97 replies to this topic

[Don Capps]

Anyone familiar with the Bob Russo article on the 1920 AAA National Championship in the January 1987 issue of Indy Car Racing?

[Phil Harms]

Originally posted by Don Capps
Anyone familiar with the Bob Russo article on the 1920 AAA National Championship in the January 1987 issue of Indy Car Racing?

I remember the article when it came out and I probably have it in the garage archives somewhere.

Bob and I visited each other from time to time and the 1920 championship was discussed in some detail. Russ Catlin contended that the AAA gave the crown to Gaston Chevrolet as a sympathetic gesture after his fatal accident at Beverly Hills. I have a copy of a letter from Tommy Milton to Catlin in which he states that he received both a 1st and 2nd place medal for 1920. I have copies of articles from the period that have both point standings, so one can convincingly argue from either side. The point of contention was whether the AAA had been paid sanction fees for all of the races; if they were, then Milton had the points. If some were not properly sanctioned, then Chevrolet had the most points.

I doubt that the AAA financial records are still around to prove anything one way or another.
I'll have to track down that article. Truthfully, I can't even remember which side Bob was on. I think he was in agreement with Russ Catlin --- Milton being the 1920 champion --- but I may be wrong.

[Don Capps]

Russo was in the Catlin "camp" and placed the onus squarely on Kennerdell for not being forthcoming about the points situation during the season. I had lost/misplaced that copy of ICR and couldn't recall that much about the article until I found it at the IMRRC.

It provides another view of that whole situation which is always a good thing.

Phil, I can scan it and email it to you if you wish.

[HDonaldCapps]

Too bad I never found the newspaper information to forward to Phil which casts doubt on Russo's thesis.

[john glenn printz]

I wrote two articles (INDY CAR RACING Jan. 15, 1988 and Jan. 29, 1988) totalling 7 pages on the 1920 season and on Haresnape, Catlin, and Russo. It goes into considerable detail about all these topics. It should answer all questions about the 1920 AAA Championship season and why there exists two 1920 AAA Driving Champions (G. Chevrolet and Milton). The article was written with input from Ken McMaken and James O'Keefe.

Edited by john glenn printz, 27 September 2011 - 17:13.

[m.tanney]

Welcome to TNF, Mr. Printz. It's great to have a historian of your caliber on board.

[john glenn printz]

Two 1920 AAA charts? In 1920 itself there were just five AAA Champ car events and the five race AAA chart was completed on November 25, 1920, with the posthumous Gaston Chevrolet as the 1920 AAA Champion. On November 26, 1926, six years later, Arthur Means, who was a member of the AAA Contest Board, completed a new 1920 listing by adding five more AAA 1920 races, which did not count for the AAA Title in 1920 itself. Hence the two 1920 point charts. Means, inadventently be it noted, omitted a 2nd March 28, 1920 fifty mile heat race won by Murphy at Beverly Hills. Russ Catlin's idea was that both 1920 charts dated from November 1920...

Edited by john glenn printz, 16 September 2011 - 15:12.

[john glenn printz]

Two 1920 AAA charts? (cont-1) On Means' later reckoning Milton was the 1920 Champion and Chevrolet had now dropped to 3rd place with Murphy in between. Catlin thought (mistakenly) that the AAA had a ten race Championship schedule in 1920 and that the ten race chart was the earlier, genuine, and correct 1920 reckoning. Russ claimed that the five race points chart had been quickly concocted and fabricated by Richard Kennerdell, then the Chairman of the AAA Contest Board, on the afternoon of November 26, 1920. Catlin's reconstruction was that Kennerdell was under heavy pressure exercised by November 26, 1920 articles published in the LOS ANGELES TIMES and without any AAA authorization, hailing Chevrolet as the dead 1920 martyred AAA National Driving Champion. For, as everyone knows, Gaston, the year's Indianapolis 500 winner, had been killed in the November 25, 1920 Beverly Hills race.

Edited by john glenn printz, 27 September 2011 - 17:14.

[HDonaldCapps]

I went back and dug up the contemporary accounts from the 1920 season and the Catlin/Russo account simply does not hold water, especially with points totals being published long prior to that Thanksgiving race making it difficult to accept Kennerdall making them to crown the deceased drive the season champion.

I am at a great disadvantage in not having the two Printz articles with me, although I have (poorly} scanned copy of the Russo article.

[john glenn printz]

Two 1920 AAA charts? (cont-2) Richard Kennerdell is always painted by Catlin as an inept, incompetent, timid man, and an accident prone AAA administer who was always getting into scrapes of one kind or another. Evidently, after Richard read the November 26, 1920 LOS ANGELES TIMES articles, he suffered a complete mental breakdown - if he devised a new five race AAA chart to support the LOS ANGELES TIMES statements making Chevrolet (instead of Milton) the 1920 AAA National Champion. Why didn't Kennerdell just inform the LOS ANGELES TIMES that they were mistaken and had jumped the gun? We will never know. Catlin added another very important corolary or axiom to his assessment of the 1920 season...

Edited by john glenn printz, 27 September 2011 - 17:16.

[HDonaldCapps]

The Los Angeles Times of 12 September 1920 on page VI 1 has a listing of the championship points after the Elgin event and it clearly lays out the scenario for what could happen during the Thanksgiving Day event. Chevrolet is clearly the leader in the points table. The article also clearly states that the recent Uniontown event was not a championship event.

The more I have looked into this, the more I am amazed at how they managed to screw this up so badly. The incompetence with which this was handled in later years is truly mind-boggling. It is hard to imagine that any sort of research worthy of the name was done. The Russo article -- clearly lifted almost literally in many places from Catlin -- is just shameful in the way it twisted things to suit its purpose, while ignoring anything which might not support its thesis.

Look at how long people have tried to refute this nonsense and note that far too many still swallow it hook, line, and sinker.

Once more, as DSJ put it, "Pity the poor historian."

[Allen Brown]

Welcome John. Nice to see you posting here.

Allen

[john glenn printz]

Two 1920 AAA charts? (cont-3) Russ insisted that Kennerdell had issued no official AAA point standings in the second half of 1920, so that nobody (the press, fans, drivers, track managers, teams, etc.) knew what the driver rankings were or how many point each driver had accumulated, going into the last Championship event of the year, i.e., the Beverly Hills 250 of November 25, 1920. It is not quite clear whether Russ went so far to assert that even the AAA Contest Board itself, did not know the point totals, but on Catlin's own reckoning I think we must maintain that they were using a ten-event chart, and had it at hand. But everyone else was running around knowing nothing about nothing. This unusual situation (another obvious mess of Chairman Kennerdell) was what allowed Kennerdell's quick switch (from Milton to Chevrolet) on November 26, 1920 without any great hassle or argument. Even, Milton himself, was none the wiser...

Edited by john glenn printz, 16 September 2011 - 15:24.

