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1946 AAA Championship Car season

Sports season

The 1946 AAA Championship Car season was the first season of American Championship car racing following World War II. After four years without automobile racing in the United States, the AAA Contest Board was initially concerned about having enough races, enough entrants, and suitable equipment, to contest season on such short notice for 1946. Even the Indianapolis 500 was in doubt, as the Indianapolis Motor Speedway had been fallen into a terrible state of neglect during the war years.

Indianapolis Motor Speedway owner Eddie Rickenbacker sold the track to Tony Hulman in November 1945, by which time it had fallen into a dilapidated state of disrepair. As the season progressed, it proved to be a success, and marked a triumphant return of the National Championship. Hulman's swift and herculean efforts to renovate Indianapolis in just six months allowed for the 1946 Indianapolis 500 to be run as scheduled on May 30, and it was won by George Robson.

George Robson and George Barringer were killed at Atlanta during the race. Al Putnam died at the Indiana State Fairgrounds Speedway during qualifying.

Background

Previously, only races of over 100 miles (160 km) in length on tracks that were one mile (1.6 km) or longer were permitted to host National Championship events. Due to the concerns about the car counts and participation, the AAA Contest Board included a substantial number of "Big Car" races (today known as Sprint Cars) as part of the championship. The season officially consisted of 77 races (6 Championship Car races and 71 Big Car races), beginning at Mechanicsburg on April 14 and concluding at Richmond on November 10. Two non-points, exhibition races were also part of the calendar season.

After car counts and participation was better than expected, some confusion arose over as to whether the 71 Big Car events still counted towards the National Championship. Some news publications of the time erroneously reported the points totals from only the six Champ Car events, implying - or incorrectly assuming - that the Big Car races had been, or would be, dropped. Nevertheless, despite all of the second-guessing and speculation, a full 77-race season was completed.

The Contest Board met after the season, and it was not until then which they declared the Big Car races would be dropped from the National Championship - effective for 1947. The ruling cemented the notion that the 71 Big Car races were indeed recognized as part of the official 1946 season. Furthermore, the prize money and 1947 car number assignments are consistent with the final points standings reflecting the full 77-race schedule.

Despite later publications suggesting the season was only six races (including official statistical publications released by the league decades later), historians firmly contend that the 1946 season should be recognized as the full 77-race schedule.

The AAA National Champion was Ted Horn, and the Indianapolis 500 winner was George Robson. Incidentally, based on his points totals, Horn would have been declared the champion with or without the 71 "Big Car" races included. This oddity has help contribute to the illusion of a six-race season.

