4 replies to this topic

[DCapps]

In addition to the scans of the 1936 George Vanderbilt Cup event and the followup concerning the protest lodged by Charles Merz, M.J. Boyle, and H.C. Henning against Lou Moore, I now have the minutes of the annual meeting of the Contest Board at which the protest was discussed and adjudicated in favor of the plaintiff moving Mauri Rose from seventh to eighth place, switching places with Bill Cummings.

 

As a result of the protest, the Contest Board discovered that the change to the scoring system for the championship had not been implemented properly and that the scoring system in place prior to the season had to be used.

 

The Contest Board actually faced the possibility of having to change its national champion from Rose to Meyer....

[ensign14]

Am I the only one who thought "how convenient" when seeing that the Contest Board realised they'd made a bodge job of changing the scoring systems?

[DCapps]

Am I the only one who thought "how convenient" when seeing that the Contest Board realised they'd made a bodge job of changing the scoring systems?

 

{I am truly shocked that you would suggest such a thing....!}

 

Under the section of the minutes entitled, Adjustment of National Championship for 1936, is this statement included in the discussion:

 

"Re-computation of Championship points under the original point-schedule of the season developed the fact that Mauri Rose who had led under the new system, also led under the original system, though shifted from seventh to eighth in the Vanderbilt Cup as a result of the appeal."

Edited by DCapps, 22 January 2018 - 21:48.

[ensign14]

So...the protests that saw Rose move back a position.  Was that to try to get Meyer the title or just over the prize money for the Vanderbilt?  It seems a bit odd to get those positions wrong, they were just four seconds apart according to the records.  Dispute over the start/finish line?  Penalty for Rose?

[DCapps]

The issue was that Rose made a pit stop that lasted only 48 seconds and the regulations for the Vanderbilt race stipulated that all pit stops required a mandatory time of one minute being spent during the stop. The time for the Rose pit stop was clearly indicated that he spent only 48 seconds in the pit before rejoining the race. The protest dragged through the latter part of October, all the way through November and December, and was finally resolved in early January 1937. It created a flurry of paper flying back and forth that is fascinating to read. Until I had access to this archival material some years ago, I was completely unaware of the protest and all the furor that it created behind the scenes. Actually, reading all the material from the post-race period led me to truly realize that there was far more interesting things to look at, such as taking notice of how the Contest Board went about its business. At some point later this year, I will see about getting all this material gathered up and made available.