The following is an overview of the events of 1940 in motorsport including the major racing events, motorsport venues that were opened and closed during a year, championships and non-championship events that were established and disestablished in a year, and births and deaths of racing drivers and other motorsport people.
The calendar includes only annual major non-championship events or annual events that had own significance separate from the championship. For the dates of the championship events see related season articles.
| Date | Event | Ref | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 28 April | 13th Mille Miglia | [1] | |
| 23 May | 31st Targa Florio | [2] | |
| 30 May | 28th Indianapolis 500 | [3] |
| Date | Month | Name | Nationality | Occupation | Note | Ref | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 18 | January | Pedro Rodríguez | Mexican | Racing driver | Winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans . | [4] | |
| 21 | February | Peter Gethin | British | Racing driver | 1971 Italian Grand Prix winner. | [5] | |
| 28 | Mario Andretti | American | Racing driver | Formula One World Champion, 1969 Indianapolis 500 winner. | [6] | ||
| 27 | March | Sandro Munari | Italian | Rally driver | World Rally champion . | [7] | |
| 2 | April | Mike Hailwood | British | Motorcycle racer | 500cc Grand Prix motorcycle racing World champion (-). | [8] | |
| 4 | Richard Attwood | British | Racing driver | 24 Hours of Le Mans winner . | [9] | ||
| 23 | May | Gérard Larrousse | French | Racing driver | 24 Hours of Le Mans winner (-). | [10] | |
| 10 | June | Peter Ryan | Canadian | Racing driver | The first Canadian Formula One driver. | [11] |