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Rear View Mirror
Volume 7, No.2

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“Pity the poor Historian!” – Denis Jenkinson

The Dangers of Nostalgia
Or, Mammas, Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up To Be Historians...

The Curious Case of the 1946 Season: An Inconvenient Championship

It is practically impossible to kill a myth of this kind once it has become widespread
and perhaps reprinted in other books all over the world.
L.A. Jackets1
Inspector Gregory: “Is there any point to which you wish to draw my attention?”
Sherlock Holmes: “To the curious incident of the dog in the night-time.”
Inspector Gregory: “The dog did nothing in the night-time.”
Sherlock Holmes: “That was the curious incident.” 2


The 1946 season of the American Automobile Association’s National Championship is something of “a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma” as Winston Churchill remarked about Russia in 1939. What follows are some thoughts regarding that curious, inconvenient season and its fate in the hands of the revisionists.

The curious incident regarding the 1946 season is that the national championship season as it was actually conducted that year seems to have vanished and has been replaced with something that is something of exercise in both semantics and rationalization. In 1946, the Contest Board of the American Automobile Association (AAA or Three-A) sanctioned six events which were run to the Contest Rules for national championship events: a minimum race distance of one hundred miles using a track at least one mile in length and for a specified minimum purse, a new requirement beginning with the 1946 season. Those six events were:

Therefore, it would seem quite reasonable to assume that these six events comprised the 1946 national championship season. Indeed, this is the assumption that most with an interest in such matters have held for many years. Any listing of the championship events for the 1946 season will inevitably list these six events and just these six events.

The reality is somewhat different, of course. Rather than just the six events already mentioned, there were an additional seventy-one other events that counted towards the national championship that year, making a total of seventy-seven events in that season’s national championship. Where the problem begins is with the thought that while all seventy-seven events counted towards the season’s championship, only the six mentioned were run using the Contest Rules for national championship events, the other events being run for what are now referred to as “Sprint Cars,” but which were known at the time as “Big Car” events.

The “Big Cars” in 1946 included those cars which could compete in national championship events and those which could compete in the regional or non-national championship events.

NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP SPECIFICATIONS:3
In view of prevailing conditions and circumstances resulting from the war, such as shortage of certain materials and manpower, it was decided that the National Championship specifications would remain the same as they were in 1941/ Maximum displacement limits for 1946 will, therefore, be 183 cu. in. for entries that are equipped with superchargers and 274.59 cu. in. for those that are non-supercharged. Weight restrictions and other general rules and regulations remain unchanged. Cars conforming to National Championship specification will be permitted to participate in Non-Championship sprint races on tracks one mile or more in length.

NON-CHAMPIONSHIP SPECIFICATIONS:4
Displacement limits for Non-Championship cars were increased from the 1941 maximum of 205 cu. in. to 210 cu. in. maximum. An opportunity to overhaul and repair of present equipment is hereby provided for. Also, this may possibly make available a number of engines now in existence that heretofore have been slightly oversize. Cars falling in this specification will be permitted to participate as in the past in sprint races on all tracks one mile or less in length.

From the item in the Contest Board’s December 1946 Bulletin, one can begin to surmise the rationale as to why the 1946 National Championship was basically a Big Car championship: there was legitimate question as to how many owners, drivers, promoters, and cars that would be available that season.

Below is a listing of what I think are the Big Car events that I think comprised the 1946 National Championship. It is based upon a listing of 1946 events that was developed by Buzz Rose.5 Other information for this listing was generated by Michael Ferner, whose efforts to do so deserve the highest praise. Given that a listing of the events as issued by the Contest Board has yet to be found, there are inevitably errors regarding this list, one being that there are more Big Car races than anticipated.

However, it is as good as one that can created at the moment. The winner of the feature race is listed since that was, of course, the main event of the meeting. The Lakewood Speedway event held on 31 March did not count towards the national championship. It was an invitational event and served as the opening of the 1946 season. Whenever possible the Contest Board sanction number is provided.

31 March / Atlanta, Lakewood Speedway (Sanction No. 3961), Mike Benton Sweepstakes, 20 miles.
   Jimmie Wilburn, (Jimmie Wilburn) Morgan Offenhauser
   This was an invitational event and did not count towards the national championship.

14 April / Mechanicsburg, Williams Grove Speedway (Sanction No. 3962), 15 miles
   Walt Ader, (Ted Horn Enterprises) Schrader Offenhauser

28 April / Mechanicsburg, Williams Grove Speedway (Sanction No. 3963), 15 miles
   Ted Horn, (Ted Horn Enterprises) THE Offenhauser

5 May / Trenton, New Jersey State Fairgrounds (Sanction No. 3964), 20 miles
   Joie Chitwood, (Fred Peters) Peters Offenhauser

5 May / Dayton, Dayton Speedway (Sanction No. 3965)
   Initially postponed to 9 June due to track construction delays and then cancelled.