[john glenn printz]

Two 1920 AAA charts? (cont-4) And so Milton was denied his quite legitimate and true 1920 AAA National Championship by the machinations and subterfuse of an incompetent AAA Contest Board Chairman. Such was Catlin's interpretation and his uncovering of the true facts with regard to the 1920 AAA season. Whenever Kennerdell's name was mentioned Catlin would get into a towering rage over the injustice that Kenderdell had adminstered to Tommy Milton on November 26, 1920. Russ never wavered in this and held to these convictions to the end of his days. Russ Catlin (b. 1908), died October 1983. Consult his article in AUTOMOBILE QUARTERLY Vol. 20, No. 4, 1982, pages 408-413.

It was on this basis that Catlin went to the AAA Contest Board, under James "Jim" Hensley Lamb (b. 1909) in 1951, and presented the true and sorry facts about the past 1920 AAA season. Russ convinced the Board that he was correct in his story and the board then decided to strip Gaston Chevrolet of his false and surreptitiously gained 1920 National Title. Milton was thus finally crowned, after a thirty-one year wait. Milton received an AAA metal for finishing 2nd in the title chase, in 1920 itself , and, in 1951, he was given a second metal for finishing 1st. It's the only such case that I know of...

Edited by john glenn printz, 14 May 2012 - 20:16.

[HDonaldCapps]

Originally posted by john glenn printz
Two 1920 AAA charts? (cont-4) And so Milton was denied his quite legitimate and true 1920 AAA National Championship by the machinations and subterfuse of an incompetent AAA Contest Board Chairman. Such was Catlin's interpretation and his uncovering of the true facts with regard to the 1920 AAA season. Whenever Kennerdell's name was mentioned Catlin would get into a towering rage over the injustice that Kenderdell had adminstered to Tommy Milton on 11/26/20. Russ never wavered in this and held to these convictions to the end of his days. Russ Catlin (b. 1908), died October 1983. Consult his article in AUTOMOBILE QUARTERLY Vol. 20, No. 4, 1982, pages 408-413. It was on this basis that Catlin went to the AAA Contest Board, under Jim Lamb, in 1951 and presented the true and sorry facts about the past 1920 AAA season. Russ convinced the Board that he was correct in his story and the board then decided to strip Gaston Chevrolet of his false and surreptitiously gained 1920 National Title. Milton was thus finally crowned, after a thirty-one year wait. Milton received an AAA metal for finishing 2nd in the title chase, in 1920 itself , and, in 1951, he was given a second metal for finishing 1st. It's the only case that I know of...

The medals for the National Driver's Championship were not created until after the close of the 1925 season and first awarded in 1926 to the top three drivers in the 1925 National Championship. Apparently, they were also awarded retroactively to those who would have earned them in earlier seasons: 1916 and 1920 onward.

I think that I wait until Mr. Printz is finished until I say anything premature.

[john glenn printz]

DEBACLE:Two 1920 AAA charts (cont-5) The Beverly Hills 250 of 25 Nov 1920 was the last AAA "points" event on both the five-race and ten-race accountings. Therefore it was of very great importance in that it completed the point totals for the year and would decide the final driver rankings. If Russ' scenario for 1920 is correct , what should we expect to find in the U.S. newspapers about the AAA Championship Title on 26 Nov 1920? It seems to me that we might find that Milton won the Title with 2095 counters collected over a ten race schedule or, we would find nothing at all about a new AAA Champion. If Catlin's ideas are valid it must be, that the announcement of Milton as title holder would have probably been made on the afternoon of 25 Nov 1920.

But if that had actually taken place, Kennerdell could not have altered the decision to Chevrolet on the afternoon of 26 Nov. 1920, both because the information about Milton's Championship had already been given to the press and because it was just too late to alter the earlier November 25 verdict, given to the newsmen! IT SEEMS THEN THAT NO DECISION AT ALL, ON NOVEMBER 25, 1920, IS NECESSARY FOR CATLIN'S AND RUSSO'S CASE!!! There is no way that Kennerdell could have changed the 1920 Titlist from Milton to Chevrolet on November 26, if Milton had already been named the 1920 AAA National Championship on November 25, immediately after the running of the Beverly Hills 250.

So, I ask you, what do you think we would find in the U.S. 26 Nov 1920 newspapers (morning, noon, & night editions) about the AAA 1920 Driving Title? Are you ready? What is found is simply astonishing. The papers have nothing about Milton winning the Title but rather Gaston Chevrolet is hailed as a man who won the 1920 AAA Driving crown on the day he died, i.e., 25 Nov 1920! But how can that be? Kennerdell had not yet manufactured his five-race reckoning, which had to take place during the afternoon and/or night of 26 Nov 1920 for release for the morning edition newspapers of 27 Nov 1920. Time moves always forward, not backwards. So let's go backwards. If all editions of the 26 Nov 1920 newspapers state that the deceased Chevrolet won the title, on a five race reckoning, with 1030 points, then that information must have been released to the press on the afternoon 25 Nov 1920, after the Beverly Hills 250 had ended. Thus on 25 Nov 1920 the AAA was using a five race listing, a full day before Kennerdell supposely had made it. The evidence here are the race reports appearing the next day , i.e. on November 26, 1920, in the nation's newspapers.

There is no hint or mention of any delay or hestitation in naming G. Chevrolet on November 25 as the AAA National Champion. And if Milton had been named on Nov. 25 as the AAA Champ and it had been switched to G. Chevrolet on Nov. 26 (Russo's thesis), then this alteration or change would have been mentioned in the Nov. 27 newspapers. But we fine nothing of the sort. The idea of NOBODY being named as the 1920 Championship on November 25 is not a real possibility, but is required by Bob's presentation. But as recorded by Bob, the LOS ANGELES TIMES on November 26 jumped the gun before any official AAA announcement was made and named G. Chevrolet as the 1920 AAA Championship. Kennerdell seconded and confirmed the LOS ANGELES TIMES assertion on November 26, giving the 1920 Title to the wrong man.

Here is what Russo says (quote-ICR Jan. 1987, page 41, column one bottom half) "The accident was big news in most newspapers the next morning. Much was written of the tragedy, including hasty biographies of Chevrolet, O'Donnell, and Johns. Many referred to Chevrolet as "champion", a word that must have made Kennerdell shudder since he knew that the championship really belonged to Milton. Still, he kept his silence, allowing most to conclude that Chevrolet was the champion." Thus according to Russo, Chairman Kennerdell didn't name Milton as the 1920 AAA Titlist, on either November 25 or 26.

Edited by john glenn printz, 01 December 2011 - 13:52.

