The Merr'k Valley Course Mystery

"We are having a great time this week. Was at the race all day Monday and are going Wednesday. Love to all, Gillian" (September 7, 1909)
(handwritten on the back of the above postcard)

Old postcards can be a great joy. Especially - in the case of your editor - with a picture with some unanswered questions in it. It appears we're looking at the Grand Stand of Merr'k Valley Course in Lowel Massachusetts. You can read about the event at FirstSuperSpeedway. Interestingly the card was written one day before the 318 miles main event. But hey this may be a photo made and printed form an earlier event, like the illfamed 1908 race. So the question is, are we looking at the 1909 or 1908 event. And which are the cars and drivers numbered 1, 2 and 15..?

(collection editor)

Published:

Saturday December 10th, 2016

Unknown

12 December 2016, 12:11

Regarding to the motorcycle to the left in the picture: My guess is that it is an early Crouch they made motorcycles from 1905 till 1908 it had a 380cc single engine (with a "box type" exhaust in front of the engine/front tube of the frame)they had a good reputation for economy and performance.

Unknown

12 December 2016, 12:07

Hi,
I would not normally comment on such a trivial matter,but there has been some dispute between some of the previous people making comments on the number of the third car on the starting grid.
Is it number 15 ? or number 3 ?.
I don't know if my eyesight it better then others , but I see a two digit number .....
First appears to be a 2 ( to me) and the other could be a 5.
Making it number 25 .

Unknown

11 December 2016, 20:36

All very exciting, but can anybody identify the motorbike to the left of the picture?

Unknown

11 December 2016, 13:01

Here they were racing for over the Merrimack Valley Course. In 1908 the course was 250 miles long (just over 400km)increasing to 30 laps or 318 miles (almost 512 km) in 1909. Cars entered were 451 to 600 cubic inches of piston displacement and with a
minimum weight of 2400 pounds and the entry fee was $400 (a lot of money in those days). In 1908 the winner received the Butler Ames Trophy and $1000 and in 1909 the prize was the Lowell Trophy and $1000. See the links below
http://forums.aaca.org/topic/96019-1908-butler-ames-trophy/
https://digitalcollections.detroitpubliclibrary.org/islandora/object/islandora%3A181550

Ariejan

11 December 2016, 09:42

This is the start of the 1908 race at Lowell for the Butler Ames Trophy. The cars numbered 1, 2 and 3 (not 15!) are Frank Lescault on Simplex (note the characteristic Simplex 'fenders'), George Robertson on Fiat and Lewis Strang on Isotta(-Fraschini). The latter would become the winner of this event, which passed without major incidents.
In 1909 the Lowell Trophy, which was held on the same course, would be part of the AAA Championship Trail, and these postcards (having several scenes of the 1908 race) were apparently part of the publicity around the event. Robertson at the wheel of a Simplex was the winner of that race.

The Merr'k Valley Course Mystery

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