HIMES MUSEUM OF MOTOR RACING NOSTALGIA: Keeping The Memory Of Long Island Racing Alive

The Himes Museum Of Motor Racing Nostalgia's front yard.

The Chicago Times-Herald sponsored the first official auto race in the United States. Held on Thanksgiving Day, November 28, 1895, the contest was organized to promote the newspaper as well as advance automobile production in America. Six autos entered the 54-mile race that looped from Chicago, IL, to Evanston and back. Frank and Charles Duryea’s gas-powered wagon took first place, completing the course with a corrected time of seven hours and fifty-three minutes.
 

Ticket booth from Freeport Stadium.

News of the race had a positive impact in the United States. The country proved that it was able to organize a race that was on par with those being held in Europe. The success also encouraged American auto manufacturers to become competitive and step up the production of automobiles. (The following year the Duryeas built thirteen cars by hand, becoming the largest gas-powered automobile factory in the United States.) And for the future car owner and spectator this was the beginning of a love affair with the automobile and its new sport.

Long Island didn’t experience its first official race until April 14, 1900. Sponsored by the Automobile Club of America, the 50-mile loop ran on Merrick Road from Springfield to Babylon and then back. Of the nine entries A. L. Riker placed first with his low-built electric vehicle powered by sixty cell batteries. He completed the course in two hours, three minutes, and thirty seconds. This was a great improvement from Frank Duryea’s elapsed time of seven hours and fifty-three minutes for the 54-mile course he raced in 1895.

Marty Himes and his 1937 Dodge.

Over the following century the United States experienced the construction of hundreds of tracks that were built exclusively for auto racing. On Long Island alone, over 40 tracks were operated across the area, which included venues for Formula Ones, Sprint cars, midget racers, stock cars, and drag racers. But by the end of the century the majority of tracks closed due to rising operation expenses and the temptation to make a profit by selling properties to real estate developers. Today Riverhead Raceway is Long Island’s sole-surviving venue.

Reggie Himes and the influential

soap box derby car.

Marty Himes started collecting memorabilia related to Long Island’s once dynamic racing scene in 1975. As a former racecar driver who drove regularly at Freeport Speedway, Riverhead Raceway, and Islip Speedway, Marty realized that as the tracks were being bulldozed historic racing artifacts were being destroyed without an effort to save them. Armed with a crowbar and acetylene torch, he rescued objects and signage from inevitable destruction. Supplemented by donations of vintage racecars, photographs, and other items, his collection quickly grew to become The Himes Museum Of Motor Racing Nostalgia, located in Bay Shore, NY.

Jim Hendrickson's and 

Marty Himes' racing uniforms

I recently drove out to the museum to examine its archive. As I pulled up the first thing I noticed was the huge road sign that once directed race fans to Freeport Speedway now mounted on the museum’s front fence. . . . I immediately felt that this was going to be a one-of-a-kind experience. Entering the front yard I was greeted by a mannequin peering out from one of Freeport’s original ticket booths. After introducing myself to Marty he took me on a 2-hour tour of his priceless objects, which include posters, race programs, trophies, toy cars, over two hundred helmets, just as many uniforms, and over five hundred thousand photographs. Early racing memorabilia includes a road marker and concrete posts from the Long Island Motor Parkway, a grouping of Vanderbilt Cup souvenirs from the opening day of Roosevelt Raceway, and a gold covered brick from the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. His collection of vehicles includes six classic stock cars, three midget racers, five 3/4 midgets, six 1/4 midgets, an early sprint car, a Crosley automobile converted to a midget racer tow truck, two soapbox derby cars, a 1970 Honda motorcycle, and three bicycles (including a 1923 Ranger which was at the takeoff of Charles Lindbergh’s 1927 Spirit of St. Louis flight from New York to Paris).

Stock cars in the yard.

As we entered the first trailer Marty pointed out the original soapbox derby car that introduced him and his brother Reggie to racing, back in 1952, at the local Police Boys Club events held at the Freeport Stadium. By the age of 16 Marty was racing the family’s 1937 Hudson on Freeport’s track, which was just a block away from his home. By 1962 he would become Freeport’s Track Champion in the novice division. In 1966 he moved on to Islip Speedway and then Riverhead Raceway, racing in the modified division. He returned to Islip and won the midget race on the track’s closing day, September 9, 1984.

Ted Horn's original

cloth racing helmet.

The museum includes memorabilia of all of the above and more, and with each item Marty has a narrative that fits it into racing history. As an example, Marty picked up a framed poster from New Hampshire International Speedway’s Annual DeMoulas Vintage Celebration race. The event included Indy cars, Champ cars, sprinters, midgets, and stock cars. Marty recalled that he drove a sprint racer that was owned by his friend A. J. Foyt in one of the events.

