The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1908-02-02
A GENERAL VIEW OF BRIARCLIFF.
Well = Known American
Driver Goes Over Briar-
cliff Route.
Gives Analysis of Roads
for Blue Ribbon
Motor Race.
By JOSEPH TRACY.

There is no sort of hunting to com
pare with trophy hunting, chiefly be-
cause Of the quaint IF competition IL
brings out. the spirit Of emulation it
spreads, and, in the case Of q motor
trophy, the glorious spectacle IL fur
nishes to participants and spectators
alike
The battlefield where the BriarcIn
trophy will be won presents as pretty a
problem TO the drivers who viii speed
over il as ever confronted the men be-
meath the shoulder straps. This thirty
fOur-mile course through the heart Of
, Westchester county is by way of being
| a precedent-Certainly nothing quite like
lit has ever confronted the entrants In a
/ big motor race. That this Is extremely
/ likely to be the greatest contest Of the
year is becoming more apparent daily
/ The Vanderbilt cup events have ere
ated SO strong a public demand for an
adequate successor from the point OF a
mere spectacle ti.et already Father
| Kuickerbocker is keeping his desk pad
/ clear against the date Of April "a For
/ a good two miles the course runs
/ through the main street Of ut. Kisco
/ and the fortunate residents Of that thor
Oughfare have placed a moderate tariff
OF $50 a window on the vantage places
| from which the race may be viewed.
Far from being isolated, the course may
/ be easily reached by three different rail-
roads and by trolley, although the start
Itself. where the main grandstands Will
be erected, is more difficult OF access.
The Speed Mania.
Nowaday, almost any high-powered
l. Z a. --.s
give an ecstatic lift to any spectator s
hair Public. buyers, manufacturers,
everyone, wants the long grueling road
race where great bursts of speed and
the whirlwind driving OF big cars fur
inishes a spectacle worth going hundreds
of miles TO see. The beauty of Briarclif
Itself furnishes a setting far beyond
anything yet afforded motor racegoers.
Briarcliff IS the most aristocratic OF
suburbs. Splendid manor houses, coy
| country clubs rolling lawns. painted
porticoes, and sIoping terraces afford a
deIight TO the eye WIDELY lacking in
the Vanderbilt Cup race surroundings.
The sites for entrants camps are
many I was particularly fortunate in
securing a commOdiOus farmhouse. just
off the course, for the Simplex-Camp.
a
better still, no end Of shed room for
car, tools. and supplies Of all kinds.
combined with a distance of less than
200 yards from the finish at the grand
stands, are features which count for
much in the labors Of preparation. and
/ have n direct result in the efficiency 81
the car at the start OF the race.
Memories Course.
The Simplex, which 7 have driver
over Che course in my efforts to mem
orize it. is a very fair type Of the cars
entered, and will do admirably for IT,
lustration in alluding 10 the difficult
points of road. EiEh covered, very fast
and sturdy IN construction it presented
at the outset the temptation TO try
/ average speed Of sixty miles an hour
and to my resistance or this temptation
/. is due the present soundness Of my hon
, oTable neck Fifty yards beyond tn,
= site OF the gTandstand is an IS" turn
r actually hiding the road within 100 yards
ahead. Rounding this turn anothe
9 curve comes Immediately into view, ant
r scarcely had this been passed befor
y the road swung around once more. The
I We're not bad" turns, just wide. cas-,
: curves, but they p- evented one seein
beyond 100 yards ahead, and one can
not blink many times in going 1ol yard
when at top speed. The road WIS fine
hard macadam, level and well kept. an
a constant temptation 20 speed, but i
an actual race-weil If one should fl
! round one of these turns which are
p habit here, and hgh~ upon car stop
e ped for some reason, there would b
two ears out of the race at once.
There was only one rather bad turn
but a most disquieting railroad crossing
p that bodies i'll for springs and wors
2 for record laps at times. for there ar
: four trains over this track within III
hours during which the race will b