The Astor Challenge Cup has found a home with Alex Palou, who has won the NTT INDYCAR SERIES championship trophy four of the last five years since he joined Chip Ganassi Racing in 2021.
But this week, Palou brought the iconic trophy to its spiritual home in midtown Manhattan from its actual home at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum.
As part of his Champion’s Tour this week in New York, Palou brought the trophy Tuesday, Sept. 2 to Astor House, located at 130 E. 80th St. in the prestigious Upper East Side section of Manhattan.
The Astor House is a five-story Neo-Classic style townhouse designed by renowned architect Mott B. Schmidt in 1927 for Vincent Astor, son of John Jacob Astor IV, a prominent businessman and purportedly the richest man to die during the sinking of the Titanic.
Vincent Astor commissioned the Astor Challenge Cup more than a century ago to be presented to the winner of the Astor Cup Challenge, a 350-mile race on a 2-mile board track at Sheepshead Bay, New York.
The inaugural Astor Cup Challenge race in October 1915 featured a purse of $50,000, which duplicated that of the Indianapolis 500. The Stutz team outlasted a field of 20 to finish first in 3 hours, 24 minutes, 42 seconds. Driver Gil Andersen earned the $20,000 winner’s share by averaging 102.6 mph.
A second and final Astor Cup race in September 1916 was shortened to 250 miles. Johnny Aitken, driving a Peugeot owned by the Indianapolis Speedway Team Company of Carl Fisher and James Allison, won with an average speed of 104.83 mph.
The Astor House (photo, above) was purchased by the New York Junior League as its headquarters in 1947 to facilitate training and membership events. The house was designated a landmark by the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission in 1967 and is now used as an event and meeting space of distinction.
The Astor Challenge Cup has officially been presented to the INDYCAR SERIES champion driver since 2011. The names of all INDYCAR SERIES champions from 1909 (George Robertson; American Automobile Association sanction) to 2025 (Alex Palou; INDYCAR sanction) are laser-etched into the three black granite bases of the sterling silver trophy.
