Rex Houston Mays Jr. (March 10, 1913 – November 6, 1949) was an American racing driver. He was a two-time National Champion, won four poles for the Indianapolis 500, and is generally regarded as one of the greatest drivers of his generation.
Mays made his Indianapolis 500 debut in 1934 and won the pole in 1935, 1936, and again in 1940 and finished second, he returned the next year and finished second again.[1] Mays won the AAA National Championship in 1940 and 1941. However, World War II suspended racing until 1946, denying Mays of what likely would have been the peak of his career. After the war, Mays again won the Indianapolis pole in 1948 but was knocked out by a mechanical problem.
In a race at Milwaukee, a fellow driver, Duke Dinsmore, was thrown from his car during an incident in the south turn. Rex Mays was leading the race and saw Dinsmore's body lying in the middle of the south turn. Rex spun his car into the wall, got out of the car, and pulled the unconscious Duke Dinsmore to safety.[2]
Deathedit
Mays was killed at the age of 36 in a crash during the only Champ Car race held at Del Mar Fairgrounds race track in Del Mar, California in November 1949.[2] In this accident, Mays swerved to miss a car that had crashed in front of him. His car went out of control and flipped, throwing Mays to the track surface, where he was hit by a trailing car.
Awards and honorsedit
Mays has been inducted into the following halls of fame:
In addition, the Milwaukee Mile Indy car race traditionally run the weekend after the Indianapolis 500 was renamed in Mays' honor, recognizing not only his career and tragic death, but his selfless earlier actions in protecting Dinsmore. The Rex Mays Classic ran as such from 1950 to 1987 - at which time the Mays name was eliminated in favor of Miller High Life sponsorship. Riverside International Raceway also held an Indy car race named after Mays, the Rex Mays 300, which ran from 1967 to 1969.[4]
1946 table only includes results of the six races run to "championship car" specifications. Points total includes the 71 races run to "big car" specifications.[6][7]
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Rex Houston Mays Jr March 10 1913 November 6 1949 was an American racing driver He was a two time National Champion won four poles for the Indianapolis 500 and is generally regarded as one of the greatest drivers of his generation Rex MaysMays circa 1935BornRex Houston Mays Jr 1913 03 10 March 10 1913Riverside California U S DiedNovember 6 1949 1949 11 06 aged 36 Del Mar California U S Championship titlesAAA West Coast Big Car 1934 1935 AAA Midwest Big Car 1936 1937 AAA Championship Car 1940 1941 Champ Car career57 races run over 12 yearsBest finish1st 1940 1941 First race1934 Indianapolis 500 Indianapolis Last race1949 Del Mar 100 Del Mar First win1936 Goshen 100 Goshen Last win1946 Milwaukee 100 Milwaukee Wins Podiums Poles8 19 19 Contents 1 Driving career 2 Death 3 Awards and honors 4 Motorsports career results 4 1 AAA Championship Car results 4 2 Indianapolis 500 results 5 References 6 External linksDriving career editMays made his Indianapolis 500 debut in 1934 and won the pole in 1935 1936 and again in 1940 and finished second he returned the next year and finished second again 1 Mays won the AAA National Championship in 1940 and 1941 However World War II suspended racing until 1946 denying Mays of what likely would have been the peak of his career After the war Mays again won the Indianapolis pole in 1948 but was knocked out by a mechanical problem In a race at Milwaukee a fellow driver Duke Dinsmore was thrown from his car during an incident in the south turn Rex Mays was leading the race and saw Dinsmore s body lying in the middle of the south turn Rex spun his car into the wall got out of the car and pulled the unconscious Duke Dinsmore to safety 2 Death editMays was killed at the age of 36 in a crash during the only Champ Car race held at Del Mar Fairgrounds race track in Del Mar California in November 1949 2 In this accident Mays swerved to miss a car that had crashed in front of him His car went out of control and flipped throwing Mays to the track surface where he was hit by a trailing car Awards and honors editMays has been inducted into the following halls of fame Auto Racing Hall of Fame 1963 1 National Sprint Car Hall of Fame 1990 3 International Motorsports Hall of Fame 1993 2 Motorsports Hall of Fame of America 1995 4 Riverside Sport Hall of Fame 5 In addition the Milwaukee Mile Indy car race traditionally run the weekend after the Indianapolis 500 was renamed in Mays honor recognizing not only his career and tragic death but his selfless earlier actions in protecting Dinsmore The Rex Mays Classic ran as such from 1950 to 1987 at which time the Mays name was eliminated in favor of Miller High Life sponsorship Riverside International Raceway also held an Indy car race named after Mays the Rex Mays 300 which ran from 1967 to 1969 4 Motorsports career results editAAA Championship Car results edit Year 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Pos Points1934 INDY23 SPR NYS MFD16 01935 INDY17 MIN SPR NYS ALT LAN 01936 INDY15 GTP1 NYS3 GVCDNS 11th 2001937 INDY33 GVC3 NYS13 8th 4051938 INDY28 NYS2 13th 1651939 INDY16 MIL17 NYS13 01940 INDY2 SPR1 NYS1 1st 1 2251941 INDY2 MIL1 NYS1 1st 1 2251946 INDY30 LAN1 ATL11 ISF1 MIL1 GOSDNQ 9th 6131947 INDY6 MIL2 LANDNQ ATL12 BAI15 MIL10 GOSDNS MIL16 PIK SPR16 ARL4 5th 765 71948 ARL16 INDY19 MIL17 LAN16 MIL4 SPR4 MIL7 DUQ17 ATL10 PIK SPR14 DUQ18 13th 3601949 ARL2 INDY25 MIL7 TRE10 SPR2 MIL3 DUQ15 PIK NYS15 DET11 SPR2 SAC2 DMR18 6th 1 0301946 table only includes results of the six races run to championship car specifications Points total includes the 71 races run to big car specifications 6 7 Indianapolis 500 results edit Year Car Start Qual Rank Finish Laps Led Retired1934 35 23 113 639 15 23 53 0 Front axle1935 33 1 120 736 1 17 123 89 Spring shackle1936 33 1 119 644 1 15 192 12 Out of gas1937 14 23 119 968 10 33 24 0 Overheating1938 8 3 122 845 5 28 45 16 Supercharger1939 15 19 126 413 7 16 145 1 Rings1940 33 1 127 850 1 2 200 59 Running1941 1 2 128 301 2 2 200 38 Running1946 1 14 128 861 2 30 26 3 Manifold1947 9 20 124 412 7 6 200 0 Running1948 5 1 130 577 2 19 129 36 Fuel leak1949 5 2 129 552 4 25 48 12 EngineTotals 1385 266 Starts 12Poles 4Front Row 7Wins 0Top 5 2Top 10 3Retired 9References edit a b Rex Mays IMS Museum Retrieved 2023 10 09 a b c Rex Mays International Motorsports Hall of Fame Retrieved 2023 10 09 Rex Mays www sprintcarhof com Retrieved 2023 10 09 a b Rex Mays www mshf com Retrieved 2023 10 09 Rex Mays Riverside Sport Hall of Fame 2011 02 14 Retrieved 2023 10 09 1946 AAA National Championship Trail www champcarstats com Retrieved 2023 10 09 Capps H Donald October 2009 The Curious Case of the 1946 Season An Inconvenient Championship PDF Rear View Mirror 7 2 1 16 External links editRex Mays ChampCarStats com Rex Mays at Find a Grave Rex Mays Motorsport Memorial Rex Mays driver statistics at Racing Reference Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Rex Mays amp oldid 1188019728, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