[john glenn printz]

DEBACLE: Two 1920 AAA charts? (cont-6) And what is the status of Catlin's contention that everyone was pretty much in the fog about the exact AAA driver standings and point totals going into the the Beverly Hills 250 of 25 Nov 1920? Not, good. For example the DETROIT NEWS on 26 Sept 1920 (Sect. II, p. 7) and the L.A. TIMES for 21 Nov 1920 (Pt. 6, p.1) give the AAA 1920 point standings after four events, with just one more to go. The top eight are 1. Gaston Chevrolet-1030 , 2. Milton-930, 3. Murphy-805, 4. DePalma-605, 5. Rene Thomas-530, 6. Mulford-350, 7. Joe Thomas-301, and 8. Hearne-205. But the next thing I'm going to tell you, you won't believe. Ready?

1920 AAA points distribution chart, of all the competing drivers, and the four previous Championship contests, is contained in the Beverly Hills (actually the Los Angeles Speedway) 25 Nov 1920 race day program under the two heading "THE PRESENT STANDINGS OF THE CHAMPIONSHIP CONTENDERS WHO RACE TODAY. The points they have won and the events in which they were awarded". That one page alone refutes any idea of a substitution of Milton being displaced by Gaston Chevrolet in a Kennerdell switch or conspiracy. Milton may have been the most deserving driver in 1920 but he was not the winner of the AAA Driving Title in 1920. Rex Mays should have won at Indianapolis, and Stirling Moss should have won World Championship Title, but neither did.

Just think of the legal consequences and problems that would have resulted if Kennerdell had deleted the Beverly Hills sprints (28 Mar 1920); Uniontown (19 June 1920 and 6 Sept 1920); and Fresno (2 Oct 1920) races from a ten race AAA 1920 Championship chart if they had been really been Championship "point" races. These tracks had paid big money to be included in the AAA Championship schedule and now on 26 Nov 1920 they were all wiped out and their races did not have any influence on the Championship at all. Lawsuits surely would have arisen...

Edited by john glenn printz, 16 July 2009 - 17:09.

[john glenn printz]

Two 1920 AAA charts? (cont-7) And so the five-race reckoning is the older listing. But whence came the ten-race chart? Russo, in his ICR Jan 1987 article (p. 45) , totally by chance, provides the exact date (!), 26 Nov 1926., when it was created and its real author, Arthur Means. Russo thinks it a "reconstruction" of the orginal 1920 ten-race chart (which is what Catlin also thought) but I think that it is a totally new creation, never in existence before. (But I am disturbed. Something I didn't notice before. What if Russo misread 26 Nov 1926 for 26 Nov 1920? It would mean that when Catlin believed that Kennerdell was faking a new five-race listing, a Mr. Means was actually faking a ten-race chart! But I digress).

I believe that the 26 Nov 1926 ten race chart is connected also and is directly linked up to the Val Haresnape/Arthur Means reworking of the AAA records and statistics for the years 1909-1915 and 1917-1919, during 1927/28. Means produced entirely new point charts for these years, where none had existed before, for apparently comparative purposes only.

These are the point charts (except for 1916) which Russ used for his HISTORY OF AAA NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACING 1909 TO 1917 (SPEED AGE, Dec 1954 to Aug 1955). But Catlin never realized..., at first anyway, that Mr. Means had created them all during 1927/28. Russ thought that they were all concurrent with the seasons or years named. That is, that the 1909 chart dated from 1909, the 1910 chart dated from 1910, etc. This is Catlin's second major blunder in historiography, if his reconstruction of the year or season of 1920, is regarded as his first. Catlin thus begins his AAA Championship history with the year 1909 (wrong), when in fact, it should have begun with 1916 (correct).

The total absurdity of a National Champion point awarding season in say, 1909 or 1910, is pointed out in the CART NEWS MEDIA GUIDE 1985, pages 228-230, by Mr. McMaken and myself. And the real reason why no one can find any AAA point standings for 1909-1915 and 1917-1919 in the contemporary motor journals and newspapers is because there wasn't any such animals in existence during those years- not because of total lack of interest by the newsmen. Catlin, and Russo too, didn't understand any of this...

Edited by john glenn printz, 16 September 2011 - 15:35.

[HDonaldCapps]

Originally posted by john glenn printz
I believe that the 26 Nov 1926 ten race chart is connected also and is directly linked up to the Val Haresnape/Arthur Means reworking of the AAA records and statistics for the years 1909-1915 and 1917-1919, during 1927/28. Means produced entirely new point charts for these years, where none had existed before, for comparative purposes only. These are the point charts (except for 1916) which Russ used for his HISTORY OF AAA NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACING 1909 to 1917 (SPEED AGE, Dec 1954 to Aug 1955). But Catlin never realized..., at first anyway, that Mr. Means had created them all during 1927/28. Russ thought that they were all concurrent with the seasons or years named. That is, that the 1909 chart dated from 1909, the 1910 chart dated from 1910, etc. This is Catlin's second major blunder in historiography, if his reconstruction of the year or season of 1920, is regarded as his first. Catlin thus begins his history with the year 1909 (wrong), when in fact, it should have begun with 1916 (correct). The total absurdity of a National Champion point awarding season in say, 1909 or 1910, is pointed out in the CART NEWS MEDIA GUIDE 1985, pages 228-230. And the real reason why no one can find any AAA point standings for 1909-1915 and 1917-1919 in the contemporary motor journals and newspapers is because there wasn't any such animals in existence during those years- not because of total lack of interest by the newsmen. Catlin, and Russo too, didn't understand any of this...

So why do the various yearbooks, CART, IRL, and so forth -- not to mention any number of web sites, continue to perpetuate what was apparently little more than an exercise by people with time on their hands and information to play with during the 1927/28 period? People have invested no end of time and effort developing statistics for something that never existed -- which some now concede -- and whose "events" were chosen at the whim of those involved versus any contemporary criteria, which were simply the events they wished to include.

It is difficult to conceive of a sport which would allow such nonsense to exist long after it was proven not to exist. It is my understanding that CCWS spent a considerable effort on establishing the "record" in its current media guide as part of its legacy to being the true possessor of America's racing heritage.

So, is anybody going to ever clean the slate once and for all on this?

[1920sracing]

Don,
The only thing that can be done is to correct the errors in the work going forward. My De Palma book got the benefit of John Printz's research and correctly explains the 1920 season with Chevrolet as the driving champion based on the AAA program in place that year. 5 races. Period. Milton won more and probably should have been champion based on his results but the AAA did not use all the races he won to determine the championship. Probably had something to do with the money involved for race authorizations/sanctions, or prize money set aside by organizers, the politics of racing etc. The newspapers, which I went to, do not really explain or comment on why certain races were not included. They were very specific on the 5 and in the Los Angeles Times there is a lot of commotion surrounding the last race of the season with Chevrolet, De Palma, Milton and Murphy all having a chance to win the title. I think the 5 were Beverly Hills Twice, Indy, Elgin and Tacoma.

The only way is to be as accurate as possible and challenge facts when doing research and subsequent writing. Many of the people who write things like official record books make the same mistakes a lot of automotive historians make by repeating things they should attempt to corroborate.