Schedule and results

Rnd	Date	Race name	Length	Track	Location	Type	Class
March 31	Mike Benton Sweepstakes	20 mi	Lakewood Speedway	Atlanta, Georgia	Dirt Oval	Big Car	Jimmy Wilburn
April 14	Williams Grove Race	15 mi	Williams Grove Speedway	Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania	Dirt Oval	Big Car	Walt Ader
April 28	Williams Grove Race	15 mi	Williams Grove Speedway	Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania	Dirt Oval	Big Car	Ted Horn
May 5	Eastern Inaugural Trophy Sweepstakes	20 mi	Trenton International Speedway	Trenton, New Jersey	Dirt Oval	Big Car	Joie Chitwood
May 19	Williams Grove Race	15 mi	Williams Grove Speedway	Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania	Dirt Oval	Big Car	Joie Chitwood
May 26	Inaugural Sam Nunis Trophy Sweepstakes	12.5 mi	Reading Fairgrounds Speedway	Reading, Pennsylvania	Dirt Oval	Big Car	Walt Ader
May 26	Winchester Race	15 mi	Winchester Speedway	Winchester, Indiana	Dirt Oval	Big Car	Bus Wilbert
May 30	Altamont Race	15 mi	Altamont Speedway	Altamont, New York	Dirt Oval	Big Car	Bumpy Bumpus
May 30	International 500 Mile Sweepstakes	500 mi	Indianapolis Motor Speedway	Speedway, Indiana	Paved Oval	Champ Car	George Robson
May 30	Trenton Race	20 mi	Trenton International Speedway	Trenton, New Jersey	Dirt Oval	Big Car	Johnny Shackleford
June 2	Lakewood Race	25 mi	Lakewood Speedway	Atlanta, Georgia	Dirt Oval	Big Car	Ted Horn
June 9	Thompson Race	15 mi	Thompson International Speedway	Thompson, Connecticut	Paved Oval	Big Car	Oscar Ridlon
June 9	Williams Grove Race	15 mi	Williams Grove Speedway	Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania	Dirt Oval	Big Car	Joie Chitwood
June 9	Winchester Race	15 mi	Winchester Speedway	Winchester, Indiana	Dirt Oval	Big Car	Bus Wilbert
June 16	Flemington Race	12.5 mi	Flemington Speedway	Flemington, New Jersey	Dirt Oval	Big Car	Ted Horn
June 23	Dayton Race	15 mi	Dayton Speedway	Dayton, Ohio	Dirt Oval	Big Car	Elbert Booker
June 23	Greensboro Race	12.5 mi	Greensboro Agricultural Fairgrounds	Greensboro, North Carolina	Dirt Oval	Big Car	Ted Horn
June 23	Thompson Race	15 mi	Thompson International Speedway	Thompson, Connecticut	Paved Oval	Big Car	Oscar Ridlon
June 29	Dayton Race	10 mi	Dayton Speedway	Dayton, Ohio	Dirt Oval	Big Car	Bus Wilbert
June 30	Langhorne 100	100 mi	Langhorne Speedway	Langhorne, Pennsylvania	Dirt Oval	Champ Car	Rex Mays
June 30	Powell Race	7.5 mi	Powell Motor Speedway	Powell, Ohio	Dirt Oval	Big Car	Joie Chitwood
June 30	Thompson Race	12.5 mi	Thompson International Speedway	Thompson, Connecticut	Paved Oval	Big Car	Joe Verebly
July 4	Lakewood Race	20 mi	Lakewood Speedway	Atlanta, Georgia	Dirt Oval	Big Car	Ted Horn
July 7	Lakewood Race	50 mi	Lakewood Speedway	Atlanta, Georgia	Dirt Oval	Big Car	Ted Horn
July 7	Williams Grove Race	15 mi	Williams Grove Speedway	Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania	Dirt Oval	Big Car	Johnny Shackleford
