BRIDGEHAMPTON - THE DUST AND THE GLORY
It stood at the pinnacle of American car racing during the golden age of the sport in the 50s and 60s. They called it “The Bridge” and mostly they loved and feared the place. Stirling Moss called it the “most challenging course in America ” and routinely it embarrassed world class drivers during the heyday of the Can-Am, Trans-Am and international sports car races. It was a place of wonderfully diabolical natural beauty.
The Bridge is no longer. It’s a private, luxury golf course now. Key portions of the track have been preserved however, and if you listen, you can almost hear the roar of the groundthumpers flying into Millstone corner at 200 mph to the whoop of 80,000 fans.
This is your site. It’s maintained as a tribute by the Bridgehampton Racing Heritage Group, a band of enthusiasts who kept racing alive at Bridgehampton for nearly two decades. If you ever experienced The Bridge, we welcome your photos and comments. Through this site, the excitement of Bridgehampton lives on.
SUMMER 2024
BRIDGEHAMPTON’S LEGENDARY RACING HISTORY FEATURED IN NEW GALLERY
Fans of the legendary Bridgehampton Race Circuit are celebrating the creation of a new exhibit at the Bridgehampton Museum (pictured) dedicated to the legendary history of motorsport at Bridgehampton.
Covering the years 1915- 1997, the exhibits draw from the rich collections of the Bridgehampton Museum, the Bridgehampton Racing Heritage Group, and Robert Rubin. The new exhibition will include everything from early films and vintage photo collections to unique Bridgehampton racing memorabilia, and continuous showings of “Glory Days at The Bridge” a brand new proprietary film tracing the history of Bridgehampton that features legendary racers and is narrated by Richard Kind.
The exhibits will be bolstered by scholarly assistance by the Bridgehampton Racing Heritage Group, and celebrity talks and cocktails, as well as the annual September Cars’ n Coffee event that draws hundreds of rare sports cars and other events celebrating racing’s Golden Age. Stay tuned!
Mark your calendars for June 2024, when the green flag drops on opening day!
Contact us & read more about how you can help shape this long awaited project.
The Nathaniel Rogers House, the newly renovated and fully restored Greek-revival residence is now outfitted with replica wooden shutters and a white picket fence.
Courtesy of Ellen Wallop
Upcoming Cars & Coffee
SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 2024
9AM - 11AM
THE BRIDGEHAMPTON MUSEUM
What's New
(click on the title bar of the image to view the full post)
Bridgehampton Race Circuit in active times (click for larger image)
The site layout featured a jaw-dropping 180-degree view of Long Island 's North Fork, Shelter Island, Sag Harbor and the sailboats on Peconic Bay. The circuit had four vertical elevation changes totaling 130 feet and eight distinct corners, including a banked hairpin curve around a hillock at the lowest point of the course. A flat-out straightaway nearly 3/4 of a mile long suddenly disappears into a hair-raising decreasing radius downhill curve, known as Millstone Turn. More than one international star has called this steep decline, which is blind and taken flat out in most race cars, the most difficult turn in racing. Sam Posey, for one, said that sailing off the abyss in a sports racer was like “flying into an air pocket” in a plane.