1920sracing

[Agnis]

As I look at 1920 box scores made by late Phil Harms, I see that the points given in those races which actually didn't count for the championship look like something chaotic. No points for 2nd Beverly Hills sprint race at all, 50 mile races in laters years rewarded more than 4 drivers with points, these points for 225 mile Uniontown races are also not very logic. To me that is one of many evidences that points for these races have been thought later and superficially.

Also I don't understand why two points are given to Art Klein for relieving Joe Thomas during Indy 500 as Klein was a starter of this race in his own car.

[HDonaldCapps]

Originally posted by Agnis
As I look at 1920 box scores made by late Phil Harms, I see that the points given in those races which actually didn't count for the championship look like something chaotic. No points for 2nd Beverly Hills sprint race at all, 50 mile races in laters years rewarded more than 4 drivers with points, these points for 225 mile Uniontown races are also not very logic. To me that is one of many evidences that points for these races have been thought later and superficially.

Also I don't understand why two points are given to Art Klein for relieving Joe Thomas during Indy 500 as Klein was a starter of this race in his own car.

Ignore any of the "points" awarded for those events not counting towards the national championship since they are bogus.

No idea as to why the two points were given to Klein -- he could not gain any points while driving in relief since he had started the event. I would disregard them. The rule for awarding points for relief drives was not modified until the 1947 season.

[john glenn printz]

Greetings and thanks to you all! I have arisen from the dead like Lazarus of old and by the miracle of the internet. I thank "HDonaldCapps" for his services both past and present. Now I wish to ask him to perform the most important task ever made for the preservation of American AAA racing archives. FIND MR. KEN McMAKEN. His AAA box scores and point distributions are a treasure beyond compare. Much better than what Phil Harms was able to achieve. I'm sure that the folks at "ATLASf1" will assist you. I have not been in contact with McMaken for almost two decades. I hope he is alive and well, and if so, Ken can edit his own book. It will be the equal of the Paul Sheldon volumes. It must be done sir, it must be done. McMaken's last known address was: Ken M. McMaken, 412 Glenwood Ave; Piqua, Ohio 45356. Ken was in the heating oil business, as I recall. In order to show that my head, rather than my heart, is in the right place I pledge $25,000 for the publication of this most important work. And mention should be made of Jan Shaffer, who lost his job as CART's Director of Communications in June-July 1985, because he published our data in the CART NEWS MEDIA GUIDE 1985, pages 223-292. And last I which to salute Englishman Gordon Kirby for his faith in our enterprise and knowledge. No two finer gentleman ever walked the earth. But again FIND McMAKEN, let that be the task...IT MUST BE DONE. AND AS IT IS ORDERED, SO SHALL IT BE DONE... -JOHN GLENN PRINTZ.

[HDonaldCapps]

Sir,

Yes, Sir!

Folks, I think that we have a mission.

I also think that the International Motor Racing Research Center can help on this one by giving this information a home.

Find Mr. McMaken and with the help of Mr. Printz, we can see history unfold.

Move out.

Colonel Capps

[Allen Brown]

According to the phone book, he's cunningly changed his name to Kenneth to throw us off the scent. As we can't have personal details on the thread, I'll PM his phone number to you.

Allen

[HDonaldCapps]

Originally posted by Allen Brown
According to the phone book, he's cunningly changed his name to Kenneth to throw us off the scent. As we can't have personal details on the thread, I'll PM his phone number to you.

Allen

Mr. Printz, Please check your email. Thanks to Allen ( ) you should now have McMaken's address and phone number.

[john glenn printz]

Sources: In case there is any doubt (!), I, John Glenn Printz, am the "One researcher" referred to at the top of the second column in Russo's (ICR, Jan 1987, p. 43) refutation of the five-race chart and G. Chevrolet as the 1920 AAA Champion.

Russo's article was composed from three sources (none contemporary to either 1916 or 1920). They were (1) for 1916; THE CHECKERED FLAG by Peter Helck (1961); (2) for 1920; Catlin's oral orations about how he did a great, great deed (correcting a grave injustice) for the great, great Milton; and (3) an 1920 AAA ten-race points chart constructed by Arthur Means on 26 Nov 1926.

Actually the "Kennerdell conspiracy" was, in truth, an odd concoction of Catlin's fertile imagination c. 1949/50. And what is the meaning of the allusion in Printz's essay (IRC 29 Jan 1988, p. 12) to changes made from correct to incorrect in the 1986 CART NEWS MEDIA GUIDE 1986? Consult also Gordon Kirby's short essay in AUTOWEEK 11 May 1987.

Edited by john glenn printz, 16 July 2009 - 16:55.

[john glenn printz]

Mr McMaken is alive and well. Atlasf1 will have to interest an English publisher in undertaking the project. McMaken says he's willing to suppy his information. And if Ken desires, perhaps some of my text. A good conclusion, folks! Thanks everybody and Mr. Capps! That was quick!

[HDonaldCapps]

I don't understand why it would/should be an "English" publisher that "undertakes" this project since I can think of several American publishers that might be willing to "undertake" this effort.

[john glenn printz]

Mr. Allen Brown should contact Mr McMaken as soon as possible, just to "chew the fat" and get acquainted with each other. Mr. McMaken expects your call. Mr. McMaken does not own a computer.

[Allen Brown]

Ken and I have spoken. Ken is going to look at motorsport.com/stats to see how his records differ from Phil Harms' data which has already been published. He thinks that a lot of what he did may have reached Phil via Jim O'Keefe so he's uncertain what additional value may exist in his records.

I have volunteered my help - but have know real idea what I've volunteered for. What's the plan guys?

Allen

[john glenn printz]

Mr. Allen. Greetings! Thanks! I believe that Ken's AAA data contains many and sometimes all of the qualification times, order of the race lineup, the non-qualified entries that didn't make the race due to one thing or another, car numbers, and added valuble notes as well. The sources for the material put together is also listed. And don't forget the AAA point distribution charts for each season. Certainly they have not been published. And by "published" do you mean "on-line"?

[Allen Brown]

I see. That may well be more than always appears in Phil's data.

By published, I did indeed mean online. At motorsport.com/stats to be precise. Here, as an example, is the Beverly Hills 250 of 25 Nov 1920.

Allen

[john glenn printz]

Both Mr. Catlin and Mr. Russo were alive when I (along with Mr. McMaken of course) issued our very first salvos against the Haresnape/Catlin mythological system in the PPG INDY CAR WORLD SERIES ANNUAL (ICWSA) 1981, pages 127, 129, and 136. Mr. McMaken and myself, in 1981, were the first persons to question this data since it originated in 1926/27/28.

