DePalma	Schroeder-Mercedes	Santa Monica, California	report
1915	Dario Resta	Peugeot	San Francisco, California	report
1916	Dario Resta	Peugeot	Santa Monica, California	report
1917–1935: Not held
1936	Tazio Nuvolari	Alfa Romeo	Roosevelt Raceway	report
1937	Bernd Rosemeyer	Auto Union	Roosevelt Raceway	report
1938–1959: Not held
1960	Harry Carter	Stanguellini Formula Junior	Roosevelt Raceway	report
1961–1964: Not held
1965	Jim Hall	Chaparral 2A-Chevrolet	Bridgehampton Race Circuit	report
1966A	Jerry Grant	Lola T70-Ford	Bridgehampton Race Circuit	report
1967	Mark Donohue	Lola T70-Chevrolet	Bridgehampton Race Circuit	report
1968	Skip Scott	Lola T70-Chevrolet	Bridgehampton Race Circuit	report

^A The 1966 event was billed as the "Bridgehampton 200".

The Vanderbilt Cup name disappeared for another 28 years until 1996. In recognition of William Kissam Vanderbilt's place in automotive racing history, a copy of the original cup was created as the trophy for the CART U.S. 500 race. In 2000, CART designated the Vanderbilt Cup as its series championship trophy. Names of U.S. 500 winners from 1996 to 1999 and the CART series winners since 2000, are etched into the new Cup.

Year	Winning Driver	Car	Report
U.S. 500
1996	Jimmy Vasser	Reynard-Honda	report
1997	Alex Zanardi	Reynard-Honda	report
1998	Greg Moore	Reynard-Mercedes	report
1999	Tony Kanaan	Reynard-Honda	report
CART/Champ Car Season Championship
2000	Gil de Ferran	Reynard-Honda	report
2001	Gil de Ferran	Reynard-Honda	report
2002	Cristiano da Matta	Lola-Toyota	report
2003	Paul Tracy	Lola-Ford	report
2004	Sébastien Bourdais	Lola-Ford	report
2005	Sébastien Bourdais	Lola-Ford	report
2006	Sébastien Bourdais	Lola-Ford	report
2007	Sébastien Bourdais	Panoz-Cosworth	report

With the bankruptcy of Champ Car and purchase of the assets by the IRL, Tony George has mentioned interest in using the Vanderbilt Cup as the Series Championship Trophy for the IndyCar Series.[6] However, the Astor Cup has been used since the 2011 season.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Vanderbilt Cup.

• Vanderbilt Cup Race Series - EMRA - EASTERN MOTOR RACING ASSOCIATION - Owners of the "Vanderbilt Cup" service mark
• Vanderbilt Cup Races
• 22 October 1904;The Vanderbilt International. Cup Contest