12 May / Winchester, Funk’s Speedway
19 May / Mechanicsburg, Williams Grove Speedway (Sanction No. 3967), 15 miles
   Rain, not held.

19 May / Mechanicsburg, Williams Grove Speedway (Sanction No. 3967), 15 miles
   Joie Chitwood, (Fred Peters) Peters Offenhauser

26 May / Reading, Reading Fairgrounds (Sanction No. 3966), 12.5 miles
   Walt Ader, (Ted Horn Enterprises) Schrader Offenhauser

26 May / Winchester, Funk’s Speedway (Sanction No. 3968), 15 miles
   Bus Wilbert, (Charles Engle) Engle Offenhauser

26 May / Langhorne, Babcock’s Langhorne Speedway (Sanction No. 3969)
   Canceled

30 May / Indianapolis, Indianapolis Motor Speedway, International 500 Mile Sweepstakes (Sanction No. 3960)
   George Robson, (Thorne Engineering) Thorne Sparks

30 May / Trenton, New Jersey State Fairgrounds (Sanction No. 3970), 20 miles
   Johnny Shackleford, (Ted Nyquist) Peters Offenhauser

30 May / Altamont, Tri-County Fairgrounds (Sanction No. 3971), 15 miles
   Bumpy Bumpus, (Bumpy Bumpus) Bagley Hal

2 June / Atlanta, Lakewood Speedway (Sanction No. 3973), 25 miles
   Ted Horn, (Ted Horn Enterprises) THE Offenhauser

9 June / Mechanicsburg, Williams Grove Speedway (Sanction No. 3974), 15 miles
   Joie Chitwood, (Ted Nyquist) Peters Offenhauser

9 June / Thompson, Thompson Speedway (Sanction No. 3972), 15 miles
   Oscar Ridion, (Oscar Ridion)
   This event moved from its original 2 June date to 9 June.

16 June / Flemington, Hunterdon County Fairgrounds (Sanction No. 3975), 12.5 miles
   Ted Horn, (Ted Horn Enterprises) THE Offenhauser

16 June / Indianapolis, Indiana State Fairgrounds (Sanction No. 3976)
   Cancelled

23 June / Greensboro, Central Carolina Fairgrounds, 12.5 miles
   Ted Horn, (Ted Horn Enterprises) THE Offenhauser

23 June / Thompson, Thompson Speedway (Sanction No. 3977), 12.5 miles
   Oscar Ridion

23 June / Dayton, Dayton Speedway, 15 miles
   Elbert Booker, (Lawrence Jewell) Jewell Hal

29 June / Dayton, Dayton Speedway, 10 miles
   Bus Wilbert, (Charley Engle) Engle Offenhauser

30 June / Langhorne, Babcock’s Langhorne Speedway (Sanction No. 3979), 100 miles
   Rex Mays, (Bowes Racing) Bowes/Stevens Bowes/Winfield

30 June / Thompson, Thompson Speedway (Sanction No. 4046), 12.5 miles
   Joe Verebley

30 June / Columbus, Powell Speedway (Sanction No. 3978), 7.5 miles
   Joie Chitwood, (Ted Nyquist) Peters Offenhauser

4 July / Atlanta, Lakewood Speedway (Sanction No. 3981), 20 miles
   Ted Horn, (Ted Horn Enterprises) THE Offenhauser

4 July / Allentown, Allentown Fairgrounds (Sanction No. 3980)
   Cancelled

7 July / Mechanicsburg, Williams Grove Speedway (Sanction No. 3982), 15 miles
   Johnny Shackleford, (Ted Nyquist) Peters Offenhauser

7 July / Atlanta, Lakewood Speedway, 50 miles
   Ted Horn, (Ted Horn Enterprises) THE Offenhauser

14 July / Reading, Reading Fairgrounds, 15 miles
   Joie Chitwood, (Ted Nyquist) Peters Offenhauser

20 July / Selinsgrove, Selinsgrove Speedway, 10 miles
   Bill Holland, (Ralph Malamud) Malamud Offenhauser

20 July / DuBois, Gateway Fairgrounds, 10 miles
   Ted Horn, (Ted Horn Enterprises) THE Offenhauser

21 July / Langhorne, Babcock’s Langhorne Speedway, 20 miles
   George Robson, (Paul Weirick) Sparks/Weirick Offenhauser

21 July / Dayton, Dayton Speedway, 10 miles
   George Connor, (Norm Olson) Olson

22 July / Selinsgrove, Selinsgrove Speedway, 10 miles
   Bill Holland, (Ralph Malamud) Malamud Offenhauser

27 July / Harrington, Kent-Sussex County Fairgrounds, 10 miles
   Ted Horn, (Ted Horn Enterprises) THE Offenhauser

28 July / Mechanicsburg, Williams Grove Speedway, 15 miles
   Ted Horn, (Ted Horn Enterprises) THE Offenhauser

3 August / Washington, Washington County Fairgrounds, 10 miles
   Bill Holland, (Ralph Malamud) Malamud Offenhauser

4 August / Columbus, Powell speedway, 7.5 miles
   George Robson, (Paul Weirick) Sparks/Weirick Offenhauser

10 August / Bedford, Bedford County Fairgrounds (Sanction No. 3992), 10 miles
   Ted Horn, (Ted Horn Enterprises) THE Offenhauser