At some point Mr. Catlin became aware of our findings, as presented in the ICWSA 1983, pages 104-107. Catlin expressed his dismay to his old friend, Mr. Charles L. Betts, Jr., who was then working for AUTOMOBILE QUARTERLY. On 9 June 1983, Mr. Betts wrote to Gordon Kirby (i.e., the editor of all four of the ICWSAs) on AUTOMOBILE QUARTERLY PUBLICATIONS stationary, demanding a published retraction for certain statements I wrote in the 1983 Annual, on page 105, including the footnote 1. Betts wrote (quote), "I am offended by the callousness of Mr. Printz' slanderous accusation in footnote 1 at the bottom of page 105"., etc. My complete "callous" and "slanderous accusation" (footnote 1 quote) is "Russ Catlin, in his History of AAA National Championship Racing 1909 to 1917 accepted this AAA tampering as canonical and imposed this totally artificial schema on the data. It is a very serious flaw in the work." If anything it shows that Betts, another acknowlege expert at the time didn't know anything either, about AAA racing history 1909 to 1920 as he accepted totally Mr. Catlin's version of things.

Mr. Betts' letter is just one page long and my reply is also just one page. My reply is dated 20 July 1983, as I first saw Mr. Betts' letter on 2 July 1983, just five months before Mr. Catlin's death in Oct. 1983. I heard nothing further from Mr. Betts and the entire matter seemed settled with regard to those two personages. Later however one of Catlin's close friends accused me, to my face, of having contributed greatly to the death of Mr. Catlin through the "emotional turmoil" I caused him during his last year. So you want to be a historian of AAA racing 1902-1955? You try it. I will be glad to fax the two letters to Atlasf1, if anyone there is interested. The two letters make interesting reading. P.S. Please sent me the code needed to fax, including the country code for Great Britain. I do not know how to use a fax machine, but someone here at Wayne State University will sent them along, if you are interested. Once again- Many Thanks!

Edited by john glenn printz, 16 January 2011 - 17:59.

[HDonaldCapps]

Mr. Printz,

You might wish to fax copies of the documents to the International Motor Racing Research Center IMRRC) at Watkins Glen, whose fax number is (607) 535-9039. You can speak with with the Curator of the IMRRC, Mark Steigerwald or the Center's Historian, Bill Green, at (607) 535-9044 or send an email to research@racingarchives.org

Don Capps

[john glenn printz]

Mr. Capps and all others. I have faxed the two documents mentioned to the International Motor Racing Research Center, about which institution I know absolutely nothing. Thanks!

[HDonaldCapps]

Sir,

The president of the IMRRC is Cameron Argetsinger.

Here is a link to their Web site: IMRRC

It is an organization that more than a few of us are familiar with and a research facility that I have an extremely high opinion, not least because it has proved to be of great asssistance in my research efforts.

Don

[john glenn printz]

Bob Russo. It might be noticed that Mr. Russo, in his very inaccurate, uninformative, misleading and non-scholarly article (ICR Jan 1987, pages 43-45) has confused Joe Thomas in a Frontenac with Rene Thomas driving a Ballot (page 44, 2nd column, bottom). Further Bob maintains (page 45, 2nd column, bottom) that the Beverly Hills, Uniontown, and Fresno races of 1919 contributed points to the 1919 AAA National Championship Title. In the first place there was no 1919 AAA National Driving Title, and secondly the Beverly Hills and Fresno tracks had not even been built yet. The inaugural race at Beverly Hills was the 250 of 28 Feb. 1920 and the first race staged at Fresno was a 200 on 2 Oct 1920.

But let us hypothetically say that the Beverly Hills, Uniontown, and Fresno events of 1919 were AAA National Championship contests. So what? There is no (necessary) causal connection (consult David Hume 1711-1776 here) between the AAA year 1919 and the 1920 AAA season. In 1920 the Fresno 200 (2 Oct 1920) was not a AAA Championship race, but in 1921 both of the Fresno 150's were (30 Apr. 1921 and 1 Oct. 1921). The Springfield 100's counted in 1934, 1935, and 1940 but not in 1936, 1937,1938 and 1939. The Milwaukee 100 counted in 1939 and 1941, but not in 1933, 1937, and 1938. The 1940 Milwaukee 100, to be staged on August 25, was rained out and never rescheduled. Thus each season or year has to take care of itself. The Uniontown inaugural event took place on 2 Dec. 1916 and did not count towards the 1916 AAA Driving Title. Hughie Hughes (1886-1916) was killed that day in a freakish accident. The very first Uniontown race to count for the AAA National Championship Title was held on 30 Apr. 1921. Russo, in his ICR article, states that Uniontown ran AAA National Championship races in 1919, 1920, and 1921.

When talking about the 1916 AAA Championship campaign Bob writes (quote), "...as the season approached its final two races, the prestigious Vanderbilt Cup and Grand Prix events at Santa Monica, Calif., on Nov. 16 and 18...". Actually this is incorrect as the last two races for 1916 were the Grand Prize on November 18 and the Ascot 150 run November 30.

Russo names Lyall Johns, who was killed, as Gaston Chevorlet's riding mechanic but in fact Lyall was riding with O'Donnell, not Chevrolet. Lyall's last name is variously given in the contemporary November 1920 sources as Johls, Jolles, or Jolls, but never as Johns!

Edited by john glenn printz, 16 April 2012 - 13:35.

[john glenn printz]

Bob Russo (cont-1) Bob states twice (page 43, 1st column and page 45, middle of the 3rd column) that the AAA started listing Gaston Chevrolet (1892-1920) as the 1920 Championship winner from 1920 on, until Russ Catlin changed it to Tommy Milton (1893-1962) in 1951. This is not quite or exactly correct. For, in fact, the AAA listed Tommy Milton as the 1920 AAA Driving Champion in both 1927 and 1928. This is why, in a 1928 Harry A. Miller advertising brochure, Milton is given credit for winning both the 1920 and 1921 AAA Titles. This document puzzled me for more than two decades. Consult the PPG INDY CAR WORLD SERIES ANNUAL 1983, page 107, 1st column. However, in 1929, the AAA Contest Board changed the 1920 Championship and gave it back to Gaston Chevrolet. Thus the AAA had used the Arthur Means' 26 Nov. 1926 chart for a year or two, and then changed its mind again.

Perhaps, just perhaps, the other two racing Chevrolet brothers (Louis and Arthur), who were still very much among the living in 1928, took issue with the AAA Contest Board about its listing of Milton as the 1920 Champion, and firmly asserted that their brother Gaston had won the 1920 AAA Title, fair and square. And so the AAA reversed themselves. Who really knows? But in 1951, when Catlin made the switch from Gaston Chevrolet back to Milton, both Louis and Arthur had long been dead. Louis died of natural causes on 6 June 1941 in Detroit, and Arthur committed suicide (by hanging) at his Slidell, LA home on 16 Apr. 1946. And now, being both dead they could raise no further protests. Thus the passage of time, and the death of all persons, both disturbs and alters the perception of the past facts. Of course, all this is just spectulation on my part, as to why the AAA might have changed its 1927/1928 listing of Milton as the 1920 AAA Driving Champion, back to Gaston Chevrolet in 1929.