July 14	Inaugural Nunis Sweepstakes	17.5 mi	Reading Fairgrounds Speedway	Reading, Pennsylvania	Dirt Oval	Big Car	Joie Chitwood
July 20	DuBois Race	10 mi	DuBois Fairgrounds	DuBois, Pennsylvania	Dirt Oval	Big Car	Ted Horn
July 20	Selinsgrove Race	10 mi	Selinsgrove Speedway	Selinsgrove, Pennsylvania	Dirt Oval	Big Car	Bill Holland
July 21	Dayton Race	10 mi	Dayton Speedway	Dayton, Ohio	Dirt Oval	Big Car	George Connor
July 21	Langhorne Race	20 mi	Langhorne Speedway	Langhorne, Pennsylvania	Dirt Oval	Big Car	George Robson
July 21	Selinsgrove Race	10 mi	Selinsgrove Speedway	Selinsgrove, Pennsylvania	Dirt Oval	Big Car	Bill Holland
July 27	Harrington Race	10 mi	Delaware State Fairgrounds	Harrington, Delaware	Dirt Oval	Big Car	Ted Horn
July 28	Williams Grove Race	15 mi	Williams Grove Speedway	Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania	Dirt Oval	Big Car	Ted Horn
August 3	Washington Race	10 mi	Arden Downs	Washington, Pennsylvania	Dirt Oval	Big Car	Bill Holland
August 4	Powell Race	7.5 mi	Powell Motor Speedway	Powell, Ohio	Dirt Oval	Big Car	George Robson
August 10	Batavia Race	10 mi	Batavia Fairgrounds	Batavia, New York	Dirt Oval	Big Car	Bill Holland
August 11	Bedford Race	10 mi	Bedford Speedway	Bedford, Pennsylvania	Dirt Oval	Big Car	Ted Horn
August 11	Langhorne Race	20 mi	Langhorne Speedway	Langhorne, Pennsylvania	Dirt Oval	Big Car	George Robson
August 11	Winchester Race	10 mi	Winchester Speedway	Winchester, Indiana	Dirt Oval	Big Car	Elbert Booker
August 18	Skowhegan Race	10 mi	Skowhegan Fairgrounds	Skowhegan, Maine	Dirt Oval	Big Car	Ted Horn
August 18	Williams Grove Race	15 mi	Williams Grove Speedway	Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania	Dirt Oval	Big Car	George Robson
August 24	Hamburg Race	10 mi	Hamburg Fairgrounds	Hamburg, New York	Dirt Oval	Big Car	Ted Horn
August 25	Dayton Race	10 mi	Dayton Speedway	Dayton, Ohio	Dirt Oval	Big Car	George Robson
August 25	Uniontown Race	10 mi	Uniontown Speedway	Uniontown, Pennsylvania	Dirt Oval	Big Car	Ted Horn
August 30	Essex Junction Race	10 mi	Essex Junction Fairgrounds	Essex Junction, Vermont	Dirt Oval	Big Car	Bill Holland
August 31	Altamont Race	10 mi	Altamont Speedway	Altamont, New York	Dirt Oval	Big Car	Ted Horn
August 31	Hamburg Race	10 mi	Hamburg Fairgrounds	Hamburg, New York	Dirt Oval	Big Car	Bill Holland
September 1	Flemington Race	10 mi	Flemington Speedway	Flemington, New Jersey	Dirt Oval	Big Car	Bill Holland
September 1	Winchester Race	10 mi	Winchester Speedway	Winchester, Indiana	Dirt Oval	Big Car	Charles Van Acker
September 2	Flemington Race	10 mi	Flemington Speedway	Flemington, New Jersey	Dirt Oval	Big Car	Bill Holland
September 2	Atlanta 100	98 mi	Lakewood Speedway	Atlanta, Georgia	Dirt Oval	Champ Car	George Connor
September 2	Pikes Peak Auto Hill Climb	12.42 mi	Pikes Peak Highway	Pikes Peak, Colorado	Hill Climb	Champ Car	Louis Unser
September 6	Rutland Race	10 mi	Vermont State Fairgrounds	Rutland, Vermont	Dirt Oval	Big Car	Lee Wallard
September 7	Port Royal Race	8 mi	Port Royal Speedway	Port Royal, Pennsylvania	Dirt Oval	Big Car	Ted Horn
