Raffaele "Ralph" De Palma was an Italian-American racecar driving champion who won the 1915 Indianapolis 500. His entry at the International Motorsports Hall of Fame estimates that he won about 2,000 races. DePalma won the 1908, 1909, 1910, and 1911 American AAA national dirt track championships and is credited with winning 24 American Champ car races. He won the Canadian national championship in 1929. DePalma estimated that he had earned $1.5 million by 1934 after racing for 27 years. He is inducted in numerous halls of fame. He competed on boards and dirt road courses and ovals.
The Milwaukee Mile is a one-mile-long (1.6 km) oval race track in the central United States, located on the grounds of the Wisconsin State Fair Park in West Allis, Wisconsin, a suburb west of Milwaukee. Its grandstand and bleachers seated approximately 37,000 spectators. Paved 67 years ago in 1954, it was originally a dirt track. In addition to the oval, there was a 1.8 mile (2.8 km) road circuit located on the infield.
Spencer E. Wishart was an American racecar driver. He was active during the early years of the Indianapolis 500.
The 1915 Grand Prix season saw Grand Prix motor racing continue in the United States. Racing was suspended in Europe due to the outbreak of World War I. The American Grand Prize was held in San Francisco for the first time, in conjunction with the Panama-Pacific International Exposition. Several of the latest European cars had been imported to the USA before the war started. Briton Dario Resta had a Peugeot and Ralph DePalma raced one of the Mercedes GPs. While Resta won both races at San Francisco and DePalma won the Indianapolis 500, just ahead of Resta it was Earl Cooper, running a Stutz, whose consistency gave him the unofficial AAA national championship.
The 1916 Grand Prix season saw Grand Prix motor racing continue in the United States. Racing was suspended in Europe due to the World War I engulfing the continent. Once again European cars dominated Indianapolis with victory going to Briton Dario Resta in a Peugeot. With the organisers wanting to appeal to the spectators, this was the only year that the race was scheduled for a shorter length – to run only 300 miles. The Vanderbilt Cup and the American Grand Prize returned to Santa Monica, California at the end of the year. Resta repeated his victory from the year before, winning the Vanderbilt Cup. Then when he retired in the Grand Prize it was Howdy Wilcox and Johnny Aitken who won in another of the dominant Peugeots. Oval courses now dominated the AAA Championship with these two events being the only road-course races this year. It proved to be the final time these two formative American races were held in this format, as the Great War dragged the country into the global chaos in 1917. With five victories across the season, the AAA national championship would be retroactively awarded to Dario Resta.
The 1921 Grand Prix season saw motor racing in Europe blossom again. The French Grand Prix was held for the first time since 1914, at La Sarthe, Le Mans. and the inaugural Italian Grand Prix was held in Montichiari, near Brescia. The 3-litre formula of the AIACR, already in use at Indianapolis, was adopted by those Grand Prix meaning manufacturers could design on a common formula.
The 1919 Grand Prix season was the first season following the armistice that ended World War I in November 1918. European economies were struggling, and many automotive firms had to recover and retool from military production. So, there was very little racing activity as it took time for the companies and populations to recover. As the world rebuilt there were only two major races held in the year – the Indianapolis 500 and the Targa Florio.
The 1920 Grand Prix season saw further activity in motor-racing gradually increase. Europe was still recovering from the end of the war and the terrible pandemic that swept the continent. Automotive companies were gradually re-establishing themselves after re-tooling from a wartime footing and getting production lines rolling again.
The 1909 AAA Championship Car season consisted of 24 races, beginning in Portland, Oregon on June 12 and concluding with a point-to-point race from Los Angeles, California to Phoenix, Arizona on November 6. There were three events sanctioned by the Automobile Club of America in Lowell, Massachusetts. The de facto National Champion as poled by the American automobile journal Motor Age was Bert Dingley. Points were not awarded by the AAA Contest Board during the 1909 season. Champions of the day were decided by C. G. "Chris" Sinsabaugh, an editor at Motor Age, based on merit and on track performance.
The 1910 AAA Championship Car season consisted of 19 races, beginning in Atlanta, Georgia on May 5 and concluding in Long Island, New York on October 1. The de facto National Champion as poled by the American automobile journal Motor Age was Ray Harroun. Points were not awarded by the AAA Contest Board during the 1910 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.
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.
The AAA Contest Board was the motorsports arm of the American Automobile Association. The contest board sanctioned automobile races from 1904 until 1955, establishing of Championship Car racing. Modern-day IndyCar racing traces its roots directly to these AAA events.
The 1920 AAA Championship Car season consisted of 5 races, beginning in Beverly Hills, California on February 28 and concluding in Beverly Hills on November 25. The AAA National Champion and Indianapolis 500 champion was Gaston Chevrolet. The 1920 season has been a source of confusion and misinformation for historians since 1926.
The 1912 AAA Championship Car season consisted of 18 races, beginning in Santa Monica, California on May 4 and concluding in Brooklyn, New York on November 5. There was also one non-championship event at Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The de facto National Champion as poled by the American automobile journal Motor Age was Ralph DePalma and the winner of the Indianapolis 500 was Joe Dawson. Points were not awarded by the AAA Contest Board during the 1912 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.
The 1913 AAA Championship Car season consisted of 14 races, beginning in San Diego, California on January 1 and concluding in Corona, California on September 9. The de facto National Champion as poled by the American automobile journal Motor Age was Earl Cooper and the winner of the Indianapolis 500 was Jules Goux. Points were not awarded by the AAA Contest Board during the 1913 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.
The 1915 AAA Championship Car season consisted of 27 races, beginning in San Diego, California on January 9 and concluding in San Francisco, California on November 25. The de facto National Champion as poled by the American automobile journal Motor Age was Earl Cooper and the winner of the Indianapolis 500 was Ralph DePalma. Points were not awarded by the AAA Contest Board during the 1915 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.
The 1917 AAA Championship Car season consisted of 21 races, beginning in Los Angeles, California on March 4 and concluding there on November 29. The de facto National Champion as poled by the American automobile journal Motor Age was Earl Cooper. The Indianapolis 500 was not held this year. Points were not awarded by the AAA Contest Board during the 1917 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.
The 1918 AAA Championship Car season consisted of 16 races, beginning in Uniontown, Pennsylvania on May 16 and concluding there on September 2. There were also 3 non-championship races. The de facto National Champion as poled by the American automobile journal Motor Age was Ralph Mulford. The Indianapolis 500 was not held this year. Points were not awarded by the AAA Contest Board during the 1918 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.
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. The de facto National Champion as poled by the American automobile journal Motor Age was Howdy Wilcox, who also won the Indianapolis 500. Points were not awarded by the AAA Contest Board during the 1919 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.
Ralph DePalma (unofficial)
René Thomas