The Sentinel=record., 1909-10-31
FAMOUS AUTO TROPHY WON IN MUCH SLOWER TIME THAN
 IN FORMER RACES.
Management Was Poor, Though There Were No Accidents, and Many
 Witnessed Performance.

New York, Oct. 30.--The fifth Van derbile Cup race was won today by Harry F. Grant. driving a sixty horse power Alec car, the only six cylinder machine in the race. His time for the 27S.Os miles was four hours 25 minutes 42 seconds. an average speed of GAS miles an hour.
 Edward H Parker, driving a 45 horse power r. L A. T., finished sec end, five minutes 15 seconds behind Grant. William Knopper, driving a 40 horse power Chalmers-Detroit. was in third place, when the race was de- clared ended.
 The Mercedes, driven, by Wishard. an amateur, and the Atlas. driven by Knox, were the only remaining ma chimes among the fifteen entrants which were still on the course at the end of the race
 Compared with previous Vanderbilt Cup races. the contest this year. re- duced to the level of an ordinary ear event, was tame and spiritless. The winners speed, 62:S miles an hour, was disappointment Robertson, in his Locomobile, last year made 64.3 miles an hour
 Although accidents to cars were numerous and machine after machine was retired by the failure of ma chinery Or by disasters at some of the dangerous turns, no one, either con- testant or spectator, suffered any se- rious injury. The weather and road conditions were unsurpassed, but the attendance was scarcely on par with that at former Vanderbilt Cup races, the most optimistic estimates placing the crowd at less than 150,0o0.
 Poor management marred the race from beginning to end One of the worst instances of this occurred just before the finish, when 1t was dlscov. cred that the timers had not credited Grants Alec with it's twentieth lap. When Grant came around on his twen ty-first lap it was at first recorded as the twentieth. As he came in sight for his twenty-second and final round the mistake was noticed and the score board was hastily corrected. Grants name was moved up from third place and the started rushed out on the track to wave the checkered flag to Indicate that the driver had finished the race.
 Because of this hitch Grants vic tory remained clouded for several hours afteA the conclusion of the con. test. It was not until after a stormy meeting at Ahe Garden City Hotel be- tween Mir. Vanderbilt and the officials that Grant was finally confirmed as the winner.
 E. H. Parker, who was at the wheel of the r. I. A. IT. to which the timers had, by their blunder awarded first position throughout the twenty first lap, demanded rigid investigation of the scoring and timing methods. For a while Parker threatened to fight an official protest on the ground that he had materially reduced his efforts dur ing the final minutes of the contest through the mistaken impression that he had the race well in hand
 In the smaller ear races the Massa- pequa sweepstakes. Jot Watson. driv- ing 25 horse power Chalmers-Detroit finished first, covering the 126.4 miles in 2:o9:52 2-5. better than 5S miles an hour.
 The fifteen lap race for the Wheat ley Hills Cup. was won by R. w. Harround, driving a S2 horse power Magmon, who completed the 1896 miles in s:10:2I 2-5. His average speed was 59s mile san hour.