A Family of Races
In 1909 and 1910, each race was three races in one. The most powerful cars competed for the Vanderbilt Cup, and raced for all 22 laps. In the same race, cars with slightly smaller engines competed in the Wheatley Hills Sweepstakes, but ended their race after 189 miles (15 laps). Cars with still smaller engines competed in the Massapequa Sweepstakes, racing only for the first 126 miles (10 laps).
This arrangement might seem to suggest that the Vanderbilt Cup cars would have the course to themselves for about 7 laps of the race, but that was not necessarily true. The laps driven by the smaller, slower cars took more minutes to complete. For example, when 1909's last Wheatley car completed 15 laps, the fastest Cup car had only 4.5 of its 22 laps - 20% of the race - left. For 80% of the Cup race, its driver had had to work his way around the slower car(s).
In both 1909 and 1910, the winner of the Vanderbilt Cup was Harry Grant, steadily driving the ALCO Black Beast at average speeds well over 60 mph. In the public eye, however, casualties ultimately overshadowed the racing achievements of Grant and the other participants.
Unlike the 1904 race, the 1909 contest incurred no fatalities. However, two Wheatley Sweepstakes competitors had major accidents. Both crashed into telegraph poles while rounding the Massapequa Corner, with one of the cars also breaking a spectator's leg.
1910 was much worse. In East Meadow, the race course passed over Newbridge Road. On the first lap, driver Charles Stone's Columbia went off the overpass. Witnesses said it rolled over twice before landing on, and killing, mechanician Thomas Bacon. Stone was seriously injured. Some reports say that he was forced into a rut by congestion - that might refer to spectators on the course, or to too many cars' funneling onto the bridge.
Swiss driver Louis Chevrolet (yes, the man after whom today's Chevrolets are named) competed in 1909, scoring the fastest lap at 76.3 mph, but his Marquette-Buick broke down, and he did not finish. He and the car returned in 1910.
From Wikipedia
Chicago Daily News negatives collection, DN-0003451
Courtesy of the Chicago Historical Society
Quickly taking the lead, he was forced to pit by a magneto problem. Once back in the race, he again worked his way into first place. On the fourteenth lap, the Marquette-Buick hit a rut in Old County Road's dirt, completely breaking its steering linkage. Incredibly, automobiles filled with race watchers were parked by its side. Chevrolet watched helplessly as his racer struck a parked car, sending it and its five occupants flying off in different directions. The Buick next caromed off a tree and rolled, stopping upside-down atop mechanician Charles Miller, who was fatally injured. Chevrolet had been ejected from his car, but he did not sustain critical injuries. The accident occurred near Duffy Avenue, probably in the area highlighted below:
modified from Google Maps image
The night before, there had been two serious non-race accidents on Long Island. Each involved people tangentially connected to the event, and each caused multiple injuries and a fatality. Careless driving seemed a factor (e.g., driving fast over unfamiliar roads at night, with a passenger standing unprotected on a running board). The press added up the four fatalities and argued that the series be ended.
The stigma was too much to overcome. In subsequent years, the event went to Georgia, Wisconsin, and California. Finally, America's entry into World War I put an end to it.
