1916 AAA National Championship

Hello!

In my previous tread I asked to TNF historic truth experts about 1909 AAA National Cahmpionship. Thanks to Mr. Capps and Mr. Harms I understood that there is no point to try to restore the vision how did actually all the standings from these retrospective championships look. Those drivers were already named champions by Motor Age magazine and later AAA Contest Board and Russ Catlin proved that using championship points. Thats my conclusion about it.

Now about the first championship that actually took place in 1916. There also are some unclear things in Mr. Harms’ PDF files wich I want to understand or maybe correct.

Point system. Many thanks to Don Capps and fines!

Position / Distance (Miles)
100 150 200 250 300 400
1st 500 600 700 800 900 1000 points
2nd 260 320 360 420 470 520
3rd 140 170 190 220 240 270
4th 80 90 100 120 130 140
5th 50 55 60 70 80 90
6th 30 35 40 45 50 60
7th 15 20 25 30 40 50
8th 10 15 20 25 30 40
9th 0 0 10 15 25 30
10th 0 0 0 10 20 25

What about flagged drivers? There is again no constancy in Harms’ tables. Sometimes they get points sometimes not. I would like to think that this could depend of the number of laps completed but there is also no constancy.
Example: Round 1, May 13, Sheepshead Bay. Bert Watson completes 70 of 75 laps (93.3%) - gets points. Round 7, August 15, Tacoma. Billy Chandler completes 148 of 150 laps (98.7%) – doesn’t get points.

What about shared drives? Example: Round 2 May 30, Indy. Pete Henderson (6th) is relieved by Eddie Rickenbacker who drives Maxwell to finish. PH completes 51 laps, ER – 69. PH earns 22 of 50 (for 6th place) ponts, ER -0. Wilcox and Chandler are also relieved (by Gil Anderson and Frank Elliott) but there is no information about how many and which laps each of them completed. Wilcox and Chandler get full points for theyr places.
Were there really no points for relief drivers? I think there were otherwise there was no point for Johnny Aitken to take Wilcox’s car in penultimate round US GP at Santa Monica.
Also: There lacks constancy about sharing the points between the drivers.
And about those episodes when there is no info about laps completed by starting and relief driver. Was this unclear already after the race when the points should be awarded or is it unclear today because of poor saving of that info? I vote for first. Another version: if the same driver both started and finished but was relieved and then took the steering wheel back, then it is considered the same as he completed full distance (what could be the reason of Wilcox and Chalndler getting full points at Indy).

I revised Harms’ data and made my own version of the standinds of 1916. I gave points for every driver that finished the race, gave points to relief drivers if there is info about laps completed and corrected some other things. I also rounded the points for starting and relief drivers to closest intiger e. g.: 51/69 of 120 laps (Henderson and Rickenbacker at Indy). It’s 42.5 / 57.5 %. 50 points shared as 21.25 and 28.75 = 21 and 29.

1 Dario Resta 4200
2 Johnny Aitken 4023
3 Eddie Rickenbacker 2972
4 Ralph DePalma 1895
5 Earl Cooper 1365
6 Wilbur D'Alene 1130
7 Tommy Milton 740
8 Pete Henderson 676
9 Frank Galvin 655
10 Ralph Mulford 620
11 Howdy Wilcox 597
12 Josef Christiaens 570
13 Ira Vail 550
14 Dave Lewis 525
15 Jules DeVigne 350
= AH Patterson 350
17 William Weightman 297
18 Hughie Hughes 290
19 Clyde Rhoades 270
20 Eddie Pullen 240
= George Buzane 240
22 Eddie O'Donnell 195
23 Charles Devlin 140
24 Art Klein 135
25 Jack LeCain 120
26 Omar Toft 115
27 Glover Ruckstell 90
28 Barney Oldfield 80
= Billy Chandler 80
= Earl DeVore 80
31 Mike Moosie 61
32 Ora Haibe 60
33 George Adams 55
= Mel Stringer 55
= Jack Gable 55
36 Mel Sorenson 54
37 Sterling Price 50
38 Bert Watson 35
39 Art Johnson 30
= Fred McCarthy 30
= James Benedict 30
42 Andy Burt 25
43 William Muller 20

