1946 AAA Championship Car season

1946 AAA Championship Car season
AAA National Championship Trail
Season
Races	77
Start date	April 14
End date	November 10
Awards
National champion	Ted Horn
Indianapolis 500 winner	George Robson
Chronology
Previous season	Next season
1941	1947

The 1946 AAA Championship Car season was the first season of American Championship car racing following World War II. After four years without racing in the United States, the AAA Contest Board was initially concerned about having enough races and entrants for the 1946 season. Even the Indianapolis 500 was in doubt, as the speedway was neglected during the war, and owner Eddie Rickenbacker sold the track to Tony Hulman only in November 1945. However, as the season progressed, it proved to be a success, and marked a successful return of the National Championship. George Robson and George Barringer were killed at Atlanta in the race. Al Putnam died at the Indiana State Fairgrounds Speedway in qualifying.

Background

Previously, only races of over 100 miles (160 km) on tracks one mile (1.6 km) or longer were able to hold 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 Champ Car races and 71 Big Car races), beginning at Mechanicsburg on April 14 and concluding at Richmond on November 10.

After car counts were better than expected, confusion arose over whether the 71 Big Car events counted towards the National Championship. Some news sources of the time erroneously reported points only from the six Champ Car events. 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 prize money and 1947 car numbers assignments are consistent with the final points standings for 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, Horn would have be declared the champion with or without the 71 "Big Car" races included, based on his points totals.

