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 later became a source of confusion and misinformation for historians when in 1926 the AAA published a revisionist history, naming another driver as the season's point champion.
During the final race of the season on November 25 the Beverly Hills event witnessed a tragedy, as that year's Indianapolis 500 winner, and soon-to-be National Champion, Gaston Chevrolet, was killed along with Eddie O'Donnell riding mechanic Lyall Jolls.[1]
Note: AAA had two different listings for the 1920 season. At the start of the year, 11 races were listed as counting toward the championship, but at the end of the season, AAA determined the championship to be based upon the results of just five races, giving Gaston Chevrolet the championship. These results were considered as official by AAA from 1920-26, and from 1929-51. The 11-race championship was first recognized in 1926 with Tommy Milton as champion and was considered official for 1927, and from 1952 to 1955, the final year that AAA sanctioned auto racing. (IZOD IndyCar Series 2011 Historical Record Book - p. 77.)
^C Points allocated on the basis of advertised distance of 250 miles.
Controversy over official race scheduleEdit
The 5 race schedule has been confirmed as the correct and historically accurate schedule for the championship season of 1920. In the race day program for the final race at Beverly Hills was the points distribution[2] for the championship contenders over the previous four races of the season. The championship was confirmed in the weeks leading up to the race by various newspapers around the country printing the four race championship standings leading to the final race.[3][4] Confusion about the season began in 1926 when, for "comparative reasons", Contest Board member Arthur Means reworked the schedule to include 10 races and changed the champion to Tommy Milton. The earliest that the ten race standing occur are in the 27 October 1927 issue of Motor Age.[5] In 1951 Racing Board member Russ Catlin found these retroactive crib sheets and folded the results into official AAA documentation, continuing the confusion about the 1920 season and early AAA history as a whole. The added races to the season were all of the Non-championship races of the above official schedule, excepted the two races at Uniontown Speedway. In 1961, Al Bloemker attempted to reconcile the two different accounts for the 1920 season. He surmises that there was an issue with sanctioning fees paid by the Uniontown Speedway and their two races held that year were not included in the final season standings.[6] The printed media of the time is silent about any issue with the Uniontown races not being championship events. They did in fact hold two races but they were not part of the championship. If Uniontown did pay for championship level racing but was not credited for them, lawsuits would have surely been filed but no such record exists. The false championship results is the follows: 1. Tommy Milton 2095 pts, 2. Jimmy Murphy 1410 pts, 3. Gaston Chevrolet 1135 pts, 4. Ralph DePalma 605 pts, 5. Roscoe Sarles 580 pts.
Official final points standingsEdit
Note: Drivers had to be running at the finish to score points. Points scored by drivers sharing a ride were split according to percentage of race driven. Starters were not allowed to score points as relief drivers, if a race starter finished the race in another car, in a points scoring position, those points were awarded to the driver who had started the car.. The final standings based on reference.[7]