11 August / Batavia, Genesee County Fairgrounds (Sanction No. 3994), 10 miles
   Bill Holland, (Ralph Malamud) Malamud Offenhauser

11 August / Langhorne, Babcock’s Langhorne Speedway, 20 miles
   George Robson, (Paul Weirick) Sparks/Weirick Offenhauser

11 August / Winchester, Funk’s Speedway, 10 miles
   Elbert Booker, (Lawrence Jewell) Jewell Hal

18 August / Mechanicsburg, Williams Grove Speedway, 15 miles
   George Robson, (Paul Weirick) Sparks/Weirick Offenhauser

18 August / Skowhegan, Skowhegan Fairgrounds, 10 miles
   Ted Horn, (Ted Horn Enterprises) THE Offenhauser

24 August / Hamburg, Erie County Fairgrounds, 10 miles
   Ted Horn, (Ted Horn Enterprises) THE Offenhauser

25 August / Hopwood, Uniontown Speedway, 10 miles
   Ted Horn, (Ted Horn Enterprises) THE Offenhauser

25 August / Dayton, Powell Speedway, 10 miles
   George Robson, (Paul Weirick) Sparks/Weirick Offenhauser

30 August / Essex Junction, Champaign Valley Fairgrounds, 10 miles
   Bill Holland, (Ralph Malamud) Malamud Offenhauser

31 August / Flemington, Hunterdon County Fairgrounds, 10 miles
   Bill Holland, (Ralph Malamud) Malamud Offenhauser

31 August / Altamont, Tri-County Fairgrounds, 10 miles
   Ted Horn, (Ted Horn Enterprises) THE Offenhauser

31 August / Hamburg, Erie County Fairgrounds, 10 miles
   Bill Holland, (Ralph Malamud) Malamud Offenhauser

1 September / Flemington, Hunterdon County Fairgrounds, 10 miles
   Bill Holland, (Ralph Malamud) Malamud Offenhauser

1 September / Winchester, Funk’s Speedway, 10 miles
   Charles van Acker

1 September / Richmond, Strawberry Hill Raceway, Atlantic Rural Expositions Grounds
   Cancelled

2 September / Atlanta, Lakewood Speedway, 100 (97) miles
   George Connor, (Ed Walsh) Walsh/Moore/Kurtis Offenhauser

2 September / Flemington, Hunterdon County Fairgrounds, 10 miles
   Bill Holland, (Ralph Malamud) Malamud Offenhauser

2 September / Richmond, Virginia State Fairgrounds
   Cancelled

6 September / Rutland, Vermont State Fairgrounds, 10 miles
   Lee Wallard, (Ted Nyquist) Peters Offenhauser

7 September / Port Royal, Juniata County Fairgrounds, 8 miles
   Ted Horn, (Ted Horn Enterprises) THE Offenhauser

8 September / Mechanicsburg, Williams Grove Speedway, 15 miles
   Ted Horn, (Ted Horn Enterprises) THE Offenhauser

15 September / Reading, Reading Fairgrounds, 12.5 miles
   Bill Holland, (Ralph Malamud) Malamud Offenhauser

15 September / Indianapolis, Indiana State Fairgrounds (Sanction No. 4014), 100 miles
   Rex Mays, (Bowes Racing) Bowes/Stevens Bowes/Winfield

22 September / Milwaukee/ West Allis, Wisconsin State Fairgrounds, 100 miles
   Rex Mays, (Bowes Racing) Bowes/Stevens Bowes/Winfield

22 September / Great Barrington, Great Barrington Horse Track, 4 miles
   Joie Chitwood, (Ted Nyquist) Peters Offenhauser

