Gary Faules’ posts on the history of the Vanderbilt Cup have introduced us to all sorts of new readers and contributers, each of whom have had something valuable to add to the conversation. Our newest addition is Vanderbilt Cup historian Howard Kroplick, a Long Island native who has been gathering stories and images for years. With over 20,000 photos in his stash, Howard was more than prepared to write his new book on the history of the Vanderbilt Cup Races which will be released later this month.

Howard has just launched a companion site to go along with the book which has literally tons of photos. A quick poke about the site shows that Howard also drives a 66 GT350H, the rental cousin of Gary Faules’s Lucky.

Welcome to The Garage Howard.

Nostalgia seems to have overcome the inhabitants of the Garage. The Vanderbilt Cup which was held on Long Island, is only one event that made up a rich heritage of New York City area racing in days gone by. One of the greatest race tracks in an era of wood surfaces, yes I said wood, was located in Brooklyn, New York of all places.

In 1915 the Sheepshead Bay Race Track was closed. The horse track was replaced by a different kind of horse power. A two mile track constructed of 2×4 yellow Georgia Pine beams was built on the site. The Astor Cup Race at 350 miles run on Oct. 9, 1915, was the first event at the Sheepshead Bay Speedway. The winner was Gil Anderson in the No. 5 Stutz. His teammate, Tom Rooney, No. 7, finished second. No. 4, a Peugeot driven by Bob Burman, was seventh. The crowd was estimated at 70,000.
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