Schedule and results

  Non-championship race

Rnd	Date	Race Name	Length	Track	Location	Type	Class	Winning Driver
NC	March 31	Mike Benton Sweepstakes	20 mi (32 km)	Lakewood Speedway	Atlanta, Georgia	Dirt Oval	Big Car	Jimmy Wilburn
1	April 14	Williams Grove Race	15 mi (24 km)	Williams Grove Speedway	Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania	Dirt Oval	Big Car	Walt Ader
2	April 28	Williams Grove Race	15 mi (24 km)	Williams Grove Speedway	Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania	Dirt Oval	Big Car	Ted Horn
3	May 5	Eastern Inaugural Trophy Sweepstakes	20 mi (32 km)	Trenton International Speedway	Trenton, New Jersey	Dirt Oval	Big Car	Joie Chitwood
4	May 19	Williams Grove Race	15 mi (24 km)	Williams Grove Speedway	Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania	Dirt Oval	Big Car	Joie Chitwood
5	May 26	Inaugural Sam Nunis Trophy Sweepstakes	12.5 mi (20.1 km)	Reading Fairgrounds Speedway	Reading, Pennsylvania	Dirt Oval	Big Car	Walt Ader
6	May 26	Winchester Race	15 mi (24 km)	Winchester Speedway	Winchester, Indiana	Dirt Oval	Big Car	Bus Wilbert
7	May 30	Altamont Race	15 mi (24 km)	Altamont Speedway	Altamont, New York	Dirt Oval	Big Car	Bumpy Bumpus
8	May 30	International 500 Mile Sweepstakes	500 mi (800 km)	Indianapolis Motor Speedway	Speedway, Indiana	Paved Oval	Champ Car	George Robson
9	May 30	Trenton Race	20 mi (32 km)	Trenton International Speedway	Trenton, New Jersey	Dirt Oval	Big Car	Johnny Shackleford
10	June 2	Lakewood Race	25 mi (40 km)	Lakewood Speedway	Atlanta, Georgia	Dirt Oval	Big Car	Ted Horn
11	June 9	Thompson Race	15 mi (24 km)	Thompson International Speedway	Thompson, Connecticut	Paved Oval	Big Car	Oscar Ridlon
12	June 9	Williams Grove Race	15 mi (24 km)	Williams Grove Speedway	Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania	Dirt Oval	Big Car	Joie Chitwood
13	June 9	Winchester Race	15 mi (24 km)	Winchester Speedway	Winchester, Indiana	Dirt Oval	Big Car	Bus Wilbert
14	June 16	Flemington Race	12.5 mi (20.1 km)	Flemington Speedway	Flemington, New Jersey	Dirt Oval	Big Car	Ted Horn
15	June 23	Dayton Race	15 mi (24 km)	Dayton Speedway	Dayton, Ohio	Dirt Oval	Big Car	Elbert Booker
16	June 23	Greensboro Race	12.5 mi (20.1 km)	Greensboro Agricultural Fairgrounds	Greensboro, North Carolina	Dirt Oval	Big Car	Ted Horn
17	June 23	Thompson Race	15 mi (24 km)	Thompson International Speedway	Thompson, Connecticut	Paved Oval	Big Car	Oscar Ridlon
18	June 29	Dayton Race	10 mi (16 km)	Dayton Speedway	Dayton, Ohio	Dirt Oval	Big Car	Bus Wilbert
19	June 30	Langhorne 100	100 mi (160 km)	Langhorne Speedway	Langhorne, Pennsylvania	Dirt Oval	Champ Car	Rex Mays
20	June 30	Powell Race	7.5 mi (12.1 km)	Powell Motor Speedway	Powell, Ohio	Dirt Oval	Big Car	Joie Chitwood
21	June 30	Thompson Race	12.5 mi (20.1 km)	Thompson International Speedway	Thompson, Connecticut	Paved Oval	Big Car	Joe Verebly
22	July 4	Lakewood Race	20 mi (32 km)	Lakewood Speedway	Atlanta, Georgia	Dirt Oval	Big Car	Ted Horn
23	July 7	Lakewood Race	50 mi (80 km)	Lakewood Speedway	Atlanta, Georgia	Dirt Oval	Big Car	Ted Horn
24	July 7	Williams Grove Race	15 mi (24 km)	Williams Grove Speedway	Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania	Dirt Oval	Big Car	Johnny Shackleford
25	July 14	Inaugural Nunis Sweepstakes	17.5 mi (28.2 km)	Reading Fairgrounds Speedway	Reading, Pennsylvania	Dirt Oval	Big Car	Joie Chitwood
26	July 20	DuBois Race	10 mi (16 km)	DuBois Fairgrounds	DuBois, Pennsylvania	Dirt Oval	Big Car	Ted Horn
27	July 20	Selinsgrove Race	10 mi (16 km)	Selinsgrove Speedway	Selinsgrove, Pennsylvania	Dirt Oval	Big Car	Bill Holland
28	July 21	Dayton Race	10 mi (16 km)	Dayton Speedway	Dayton, Ohio	Dirt Oval	Big Car	George Connor
29	July 21	Langhorne Race	20 mi (32 km)	Langhorne Speedway	Langhorne, Pennsylvania	Dirt Oval	Big Car	George Robson
30	July 21	Selinsgrove Race	10 mi (16 km)	Selinsgrove Speedway	Selinsgrove, Pennsylvania	Dirt Oval	Big Car	Bill Holland
31	July 27	Harrington Race	10 mi (16 km)	Delaware State Fairgrounds	Harrington, Delaware	Dirt Oval	Big Car	Ted Horn
32	July 28	Williams Grove Race	15 mi (24 km)	Williams Grove Speedway	Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania	Dirt Oval	Big Car	Ted Horn
33	August 3	Washington Race	10 mi (16 km)	Arden Downs	Washington, Pennsylvania	Dirt Oval	Big Car	Bill Holland
34	August 4	Powell Race	7.5 mi (12.1 km)	Powell Motor Speedway	Powell, Ohio	Dirt Oval	Big Car	George Robson
35	August 10	Batavia Race	10 mi (16 km)	Batavia Fairgrounds	Batavia, New York	Dirt Oval	Big Car	Bill Holland
36	August 11	Bedford Race	10 mi (16 km)	Bedford Speedway	Bedford, Pennsylvania	Dirt Oval	Big Car	Ted Horn
37	August 11	Langhorne Race	20 mi (32 km)	Langhorne Speedway	Langhorne, Pennsylvania	Dirt Oval	Big Car	George Robson
38	August 11	Winchester Race	10 mi (16 km)	Winchester Speedway	Winchester, Indiana	Dirt Oval	Big Car	Elbert Booker
39	August 18	Skowhegan Race	10 mi (16 km)	Skowhegan Fairgrounds	Skowhegan, Maine	Dirt Oval	Big Car	Ted Horn