22 September / Trenton, New Jersey State Fairgrounds
   Cancelled

22 September / Dayton, Powell Speedway, 5 miles
   Bill Holland, (Ralph Malamud) Malamud Offenhauser

23 September / Allentown, Allentown Fairgrounds, 10 miles
   Bill Holland, (Ralph Malamud) Malamud Offenhauser

28 September / Bloomsburg, Columbia County Fairgrounds, 10 miles
   Bill Holland, (Ralph Malamud) Malamud Offenhauser

28 September / Shelby, Cleveland County Fairgrounds, 10 miles
   Walt Ader, (Ted Horn Enterprises) Schrader Offenhauser

28 September / Atlanta, Lakewood Speedway, 20 miles
   Ted Horn, (Ted Horn Enterprises) THE Offenhauser

29 September / Trenton, New Jersey State Fairgrounds, 20 miles
   Joie Chitwood, (Ted Nyquist) Peters Offenhauser

4 October / Frederick, Frederick Fairgrounds
   Cancelled

5 October / Winston-Salem, Forsythe County Fairgrounds, 10 miles
   Hank Rogers or Tommy Hinnershitz

5 October / Atlanta, Lakewood Speedway, 20 miles
   Bill Holland, (Ralph Malamud) Malamud Offenhauser

6 October / Goshen, Good Time Track, 100 miles
   Tony Bettenhausen, (Bill Corley) Petillo Offenhauser

6 October / Mechanicsburg, Williams Grove Speedway, 15 miles
   Lucky Lux

6 October / Greensboro, Central Carolina Fairgrounds, 10 miles
   Bill Holland, (Ralph Malamud) Malamud Offenhauser

6 October / Dayton, Powell Speedway, 25 miles
   Hal Robson, (Paul Weirick) Sparks/Weirick Offenhauser

12 October / Richmond, Strawberry Hill Raceway, Atlantic Rural Expositions Grounds, 10 miles
   Ted Horn, (Ted Horn Enterprises) THE Offenhauser

12 October / Charlotte, Southern State Fairgrounds, 10 miles
   Bill Holland, (Ralph Malamud) Malamud Offenhauser

12 October / Spartanburg, Piedmont Interstate Fairgrounds
   Cancelled

13 October / Greensboro, Central Carolina Fairgrounds, 7.5 miles
   Bill Holland, (Ralph Malamud) Malamud Offenhauser

19 October / Raleigh, North Carolina State Fairgrounds, 10 miles
   Walt Ader, (Ted Horn Enterprises) Schrader Offenhauser

26 October / Charlotte, Southern State Fairgrounds, 15 miles
   Hank Rogers, (Ted Nyquist) Peters Offenhauser

27 October / Mechanicsburg, Williams Grove Speedway, 25 miles
   Bill Holland, (Ralph Malamud) Malamud Offenhauser

27 October / Greensboro, Central Carolina Fairgrounds
   Cancelled

9 November / Shelby, Cleveland County Fairgrounds, 15 miles
   Ted Horn, (Ted Horn Enterprises) THE Offenhauser

10 November / Richmond, Strawberry Hill Raceway, Atlantic Rural Expositions Grounds, 12.5 miles
   Tommy Hinnershitz, (Ted Horn Enterprises) Garnett Offenhauser

There is much missing from this listing of what are thought to be or could or should be the 1946 national championship events. At some point the sanction sheets for the events and the payout sheets that were submitted to the Contest will need to be cross-referenced. Then there is the minor problem of tracking down the contemporary reports for each event, using primarily National Speed Sport News and Illustrated Speedway News as well the reports that appeared in the various newspapers at the time. To a limited extent I attempted to do this, utilizing the AAA records that are on microfilm and available from Gordon White.

In addition to these items, there are several other things that are interesting and should be recorded as well, the driver, car, and mechanic registrations being one of them. These are recorded on the payout sheets that were returned to the Contest Board. Here is the list for the International 500 Mile Sweepstakes race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on 30 May:

Registrations

Drivers
No. 1402 – Free, Roland R.
No. 1408 – Miller, Chet
No. 1417 – Brisko, Frank
No. 1421 – McCoy, Delbert E.
No. 1431 – McQuinn, Harry T.
No. 1439 – Barringer, George
No. 1443 – Lenki, Joe
No. 1450 – Bettenhausen, Tony
No. 1460 – Rose, Mauri
No. 1465 – Romevich, Pete
No. 1469 – Wilburn, Jimmie
No. 1475 – Durant, Lewis
No. 1477 – Brunmeir, Arvul
No. 1479 – Mays, Rex
No. 1485 – Wilbert, Edward “Bus”
No. 1492 – Miller, Al
No. 1494 – Banks, Henry
No. 1496 – Mitchell, Henry Walter
No. 1498 – Webb, Spider
No. 1510 – Andres, Emil
No. 1512 – Tomei, Louis
No. 1515 – Crawford, Charles L.
No. 1517 – Snowberger, Russell
No. 1522 – Bardowski, Zenon (Bud)
No. 1545 – Booker, Elbert
No. 1551 – Phillips, Overton A.
No. 1565 – McGurk, Frank J.
No. 1568 – Richards, Ray
No. 1570 – DeVore, Billy
No. 1581 – VanAcker, Charles E.
No. 1594 – Hansen, Mel
No. 1598 – Cantlon, William (Shorty)
No. 1606 – Sheffler, Bayard (Bill)
No. 1612 – Thorne, Joe
No. 1615 – Meyer, Louis
No. 1625 – Hepburn, Ralph
No. 1629 – Fohr, Myron
No. 1656 – Williams, Merril Doc
No. 1659 – Wearne, Frank
No. 1667 – Ardinger, Herbert
No. 1679 – Winnai, Freddie
No. 1682 – Ulbrich, Louis
No. 1698 – Caracciola, Rudolf
No. 2096 – Davis, Floyd E.
No. 2121 – Houser, Thane
No. 2139 – Arnold, Billy
No. 2150 – Schell, Harry O’Reilly
No. 2353 – Brubaker, James O.
No. 1415 – Jackson, Jimmy