And here are the things that I don’t like in Harm’s data:

1) May 13, Sheepshead Bay
Everything clear

2) May 30, Indianapolis
21.25 points for Henderson, 28.75 for Rickenbacker

3) Jun 11, Chicago
The race is 375 miles. That looks closer to 400 than 300, so I awarded drivers with points as for 400 miles:
1. Resta 1000
2. DePalma 520
3. Christiaens 270
4. O’Donnell 140
5. Galvin 90
6. Vail 60
7. D’Alene 50
8. Gable 40
9. McCarthy 30
10. Lewis 25

4) Jun 24, Des Moines
Everything clear

5) Jul 5, Minneapolis
15 points for flagged George Buzane

6) Jul 15, Omaha
35 points for flagged DePalma (despite no info about laps completed)

7) Aug 15, Tacoma
Race is 300 miles. So the winner should get 900 points. My version:
1. Rickenbacker 900
2. Milton 470
3. Lewis 240
4. DePalma 130
5. Henderson 80
6. Toft 50
7. Chandler 40
8. Price 30
9. Sorenson 19/Moosie 6

8) Sep 4, Cincinnati
Generally agree with Harms. Only Haibe should be 7th, Resta 8th but points are correct.

9) Sep 9, Indy
10 points for DePalma.

10) Sep 30, Sheepshead Bay
Everything clear.

11) Oct 14, Chicago
Everything clear.

12) Oct 28, Sheepshead Bay
15 points for Hughes, 10 for Klein.

13) Nov 16, Santa Monica
80 points for Patterson, 50 for Vail.

14) Nov 18, Santa Monica
Obviously the race was scheduled for 400 miles which is not mentioned. My version about points:
1. Wilcox 417/Aitken 583
2. Cooper 520
3. Patterson 270
4. Rhode 140
5. Weightman 57 / Rickenbacker 33
Vanderbilt Cup and Grand Prize were the only road races of the season. Maybe the rules were different? Maybe flagged in road race doesn’t mean the same as flagged in oval race? In Harms’ data there is no flagged driver awarded with points in both road races.

15) Nov 30, Ascot
150 mile race, so the winner should’ve got only 600 points:
1. Rickenbacker 600
2. Cooper 320
3. Pullen 170
4. Ruckstell 90
5. Moosie 55
6. Vail 35
7. Toft 20
8. Price 15

So that’s what I did. Now I’m waiting what the experts will say. Let’s hope for squeezing out again something from same Phil.

Shame that nor Resta or Aitken took part in final race. Looks like all was very open.

Thanks!

I am about to finally finish an article on this season. It would have been wrapped up some time ago, but most the materials I was using for the article got mislaid and only recently surfaced. I will take a closer look at some of the questions and hopefully have something like an answer if possible.

Originally posted by Agnis
What about flagged drivers? There is again no constancy in Harms’ tables. Sometimes they get points sometimes not. I would like to think that this could depend of the number of laps completed but there is also no constancy.
Example: Round 1, May 13, Sheepshead Bay. Bert Watson completes 70 of 75 laps (93.3%) - gets points. Round 7, August 15, Tacoma. Billy Chandler completes 148 of 150 laps (98.7%) – doesn’t get points.

What about shared drives? Example: Round 2 May 30, Indy. Pete Henderson (6th) is relieved by Eddie Rickenbacker who drives Maxwell to finish. PH completes 51 laps, ER – 69. PH earns 22 of 50 (for 6th place) ponts, ER -0. Wilcox and Chandler are also relieved (by Gil Anderson and Frank Elliott) but there is no information about how many and which laps each of them completed. Wilcox and Chandler get full points for their places.

At the Indianapolis Sweepstakes race, Pete Henderson got 22 points, Rickenbacher zero (0). Why Wilcox got his 40 points and Chandler his 25 points is perhaps a mystery of sorts, but that is what the AAA Contest Board did in 1916.

Were there really no points for relief drivers? I think there were otherwise there was no point for Johnny Aitken to take Wilcox’s car in penultimate round US GP at Santa Monica.

Also: There lacks constancy about sharing the points between the drivers.

