1912 AAA Championship Car season

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.

1912 AAA Championship Car season
AAA National Championship Trail
Season
Races18
Start dateMay 4
End dateNovember 5
Awards
National championRalph DePalma (unofficial)
Indianapolis 500 winnerJoe Dawson

Schedule and results
Date Race Name
Distance (miles)		 Track Location Type Notes Pole position Winning driver
May 4 Chanslor & Lyon Trophy Race* (101) Santa Monica Road Race Course Santa Monica, California 8.417 mile road course Stock chassis, 230 cu in. Roscoe Anthony George Joerimann
Jepsen Trophy Race* (152) 231–300 cu in. Earl Devore Ralph DePalma
Dick Ferris Trophy Race* (303) Free-for-all Teddy Tetzlaff Dave Lewis
May 30 International 500 Mile Sweepstakes Indianapolis Motor Speedway Speedway, Indiana 2.5 mile brick oval Qualifications based upon demonstrated 75 mph single-lap speed, 24-car field; Ralph DePalma pushes car across finish line Gil Andersen Joe Dawson
July 5 First Montamara Fiesta Race (150) Tacoma Road Race Course Tacoma, Washington 5 mile road course 231-300 cu in. Eddie Pullen
Tacoma Race 2 (150) 301-450 cu in. Earl Cooper
Tacoma Race 3 (200) Free-for-all Earl Cooper Teddy Tetzlaff
July 6 Montamarathon Trophy Race (250) Free-for-all Hughie Hughes Teddy Tetzlaff
August 25 Columbus Race (200) Columbus Driving Park Columbus, Ohio 1 mile dirt oval Free-for-all Charles Elliott Spencer Wishart
August 30 Aurora Trophy Race (152) Elgin Road Race Course Elgin, Illinois 8.47 mile road course 300 cu in. Eddie Pullen Hughie Hughes
Illinois Trophy Race (203) 450 cu in. Charles Merz
Jencks Trophy Race (101) 600 cu in. Harry Endicott Harry Endicott
August 31 Elgin Race 4* (254) Ralph DePalma
Elgin National Trophy Race* (305) Free-for-all Ralph DePalma
October 2 William K. Vanderbilt Cup (299) Wauwatosa Road Race Course Milwaukee, Wisconsin 7.88 mile road course 301-600 cu in. Ralph DePalma Ralph DePalma
October 5 Wisconsin Challenge Trophy Race* (173) 161-230 cu in. Ray Snyder Harry Endicott
Pabst Blue Ribbon Trophy Race* (220) 231-300 cu in. Louis Nikrent Mortimer Roberts
American Grand Prize (410) ACA sanction; non-championship event; David Bruce-Brown and his riding mechanic Tony Scudellari fatally injured in practice,[1][2] Ralph DePalma seriously injured in race[3][4] Bob Burman Caleb Bragg
November 5 Brighton Beach Race (100) Brighton Beach Dirt Track Brooklyn, New York 1 mile dirt oval Free-for-all Neil Whalen Ralph Mulford

* 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 DePalma Mercedes 2000
2 Teddy Tetzlaff Fiat 1900
3 Joe Dawson National 1000
4 Hughie Hughes Mercer 890
5 Ralph Mulford Knox 870
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References
  1. "Auto racer is killed during speed trial". The Gazette Times. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Associated Press. October 2, 1912.
  2. "Tony Scudellari yields to death". The Chicago Daily Tribune. October 9, 1912.
  3. Ward, Harry (October 6, 1912). "Young millionaire racing driver is winner of classic". The Washington Times. Archived from the original on 2018-07-31.
  4. "Caleb Bragg wins Grand Prize race" (PDF). The New York Times. October 6, 1912. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2018-10-01.

General references
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