The 1936 Vanderbilt Cup (formally known as I George Vanderbilt Cup) was a Championship Car race that was held on October 12, 1936, at Roosevelt Raceway near Westbury, New York. It was the fourth and final race of the 1936 AAA Championship Car season, not counting the non-championship events. The race, contested over 75 laps of 6.39 km (3.97 mi), was won by Tazio Nuvolari driving an Alfa Romeo 12C-36 from eighth starting position.
Background For the history of the Vanderbilt Cup: see Vanderbilt Cup
This was the first time that the Vanderbilt Cup was held since 1916. George Washington Vanderbilt III, the nephew of the founder of the Vanderbilt Cup, William Kissam Vanderbilt II, sponsored a 300-mile race (480 km) in 1936 at Roosevelt Raceway. Just as in the original races, European drivers were enticed by the substantial prize money - Scuderia Ferrari entered three Alfa Romeo racers. However, because of little American competition and an unexciting course layout, the race was organized for only two years. Both races were won by Europeans. After 1937, the Vanderbilt Cup would not be raced until 1960, and in a far less prestigious form.
Entries No.DriverCarNote2 Bill CummingsMiller-Offenhauser3 Wilbur ShawShaw-Offenhauser4 Emil AndresStevens-Offenhauser5 Shorty CantlonMiller6 Chuck TaborDuesenberg-Offenhauser Chet GardnerDNS - Tabor drove the #6 car7 Billy WinnMiller8 Tazio NuvolariAlfa Romeo 12C-369 Antonio Brivio10 Nino Farina12 Frederick McEvoyMaserati 4CM Carlo Felice Trossi14 Frank BriskoMiller-Brisko15 Deacon LitzMiller Tony Willman16 Raymond SommerAlfa Romeo Tipo B17 Chet GardnerMiller Frank BeederDNS - Gardner drove the #17 car18 Jean-Pierre WimilleBugatti T5919 Zeke Meyer?-OffenhauserDNQ - no qualifying attempt21 Babe StappShaw-Offenhauser22 Ted HornWetteroth-Miller23 Russ Snowberger?-Offenhauser24 Philippe ÉtancelinMaserati V8RI25 Floyd Davis?-Offenhauser26 Phil ShaferMiller27 George ConnorWeil-Miller28 Dave EvansBugatti T5129 "Raph"Maserati V8RI32 Mauri RoseMiller-Offenhauser33 Rex MaysAdams-SparksDNS - crash in practice34 Al PutnamStudebaker35 Freddie WinnaiMercedesDNA36 Chet MillerRigling-Carew37 Brian LewisERA B-Type Sidney CottonDNS - Lewis drove the #37 car38 Joel Thorne?-Miller39 Frank McGurk?DNS - crash in practice42 Tony WillmanStevens-Miller43 Jimmy SnyderStevens-Offenhauser44 Tony GulottaStevens-Miller45 Earl HoweERA B-Type46 Pat Fairfield47 Brian LewisBugattiDNS - cracked cylinder head in practice48 Teddy RaysonMaserati 4CM Goldie GardnerDNS - Rayson drove the #48 car49 Overton PhillipsBugatti51 Bob SwansonMiller-Offenhauser Billy DevoreDNS - Swanson drove the #51 car52 Lewis BalusDuesenberg53 Louis Tomei?-Offenhauser Bob SwansonDNS - Tomei drove the #53 car56 Ben BrandfonDuesenbergDNS57 Ted ChamberlainDuesenberg-Miller George WingerterDNS - Chamberlain drove the #57 car59 Rick Decker61 John CebulaDNQ62 Milt Marion?-Miller63 Frank WearneMillerDNA64 Mike CarusoMercedes-FordDNQ Bob SallDNS - Caruso drove the #64 car65 Henry BanksMiller66 Gus ZarkaAmbler Chuck TaborDNS - Zarka drove the #66 car67 Roy Lake68 Lem Ladd?DNA73 John Moretti74 Don Moore? Louis MeyerBugatti Type 59DNS - crash in practice Attilio MarinoniAlfa RomeoDNS - drove only in practice
DNA = Did not arrive DNS = Did not start DNQ = Did not qualify
Sources:ChampCarStats.com - 1936 George Vanderbilt CupThe Golden Era of Grand prix Racing - I George Vanderbilt Cup Race