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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 later became a source of confusion and misinformation for historians when in 1926 the AAA published a revisionist history naming another driver as the season s point champion 1920 AAA Championship Car seasonAAA National Circuit ChampionshipSeasonRaces5Start dateFebruary 28End dateNovember 25AwardsNational championGaston ChevroletIndianapolis 500 winnerGaston Chevrolet 19191921 During the final race of the season on November 25 the Beverly Hills event witnessed a tragedy as that year s Indianapolis 500 winner and soon to be National Champion Gaston Chevrolet was killed along with Eddie O Donnell riding mechanic Lyall Jolls 1 Contents 1 Official schedule and results 2 Controversy over official race schedule 3 Official final points standings 4 See also 5 ReferencesOfficial schedule and results EditNote AAA had two different listings for the 1920 season At the start of the year 11 races were listed as counting toward the championship but at the end of the season AAA determined the championship to be based upon the results of just five races giving Gaston Chevrolet the championship These results were considered as official by AAA from 1920 26 and from 1929 51 The 11 race championship was first recognized in 1926 with Tommy Milton as champion and was considered official for 1927 and from 1952 to 1955 the final year that AAA sanctioned auto racing IZOD IndyCar Series 2011 Historical Record Book p 77 Rnd Date Race Name Track Location Type Pole Position Winning Driver1 February 28 nbsp Beverly Hills Race 1 250 Los Angeles Motor Speedway Beverly Hills California Board nbsp Jimmy Murphy nbsp Jimmy MurphyNC March 28 nbsp Beverly Hills Heat 1 50 Los Angeles Motor Speedway Beverly Hills California Board nbsp Art Klein nbsp Beverly Hills Heat 2 50 nbsp Jimmy Murphy nbsp Beverly Hills Main 50A nbsp Tommy Milton2 May 31 nbsp International 500 Mile SweepstakesB Indianapolis Motor Speedway Speedway Indiana Brick nbsp Ralph DePalma nbsp Gaston ChevroletNC June 19 nbsp Universal Trophy Race 225 Uniontown Speedway Hopwood Pennsylvania Board nbsp Tommy Milton3 July 5 nbsp Tacoma Race 200 Pacific Speedway Tacoma Washington Board nbsp Tommy Milton nbsp Tommy Milton4 August 28 nbsp Elgin National Trophy 255C Elgin Road Race Course Elgin Illinois Road nbsp Ralph DePalma nbsp Ralph DePalmaNC September 6 nbsp 4th Annual Autumn Classic 225 Uniontown Speedway Hopwood Pennsylvania Board nbsp Tommy MiltonNC September 19 nbsp Syracuse Race 50 New York State Fairgrounds Syracuse New York Dirt nbsp Ralph DePalmaNC October 2 nbsp San Joaquin Valley Classic 200 Fresno Speedway Fresno California Board nbsp Eddie O Donnell nbsp Jimmy Murphy5 November 25 nbsp Beverly Hills Race 5 250 Los Angeles Motor Speedway Beverly Hills California Board nbsp Jimmy Murphy nbsp Roscoe Sarles Dirt Brick Board Oval Road Course Hill Climb Non championship race A Starters limited to first four finishers for each preliminary race B 183 in3 3 00 L maximum displacement C Points allocated on the basis of advertised distance of 250 miles Controversy over official race schedule EditThe 5 race schedule has been confirmed as the correct and historically accurate schedule for the championship season of 1920 In the race day program for the final race at Beverly Hills was the points distribution 2 for the championship contenders over the previous four races of the season The championship was confirmed in the weeks leading up to the race by various newspapers around the country printing the four race championship standings leading to the final race 3 4 Confusion about the season began in 1926 when for comparative reasons Contest Board member Arthur Means reworked the schedule to include 10 races and changed the champion to Tommy Milton The earliest that the ten race standing occur are in the 27 October 1927 issue of Motor Age 5 In 1951 Racing Board member Russ Catlin found these retroactive crib sheets and folded the results into official AAA documentation continuing the confusion about the 1920 season and early AAA history as a whole The added races to the season were all of the Non championship races of the above official schedule excepted the two races at Uniontown Speedway In 1961 Al Bloemker attempted to reconcile the two different accounts for the 1920 season He surmises that there was an issue with sanctioning fees paid by the Uniontown Speedway and their two races held that year were not included in the final