This year is the centennial anniversary of the 1908 Vanderbilt Cup Race, the Long Island-based contest that was wildly popular with New York area residents.

That year's race was the first one won by an American, George Robertson. 1908 also marked the opening of the Long Island Motor Parkway, which became the first paved road built exclusively for automobiles.

Modern Long Island was being born and East Hills resident Howard Kroplick has memorialized those signal events in a new book, Vanderbilt Cup Races of Long Island, published by Arcadia Publishing, Charleston, SC.

The book contains over 200 vintage photographs and highlights the longstanding impact The Vanderbilt Cup Races had on the development of American automobiles and parkways.

The book also tells the story of William K. Vanderbilt, Jr., the heir to the Vanderbilt fortune made in shipping and railroads. "Willie K" was a driver himself. In 1904, he set a one-mile world land speed of 92.3 miles per hour at Dayton Beach, FL---a place that would figure significantly in the future of auto sports in America. That same year, the first Vanderbilt Cup race was held on a race course that included Jericho Turnpike, Massapequa-Hicksville Road, and the Hempstead-Bethpage Turnpike.

Huge crowds turned out for the cup and the excitement was only heightened by the emergence of American cars and drivers. Despite the best efforts of Vanderbilt and race officials, crowds were unruly and races were marred by deaths of spectators and racing crew members. Also in 1908, a similar race, one that also drew international drivers, was held in Savannah, GA. More fatalities at the 1910 Vanderbilt Cup race proved its undoing, but its legacy lives on today with motor sports, namely NASCAR as the fastest-growing spectator sport in America.

"The book will appeal to fans of both automobile racing and Long Island history," Kroplick said. "The Vanderbilt Cup Races of Long Island were considered the greatest sporting events of their era--drawing crowds of over 250,000 spectators. Racing fans will enjoy seeing images of historic race cars and drivers, including Louis Chevrolet and Vincenzo Lancia competing before helping to form their own automobile brands. Another rare image shows 16-year-old Eddie Rickenbacker participating in a 1906 race before becoming the "Ace of Aces" during World War I and, later, general manager of Eastern Airlines. The book also includes an image of the first use of a checkered flag to signify the end of an automobile race. Readers will enjoy the images of how Long Islanders lived, dressed and enjoyed such social events as these races at the turn of the 20th century. The rural settings, buildings and narrow roads of Long Island shown in the book will be a significant contrast to today's bustling suburb and crowded parkways."

A resident of Long Island for the past 48 years, Kroplick is a member of the Vanderbilt Cup Race Centennial Committee and the Long Island Motor Parkway Panel. His exhibits on the Vanderbilt Cup Races have been shown at various Long Island museums, including Suffolk County Vanderbilt Museum, the Cradle of Aviation and the Nassau Museum of Fine Arts. Over the past five years, Kroplick has collected 20,000 images of the Vanderbilt Cup Races and has accumulated an extensive collection of racing memorabilia.

In East Hills, Kroplick is on the Executive Board of Directors of the Sid Jacobson JCC.

All author royalties from the book will be donated to CAPS (Child Abuse Prevention Services), a Roslyn-based child safety organization.

Kroplick will be giving a book signing and presentation on Friday, June 6 at Smithtown Public Library, 1 North Country Rd., Smithtown.