1911 AAA Championship Car season

1911 AAA Championship Car season
AAA National Championship Trail
Season
Races	21
Start date	February 22
End date	November 30
Awards
National champion	Ralph Mulford (unofficial)
Indianapolis 500 winner	Ray Harroun

The 1911 AAA Championship Car season consisted of 21 races, beginning in Oakland, California on February 22 and concluding in Savannah, Georgia on November 30. The de facto National Champion as poled by the American automobile journal Motor Age was Ralph Mulford and the winner of the inaugural Indianapolis 500 was Ray Harroun. Points were not awarded by the AAA Contest Board during the 1911 season. Champions of the day were decided by Chris G. Sinsabaugh, an editor at Motor Age, based on merit and on track performance. The points table was created retroactively in 1927 – all championship results should be considered unofficial.

Schedule and results

Date	Race Name Distance (miles)	Track	Location	Type	Notes	Pole position	Winning driver
February 22	Oakland Trophy (98)	Portola Road Race Course	Oakland, California	10.923-mile road course	Open to cars under 300 cu in displacement.		Charles Bigelow
	Panama-Pacific Race 1 (153)				Open to cars 301–600 cu in displacement		Charles Merz
	Panama-Pacific Race 2 (164)				Free-for-all, Stopped after 15 of 19 laps for darkness	Jack Fleming	Bert Dingley
March 28	Jacksonville Beach Race (100)	Pablo Beach Course	Jacksonville Beach, Florida	5 mile beach oval	600 cu in or less and 2300 pounds minimum weight.		Louis Disbrow
May 30	International 500 Mile Sweepstakes	Indianapolis Motor Speedway	Speedway, Indiana	2.5 mile brick oval	Qualifications based upon demonstrated 75 mph main stretch speed, 40-car field; Sam Dickson, riding mechanic for Arthur Greiner, fatally injured^[1]	Lewis Strang	Ray Harroun
July 4	Bakersfield Race (145)	Bakersfield Road Race Course	Bakersfield, California	11.15 Mile Road Course			Harvey Herrick
August 25	Illinois Trophy Race* (203)	Elgin Road Race Course	Elgin, Illinois	8.47 Mile Road Course	Entrants limited to cars 301 to 450 in³		Don Herr
August 25	Kane County Trophy Race* (169)				Entrants limited to cars 231–300 in³; Ralph Ireland fatally injured in practice^[2]		Hughie Hughes
August 26	Elgin National Trophy Race (305)				<600 ci, Grandstand collapse on lap 2, restarted 35 minutes later; Dave Buck and his riding mechanic Sam Jacobs fatally injured^[3]		Len Zengel
September 9	Hamilton County Trophy Race* (150)	Cincinnati Road Race Course	Cincinnati, Ohio	7.9 Mile Road Course	Stock chassis, 300 cu in and under.		John Jenkins
September 9	Cincinnati Trophy Race* (200)	Cincinnati Road Race Course	Cincinnati, Ohio	7.9 Mile Road Course	Free-for-all class, 600 ci and under		Eddie Hearne
October 9	Philadelphia Race 1* (200)	Fairmount Park	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	8.1 Mile Road Course	limited to cars with 231–300 ci		Hughie Hughes
	Philadelphia Race 2* (200)				limited to cars with 301–450 ci		Louis Disbrow
	Philadelphia Race 3* (200)				limited to cars with 451–600 ci		Ralph Mulford
	Philadelphia Race 4* (200)				limited to cars with 600–750 ci		Erwin Bergdoll
October 14	Chanslor & Lyon Trophy Race (100)	Santa Monica Road Race Course	Santa Monica, California	8.417 Mile Road Course	Stock chassis, 230 cu in.	Charles Soules	Louis Nikrent
	Jepsen Trophy Race (150)				231–300 ci, Run Concurrently with 301–450 ci		Bruce Keene
	Leon Shettler Cup Race (150)				301–450 ci, Run Concurrently with 231–300 ci	Bert Dingley	Charles Merz
	Dick Ferris Trophy Race (200)				Free-For-All	Howdy Wilcox	Harvey Herrick
November 27	Vanderbilt Cup Race (290)	Savannah-Effingham Raceway	Savannah, Georgia	17.1-mile road course	Jay McNay and his riding mechanic Henry Maxwell fatally injured in practice^[4]^[5]	Harry Grant	Ralph Mulford
November 30	American Grand Prize (410)	Savannah-Effingham Raceway	Savannah, Georgia	17.1-mile road course	ACA sanction		David Bruce-Brown

* Events on same date were run simultaneously.

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	Ralph Mulford	Lozier	1520
2	Charles Merz	National	1080
3	David Bruce-Brown	Fiat	1070
4	Ray Harroun	Marmon	1000
5	Hughie Hughes	Mercer	870

References

↑ "One man killed at Indianapolis". The Norwalk Hour. May 31, 1911.
↑ "Elgin auto racer somersaults to death on track". The Chicago Daily Tribune. August 22, 1911. Archived from the original on December 7, 2015.
↑ "Two are killed in Elgin race; Zengel winner". The Chicago Sunday Tribune. August 27, 1911. Archived from the original on December 7, 2015.
↑ "Crash into tree kills motorist". The Chicago Daily Tribune. November 21, 1911. Archived from the original on December 7, 2015.
↑ "Maxwell dies of injuries". The Times-Dispatch. Richmond, Virginia. December 4, 1911.

General references

http://www.champcarstats.com/year/1911.htm accessed 9/24/10
http://www.rumbledrome.com/10stats.html accessed 9/24/10
http://www.motorsport.com/stats/champ/byyear.asp?Y=1911 accessed 9/24/10

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 Peter 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.

American Championship car racing (IndyCar) 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
NASCAR	1952 1953
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 / CCWS	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 2004 2005 2006 2007 ~~2008~~
INDYCAR	1996 1996–97 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017
Years marked in italics are not official championship years.

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