Cars
No. 1404 – McManus, Robert J.
No. 1418 – Brisko, Frank
No. 1422 – Nowiak, Ted
No. 1434 – Henning, H.C.
No. 1436 – Jackson, James M.
No. 1441 – Barringer, George
No. 1447 – Lenki, Joe
No. 1448 – Lenki, Joe
No. 1452 – Miller, Chet
No. 1454 – Van Emmerick, Richard
No. 1472 – Wolfe, Ervin
No. 1482 – Brisko, Frank
No. 1486 – Mitchell Corp., Inc.
No. 1501 – Arbuthnot, R.M.
No. 1508 – Dixon, Jack
No. 1519 – Cott, R.C.
No. 1526 – Chai, Jimmy
No. 1529 – Kuehn, George L.
No. 1534 – Fageol, L.J.
No. 1537 – Marchese, Carl
No. 1542 – Rassey, Louis
No. 1549 – Phillips, Querton A.
No. 1553 – White, Bill
No. 1558 – Flavell, Robert J.
No. 1572 – Bardowski, Zenon “Bud”
No. 1586 – Schroeder, Gordon
No. 1590 – Winfield Eng. Corp.
No. 1601 – Don Lee, Inc.
No. 1608 – Sheffler, Bayard “Bill”
No. 1616 – Thorne Engineering Corp.
No. 1617 – Thorne Engineering Corp.
No. 1622 – D.T. Greene & I.W. Holland
No. 1654 – Hughes Bros.
No. 2083 – Page, Rose
No. 2088 – George Robson & Chet Holland
No. 2113 – Z. Arkus-Duntov
No. 2124 – L. Jewell

Mechanics
No. 1401 – Moyer, Fred
No. 1406 – Tremp, Wm. P., Jr.
No. 1410 – Clidinst, Robert
No. 1411 – Moore, Lou
No. 1413 – Metzler, Edwin A.
No. 1414 – Hansding, Robert W.
No. 1424 – Nowiak, Ted
No. 1425 – Tschan, Cleon
No. 1426 – Eastridge, Robert C.
No. 1428 – Pollak, Mike
No. 1429 – Wall, Larry
No. 1430 – Jackson, Robert T.
No. 1433 – Henning, H.C.
No. 1438 – Dunning, Roscoe
No. 1449 – Burns, Wm. P.
No. 1455 – Taylor, James
No. 1458 – Lewis, Marble O.
No. 1459 – Lemons, Ralph M.
No. 1460 – Caldwell, Jack
No. 1464 – Sage, Harlan
No. 1468 – Wimmer, Harry M.
No. 1471 – Rostan, Theodore
No. 1474 – Sims, Arthur M.
No. 1476 – Hill, James R.
No. 1478 – Boyd, Thornton
No. 1481 – Brisko, Gerald H.
No. 1484 – Triplett, James W.
No. 1488 – Walsh, Ed
No. 1490 – Hosso, Joseph
No. 1505 – Mosley, William Edward
No. 1516 – Clark, Pete
No. 1521 – Lynch, George A.
No. 1523 – Cox, George Russell
No. 1524 – Myers, Walter
No. 1525 – Garnant, Russel
No. 1527 – Chai, Jimmy
No. 1532 – Holland, Chet
No. 1539 – Marchese, Carl
No. 1541 – Marchese, Tudy
No. 1544 – Rassey, Louis
No. 1547 – Groue, Edward B.
No. 1555 – Marcenac, Jean
No. 1560 – Benefiel, Bennie G.W.
No. 1561 – Terry, Clyde C.
No. 1567 – Ward, Harvey V.
No. 1577 – Copple, Arla E.
No. 1588 – Johnson, Ted
No. 1589 – Mansfield, Owen V.
No. 1592 – Winfield, W.C.
No. 1603 – Ord, M.L.
No. 1610 – Bromme, Louis
No. 1620 – Offutt, Eddie
No. 1621 – Thorne, Joe
No. 1624 – Holland, Ivan W.
No. 1631 – Mayhew, Arthur
No. 1658 – Powlen, L.J.
No. 1663 – Campbell, Don
No. 1670 – Gauss, Herman N.
No. 1671 – Genard, Gene
No. 1681 – Buffo, John J.
No. 1687 – Rae, John H.
No. 1691 – Huss, George
No. 1700 – Reinhardt, George A.
No. 2077 – Willit, Robert
No. 2085 – DeRosa, Frank J.
No. 2090 – Mann, Alfred
No. 2099 – Chappell, James B.
No. 2102 – Kennington, Tony
No. 2107 – France, Bill
No. 2108 – Hood, Albert A.
No. 2109 – Tilly, Thomas A.
No. 2116 – Chinetti, Luigi
No. 2118 – Harrison, Harry L.
No. 2120 – Mangold, Freddie
No. 2126 – Taylor, W.
No. 2130 – Ruggeri, Emilio
No. 2131 – Bertocchi, Guarino
No. 2137 – Hanson, Robert W.
No. 2141 – O’Brien, William
No. 2142 – Unversaw, Martin L.
No. 2351 – Helmka, G.L.
No. 2360 – Franzzini, Carmie
No. 2365 – Schmitt, Harold J.
No. 2367 – Krueger, Otsie
No. 2372 – Binelli, A.
No. 2373 – Salmon, R.