September 8	Williams Grove Race	15 mi	Williams Grove Speedway	Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania	Dirt Oval	Big Car	Ted Horn
September 15	Indianapolis 100	100 mi	Indiana State Fairgrounds	Indianapolis, Indiana	Dirt Oval	Champ Car	Rex Mays
September 15	Reading Race	12.5 mi	Reading Fairgrounds Speedway	Reading, Pennsylvania	Dirt Oval	Big Car	Bill Holland
September 21	Allentown Fair Race	10 mi	Allentown Fairgrounds	Allentown, Pennsylvania	Dirt Oval	Big Car	Bill Holland
September 22	Great Barrington Race	4 mi	Great Barrington Race Track	Great Barrington, Massachusetts	Dirt Oval	Big Car	Joie Chitwood
September 22	Milwaukee 100	100 mi	Wisconsin State Fair Park Speedway	West Allis, Wisconsin	Dirt Oval	Champ Car	Rex Mays
September 22	Powell Race	5 mi	Powell Motor Speedway	Powell, Ohio	Dirt Oval	Big Car	Bill Holland
September 28	Bloomsburg Race	10 mi	Bloomsburg Fairgrounds	Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania	Dirt Oval	Big Car	Bill Holland
September 28	Lakewood Race	20 mi	Lakewood Speedway	Atlanta, Georgia	Dirt Oval	Big Car	Ted Horn
September 28	Shelby Race	10 mi	Shelby Motor Speedway	Shelby, North Carolina	Dirt Oval	Big Car	Walt Ader
September 29	Trenton Race	20 mi	Trenton International Speedway	Trenton, New Jersey	Dirt Oval	Big Car	Joie Chitwood
October 5	Lakewood Race	20 mi	Lakewood Speedway	Atlanta, Georgia	Dirt Oval	Big Car	Bill Holland
October 5	Winston-Salem Race	10 mi	Winston-Salem Fairgrounds	Winston-Salem, North Carolina	Dirt Oval	Big Car	Tommy Hinnershitz
October 6	Dayton Race	10 mi	Dayton Speedway	Dayton, Ohio	Dirt Oval	Big Car	Hal Robson
October 6	George Robson Memorial	100 mi	Good Time Park	Goshen, New York	Dirt Oval	Champ Car	Tony Bettenhausen
October 6	Greensboro Race	10 mi	Greensboro Agricultural Fairgrounds	Greensboro, North Carolina	Dirt Oval	Big Car	Bill Holland
October 6	George Robson Memorial	15 mi	Williams Grove Speedway	Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania	Dirt Oval	Big Car	Lucky Lux
October 12	Charlotte Race	10 mi	Charlotte Fairgrounds	Charlotte, North Carolina	Dirt Oval	Big Car	Bill Holland
October 12	Atlantic Rural Exposition	10 mi	Strawberry Hill Raceway	Richmond, Virginia	Dirt Oval	Big Car	Ted Horn
October 12	Greensboro Race	7.5 mi	Greensboro Agricultural Fairgrounds	Greensboro, North Carolina	Dirt Oval	Big Car	Bill Holland
October 19	Raleigh Race	10 mi	State Fair Speedway	Raleigh, North Carolina	Dirt Oval	Big Car	Walt Ader
October 26	Charlotte Race	10 mi	Charlotte Fairgrounds	Charlotte, North Carolina	Dirt Oval	Big Car	Hank Rogers
October 26	National Championship Trophy Race	25 mi	Williams Grove Speedway	Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania	Dirt Oval	Big Car	Bill Holland
November 9	Shelby Race	15 mi	Shelby Motor Speedway	Shelby, North Carolina	Dirt Oval	Big Car	Ted Horn
November 10	Richmond Race	12.5 mi	Strawberry Hill Raceway	Richmond, Virginia	Dirt Oval	Big Car	Tommy Hinnershitz