And about those episodes when there is no info about laps completed by starting and relief driver. Was this unclear already after the race when the points should be awarded or is it unclear today because of poor saving of that info? I vote for first. Another version: if the same driver both started and finished but was relieved and then took the steering wheel back, then it is considered the same as he completed full distance (what could be the reason of Wilcox and Chalndler getting full points at Indy).

Several clarifications that are in order:

1. To score points a driver had to finish the race.

2. Relief drivers were only awarded apoints if they were not a starting driver in the event. A Driver retiring and then driving relief for another did not score points.


I revised Harms’ data and made my own version of the standinds of 1916. I gave points for every driver that finished the race, gave points to relief drivers if there is info about laps completed and corrected some other things. I also rounded the points for starting and relief drivers to closest intiger e. g.: 51/69 of 120 laps (Henderson and Rickenbacker at Indy). It’s 42.5 / 57.5 %. 50 points shared as 21.25 and 28.75 = 21 and 29.

1 Dario Resta 4200
2 Johnny Aitken 4023
3 Eddie Rickenbacker 2972
4 Ralph DePalma 1895
5 Earl Cooper 1365
6 Wilbur D'Alene 1130
7 Tommy Milton 740
8 Pete Henderson 676
9 Frank Galvin 655
10 Ralph Mulford 620
11 Howdy Wilcox 597
12 Josef Christiaens 570
13 Ira Vail 550
14 Dave Lewis 525
15 Jules DeVigne 350
= AH Patterson 350
17 William Weightman 297
18 Hughie Hughes 290
19 Clyde Rhoades 270
20 Eddie Pullen 240
= George Buzane 240
22 Eddie O'Donnell 195
23 Charles Devlin 140
24 Art Klein 135
25 Jack LeCain 120
26 Omar Toft 115
27 Glover Ruckstell 90
28 Barney Oldfield 80
= Billy Chandler 80
= Earl DeVore 80
31 Mike Moosie 61
32 Ora Haibe 60
33 George Adams 55
= Mel Stringer 55
= Jack Gable 55
36 Mel Sorenson 54
37 Sterling Price 50
38 Bert Watson 35
39 Art Johnson 30
= Fred McCarthy 30
= James Benedict 30
42 Andy Burt 25
43 William Muller 20


Here, taken directly from the Official Release of the AAA Contest Board on 2 December 1916 are the standings for 1916:

Dario Resta 4100 points
Johnny Aitken 3440
Eddie Rickenbacker 2910
Ralph DePalma 1790
Earl Cooper 1405
Wilbur D'Alene 1120
Tommy Milton 690
Pete Henderson 667
Frank Galvin 645
Ralph Mulford 620
Howdy Wilcox 618
Josef Christiaens 540
Dave Lewis 500
Ira Vail 450
Jules DeVigne 350
Hughie Hughes 275
Clyde Roads 270
A.H. Patterson 270
Eddie Pullen 240
William Weightman 240
George Buzane 210
Eddie O'Donnell 185
Charles Devlin 140
Art Klein 125
Jack LeCain 120
Glover Ruckstell 100
Barney Oldfield 80
Earl DeVore 80
Omar Toft 75
Ora Haibe 60
George Adams 55
Mel Stringer 55
Jack Gable 45
Billy Chandler 40
Bert Watson 35
Mel Sorenson 35
Art Johnson 30
James Benedict 30
Fred McCarthy 25
Andy Burt 25
William J. Muller 20

These standings are identical those in the 1916 Automobile Contests of January 1917.


And here are the things that I don’t like in Harm’s data:

1) May 13, Sheepshead Bay
Everything clear

2) May 30, Indianapolis
21.25 points for Henderson, 28.75 for Rickenbacker

color=red]22 for Henderson, zero for Rickenbacher[/color]

3) Jun 11, Chicago
The race is 375 miles. 150 laps x 2.0-mile track = 300.0 milesThat looks closer to 400 than 300, so I awarded drivers with points as for 400 miles:
1. Resta 1000 900
2. DePalma 520 470
3. Christiaens 270 240
4. O’Donnell 140 130
5. Galvin 90 80
6. Vail 60 50
7. D’Alene 50 40
8. Gable 40 30
9. McCarthy 30 25
10. Lewis 25 20