40	August 18	Williams Grove Race	15 mi (24 km)	Williams Grove Speedway	Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania	Dirt Oval	Big Car	George Robson
41	August 24	Hamburg Race	10 mi (16 km)	Hamburg Fairgrounds	Hamburg, New York	Dirt Oval	Big Car	Ted Horn
42	August 25	Dayton Race	10 mi (16 km)	Dayton Speedway	Dayton, Ohio	Dirt Oval	Big Car	George Robson
43	August 25	Uniontown Race	10 mi (16 km)	Uniontown Speedway	Uniontown, Pennsylvania	Dirt Oval	Big Car	Ted Horn
44	August 30	Essex Junction Race	10 mi (16 km)	Essex Junction Fairgrounds	Essex Junction, Vermont	Dirt Oval	Big Car	Bill Holland
45	August 31	Altamont Race	10 mi (16 km)	Altamont Speedway	Altamont, New York	Dirt Oval	Big Car	Ted Horn
46	August 31	Hamburg Race	10 mi (16 km)	Hamburg Fairgrounds	Hamburg, New York	Dirt Oval	Big Car	Bill Holland
47	September 1	Flemington Race	10 mi (16 km)	Flemington Speedway	Flemington, New Jersey	Dirt Oval	Big Car	Bill Holland
48	September 1	Winchester Race	10 mi (16 km)	Winchester Speedway	Winchester, Indiana	Dirt Oval	Big Car	Charles Van Acker
49	September 2	Flemington Race	10 mi (16 km)	Flemington Speedway	Flemington, New Jersey	Dirt Oval	Big Car	Bill Holland
50	September 2	Atlanta 100	98 mi (158 km)	Lakewood Speedway	Atlanta, Georgia	Dirt Oval	Champ Car	George Connor
NC	September 2	Pikes Peak Auto Hill Climb	12.42 mi (19.99 km)	Pikes Peak Highway	Pikes Peak, Colorado	Hill Climb	Champ Car	Louis Unser
51	September 6	Rutland Race	10 mi (16 km)	Vermont State Fairgrounds	Rutland, Vermont	Dirt Oval	Big Car	Lee Wallard
52	September 7	Port Royal Race	8 mi (13 km)	Port Royal Speedway	Port Royal, Pennsylvania	Dirt Oval	Big Car	Ted Horn
53	September 8	Williams Grove Race	15 mi (24 km)	Williams Grove Speedway	Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania	Dirt Oval	Big Car	Ted Horn
54	September 15	Indianapolis 100	100 mi (160 km)	Indiana State Fairgrounds	Indianapolis, Indiana	Dirt Oval	Champ Car	Rex Mays
55	September 15	Reading Race	12.5 mi (20.1 km)	Reading Fairgrounds Speedway	Reading, Pennsylvania	Dirt Oval	Big Car	Bill Holland
56	September 21	Allentown Fair Race	10 mi (16 km)	Allentown Fairgrounds	Allentown, Pennsylvania	Dirt Oval	Big Car	Bill Holland
57	September 22	Great Barrington Race	4 mi (6.4 km)	Great Barrington Race Track	Great Barrington, Massachusetts	Dirt Oval	Big Car	Joie Chitwood
58	September 22	Milwaukee 100	100 mi (160 km)	Wisconsin State Fair Park Speedway	West Allis, Wisconsin	Dirt Oval	Champ Car	Rex Mays
59	September 22	Powell Race	5 mi (8.0 km)	Powell Motor Speedway	Powell, Ohio	Dirt Oval	Big Car	Bill Holland
60	September 28	Bloomsburg Race	10 mi (16 km)	Bloomsburg Fairgrounds	Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania	Dirt Oval	Big Car	Bill Holland
61	September 28	Lakewood Race	20 mi (32 km)	Lakewood Speedway	Atlanta, Georgia	Dirt Oval	Big Car	Ted Horn
62	September 28	Shelby Race	10 mi (16 km)	Shelby Motor Speedway	Shelby, North Carolina	Dirt Oval	Big Car	Walt Ader
63	September 29	Trenton Race	20 mi (32 km)	Trenton International Speedway	Trenton, New Jersey	Dirt Oval	Big Car	Joie Chitwood
64	October 5	Lakewood Race	20 mi (32 km)	Lakewood Speedway	Atlanta, Georgia	Dirt Oval	Big Car	Bill Holland
65	October 5	Winston-Salem Race	10 mi (16 km)	Winston-Salem Fairgrounds	Winston-Salem, North Carolina	Dirt Oval	Big Car	Tommy Hinnershitz
66	October 6	Dayton Race	10 mi (16 km)	Dayton Speedway	Dayton, Ohio	Dirt Oval	Big Car	Hal Robson
67	October 6	George Robson Memorial	100 mi (160 km)	Good Time Park	Goshen, New York	Dirt Oval	Champ Car	Tony Bettenhausen
68	October 6	Greensboro Race	10 mi (16 km)	Greensboro Agricultural Fairgrounds	Greensboro, North Carolina	Dirt Oval	Big Car	Bill Holland
69	October 6	George Robson Memorial	15 mi (24 km)	Williams Grove Speedway	Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania	Dirt Oval	Big Car	Lucky Lux
70	October 12	Charlotte Race	10 mi (16 km)	Charlotte Fairgrounds	Charlotte, North Carolina	Dirt Oval	Big Car	Bill Holland
71	October 12	Atlantic Rural Exposition	10 mi (16 km)	Strawberry Hill Raceway	Richmond, Virginia	Dirt Oval	Big Car	Ted Horn
72	October 12	Greensboro Race	7.5 mi (12.1 km)	Greensboro Agricultural Fairgrounds	Greensboro, North Carolina	Dirt Oval	Big Car	Bill Holland
73	October 19	Raleigh Race	10 mi (16 km)	State Fair Speedway	Raleigh, North Carolina	Dirt Oval	Big Car	Walt Ader
74	October 26	Charlotte Race	10 mi (16 km)	Charlotte Fairgrounds	Charlotte, North Carolina	Dirt Oval	Big Car	Hank Rogers
75	October 26	National Championship Trophy Race	25 mi (40 km)	Williams Grove Speedway	Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania	Dirt Oval	Big Car	Bill Holland
76	November 9	Shelby Race	15 mi (24 km)	Shelby Motor Speedway	Shelby, North Carolina	Dirt Oval	Big Car	Ted Horn
77	November 10	Richmond Race	12.5 mi (20.1 km)	Strawberry Hill Raceway	Richmond, Virginia	Dirt Oval	Big Car	Tommy Hinnershitz