Edited by john glenn printz, 16 July 2009 - 18:04.

[john glenn printz]

Bob Russo (cont-2) Russo (page 44, 2nd column) states that Louis Chevrolet (1878-1941), after the year 1920 (quote), "later engineered the Chevrolet passenger car which still bears his name." Here Bob is in complete error again. On 16 Sept 1908 William Crapo Durant (1861-1947) founded General Motors in New Jersey and on 5 Mar 1909 Durant hired Louis Chevrolet to join the Buick racing team which already consisted of Bob Burman (1884-1916) and Lewis Strang (1887-1911). L. Chevrolet stayed with the Buick team during the 1909 and 1910 seasons. However a very bad crash at the 1910 Vanderbilt Cup (1 Oct. 1910) race made Louis Chevrolet decide to retire from racing. Louis's riding mechanic, Charles L. Miller, was killed in that wreck. For the Buick team, on 19 June 1909, L. Chevrolet had won the big Crown Point IN, 396 mile road race; and on November 9, 1909 the Atlanta oval 200 miler. When the very first Indianapolis 500 was about to be inaugurated in May 1911, Louis told the Buick team manager, Wadsworth Warren, that he wanted to help and be a possible relief driver. Louis' brother Arthur (1884-1946) was one of two team drivers for the Buick 500 two car effort that year (1911), the other driver being Charles Basle (1885-1962).

Meanwhile William Crapo Durant had decided to use Louis Chevrolet's last name to market a new passenger car. Chevrolet's name, after all, was already famous in the U.S. as a daring racing driver and speed demon. In early 1911 Durant had L. Chevrolet design a new passenger car with draftsman, Etienne Planche. The first Chevrolet prototype was ready by late 1911. In 1912, the first passenger cars to carry the Chevrolet logo or marque were produced. Louis was with the new Chevrolet Motor Company from 2 November 1911 (when the new company was incorporated) to November 1913, when because of heated disputes between Durant and himself, Louis left the company called after his famous name. Louis never had any further connection with the Chevrolet Motor Company after November 1913, although there exists stories that Louis worked as a common laborer for the GM Chevrolet division during the Great Depression, c. 1936.

Edited by john glenn printz, 16 September 2011 - 15:42.

[john glenn printz]

Bob Russo (cont-3) Catlin always inordinately praised Val Haresnape for his perservation of AAA records and his reduction of the previous chaos about them to a clear and reasonable order. This, however, is all rank and total nonsense. All Haresnape, and his assistant Arthur Means, did was to manufacture driver point totals for the 1909-1915 and 1917-1919 AAA seasons where none had existed before and change the AAA 1920 titlist from G. Chevrolet to Milton. This was not a contribution to the historical understanding of those years at all. What resulted was a totally false view of those seasons, as long perpetuated and continued by Catlin and Russo, who made it all canonical. It has lasted for well over 75 years!

Catlin himself after all had a vested interest in always maintaining that Haresnape and Means had done very good work, for Catlin had a skeleton in his closet, i.e. namely his switching of Gaston Chevrolet's 1920 AAA Title to Tommy Milton in 1951. As Catlin originally believed that the 1909-1915 and 1917-1919 point Championships were real and that Milton was the true 1920 AAA title victor it behoved Mr. Catlin to praise Haresnape and Means reckonings or point charts. At some point, between say 1955 and c. 1975, Catlin came to realize that all the 1909-1915, 1917-1919 point reckonings and the 1920 ten race chart had been put together and made by Mr. Arthur H. Means during 1926-1928.

But if so, how much historical objectivity did they have? So here Catlin was caught. All Russ could do now was to maintain that the Haresnape/Means charts were objective "reconstructions" (which was not the case at all!) of the past 1909-1915 and 1917-1920 AAA racing seasons. The bogus Haresnape/Means traditions were the weakest link in Catlins' chain and so Russ always praised to the hilt the Haresnape/Means' review and their revisions of the AAA Contest Board racing records during 1926-1928, as if it was the strongest link in his chain. These claims were just red herrings to keep historical investigators on the wrong track.

Russo, whose knowledge of the pre-World War II AAA racing history was superfical at best, never caught on. Thus Russo writes (ICR, Jan. 1987, page 45, 3rd column) in his most sober, scholarly and serious mode about Haresnape (quote), "A stickler for detail the former civil engineer put his staff to work reconstructing all championship seasons and points up to that time. Much of the work was done by Arthur Means who, together with Haresnape, provided what authentic ties we presently have with racing's early history."

Edited by john glenn printz, 16 April 2012 - 13:41.

[HDonaldCapps]

It is also clear that Haresnape had a less than rosy time at the Contest Board considering that he left in 1926, then returned in 1927, and then left in more than a bit of a snit in December 1929.

Please consider the dates and mull that information over for awhile.

The article in the LA Times (22 December 1929) covering the departure of Haresnape mentions that Haresnape cites "promises not kept" as the reason for his departure. It also points out that the reason for his return in 1927 was "to help rescue the sport from threatened ruin."

Haresnape was also rather scathing in his criticism of Ernest N. Smith, head of the AAA.

Also, articles in the NY Times (10 January 1929 and 9 January 1930) indicate that the Indianapolis 500-mile race would be named the "Grand Prize of America," with the ACA donating a gold cup.

Even the Contest Board Bulletin for 25 June 1938 refers to the event as the "Indianapolis Grand Prix."

At any rate, lots of work left to be done on the (actual) history of American racing prior to 1941.

[HDonaldCapps]

Given the nature of this topic, this quotation seems appropriate (and can be easily applied to a number of other topics):

“For the great enemy of the truth is very often not the lie—deliberate, contrived, and dishonest—but the myth, persistent, persuasive, and unrealistic.” John F. Kennedy

In this case, you get both deception ("lie" is such an emotionally-charged word...) and myth.

[john glenn printz]

More Catlin mythology. In my (ICR 15 Jan. 1988, page 12) rebuttal of Russo's article (i.e. ICR Jan. 1987, pages 43-45) the ICR editors highlighted my following statement in the text, "The fact that the drivers did not, in all cases, get the full total points to which they were entitled was to bother and haunt one later researcher to his dying day." However I never answered the question or further alluded to the topic in the article. The "later researcher" referred to here was Russ Catlin. Catlin noticed that on the 1909-1915 and 1917-1920 AAA point charts that certain drivers, in certain races, did not get the their full allottment of points earned by their placements. Catlin soon however had the answer to this phenomena or problem. Russ conjectured that the drivers in question had been docked the missing points by the AAA for certain rule infractions and/or violations incurred during the actual running of the race. Catlin, again, never doubted that he had found the correct solution to this problem.