Scheduled for 100 miles, stopped early due to fatal accident involving George Robson and George Barringer. Ted Horn was leading at the time of the accident, but after a protest, was found to have been involved in the accident and had his win stripped.

Note: Bill Holland started on the pole position in the Lakewood Race on July 4 and Ted Horn started on the pole position in the DuBois Race on July 20.

Leading National Championship standings

#	Driver	Team
Ted Horn	Ted Horn Engineering, Boyle, Peters	2448
George Robson†	Thorne Engineering, Christie, Weirick	1544
Emil Andres	Elgin Piston Pin, Riverside Tire, Nyquist	1348
Bill Holland	Malamud	1280
Tommy Hinnershitz	Ted Horn Engineering	896.8

† Robson was killed in the race at Lakewood Speedway on September 2

Points system

Position/
Miles	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	4	5	7.5	8	10	12.5	15	17.5	20	25	50	100	500
8	6	4	3	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
10	8	6	4	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
15	12	9	6	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
16	13	10	6	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
20	16	12	8	4	2	—	—	—	—	—	—
25	20	15	10	5	2.5	—	—	—	—	—	—
30	24	18	12	6	3	—	—	—	—	—	—
35	28	21	14	9	5.5	—	—	—	—	—	—
40	32	24	16	12	8	—	—	—	—	—	—
50	40	30	25	20	10	5	—	—	—	—	—
100	80	70	60	50	40	30	20	10	5	—	—
200	160	140	120	100	80	60	50	40	30	20	10
1000	800	700	600	500	400	300	250	200	150	100	50

Alternate schedule and results

The official IndyCar Series Historical Record Book (2011) listed only the six "Champ Car" in the schedule. (page 72)

Rnd	Date	Race name	Length	Track	Location	Type	Pole position
May 30	US International 500 Mile Sweepstakes	500 mi	Indianapolis Motor Speedway	Speedway, Indiana	Paved	US Cliff Bergere	US George Robson
June 30	US Langhorne 100	100 mi	Langhorne Speedway	Langhorne, Pennsylvania	Dirt	US Ted Horn	US Rex Mays
September 2	US Atlanta 100	98 mi	Lakewood Speedway	Atlanta, Georgia	Dirt	US Rex Mays	US George Connor
September 2	US Pikes Peak Auto Hill Climb	12.42 mi	Pikes Peak Highway	Pikes Peak, Colorado	Hill	US Louis Unser	US Louis Unser
September 15	US Indianapolis 100	100 mi	Indiana State Fairgrounds	Indianapolis, Indiana	Dirt	US Rex Mays	US Rex Mays
September 22	US Milwaukee 100	100 mi	Wisconsin State Fair Park Speedway	West Allis, Wisconsin	Dirt	US Rex Mays	US Rex Mays
October 6	US George Robson Memorial	100 mi	Good Time Park	Goshen, New York	Dirt	US Emil Andres	US Tony Bettenhausen

: Scheduled for 100 miles, stopped early due to fatal accident involving George Robson and George Barringer. Ted Horn was leading at the time of the accident, but after a protest, was found to have been involved in the accident and had his win stripped. : No pole is awarded for the Pikes Peak Hill Climb, in this schedule on the pole is the driver who started first. No lap led was awarded for the Pikes Peak Hill Climb, however, a lap was awarded to the drivers that completed the climb.