Then there is the sorting out of each individual event, that is the track information, heats, prize money, and so forth such as the promoter and the sanctioning fee and other related data. Here is information from the payout sheet for Sanction No. 3970 which was held at Trenton on 30 May:

Event No. 1 -- Time Trials

Event No. 2 -- 8 mile Heat //
Starters: Cars qualifying 1st, 4th, 7th, 10th, 13th, and 16th in time trials, starting in inverted order. Cars finishing 1st, 2nd & 3rd qualify for Event 7. Cars finishing 4th, 5th, & 6th, start Event 5.

Event No. 3 -- 8 mile Heat //
Starters: Cars qualifying 2nd, 5th, 8th, 11th, 14th, and 17th in time trials, starting in inverted order. Cars finishing 1st, 2nd, & 3rd qualify for Event 7. Car finishing 4th, 5th, & 6th, start in Event 5.

Event No. 4 -- 8 mile Heat //
Starters: Cars qualifying 3rd, 6th, 9th, 12th, 15th, & 18th in time trials, starting in inverted order. Cars finishing 1st, 2nd, & 3rd qualify for Event 7. Car finishing 4th, 5th, & 6th, start in Event 5.

Event No. 5 -- Consolation Race, 8 miles //
Starters: non-winners in Events 2, 3, & 4 and remainder of field from time trials up to a limit of 16 starters in inverted order. Cars finishing 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, & 7th start in Event 7.

Event No. 6 -- Special Match Race : Starters and distance to be announced.

Event No, 7 -- Feature Race - 20 miles //
Starters: cars finishing 1st, 2nd, & 3rd in Events 2, 3, & 4, and 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, & 7th in Event 5 starting in conventional order. Cars will start according to qualifying time. Fastest car on pole.

Prize money was as follows:

Event no. 2 // 1st, $40; 2nd, $30; 3rd, $25

Event no. 3 // 1st, $30; 2nd, $25; 3rd, $20

Event no. 4 // 1st, $25; 2nd, $20; 3rd, $15

Event no. 5 // 1st, $45; 2nd, $34; 3rd, $20; 4th, $19; 5th, $18; 6th, $17; 7th, $16; 8th, $15; 9th, $14; 10th, $14

Event no. 6 // $75

Event no. 7 // 1st, $450; 2nd, $300; 3rd, $200; 4th, $150; 5th, $100; 6th, $80; 7th, $60; 8th, $50; 9th, $40; 10th, $30; 11th, $23

Here are the pay-outs per event -- this is all hand-written so not easy to make out at times:

Event no. 2 // Wilbert, $40; Cooney, $30; Chronister, $25

Event no. 3 // Holland, $30; Zubuski, $25; Verbely,$20

Event no. 4 // Ader, $25; Light, $20; Hinnershitz, $15

Event no. 5 // Stableford, $45; Bailey, $34; Frick, $20; Stine, $19; Johns, $18; Koenig, $17; Jones, $16; Hoffman, $15

Event no 6 // Schackleford, $75

Event no. 7 // Schackleford, $450; Holland, $300; Ader, $200; Wilbert, $150; Zalucki, $100; Bailey, $80; Verbely, $60; Stine, $50; Cooney, $40; Johns, $30; Chronister, $23

This should provide some idea of the amount of work that is involved in doing the nudge work necessary to unearth and then provide the raw material needed to begin the “real” work of first sorting it out and then making sense of it all.

There is one item from the Three-A Contest Board which does establish that there was what was essentially a “Big Car” national championship for the 1946 season:

POINT SYSTEM6
In view of the fact that the payment of appearance deals according to point standing was discontinued in 1946, it was the consensus of opinion that the combined point standing is no longer necessary nor desirable. The Board, therefore, voted to revert to the point system used prior to the war which provides for Sectional Championship as well as National Championship. Points earned in all National Championship programs appear in the National Championship point standing only, etc.