But still Catlin continued to worry and fret over his solution because (1) there was never a hint or an allusion, however opaque or obscure, to such a practice in a contempory report or newspaper; (2) it was not clear as to just what kind of activities or actions might and/or would be considered by the AAA officials as justification for a point reduction or penalty; and (3) it was far from clear exactly how the point penalty reduction system actually worked, in practice, as it certainly looked very erratic and chaotic on the AAA charts themselves! Russ repeats his solution, over and over, year after year, and it is positive proof that publicly at least, Catlin always regarded Mr. Means' 1926/27/28 charts of 1909-1915 and 1917-1920 as having been actually contemporary and concurrent with the AAA season covered.

But again, Catlin was simply on the wrong track. The true explanation was and is that Arthur Means, in his haste and hurry, sometimes gave the drivers an incorrect number of points, i.e., generally less. Or as Mr. H. Donald Capps exactly put it, "an exercise by people with time on their hands and information to play with." From Means' sloppy workmanship comes Catlin's idea of the point reductions being due to rule infractions. In a AUTOMOBILE QUARTERLY article (Vol. 20, No. 4, page 408) Catlin describes Mr. Means as, "quite capable." The AAA during the years 1909 to 1915 ran stock car reliability runs and each contestant started with a perfect total or score. They were then docked points for rule infractions, mechanical breakdowns, and failure to meet designated time schedules. Such were the Glidden Tours, for instance. Catlin has seemingly confused the AAA automobile races and reliability run methods of scoring.

And indeed for the AAA races proper of 1909-1915 and 1917-1919 there existed no point system of any type whatsoever. I myself do not know of even a single example in the whole history of AAA National Championship racing of where a driver received less than the total sum of points earned in a race because of a rule infraction. There does exist however a few cases of where a given driver was totally suspended by the AAA (usually for running in a non-AAA event, known as going "outlaw" or because of a violent altercation with high AAA officials) and thereby forfeiting all the Championship points previously accumulated or collected during the season. This happened to Lou Schneider in 1930 and to Ted Horn in 1941. This however is an entirely different situation than that proposed by Mr. Catlin's rule infraction/point deletion hypothesis, in use, according to Russ during the years 1909 to 1920.

Edited by john glenn printz, 16 July 2009 - 17:12.

[jimmyc]

A number of years ago I looked into the subject of the AAA championship's early years. Generally I am in agreement with what others have found, but I would like to add a couple points. There was a series and schedule for 1917. The first race was run and then the US declared war and the championship was aborted. There are significant differences between the schedule of May 1917 and the "official" championship contrived years later. After the 1916 season was over, a decision was made to limit tracks to one point scoring race per season. That rule was followed, for the most part, in 1920 and is the main reason for having a five race schedule. Looking into this and reading the AQ article, I realized that the 10 race schedule was completely wrong. The only alternative that made sense was that one of the Uniontown races was on the schedule but for some reason was not included in the final points tally. The AQ article argues that Uniontown and it's ownership was the problem. For this to be considered true there were have to be evidence at or before the time of the races that they were part of the series. Looking at newspapers and magazines of the period. it was well known that the first U-town race was not part of the championship.That left the fall race as the only question-mark. I found no evidence to support that is was part of series. The only places I didn't look at were AAA records and local Uniontown newspapers.

[HDonaldCapps]

I think that we have covered this ground before on 1917, but it might not hurt to do so again.

The Contest Board yanked the plug on the 1917 championship before before the first event was ever run. Means & Haresnape obviously devised a 1917 championship which Catlin, as always, bought into hook, line, and sinker.

The 1917 schedule apparently was released on 17 March 1917 with several articles appearing in the press the following day. I have copies of the announcement in the 18 March issues of the Atlanta Constitution (pg. A 12) and the New York Times (pg. XX 4) and the 22 March issue of the Los Angeles Times (pg. III 1) and the Atlanta paper once more on 25 March (pg A 3).

Apparently, after a shift of the Chicago race from June to October, the schedule of the National Championship events looked like this:

30 May / Indianapolis
4 July / Omaha
14 July / Des Moines
3 September / Cincinnati
15 September / Providence
29 September / New York
13 October / Chicago

The Chicago round moved from 9 June to 13 October; the 28 July round at Tacoma dropped off the later schedules. None of the schedule had more than eight (8) events listed.

The 14 events listed in the Catlin August 1955 Speed Age article (pp. 37-40, 45-48) are to be ignored.

Uniontown was never on the original championship schedule as far as I can determine.

[jimmyc]

Thanks for clearing things up. The source I saw must have been confused as to which NY race was that season's point race.

[john glenn printz]

Bob Russo (cont.-4) The Catlin and Russo (died 17 Sept. 1999, at age 71) contention that Richard Kennerdell failed to release the official AAA point standings during the 1920 season, which is quite essential to their thesis, is rebutted by the following concrete and contemporary evidence;

(1.) The AAA point standings after one race: DETROIT NEWS, 29 Feb. 1920, Sports, page 2., (top three only are listed). Given here as, 1. Murphy 500; 2. Vail 260, and 3. Joe Thomas 140. NOTE: This is, in fact, incorrect because the top three finishers were later altered to 1. Murphy, 2. Joe Thomas, and 3. Vail.

(2.) The AAA point standings after two races: DETROIT NEWS, 20 June 1920, Autos, page 5; and LOS ANGELES EXAMINER, 4 July 1920, Autos, page 1.

(3.) The AAA point standings after three races: CEDAR RAPIDS EVENING GAZETTE, 7 Aug. 1920, page number not known; DETROIT NEWS, 8 Aug. 1920, Sect. 2, page 11; and LOS ANGELES EXAMINER, 8 Aug. 1920, Autos, page 1.

(4.)The AAA point standings after four races: LOS ANGELES TIMES, 12 Sept. 1920, part 6, page 1; LOS ANGELES EXAMINER, 12 Sept. 1920, Autos, page 9; DETROIT NEWS, 15 Sept. 1920, Autos, page 4;DETROIT NEWS, 26 Sept. 1920, Sect. 2, page 1; DETROIT NEWS, 21 Nov. 1920, Autos, page 1; LOS ANGELES TIMES, 21 Nov. 1920, Autos, page 1. and the LOS ANGELES SPEEDWAY, 25 Nov. 1920, race day program itself.

(5.) The AAA point standings after five races: DETROIT FREE PRESS, 26 Nov. 1920, pages 1-2; DETROIT NEWS, 5 Dec. 1920, Part IV, page 1 and MOTOR, January 1921, page 62

All of the above is perfectly consistent with each other.

The five genuine 1920 AAA National Championship events were (1.) Beverly Hills 250 on Feb. 28; (2.) Indianapolis 500 on May 31; (3.) Tacoma 225 on July 5; (4.) Elgin 251 on August 28; and (5.) Beverly Hills 250 on Nov. 25.

The two 1920 Uniontown 225 milers of June 10 and Sept. 6, did not count because the prize money put up was not commensurate with 1920 AAA National Championship standards and requirements.