Final points standings

Pos	Driver	INDY
US	LAN
US	ATL
US	ISF
US	MIL
US	GOS
US	Pts	1	1360	2	1260	3	1220	4	800	5	620	6	400	7	372	8	370	9	340	10	310	11	300	12	290	13	250	14	240	15	200	16	200	17	200	18	160	19	100	20	100	21	80	22	80	23	80	24	80	25	70	26	70	27	60	28	60	29	50	30	50	31	50	32	39	33	30	-	0	-	0	-	0	-	0	-	0	-	0	-	0	-	0	-	0	-	0	-	0	-	0	-	0	-	0	-	0	-	0	-	0	-	0	-	0	-	0	-	0	-	0	-	0	-	0	-	0	-	0	-	0	-	0	-	0	-	0	-	0	-	0	-	0	-	0	-	0	-	0	-	0	-	0	-	0	-	0	-	0	-	0	Pos	Driver	INDY
US	LAN
US	ATL
US	ISF
US	MIL
US	GOS
US	Pts
US Ted Horn	3	3	6	4	2	2
US Emil Andres	4	4	3	3	3	4
US George Robson	1	2	7
US Jimmy Jackson	2
US Rex Mays	30	1	11	1	1	DNQ
US Louis Durant	6	DNS
US Joie Chitwood	5	DNP
US George Connor	24	9	1	7	10	9
US Tony Bettenhausen	20	DNP		5	9	1
US Duke Dinsmore	17		10	11	4	3
ITA Luigi Villoresi	7
US Billy Devore	10	5	9
US Frank Wearne	8
US Mauri Rose	23	12		2	6	DNP
US Steve Truchan	DNQ	DNP	2	9
US Charlie Rogers				DNS	5	5
US Bill Sheffler	9	DNP
US Bud Bardowski	DNS		4	13	12	10
US Joe Langley	DNQ		5	14
US Mel Hansen	11	DNP
US Buddy Rusch	DNQ	6
US Floyd Davis				6
US Eddie Casterline						6
US Spider Webb				10	8	DNP
US Elbert Booker		DNP		12	7	DNP
US George Metzler					11	8
US Walt Brown		7
US Fred Carpenter						7
US Al Miller	DNQ			8	14	DNP
US Hal Robson	25	8
US George Barringer	29	DNP	8
US Russ Snowberger	12	DNP		DNS		DNP
US Danny Goss		10
US Lee Wallard		11
US Harry McQuinn	13
US Walt Ader					13
US Ralph Hepburn	14
US Al Putnam	15			DNQ
US Cliff Bergere	16
US Chet Miller	18
US Jimmy Wilburn	19
US Danny Kladis	21
US Duke Nalon	22	DNP
US Louis Tomei	26
US Henry Banks	27	DNS
US Shorty Cantlon	28
US Sam Hanks	31
US Hal Cole	32
US Paul Russo	33
US Eddie Zalucki	DNS
US Zora Arkus-Duntov	DNQ					DNQ
US Charles Van Acker	DNQ	DNP
UK Robert Arbuthnot	DNQ
US Harold Bailey	DNQ
US Gerald Brisko	DNQ
US Jim Brubaker	DNQ
US Arvol Brunmeier	DNQ
GER Rudolf Caracciola	DNQ
US Bruce Denslow	DNQ
France Louis Gérard	DNQ
US Tommy Hinnershitz	DNQ
US Wally Mitchell	DNQ
US Frank McGurk	DNQ
US Ray Richards	DNQ
US Bud Rose	DNQ
US Harry Schell	DNQ
US Joel Thorne	DNQ
ITA Achille Varzi	DNQ
US Bus Wilbert	DNQ
US Doc Williams	DNQ
US Freddie Winnai	DNQ
US Charles Crawford	DNP
ITA Dioscoride Lanza	DNP
US Joe Silvia	DNP
France Raphaël Bethenod	DNP

Color	Result
Gold	Winner
Silver	2nd place
Bronze	3rd place
Green	4th & 5th place
Light Blue	6th-10th place
Dark Blue	Finished
(Outside Top 10)
Purple	Did not finish
(Ret)
Red	Did not qualify
(DNQ)
Brown	Withdrawn
(Wth)
Black	Disqualified
(DSQ)
White	Did not start
(DNS)
Blank	Did not
participate
(DNP)
Not competing

|- |

Rookie

|} |}

Note: The points became the car, when not only one driver led the car, the relieved driver became small part of the points. Points for driver method: (the points for the finish place) / (number the lap when completed the car) * (number the lap when completed the driver)

References

http://media.indycar.com/pdf/2011/IICS_2011_Historical_Record_Book_INT6.pdf (p. 72, 315–316)

Notes

References

Printz, John G.. "The 1946 AAA National Championship".
Capps, H. Donald. (October 2009). "The Curious Case of the 1946 Season: An Inconvenient Championship". 8W / FORIX.
(October 6, 1946). "14 Auto Racing Stars Meet at Goshen Today". [[The New York Times]].
(18 December 1946). "Official Bulletin AAA Contest Board".
"Distribution of National Prize Fund for 1946 to the Drivers and Car Owners Holding Ten Highest Places in the National Point Standing". AAA Records Resume.
(May 1947). "By Their Numbers You Shall Know Them". Speed Age.
(January 1947). "none". [[National Speed Sport News]].

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