A View of the Vanderbilt Cup Races From the Massapequa-Hicksville Road Motor Parkway Bridge
One of the most exciting spots to view the 1909 and 1910 Vanderbilt Cup Races was from the Long Island Motor Parkway bridge over the Massapequa-Hicksville Road.
Wishing Everyone a Happy and Healthy 2013,
Howard Kroplick
At 12.64 miles, the course for the 1909 and 1910 races was shorter than those for any previous Vanderbilt Cup Race and for the first time did not cross railroad tracks. Organizers believed the shorter course would decrease the intervals of time between appearances of cars and also provide more exciting entertainment for spectators.
An eighth of a mile past the Wantagh Avenue Bridge, the drivers came to the eastern end of the Motor Parkway section of the course at the Massapequa Lodge.
During the race, the racers transitioned from the concrete Motor Parkway onto a temporary crushed stone road just south of the lodge. The temporary road headed north to connect to Massapequa-Hicksville Road.
The Motor Parkway bridge over Massapequa-Hicksville Road attracted spectators with a wonderful view of cars making the Massapequa Turn.
This is how the 1909 race looked from atop the bridge. Look closely and you can see one car racing on the turn and another stalled on the shoulder of the banked curve.
The #8 Alco Black Beast taking the Massapequa Turn.
Spectators on the bridge in 1910 witnessed Bob Burman breaking a driving chain at the turn. His #27 Marquette-Buick flew off the banked curve.
It is unknown whether Burman hit the telegraph pole.
Comments
From Roy W. (Boca Raton)
Is the Hicksville/Massapequa road in the photos today what is now 106/107. If so, what happened to the LIMP right-of-way
Thanks.
Roy
PS. A long time fan who grew up in Fresh Meadows and rode my bike on the Motor Parkway all the way to Union Turnpike
Hi Roy:
It is Route 107. A section of the Motor Parkway is still there as an access road to a Nassau County Police Department Eighth Precinct from Massapequa-Hicksville Road.
Hi Roy:
It is Route 107. A section of the Motor Parkway is still there as an access road to a Nassau County Police Department Eighth Precinct from Massapequa-Hicksville Road.