The earliest concrete evidence, of which we are aware, that more than five races were included in an "official" 1920 reckoning or AAA point chart, is MOTOR AGE, 27 Oct. 1927, pages 17 & 20. Here Tommy Milton, for the first time, is listed as both the 1920 and 1921 AAA National Driving Champion.

In a 1928 Harry A. Miller advertising brochure, the AAA National Champions are listed for the years 1920 to 1928, with Tommy Milton listed as the winner in both 1920 and 1921.

The ten contest 1920 AAA Championship chart listed the following races; (1.) Beverly Hills 250 on Feb. 28; (2.) Beverly Hills 50 (heat race I) on March 28; (3.) Beverly Hills 50 (final heat) on March 28; (4.) Indianapolis 500 on May 31; (5.) Uniontown 225 on June 19; (6.) Tacoma 225 on July 5; (7.) Elgin 251 on August 28; (8.) Uniontown 225 on Sept. 6; (9.) Fresno 200 on October 2; and (10.) Beverly Hills 225 on November 25. For some reason the Beverly Hills 50 (heat race II) on March 28 didn't appear on the ten event listing.

The earliest "official" AAA listing of U.S. National Champions, of which I am aware, having AAA Driving Titlists before 1916, is dated 10 Nov. 1928. Curiously this list starts with the 1911 season, omitting 1909 and 1910, and has G. Chevrolet as the 1920 winner. An AAA Contest Board Bulletin (Vol. IV, No. 6), dated 8 Feb. 1929, contains AAA National Championship Drivers back to 1909. It has Bert Dingley for 1909, Ray Harroun for 1910, and lists G. Chevrolet for 1920. For the 1917, 1918, and 1919 seasons it names Cooper, Mulford, and Wilcox, respectively. It is obvious then that the AAA Contest Board was playing around with its statistical past in the late 1920's. All of these alterations and modifications are apparently, the work of Arthur H. Means and Val Haresnape (died, 23 April 1930), as Mr. McMaken and myself first proposed in the mid- and late 1980's, in our published articles.

Edited by john glenn printz, 30 November 2011 - 18:32.

[john glenn printz]

Two 1920 AAA charts? (cont.-8) There exists a third very divergent and different hypothesis about the origin of the two 1920 AAA point charts which we haven't touched on yet. The first notice of it occurs in Al Bloemker's (1906-1996) book 500 MILES TO GO; THE STORY OF THE INDIANAPOLIS SPEEDWAY (New York, 1961, page 153). Here it is asserted that the whole trouble was over whether or not the Uniontown Speedway had paid the proper AAA Championship level sanctioning fees for their two 1920, 225 mile AAA races- both of which had been won by Tommy Milton. At first (according to this theory) it was thought that the Uniontown track had not paid them, but later it was discovered that they had. The first 1920 AAA chart thus had but five races. The later resultant and second AAA chart, which now included the two Uniontown events (which makes for seven races, the original five + the 2 Uniontown events), now gave the 1920 AAA Driving Title to Milton, instead of the deceased Gaston Chevrolet. Thus the explanation, for the existence of two variant 1920 AAA point charts and the switch from Gaston Chevrolet to Tommy Milton as the 1920 AAA National Champion. It must be admitted that this is a very clear and simple explanation of the 1920 AAA "mess", but it is in absolute error all the same.


This third explanation or "Uniontown idea", is reported, repeated, and credited apparently, by Phil Harms on his, 16 Oct. 2003 entry, on this very thread. However, again, I will now state unequivocally that this is a totally incorrect solution and has no evidence whatever to support it. The "second" existing AAA chart lists ten events; not just the original five + the two Uniontown events, which still equals a total of seven races if my arithmetic is correct. Whence then the two additional Beverly Hills 50 mile sprints of 28 March 1920 and the Fresno 200 of 2 Oct. 1920? This is one of the major problems of this explanation.

This theory also fails to precisely give and state the dates when the error over the two 1920 Uniontown sanctions was discovered by the AAA Contest Board and when it was later "publically" corrected, if indeed it ever was. Was it 1920?, 1921?, 1926?, 1927?, 1951?, 1961? etc.? It is true that Bloemker asserts that both these events took place in late 1920 but the documentation for it, is absolute zero in the contemporary 1920, 1921, and 1922 news and auto publications. And an entity which has no date or data is a non-existent thing. There is no alteration from Gaston Chevrolet to Tommy Milton regarding the 1920 AAA National Championship, in late 1920 or early 1921. In fact, none at all 'till 1927. The Uniontown track itself went out of business after the 1922 season so it is not likely that this sanctioning dispute over the two past 1920 AAA races, if it ever existed, went on much after that. We might ask too, what happened to the second Beverly Hills 50 mile heat race, won by Murphy, on 28 March 1920, which is not included in the second ten race reckoning.

The AAA Contest Board listed Tommy Milton as the 1920 National Driving Champion in both late 1927 and early 1928, but by late 1928 it reverted back again to Gaston Chevrolet. Why so? This remained the case until Russ Catlin talked the AAA into making yet another reversal in 1951. Bloemker's thesis likewise does not account for the late 1928 change, back to Gaston Chevrolet once again.

The historical record (i.e. the motor journals and newspapers 1920 to 1961), one must understand, are absolutely silent about any 1920 Uniontown sanctioning controversy or mixup. Bloemker's 1961 surmise thus comes, I would say, right out of the sky. I would guess that Bloemker, who certainly knew about the existence of two variant 1920 AAA reckonings, was looking for an explanation of the two charts; and someone quickly suggested that it was probably a question about the Uniontown AAA Championship sanction fees. This seemed "prima facie" quite a reasonable explanation and was thus incorporated into Al Bloemker's 1961 book. And thereby another AAA Contest Board myth was created. As a historical fact however, it is totally erroneous, fallacious, and a quite wrongly headed explanation and theory.

Bloemker's entire statements about the matter are as follows. Al is talking about the 1920 season... "Fulfilling his Duesenberg commitments by midseason, Milton finished the campaign in a car owned by millionaire Cliff Durant and gained belated recognition as national champion after an official recheck of the point standings. His victories at Uniontown, Pennsylvania, had not been counted in the original tabulation because the AAA Contest Board was under the erroneous impression the promotors had failed to meet the minimum purse requirement of $100 per mile for recognition as a championship event."

[HDonaldCapps]

I finally got to read the response given to the Russo article in the 15 & 19 January 1988 issues of IndyCar Racing. Makes sense to me....

Also, just about each of the programs for the Interntional Sweepstakes that I checked for the 1930s period had the 1920 champion listed as Chevrolet. It was usually entitled "American Champions" and featured small pictures of the champions with the season's champion being added or notated as the years progrssed. It seems that not until about 1952 do you have Milton becoming the 1920 champion. Interesting that there are all the retroactive champions created by Means in the "American Champions" -- Dingley, Wilcox, and so on. Keep in mond that Motor Age had Eddie Hearne as the 1919 champion based upon its scoring system and events included in its evaluation of the season.

More to follow....