Marty then directed my attention to a photo that showed him racing at Lime Rock Raceway Park, CT, in the 1989 Formula Libre race. The event was a reenactment of the 1959 race that pitted American Open Wheel cars against European sports cars, with a wide variety of types, ages and makes of cars entered in the competition. Marty was chosen to fill in for Indy driver Tony Bettenhausen, former national champion, as he had passed away several years earlier. Among the other drivers were two-time Indy winner Roger Ward, Grand Prix star Stirling Moss, famed Corvette driver Dick Thompson and noted women’s sports car racer Denise McCluggage. It was Marty’s first time on a road course with curves. Driving a 1946 Offenhauser powered Kurtis Kraft #25 midget Marty finished 1st in the midget division and 3rd overall, far ahead of the seasoned legends.

An original poster 

from Islip Speedway.

Mention a racer’s name from the past – Gentlemen Jim Hendrickson, Steady Eddie Brunnhoelzl, Fred “The Flying Dutchman” Harbach – and most likely Marty has a story to tell about that driver. He can tell you how Johnny Coy was responsible for bringing stock car racing to Freeport. Or how Bill Schindler continued to win races after loosing his left leg at a Champ car race in Mineola, NY.

This is all just a small example of what is on display at The Himes Museum Of Motor Racing Nostalgia. Marty admits that the collection is outgrowing the current location and hopes that one day a benefactor might find a larger home for the museum. He has a genuine passion for his collection, something he enjoys sharing with visitors. The museum is open daily, but be sure to contact Marty ahead of your visit so he can plan to give you a personal tour. Remember . . . it’s been over 115 years since the Merrick Road race was held in 1900 . . . and that makes up for a lot of racing memorabilia to look at!

 
The Himes Museum of Motor Racing Nostalgia
http://www.thehimesmuseum.com
(631) 666-4912
15 O’Neil Avenue
Bay Shore, NY 11706 


< CLICK ON IMAGE TO ENLARGE

•   •   •

Photo I took at Freeport Speedway 

during the summer of 1968.

While growing up on Long Island Freeport Speedway became my raceway of choice, as it was located the closest to my home. Short-track racing was a big pastime in the region and it drew people from all over to Freeport’s Tuesday, Friday and Saturday race nights. I can still hear the roar of the engines and smell the burning rubber emitted from the squealing tires of the competing stock cars. The demolition derbies were a bonus! But that’s all a memory now – after the 1983 season Freeport Speedway closed its venue.

Freeport Speedway, opened as Freeport Stadium in 1933, was constructed as a WPA project in 1930. The multipurpose stadium originally included a baseball field, a boxing ring, a rifle range, a football field, and a fifth-mile cinder short-track used for motorcycles in 1933. Midget racing was added to the cinder track in 1935 and continued through 1939. In 1939 the track was paved and ran through 1941, pausing for World War II. After the war the speedway switched over to stock car racing and eventually added demolition derbies. The track’s length was modified to 1/4 mile in 1975.

Sources:

“An Evening With Marty Himes,”
Vanderbiltcup video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VC-14_u50ug
viewed October 23, 2016

“First Automobile Fifty-Mile Race Ever Run in America”
The New York Times, April 15, 1900, page 11

“The Motocyle Race”
The Evening Star, Washington, DC, December 3, 1895, page 10 

Auto Racing
Freeport Historical Society & Museum
http://freeporthistorymuseum.org/wp/news-2/photographs/auto-racing/
viewed October 23, 2016 

J. Frank Duryea
Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._Frank_Duryea
viewed October 23, 2016

•   •   •

PHOTO FINISH

Marty Himes' "Liberty Special" on display 

at the Himes Museum Of Motor Racing Nostalgia.

 

THE VANDERBILT CUP - Long Island’s 112-Year-Old Racing Legacy

George Heath driving his winning #7 Panhard.
Photo courtesy of VanderbiltCupRaces.com, The Howard Kroplick Collection.

The origin of auto racing on Long Island dates back to October 8, 1904, when William K. Vanderbilt II, the great-grandson of Commodore Cornelius Vanderbilt, ran his first Vanderbilt Cup Race. The newsworthy event was a challenging competition that paired up chauffer and mechanic teams in daredevil vehicles that sped down public dirt roads at up to 70 mph. The 30.24-mile course was routed across Nassau County and looped through the towns of Garden City, Jericho, Hicksville, Bethpage, Hempstead, Elmont, Queens County, Floral Park, Mineola, and Westbury. The contest, which included cars and drivers from America and Europe, was promoted by Vanderbilt to stimulate a national interest in auto manufacturing and ownership. The winner was George Heath, an American who drove a Panhard for France. A favorite to win, Heath completed the course in 56 minutes and 45 seconds. The 1904 Vanderbilt Cup proved to be a success, establishing legitimacy for America as it was recognized by Europe to be an established international road race.

