1919 AAA Championship Car season

1919 AAA Championship Car season
1919 AAA Championship Car season
AAA National Championship Trail
Season
Races	21
Start date	March 15
End date	October 12
Awards
National champion	none declared
Indianapolis 500 winner	Howdy Wilcox
	← 1918 1920 →

The 1919 AAA Championship Car season consisted of 21 races, beginning in Santa Monica, California on March 15 and concluding in Cincinnati, Ohio on October 12. AAA did not award points towards a National Championship during the 1919 season, and did not declare a National Champion.^[1] Howdy Wilcox was the winner of the Indianapolis 500.

The de facto National Champion as polled by the American automobile journal Motor Age, was Howdy Wilcox. Wilcox was named the champion by Chris G. Sinsabaugh, an editor at Motor Age, based upon merit and on track performance. A points table was created retroactively in 1927. At a later point, it was recognized by historians that these championship results should be considered unofficial.

Schedule and results

Date	Race Name Distance (miles)	Track	Location	Type	Notes	Pole position	Winning driver
March 15	Santa Monica Race (250)	Santa Monica Road Race Course	Santa Monica, California	7.36 mile road course	Walter Melcher fatally injured^[2]	Cliff Durant	Cliff Durant
March 23	All-Star Sweepstakes (150)	Ascot Speedway	South Los Angeles, California	1 mile dirt oval		Eddie Pullen	Roscoe Sarles
May 19	Victory Sweepstakes (112.5)	Uniontown Speedway	Uniontown, Pennsylvania	1.125 mile board oval			Tommy Milton
May 31	Liberty 500 Mile Sweepstakes (500)	Indianapolis Motor Speedway	Speedway, Indiana	2.5 mile brick oval	33-car field; Arthur Thurman, Louis LeCocq, and the latter's riding mechanic Robert Bandini fatally injured^[3]	René Thomas	Howdy Wilcox
June 14	International Sweepstakes Race 1 (10)	Sheepshead Bay Speedway	Sheepshead Bay, New York	2 mile board oval			Tommy Milton
	International Sweepstakes Race 2 (10)						Ralph Mulford
	International Sweepstakes Race 3 (30)						Ralph Mulford
	International Sweepstakes Race Main (50)						Ralph DePalma
July 4	Tacoma Race 1 (40)	Pacific Coast Speedway	Tacoma, Washington	2 mile board oval			Ralph Mulford
	Tacoma Race 2 (60)						Louis Chevrolet
	Tacoma Race 3 (80)						Louis Chevrolet
July 4	Independence Auto Derby (100)	Sheepshead Bay Speedway	Sheepshead Bay, New York	2 mile board oval	Emilio Jandelli, riding mechanic for Ray Howard, fatally injured in practice^[4]	Joe Thomas	Gaston Chevrolet
July 19	Uniontown Heat 1 (22.5)	Uniontown Speedway	Uniontown, Pennsylvania	1.125 mile board oval			Tommy Milton
	Uniontown Heat 2 (22.5)						Dave Lewis
	Uniontown Heat 3 (22.5)						I. P. Fetterman
	Uniontown Heat 4 (22.5)						Roscoe Sarles
	Uniontown Main (22.5)						Tommy Milton
August 23	Elgin National Trophy Race (302)	Elgin Road Race Course	Elgin, Illinois	8.384 mile road course		Ralph Mulford	Tommy Milton
September 1	3rd Annual Autumn Classic (225)	Uniontown Speedway	Uniontown, Pennsylvania	1.125 mile board oval	Joe Boyer relieved Gaston Chevrolet on lap 118.		Gaston Chevrolet/Joe Boyer
September 20	Sheepshead Bay Race 6 (150)	Sheepshead Bay Speedway	Sheepshead Bay, New York	2 mile board oval			Gaston Chevrolet
October 12	Cincinnati Race (250)	Cincinnati Motor Speedway	Sharonville, Ohio	2 mile board oval			Joe Boyer

Leading National Championship standings

The points paying system for the 1909–1915 and 1917–1919 season were retroactively applied in 1927 and revised in 1951 using the points system from 1920.

#	Driver	Sponsor	Points
1	Howdy Wilcox	Peugeot	1110
2	Eddie Hearne	Duesenberg	1070
3	Gaston Chevrolet	Frontenac	980
4	Roscoe Sarles	Barney Oldfield	950
5	Tommy Milton	Duesenberg	905

References

^ Capps, H. Donald (February–March 2010). "John Glenn Printz and the Struggle for the Past: The A.A.A. Catastrophe - Arthur Means, Val Haresnape, Russ Catlin, and Bob Russo" (PDF). Rear View Mirror. 7 (6): 21–38.
^ "Auto racer is killed when car upsets". The Gazette Times. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Associated Press. March 16, 1919.
^ "3 die in auto race at Indianapolis" (PDF). The New York Times. June 1, 1919. Archived (PDF) from the original on October 1, 2018.
^ "Auto racer killed at Sheepshead Bay" (PDF). The New York Times. July 4, 1919. Archived (PDF) from the original on October 1, 2018.

General references

http://www.champcarstats.com/year/1919.htm accessed 12/1/15

[:0-1] Capps, H. Donald (February–March 2010). "John Glenn Printz and the Struggle for the Past: The A.A.A. Catastrophe - Arthur Means, Val Haresnape, Russ Catlin, and Bob Russo" (PDF). Rear View Mirror. 7 (6): 21–38.

[2] "Auto racer is killed when car upsets". The Gazette Times. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Associated Press. March 16, 1919.

[3] "3 die in auto race at Indianapolis" (PDF). The New York Times. June 1, 1919. Archived (PDF) from the original on October 1, 2018.

[4] "Auto racer killed at Sheepshead Bay" (PDF). The New York Times. July 4, 1919. Archived (PDF) from the original on October 1, 2018.

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v t e AAA Championship Cars (1905–1955)
Seasons	1905 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942–1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955
Indianapolis 500s	1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 ~~1942~~ 1943–1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955
National Champions	Billy Arnold Henry Banks Tony Bettenhausen Jimmy Bryan Bob Carey Gaston Chevrolet Bill Cummings Pete DePaolo (twice) Sam Hanks Harry Hartz Eddie Hearne Ted Horn (three times) Rex Mays (twice) Louis Meyer (three times) Tommy Milton Jimmy Murphy (twice) Barney Oldfield Johnnie Parsons Kelly Petillo Dario Resta Floyd Roberts Mauri Rose Louis Schneider Wilbur Shaw (twice) Chuck Stevenson Bob Sweikert
AAA Contest Board Years marked in italics are not official championship years.

v t e American Championship car racing (Indy car) seasons
AAA	1905 1906–1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942–1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955
USAC	1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95
CART	1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003
CCWS	2004 2005 2006 2007 ~~2008~~
IRL	1996 1996–97 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002
IndyCar	2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025
Years marked in italics are not official championship years or upcoming seasons.