This is the points schedule for the 1946 season that Michael Ferner believes was in use:

Miles 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th 11th 12th
1 2 1.6 1.2 - - - - - - - - -
2 4 3 2 - - - - - - - - -
3 6 5 3.5 2 - - - - - - - -
4 8 6 4 3 - - - - - - - -
5 10 8 6 4 - - - - - - - -
6 12 10 7 5 - - - - - - - -
7 14 11 8 5.5 - - - - - - - -
8 16 13 10 6 - - - - - - - -
10 20 16 12 8 4 2 - - - - - -
12.5 25 20 15 10 5 2.5 - - - - - -
15 30 24 18 12 6 3 - - - - - -
20 40 32 24 16 12 8 - - - - - -
25 50 40 30 25 20 10 5 - - - - -
30 60 48 42 36 30 24 18 12 6 - - -
35 70 56 49 42 35 28 21 14 7 - - -
40 80 64 56 48 40 32 24 16 8 - - -
45 90 72 63 54 45 36 27 18 9 - - -
50 100 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 5 - -
75 150 120 105 90 75 60 45 37.5 30 22.5 - -
100 200 160 140 120 100 80 60 50 40 30 20 10
150 300 240 210 180 150 120 90 75 60 45 30 15
300 600 480 420 360 300 240 180 150 120 90 60 30
500 1000 800 700 600 500 400 300 250 200 150 100 50

Then, there is this interesting little bit of information from Speed Age:

“It’s a Fact”7
Q -- I wish to obtain some data concerning AAA Championship races. I would like to know the first five finishers for every race in 1949 (sic, 1946). -- Juan A. Buschiazzo, Buenos Aires, Argentina
A: The results are as follows:
Indianapolis
Robson
Jackson
Horn
Andres
Chitwood

Langhorne
Mays
Robson
Horn
Andres
Devore

Milwaukee
Mays
Horn
Andres
Dinsmore
Rogers

Atlanta
Connor
Truchan
Andres
Dardowski
Langley

Indianapolis Fairgrounds
Mays
Rose
Andres
Horn
Bettenhausen

Goshen
Bettenhausen
Horn
Dinsmore
Andres
Rogers

This is such an obvious signal that what was assumed and what happened were at odds that missing its significance is still an embarrassment:

By Their Numbers You Shall Know Them8
Numbers have been assigned the big-car drivers on the basis of their standing in the AAA national championship list.

Several numbers are among the missing. The old jinx No. 13 is out for obvious reasons. The contest board rules specify that this number shall never be used on a race car.

The board also withholds numbers 11, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, 90 and 100 to avoid confusion among officials timing and checking races. If the observer, in calling the numbers to the checkers, should say "Twenty" and follow it by the number of the next car such as "Six," the checker would probably wind up with number 26. At least that's the way the contest board figures it.

Numbers 2 and 73 will not be issued this year. They are to be reserved in memory of George Robson, 1946 Indianapolis winner, and George Barringer. Both were fatally injured last Labor Day at Atlanta, Ga. The numbers assigned for the 1947 season are:

1 Ted Horn
2 *George Robson
3 Emil Andres
4 Bill Holland
5 T. Hinnershitz
6 Walter Ader
7 Jimmy Jackson
8 Joie Chitwood
9 Rex Mays
10 Duke Dinsmore
12 Louis Durant
14 George Connors
15 Henry Rodgers
16 Tony Bettenhausen
17 Earl Johns
18 Gigi Villoresi
19 J. Shackleford
21 Lee Wallard
22 Red Byron
23 T. Mattson
24 Elbert Booker
25 E. Zalucki
26 Frank Warne
27 Al Fleming
28 Mauri Rose
29 Ottis Stine
31 E. Zimmerman
32 Danny Goss
33 Charlie Rogers
34 Walt Brown
35 Warren Bates
36 Spider Webb
37 Buddie Rusch
38 Bud Bardowski
39 Steve Truchan
41 Billy DeVore
42 E. Casterline
43 Buddy Schuman
44 Charles Van Acker
45 Lucky Lux
46 Joe Langley
47 Larry (Fred) Smith
48 George Culp
49 Robert Cooney
51 James Gibbons
52 Joe Verebly
53 Milt Frankhouser
54 Hal Robson
55 Red Redmond
56 George Metzler
57 Mark Light
58 Oscar Ridlon
59 O. Epperly
61 Floyd Davis
62 John Carpenter
63 Earl Horn
64 Duke Nalon
65 Carl Ott
66 John Matera
67 Bob Chronister
68 Bus Warke
69 N. Houser
71 E. Terry
72 Al Miller
73 *George Barringer
74 Herman Owens
75 Clay Corbett 76 George Rutty
77 Stan Jones
78 Lenn Koenig
79 J. Etheridge
81 James Fearick
82 V. D. Morelock
83 Mike Bailey
84 Charlie Breslin
85 J. Holland
86 Jim Brubaker
87 P. Becker
88 Joe Martin
89 D. Russell
91 Mark Sooy
92 C. Smith
93 Bob Simpson
94 B. Johnson
95 Charles Miller
96 Speed McFee
97 Arthur York
98 H. Steiger
99 William Randall

Then there is also this, which was quite a surprise to me:

DISTRIBUTION OF NATIONAL PRIZE FUND FOR 1946 TO THE DRIVERS AND CAR OWNERS HOLDING TEN HIGHEST PLACES IN NATIONAL POINT STANDING9

