Roosevelt Raceway (motor Sports)

The Roosevelt Raceway motor sports race track was a Vanderbilt Cup and GP venue on New York's Long Island for the United States Grand Prix in 1936 and 1937. The land was acquired by lease from "Unit 2" of Roosevelt Field airport, and was the site of the runway from which Charles Lindbergh took off in the Spirit of St. Louis. The original raceway was twisty and bumpy, making it not quite suited to the big-bore big-BHP racecars of the day. The 1937 layout was faster, had less corners and longer straights. Despite these adaptations, no more GP motor car races were held there afterwards.

The Westbury, New York track was left semi-abandoned for a while, then disappeared and made way for a horse racing track that served as the pioneer in its sport from its 1940 opening until it closed in 1988.

The Roosevelt Raceway site is now a shopping mall, parking lot and housing complex in Westbury. The 1936 race was won by Tazio Nuvolari in an Alfa Romeo while the 1937 race was won by Bernd Rosemeyer in an Auto Union.

Although long gone, the 1937 track has been recreated in at least two racing games, Spirit of Speed 1937 and the Grand Prix Legends racing simulation. The latter track version was/is freely available on the Internet.