The silver Vanderbilt loving cup.

From the beginning the races drew large crowds, which posed a safety problem, as there were no barriers to prevent spectators from stepping out onto the roads and into the path of an approaching vehicle (or vise versa). The inevitable happened in 1906 when a viewer was killed, causing the race’s cancellation the following year. As a solution Vanderbilt organized a company to finance the Long Island Motor Parkway, a private road and one of Long Island’s first paved parkways. The $6 million toll road ran from Kissena Corridor in Queens to Lake Ronkonkoma, a distance of 48 miles. By 1908 enough of the highway was completed to run the race. The race operated successfully at this location until 1910, the year there were two fatal crashes. 

To compete with other prestigious racing events the Vanderbilt Cup Race was moved to Savannah, Georgia in 1911, then Milwaukee, Wisconsin in 1912, Santa Monica, California in 1914 and 1916, and San Francisco in 1915. The competition was placed on hiatus in 1917, due to America’s involvement in World War I.

Revived in 1936 by William’s nephew, George Washington Vanderbilt III, the race returned to Long Island. The location for the 300-mile course was Roosevelt Raceway, a new half-mile long racetrack. Along with George Preston Marshall (Boston Redskins owner) and Eddie Rickenbacker (World War I Medal of Honor recipient and flying ace), Vanderbilt acquired land that was part of Roosevelt Field Airport, which was adjacent to the site of the runway Charles Lindbergh used to launch his flight in the Spirit of St. Louis. Due to the awkward design of the course and a lack of American car and driver sponsorship the Vanderbilt Cup only ran at Roosevelt in 1936 and 1937. Thereafter, only a handful of midget and stock car events raced at its track. 

Program from 1937 Vanderbilt Cup Race.

In 1960 Cornelius Vanderbilt IV brought the Vanderbilt Cup Race back to Roosevelt Raceway as a Formula Junior event. Then in 1965, 1967, and 1968, its final competitions took place as part of the Bridgehampton Race Circuit.

Locally and nationally, the Vanderbilt family’s contribution to auto racing generated a huge public interest in the sport. Within the century that followed over 40 auto racetracks were operated across Long Island. Sadly, however, 112 years after the first Vanderbilt Cup contest Riverhead Raceway is Long Island’s lone reminder of the area’s interest in racing.

•   •   •

As a child growing up on Long Island I remember my dad teaching me about the first Vanderbilt Cup Race. I became fascinated after he told me that we lived close to the roads (albeit improved) that were used in the first races. I immediately went to my library and took out all of the books I could find about early race car drivers and their vehicles. This contributed to my life-long interest in auto racing.

Years later I attended Dowling College in Oakdale during my freshman year. The gem of the campus was “Idle Hour”, a country home once owned by William K. Vanderbilt I. On March 26, 1899, William K. Vanderbilt II and Virginia Fair were married in New York City. The couple intended to spend their honeymoon at the original “Idle Hour” but the house burned to the ground on their wedding night. The elder Vanderbilt rebuilt the home, which eventually became part of Dowling College in 1968. It’s said that William II infuriated citizens as he raced his vehicles through the rural towns and villages on his way to “Idle Hour”. Sadly, Dowling College closed its doors this past spring due to a declining enrollment and a growing debt.

Recommended Books:

Vanderbilt Cup Races of Long Island

by Howard Kroplick
Order now from Arcadia.com

Long Island Motor Parkway

by Howard Kroplick and Al Velocci
Order now from Arcadia.com








Sources:

“1904 Vanderbilt Cup Race: The First International Road Race Held in the United States”

http://www.vanderbiltcupraces.com/races/story/1904_vanderbilt_cup_race

viewed September 20, 2106

“A 100-Year-Old Dream: A Road Just for Cars”, Phil Oattinoct, October 9, 2008, © 2016 The New York Times Company http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/12/automobiles/12LIMP.html

viewed September 20, 2106

“Speed-Mad Automobilists Dash Along To-Day In Deadly Race”, October 8, 1904

The Evening World, New York, NY, pages 6-7

•   •   •

PHOTO FINISH

Mark Kuczewski's 1957 Chevy Belair at the 2016 Syracuse Nationals.

© 2016 Michael Zmuda