Grid positions Pos123Row 1Brivio17:54.15Winn18:01.77Shaw18:13.92Row 2Connor18:23.22Litz19:26.86Putnam19:28.17Row 3Shafer20:16.09Nuvolari17:09.62Farina17:24.40Row 4Swanson18:05.54Cantlon18:08.96Tabor18:12.20Row 5C. Gardner18:27.07Wimille18:28.02Willman18:32.92Row 6"Raph"18:41.80Zarka18:42.93Snyder18:46.62Row 7Sommer18:49.10Marion18:50.04Horn18:50.24Row 8Decker18:53.45Fairfield19:02.53Rose19:04.15Row 9Tomei19:15.81Cummings19:28.11Andres19:34.34Row 10Stapp19:50.03Davis19:50.34McEvoy19:51.50Row 11Lake19:53.94Étancelin19:55.97Miller19:56.88Row 12Evans20:01.61Banks20:05.61Rayson20:06.40Row 13Brisko20:06.43Snowberger20:07.93Thorne20:24.88Row 14Chamberlain20:36.37Howe20:35.63Lewis20:46.53Row 15Gulotta20:54.31Phillips21:00.13Balus21:13.08
Sources:ChampCarStats.com - 1936 George Vanderbilt CupVanderbilt Cup Races - Starting Lineup for the 1936 Vanderbilt Cup RaceThe Golden Era of Grand Prix Racing - I George Vanderbilt Cup Race
Race results Twelve of the forty-five drivers that started the race were Europeans driving an English ERA, a French Bugatti or an Italian Alfa Romeo or Maserati. The rest of the field was made up of Americans in dirt track cars with two-speed gearboxes. Although the course contained only one long straight, and the European drivers had to get used to the loose dirt track surface, the Americans were no contest for the Grand Prix cars. For example, even with Nuvolari's V12 Alfa Romeo running on eleven cylinders, he won by eight minutes on Wimille. The best American driver was Cummings finishing seventh almost twenty-five minutes behind the winner.
Pos.DriverCar ConstructorTime (Status)1NuvolariAlfa Romeo4:32:44.02WimilleBugatti4:40:55.93BrivioAlfa Romeo4:45:44.44Sommer4:46:59.515FairfieldERA4:56:48.56McEvoyMaserati4:57:24.87CummingsMiller4:57:43.118Rose4:57:47.29ÉtancelinMaserati4:59:43.1110LitzMiller5:01:05.8211TaborDuesenberg5:04:06.612AndresStevens5:05:54.913HoweERA5:06:11.7514EvansBugatti5:07:42.515LewisERA5:08:17.2716DeckerDuesenburg5:08:18.6317PutnamStudebaker+1 lap18RaysonMaserati+1 lap19LakeAmbler+2 laps20BanksMiller+3 laps21Gardner+3 laps22ZarkaAmbler+4 laps23SwansonMiller+4 laps24GulottaStevens+6 laps25ShaferMiller+6 laps26MillerRigling+10 laps27BriskoMiller+10 laps28BalusDuesenberg+10 laps29Chamberlain+10 laps30Tomei +10 laps31ConnorWeil+3 laps (DNF - engine)32WinnMiller+11 laps (DNF - rear gear)33Snowberger +14 laps (DNF - brakes)34Thorne+26 laps (DNF - universal joint)35StappShaw+27 laps (DNF - fuel tank)36HornWetteroth+30 laps (DNF - stalled)37SnyderStevens+35 laps (DNF - rear axle gear)38CantlonMiller+40 laps (DNF - valves)39Davis +45 laps (DSQ - car towed)40WillmanStevens+54 laps (DNF - steering gear)41FarinaAlfa Romeo+58 laps (DNF - steering arm)42"Raph"Maserati+66 laps (DSQ - push start)43PhillipsBugatti+67 laps (DNF - connecting rod)44Marion +72 laps (DNF - clutch shaft)45ShawShaw+73 laps (DNF - crash)
DNF = Did Not Finish DSQ = Disqualified
Sources: see Entries
References
Sources ChampCarStats.com - 1936 George Vanderbilt Cup www.goldenera.fi - I George Vanderbilt Cup Race Vanderbilt Cup Races - Exclusive: Starting Lineup for the 1936 Vanderbilt Cup Race Vanderbilt Cup Races - Race Profile: 1936 Vanderbilt Cup Race Driver Database - The page of each aforementioned driver was consulted. Racing Sports Cars - The page of each aforementioned driver was consulted. YouTube - 1936 Vanderbilt Cup Race Vanderbilt Cup Races - 1936 Vanderbilt Cup Race: Photos from the Nassau County Division of Museum Services Vanderbilt Cup Races - Spectacular Aerials of Roosevelt Field and Roosevelt Raceway (1924-1938) www.goldenera.fi - Roosevelt Raceway, New York (USA)