Pos Driver Amount Car Owner Car No Amount
1 Ted Horn $490.00 Ralph Malamud # 29 $490.00
2 George Robson $350.00 Ted Horn # 29 $350.00
3 Emil Andres $245.00 Joe Thorne # 15 $245.00
4 Bill Holland $157.50 Ted Horn # 16 $157.50
5 Tommy Hinnershitz $122.50 Ted Nyquist # 6 $122.50
6 Walt Ader $105.00 Ted Horn # 4 $105.00
7 Jimmy Jackson $70.00 Jimmy Jackson # 61 $70.00
8 Joie Chitwood $70.00 Fred Peters # 24 $70.00
9 Rex Mays $70.00 Boyle Racing Team # 29 $70.00
10 Duke Dinsmore $70.00 Frank Brisko # 18 $70.00
$1,750.00 $1,750.00
Grand Total $3,500.00

Contributors to 1946 National Prize Fund:

R.M. Hollingshead Corporation $2,500.00
J.H. Mehan $1,000.00
$3,500.00

So, then, what does all this mean, if anything? John Glenn Printz suggests that this is really as much as exercise in semantics as it is in history. When more car owners and drivers showed with more cars than the Contest Board expected as the season wore on, by the end of the season there must have been some second-guessing that took place. Given that the national champion was Ted Horn regardless of how the points were calculated, it was probably more a situation of “no harm, no foul” and the events not run to the Contest Rules for national championship events were ignored and then basically forgotten.

Much work remains to be done on this and I hope, some day, to get around to being able to finally have something that some smart young historian can use and provide us a better idea of the story of this season.

More to follow at some point in the future. At any rate, until then here are some dots that could be connected to get at least some idea about the season.

Mentioned In Dispatches

Are the British “Into Nostalgia”?

In his review of The Decline and Fall of the British Empire, 1781-1997, by Piers Brendon in the New York Review of Books,10 Roderick MacFarquhar used “nostalgia” as his theme in discussing the book. In his opening sentence of the review, MacFarquhar writes, “Piers Brendon has written a splendid popular history of the British Empire, illustrating once again the continuing nostalgia for and ambivalence about the glory days of the United Kingdom, when it ruled a quarter of the globe: fifty-eight countries, four hundred million people, fourteen million square miles.”

MacFarquhar continues in the vein several paragraphs later: “Notwithstanding this list of failures, the popularity of books like Brendon’s confirms that the British want to cling to the glories of their past. They are into nostalgia. Films about World War II or TV costume classics for onward dispatch to PBS can be sure of good audiences. And there’s always James Bond, punching above Britain’s weight. Maybe nostalgia conveniently cloaks a continuing inability to find a role between the Channel and the Atlantic.”

Later, MacFarquhar writes, “The benefit of nostalgia is that the Commonwealth can flash back into Empire, past can trump present.”

As I read the review, I kept coming back to this opening theme that MacFarquhar used, nostalgia. While MacFarquhar certainly did not have automobile racing in mind as he wrote his review, the thought that what he did write just might have something to consider regarding that realm did enter my mind. As I spent a few days mulling it over, my various thoughts about what MacFarquhar wrote about the British and nostalgia seemed to coalesce to the point that I found myself largely in agreement with him.

Certainly, this a generalization and like all generalizations it only goes so far, not necessarily applying in any number of individual cases, of course. However, it does seem that this just might be one explanation for the preponderance of Britons on something such as The Nostalgia Forum or the Ten-Tenths Motorsport History Forum.

Notes

  1. Former chief historian to the Air Ministry, as quoted in Richard J. Evans, Lying About Hitler: History, Holocaust, and the David Irving Trial, New York: Basic Books, 2001, p. 169.
  2. A. Conan Doyle, “The Adventure of Silver Blaze.”
  3. Official Bulletin AAA Contest Board, 20 November 1945, p. 2.
  4. Ibid.
  5. Buzz Rose, The Eastern Bull Rings: The History of the Eastern Big Car Championships 1945-1960, Glendale, Arizona: Rose Racing Publications, 2005, pp. 34-35.
  6. Official Bulletin AAA Contest Board, 18 December 1946, p. 3.
  7. “It’s a Fact,” Speed Age, June 1953.
  8. “By Their Numbers You Shall Know Them,” Speed Age, May 1947, Vol. 1 No. 1, p. 30.
  9. “Distribution of National Prize Fund for 1946 to the Drivers and Car Owners Holding Ten Highest Places in the National Point Standing,” part of Gordon White Collection of AAA Contest Board records on microfilm; taken from what appears to be either a folder or a scrapbook section entitled “AAA records resume,” no date or publisher or other indications of origin. The numbers “37957” are in the lower left-hand corner.
  10. Roderick MacFarquhar, “The Pride of Empire,” The New York Review of Books, Vol. 56 No. 14, 24 September 2009. MacFarquhar is the Leroy B. Williams Professor of History and Political Science at Harvard University.