^A Scheduled for 100 miles, stopped early due to fatal accident involving George Robson and George Barringer. Rex Mays 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	Points
1	Ted Horn	Ted Horn Engineering, Boyle, Peters	2448
2	George Robson†	Thorne Engineering, Christie, Weirick	1544
3	Emil Andres	Elgin Piston Pin, Riverside Tire, Nyquist	1348
4	Bill Holland	Malamud	1280
5	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	8	6	4	3	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
5	10	8	6	4	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
7.5	15	12	9	6	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
8	16	13	10	6	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
10	20	16	12	8	4	2	—	—	—	—	—	—
12.5	25	20	15	10	5	2.5	—	—	—	—	—	—
15	30	24	18	12	6	3	—	—	—	—	—	—
17.5	35	28	21	14	9	5.5	—	—	—	—	—	—
20	40	32	24	16	12	8	—	—	—	—	—	—
25	50	40	30	25	20	10	5	—	—	—	—	—
50	100	80	70	60	50	40	30	20	10	5	—	—
100	200	160	140	120	100	80	60	50	40	30	20	10
500	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	Winning Driver
1	May 30	International 500 Mile Sweepstakes	500 mi (800 km)	Indianapolis Motor Speedway	Speedway, Indiana	Paved	Cliff Bergere	George Robson
2	June 30	Langhorne 100	100 mi (160 km)	Langhorne Speedway	Langhorne, Pennsylvania	Dirt	Ted Horn	Rex Mays
3	September 2	Atlanta 100	98 mi (158 km)	Lakewood Speedway	Atlanta, Georgia	Dirt	Rex Mays	George Connor
NC	September 2	Pikes Peak Auto Hill Climb	12.42 mi (19.99 km)	Pikes Peak Highway	Pikes Peak, Colorado	Hill	Louis Unser	Louis Unser
4	September 15	Indianapolis 100	100 mi (160 km)	Indiana State Fairgrounds	Indianapolis, Indiana	Dirt	Rex Mays	Rex Mays
5	September 22	Milwaukee 100	100 mi (160 km)	Wisconsin State Fair Park Speedway	West Allis, Wisconsin	Dirt	Rex Mays	Rex Mays
6	October 6	George Robson Memorial	100 mi (160 km)	Good Time Park	Goshen, New York	Dirt	Emil Andres	Tony Bettenhausen

  Paved/Dirt Oval

  Road Course/Hill Climb

  Non-championship race

^A Scheduled for 100 miles, stopped early due to fatal accident involving George Robson and George Barringer. Rex Mays 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.

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

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 In-line notation Bold Pole position Italics Ran fastest race lap * Led most race laps Rookie of the Year 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)

See also

• 1946 Indianapolis 500