season standings 6 The printed media of the time is silent about any issue with the Uniontown races not being championship events They did in fact hold two races but they were not part of the championship If Uniontown did pay for championship level racing but was not credited for them lawsuits would have surely been filed but no such record exists The false championship results is the follows 1 Tommy Milton 2095 pts 2 Jimmy Murphy 1410 pts 3 Gaston Chevrolet 1135 pts 4 Ralph DePalma 605 pts 5 Roscoe Sarles 580 pts Official final points standings EditNote Drivers had to be running at the finish to score points Points scored by drivers sharing a ride were split according to percentage of race driven Starters were not allowed to score points as relief drivers if a race starter finished the race in another car in a points scoring position those points were awarded to the driver who had started the car The final standings based on reference 7 Further information List of American Championship car racing point scoring systems Pos Driver BEV1 nbsp INDY nbsp TAC nbsp ELG nbsp BEV2 nbsp Pts1 nbsp Gaston Chevrolet 1 7 8 6 10302 nbsp Tommy Milton 16 3 1 2 11 9303 nbsp Jimmy Murphy 1 4 6 3 4 8854 nbsp Ralph DePalma 8 5 11 1 DNQ 6055 nbsp Roscoe Sarles 14 17 5 1 5406 nbsp Rene Thomas 2 5207 nbsp Joe Thomas 2 8 10 7 5 3518 nbsp Ralph Mulford 7 9 2 4 3509 nbsp Eddie Hearne 6 6 3 DNQ 3 34510 nbsp Eddie Miller RY DNP 2 26011 nbsp Ira Vail 3 12 14012 nbsp Eddie O Donnell 5 14 8 5 7 11013 nbsp Art Klein 13 8 4 6214 nbsp Ken Goodson R 4 6115 nbsp Jean Chassagne 7 5016 nbsp Tom Alley 10 7 3617 nbsp Percy Ford 6 3518 nbsp Pete Henderson 10 1419 nbsp John DePalma 9 1020 nbsp Harry Thicksten R 8 2 nbsp Jim Crosby 8 0 nbsp Joe Boyer 11 12 9 0 nbsp Al Melcher 9 0 nbsp Eddie Pullen 10 0 nbsp John Thiele R 10 0 nbsp John Boling R 11 0 nbsp Riley Brett R 11 0 nbsp Cliff Durant 15 DNQ 12 Wth 0 nbsp Reeves Dutton 12 0 nbsp Aldo Franchi 13 0 nbsp Ray Howard 13 0 nbsp Jules Goux 15 0 nbsp Willie Haupt 16 0 nbsp Wade Morton R 16 0 nbsp Bennett Hill 17 17 DNP 0 nbsp Jerry Wonderlich R 17 0 nbsp Waldo Stein 18 DNQ DNP 0 nbsp Salvatore Barbarino 18 0 nbsp Louis Chevrolet 18 0 nbsp Howdy Wilcox 19 0 nbsp Jean Porporato 22 0 nbsp Andre Boillot 23 0 nbsp Toland Nicholson DNQ 0 nbsp John White DNQ 0 nbsp Arthur Chevrolet DNQ 0 nbsp Jules Ellingboe DNQ 0 nbsp Frank Elliott DNQ 0 nbsp Kurt Hitke DNQ 0 nbsp Glenn Howard DNQ 0 nbsp Jack Scales DNQ 0 nbsp Dave Lewis DNQ 0 nbsp Alton Soules DNQ 0 nbsp Stuart Wilkinson DNQ 0 nbsp Tom Rooney DNS 0 nbsp W H Seymour DSQ 0Pos Driver BEV1 nbsp INDY nbsp TAC nbsp ELG nbsp BEV2 nbsp Pts Color ResultGold WinnerSilver 2nd placeBronze 3rd placeGreen 4th amp 5th placeLight Blue 6th 10th placeDark 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 notparticipate DNP Not competingIn line notationBold Pole positionItalics Ran fastest race lap Led most race lapsRookie of the YearRookieSee also Edit1920 Indianapolis 500References EditAberg Andreas AAA National Championship 1920 Driver Database Archived from the original on October 19 2012 Retrieved April 26 2011 1920 AAA National Championship Trail ChampCarStats com Archived from the original on March 23 2012 Retrieved April 26 2011 Harms Phil Champ Car Statistics 1920 Motorsport com Archived from the original on September 12 2012 Retrieved April 26 2011 http media indycar com pdf 2011 IICS 2011 Historical Record Book INT6 pdf Archived 2016 03 04 at the Wayback Machine p 77 1920 Beverly Hills Race 5 Beverly Hills race day program The present standings of the championship contenders who race today 25 November 1920 Detroit News 26 September 1920 Sect II p 7 L A Times 21 November 1920 Pt 6 p 1 Motor Age 27 October 1927 Pgs 17 amp 20 500 miles to go The story of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway New York Al Bloemker 1961 p 153 1920 AAA National Championship Trail Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title 1920 AAA Championship Car season amp oldid 1176810893, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
