1915 AAA Championship Car season

Last updated

1915 AAA Championship Car season
AAA National Championship Trail
Season
Races27
Start dateJanuary 9
End dateNovember 25
Awards
National championnone declared
Indianapolis 500 winner Flag of the United States (1912-1959).svg Ralph DePalma
←  1914
1916  →

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. AAA did not award points towards a National Championship during the 1915 season, and did not declare a National Champion. [1] Ralph DePalma was the winner of the Indianapolis 500.

Contents

The de facto National Champion as polled by the American automobile journal Motor Age, was Earl Cooper. Points were not awarded by the AAA Contest Board during the 1915 season. Cooper 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

DateRace Name
Distance (miles)		TrackLocationTypeNotesPole positionWinning driver
January 9San Diego Exposition Road Race (305) Point Loma Road Race Course San Diego, California 5.982 mile road course Earl Cooper
February 3Tropico Road Race (101) Tropico Road Tropico, California 1.906 mile road course Eddie O'Donnell
February 7Ascot Race (100)Ascot Speedway South Los Angeles, California 1 mile dirt oval Jack Callaghan fatally injured [2] [3] Eddie O'Donnell
February 27 American Grand Prize (406) Panama–Pacific International Exposition San Francisco, California 3.905 mile road courseACA sanction Earl Cooper Dario Resta
March 6 William K. Vanderbilt Cup (301)3.849 mile road course600 cu in. Barney Oldfield Dario Resta
March 17Venice Race (301) Venice Road Race Course Venice, California 3.105 mile road course Cliff Durant Barney Oldfield
March 20Tucson Race (103) Tucson Road Race Course Tucson, Arizona 4.298 mile road course Barney Oldfield
April 29Southern Sweepstakes Road Race (200) Oklahoma City Road Race Course Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 2.404 mile road course John Raimey Bob Burman
May 31 International 500 Mile Sweepstakes Indianapolis Motor Speedway Speedway, Indiana 2.5 mile brick oval24-car field Howdy Wilcox Ralph DePalma
June 9Galesburg Race (100) Galesburg District Fairgrounds Galesburg, Illinois 1 mile dirt oval Tom Alley Eddie O'Donnell
June 26Chicago Race (500) Speedway Park Maywood, Illinois 2 mile board oval Dario Resta Dario Resta
July 3Sioux City Race (300) Sioux City Speedway North Sioux City, South Dakota 2 mile dirt oval450 cu in.; C. C. Cox fatally injured [4] Eddie Rickenbacker
July 4Montamarathon Trophy Race (250) Pacific Coast Speedway Tacoma, Washington 2 mile board oval650 cu in.; Billy Carlson and his riding mechanic Paul Franzen fatally injured [5] [6] Glover Ruckstell
July 5Golden Potlach Trophy Race (200) Eddie Pullen
July 5Omaha Race (300) Omaha Speedway Omaha, Nebraska 1.25 mile board oval Eddie O'Donnell Eddie Rickenbacker
July 9Burlington Race (100) Tri-State Fair Grounds Burlington, Iowa 0.5 mile dirt oval Bob Burman
August 7Des Moines Race (300) Des Moines Speedway Valley Junction, Iowa 1 mile board oval300 cu in.; Joe Cooper and Maurice Keeler, riding mechanic for Billy Chandler, fatally injured [7] Ralph Mulford
August 7Challenge Cup Match Race (100) Speedway Park Maywood, Illinois 2 mile board oval600 cu in. Barney Oldfield Dario Resta
August 20Chicago Auto Club Trophy Race (300) Elgin Road Race Course Elgin, Illinois 8.384 mile road course300 cu in. Earl Cooper
August 21Elgin National Trophy Race (300)450 cu in. Gil Andersen
August 28Kalamazoo Race (100) Recreation Park Kalamazoo, Michigan 1 mile dirt ovalFree-for-all Ralph DePalma
September 4Minneapolis Race (500) Twin City Motor Speedway Minneapolis, Minnesota 2 mile concrete oval300 cu in. Dario Resta Earl Cooper/Johnny Aitken
September 18Providence Race (100) Narragansett Park Speedway Cranston, Rhode Island 1 mile concrete oval Eddie Rickenbacker
October 9 Astor Cup (350) Sheepshead Bay Speedway Sheepshead Bay, New York 2 mile board oval300 cu in.; Harry Grant fatally injured in practice [8] [9] Dario Resta Gil Andersen
November 2 Harkness Gold Medal Race (100) Ralph DePalma Dario Resta
November 20 Phoenix Race (109) Arizona State Fairgrounds Phoenix, Arizona 1 mile dirt ovalScheduled for 150 miles; ended early due to darkness. [10] Earl Cooper
November 25San Francisco Race 3 (100) Panama–Pacific International Exposition San Francisco, California 1 mile dirt oval Earl Cooper

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.

 # DriverSponsorPoints
1 Earl Cooper Stutz 3780
2 Dario Resta Peugeot 3320
3 Gil Andersen Stutz 2590
4 Eddie O'Donnell Duesenberg 2285
5 Eddie Rickenbacker Maxwell 1765

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References

  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. ↑ "Callaghan badly hurt in Los Angeles race". The Milwaukee Sentinel . February 8, 1915.
  3. ↑ "Jack Callaghan dies; was hurt on Sunday". The Milwaukee Sentinel. February 9, 1915.
  4. ↑ "Cincinnati driver meets death in auto race at Sioux City". The Cincinnati Enquirer . July 4, 1915. Archived from the original on July 31, 2018.
  5. ↑ "Franzen killed in race" (PDF). The New York Times . July 5, 1915. Archived (PDF) from the original on October 1, 2018.
  6. ↑ "Auto driver dies" (PDF). The New York Times. July 6, 1915. Archived (PDF) from the original on October 1, 2018.
  7. ↑ "Joe Cooper and a mechanician killed in race". The Gazette Times . Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. August 8, 1915.
  8. ↑ "Auto driver Grant severely burned" (PDF). The New York Times. September 28, 1915. Archived (PDF) from the original on October 1, 2018.
  9. ↑ "Harry Grant dies of burns" (PDF). The New York Times. October 8, 1915. Archived (PDF) from the original on October 1, 2018.
  10. ↑ "Earl Cooper Wins Race at Phoenix". San Francisco Chronicle . November 21, 1915. p. 43. Retrieved May 30, 2021– via newspapers.com.

General references

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