Starting Lineup: The 1908 Garden City Sweepstakes
On September 10, 1908, the AAA Race Commission announced plans to christen the Motor Parkway with an event called, “The Long Island Motor Parkway Sweepstakes.” Five concurrent stock car races were scheduled for October 10, 1908. The idea was to create an opportunity to test the new course, timing systems, and crowd control for the Vanderbilt Cup Race scheduled two weeks later.
The cars in the Sweepstakes Races were classified by their sales price. Seven cars participated in the "Garden City Sweepstakes", the race for the stock cars selling between $3,001 and $4,000. Each "Garden City Sweepstakes" car was identified with a "G" next to its number:
#G21 Stoddard-Dayton driven by A.R. Miller. Finished 3rd.
#G22 Chalmers driven by L.B. Lorimar. Finished 6th.
#G24 Palmer-Singer driven by Ray Howard. Finished 7th.
#G25 Stoddard-Dayton driven by H. Tuttle. Finished 5th.
#G26 Buick driven by Robert Burman. Finished 4th.
#G27 Knox driven by William Bourque. Finished 2nd.
G28 Sharp Arrow driven by William Sharp. Finished 1st, averaging 56.4 miles per hour.
1908 Sweepstakes results as published in Automobile Topics
Links to related posts on VanderbiltCupRaces.com
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