4) Jun 24, Des Moines
Everything clear

5) Jul 5, Minneapolis
15 points for flagged George Buzane

zero points since he was flagged

6) Jul 15, Omaha
35 points for flagged De Palma (despite no info about laps completed)

retired on 87th lap, broken valve spring = zero points

7) Aug 15, Tacoma
Race is 300 miles. 290.97 miles So the winner should get 900 points. My version:
1. Rickenbacker 900 800
2. Milton 470 420
3. Lewis 240 220
4. DePalma 130 120
5. Henderson 80 70
6. Toft 50 45
7. Chandler 40 0
8. Price 30 0
9. Sorenson 19/Moosie 6 0/0

The AAA Contest Board awarded points based on the 250-mile distance

8) Sep 4, Cincinnati
Generally agree with Harms. Only Haibe should be 7th, Resta 8th but points are correct.

Resta retired on 144th lap, Haibe and Klein flagged = 0 points

9) Sep 9, Indy
10 points for DePalma.

De Palma's not being awarded points for 8th is a puzzler -- however, none of the contemporary AAA documents award him any points.

10) Sep 30, Sheepshead Bay
Everything clear.

11) Oct 14, Chicago
Everything clear.

12) Oct 28, Sheepshead Bay
15 points for Hughes, 10 for Klein.

Hughes not awarded points by AAA and Klein retired on 31st lap

13) Nov 16, Santa Monica
80 points for Patterson, 50 for Vail.

Patterson and Vail flagged = 0 points

14) Nov 18, Santa Monica
Obviously the race was scheduled for 400 miles which is not mentioned. My version about points:
1. Wilcox 417/Aitken 583 Wilcox 438/Aitkin 0 since he drove in relief after starting the race
2. Cooper 520
3. Patterson 270
4. Roads 140
5. Weightman 57 / Rickenbacker 33 0/0
Vanderbilt Cup and Grand Prize were the only road races of the season. Maybe the rules were different? Maybe flagged in road race doesn’t mean the same as flagged in oval race? In Harms’ data there is no flagged driver awarded with points in both road races.And he is correct.

15) Nov 30, Ascot
150 mile race, so the winner should’ve got only 600 points:
1. Rickenbacker 600 700
2. Cooper 320 360
3. Pullen 170 190
4. Ruckstell 90 100 -- despite being flagged after 145 laps...
5. Moosie 55 flagged = 0
6. Vail 35 flagged = 0
7. Toft 20 flagged = 0
8. Price 15 flagged = 0

The AAA awarded the points it did and I cannot find the rationale it used.

Also, the AAA Contest Board was constantly penalizing drivers, owners, promoters, and whomever else it could by suspensions, fines, and apparently even in 1916 deducting points. However, I do not have the material in front of me to confirm or deny that points were deducted in 1916.

I hope this helps.

Oh, yess! This helps a lot!
Thank You VERY VERY VERY MUCH!!!

In one of the earlier topics there were AAA point systems for every period explained.
But what about nuances?
How much of the distace had the driver actually make to earn points in each period? I have read the topic about 1946 season. In Harms' data there is always top 12 awarded. But from FINES I understood that driver had to make at least half distance to get points. How was it actually in 1946 and other seasons? Maybe somebody knows.

2. Relief drivers were only awarded apoints if they were not a starting driver in the event. A Driver retiring and then driving relief for another did not score points.

Was that rule always in effect?

I had hoped to have a good draft of my pettit opus on the 1916 AAA racing season ready by this weekend to send out to a few folks to look over. I have gotten very much behind the power curve due to some unanticipated problems with the paper -- I had to revise and rework more material than I originally anticipated. In addition, I have had a bit of a time crunch which reduced my time available to work on the paper.

I am now hoping to have the draft ready at some point in mid to late-June. At that time I will send it out for review to those interested in taking a look at it. If interested, either remind me or let me know.

The paper covers all AAA events of 100-miles or longer which were held during 1916, all the events which could be -- often charitably -- labeled as "major" events in the USA. I did this for good reason, primarily that several "major" events did not get included in those qualifying for the first National Championship. Plus, I wanted to portray the "life & times" of the era to a certain degree.

One item I have added might make it a bit hefty -- circuit diagrams and other bits of visual material I have found on the AAA microfilm, such as the original points table.

Any additional materials welcomed and feedback is always appreciated. I must emphasize that this is certainly not intended to be anything definitive in nature, but an attempt to "put something on the ground" and allow others to know that they could do better....

Originally posted by Don Capps
I am now hoping to have the draft ready at some point in mid to late-June. At that time I will send it out for review to those interested in taking a look at it. If interested, either remind me or let me know.

Need I?

Seriously, after having had the good fortune of getting a glimpse of a previous incarnation of your brilliant research material, I can't wait to see the progress you've made! Sadly, I haven't had much time to do much AAA research recently, and my project got stuck sometime in 2003 (yes, I know I should revive it, but I should do so many other things these days...).

One thing I find admirable about Don's approach is his insistence on including races other than the championship rounds - it's hard enough to find good sources about those, but nigh impossible to get info about non-championship races! And in the early years, especially in 1916 with its late start, there were always many important races missing from the championship schedule, like the Corona Road race e.g.

Now, hearing that you will include circuit diagrams etc. makes the outlook real... juicy!

To the very few interested in this petit opus, it has finally percolated back to its rightful position as The Number One Priority of the many No. 1 Priorities littering my desk and work table.

Originally intended as a part of a larger scheme, my AROAR (A Record of American Racing) notion, I have greatly revised my thinking on this particular work and have been reworking the project to become a "standalone" essay on this particular season. Or rather, this particular AAA season.

I have already accepted that regardless of my efforts, the essay and race material will be incomplete and lacking detail in certain areas. Plus, there will be errors, mostly of omission -- with some being the result of simple ignorance tinged with a robust lack of knowledge.

I will be sending out a draft to The Usual Suspects as promised in the near future. I am also looking -- hoping? -- for a few others whose research files might hold a few items that might be of help in this project.

I am possessed of no level of pride which would blind me to any level of cooperation or collaboration in the production of this essay. I simply want to make an effort to provide information to The Many which is currently not widely available.

Anyway, back to scribble, scribble, scribble..... or rather click, click, click......

7) Aug 15, Tacoma
Race is 300 miles. 290.97 miles So the winner should get 900 points. My version:
1. Rickenbacker 900 800
2. Milton 470 420
3. Lewis 240 220
4. DePalma 130 120
5. Henderson 80 70
6. Toft 50 45
7. Chandler 40 0
8. Price 30 0
9. Sorenson 19/Moosie 6 0/0

The AAA Contest Board awarded points based on the 250-mile distance

"The Pittsburgh Press", Jan 28 in 1917:

In assigning the championship points Richard Kennerdell took into consideration the distance and class of entries. On this basis first place in three of the four 300-mile events was worth 900 points.

The value of the Tacoma victory, however, was reduced to 800 points because the field was not so talented as those in Indianapolis, Chicago and Cincinnati.

(...)

The grand prize at Santa Monica was valued at 1000 points. But on account of the interchange of drivers in the race, only 422 points were accredited to Wilcox whose Peugeot won first money

In the years since I posted in this thread, there had been much more information that has come both to light and to to hand regarding this season.

There are contemporary accounts have the race distance as 288.25 miles (The Horseless Age), but as Michael states, the points awarded were on the "800 point schedule."

1. Rickenbacker 800 points
2. Milton 420 points
3. Lewis 220 points
4. De Palma 120 points
5. Henderson 70 points
6. Toft 45 points
7. Chandler
8. Price
9. Sorenson/Moosie

I would cast askance at the information in the Pittsburgh Press article regarding why the points were awarded as they were at Tacoma since there is nothing in the materials I have found that would support something such as this. However, due to the odd distance of the event there was obviously some discretion in whether or not points would be awarded on the 250 or 300-mile, although I would question that it was "because the field was not so talented as those in Indianapolis, Chicago and Cincinnati."

I actually ceased action on the 1916 season review years ago because I kept finding more and more information.