1951 AAA Championship Car season explained
The 1951 AAA Championship Car season consisted of 15 races, beginning in Speedway, Indiana on May 30 and concluding in San Mateo, California on November 11. There was also one non-championship event in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania. The AAA National Champion was Tony Bettenhausen, and the Indianapolis 500 winner was Lee Wallard.
Schedule and results
| Rnd | Date | Race Name | Track | Location | Type | Pole Position | Winning Driver |
|---|
| 1 | May 30 |  International 500 Mile Sweepstakes | Indianapolis Motor Speedway | Speedway, Indiana | Paved | Duke Nalon | Lee Wallard |
|---|
| 2 | June 10 | Rex Mays Classic | Wisconsin State Fair Park Speedway | West Allis, Wisconsin | Dirt | Jack McGrath | Tony Bettenhausen |
|---|
| 3 | June 24 | Langhorne 100 | Langhorne Speedway | Langhorne, Pennsylvania | Dirt | Jack McGrath | Tony Bettenhausen |
|---|
| 4 | July 4 | Darlington 250 | Darlington Raceway | Darlington, South Carolina | Paved | Johnny McDowell | Walt Faulkner |
|---|
| NC | July 29 | Indianapolis Sweepstakes | Williams Grove Speedway | Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania | Dirt | Troy Ruttman | Troy Ruttman |
|---|
| 5 | August 18 | Springfield 100 | Illinois State Fairgrounds | Springfield, Illinois | Dirt | Paul Russo | Tony Bettenhausen |
|---|
| 6 | August 26 | Milwaukee 200 | Wisconsin State Fair Park Speedway | West Allis, Wisconsin | Dirt | Johnny McDowell | Walt Faulkner |
|---|
| 7 | September 1 | Ted Horn Memorial | DuQuoin State Fairgrounds | Du Quoin, Illinois | Dirt | Johnnie Parsons | Tony Bettenhausen |
|---|
| 8 | September 3 | Du Quoin 150 | DuQuoin State Fairgrounds | Du Quoin, Illinois | Dirt | Tony Bettenhausen | Tony Bettenhausen |
|---|
| 9 | September 3 | Pikes Peak Auto Hill Climb | Pikes Peak Highway | Pikes Peak, Colorado | Hill | Louis Unser | Al Rogers |
|---|
| 10 | September 8 | Syracuse 100 | New York State Fairgrounds | Syracuse, New York | Dirt | Tony Bettenhausen | Tony Bettenhausen |
|---|
| 11 | September 9 | Detroit 100 | Michigan State Fairgrounds Speedway | Detroit, Michigan | Dirt | Johnny McDowell | Paul Russo |
|---|
| 12 | September 23 | Denver 100 | Centennial Park | Littleton, Colorado | Dirt | Tony Bettenhausen | Tony Bettenhausen |
|---|
| 13 | October 21 | San Jose 100 | San Jose Speedway | San Jose, California | Dirt | Tony Bettenhausen | Tony Bettenhausen |
|---|
| 14 | November 4 | Phoenix 100 | Arizona State Fairgrounds | Phoenix, Arizona | Dirt | Henry Banks | Johnnie Parsons |
|---|
| 15 | November 11 | Bay Meadows 150 | Bay Meadows Race Track | San Mateo, California | Dirt | Jack McGrath | Johnnie Parsons | |
|---|
Indianapolis 500 was AAA-sanctioned and counted towards the 1951 FIA World Championship of Drivers title.
Race stopped after 101 laps due to rain.
No pole is awarded for the Pikes Peak Hill Climb, in this schedule on the pole is the driver who started first. No lap led was awarded for the Pikes Peak Hill Climb, however, a lap was awarded to the drivers that completed the climb.
Race stopped after 67 laps due to wreck.
Final points standings
Note1: The points became the car, when not only one driver led the car, the relieved driver became small part of the points. Points for driver method: (the points for the finish place) / (number the lap when completed the car) * (number the lap when completed the driver) Note2: There were scoring omissions in the AAA records regarding laps completed for eight drivers in the Darlington and Milwaukee races in 1951. The statistics shown include the most accurate representation of those races that is available.
| | Color | Result |
|---|
| Gold | Winner | | Silver | 2nd place | | Bronze | 3rd place | | Green | 4th & 5th place | | Light Blue | 6th-10th place | | Dark Blue | Finished
(Outside Top 10) | | Purple | Did not finish
(Ret) | | Red | Did not qualify
(DNQ) | | Brown | Withdrawn
(Wth) | | Black | Disqualified
(DSQ) | | White | Did not start
(DNS) | | Blank | Did not
participate
(DNP) | | Not competing | |
| | In-line notation | | Bold | Pole position | | Italics | Ran fastest race lap | *|style="background:#F2F2F2;" align=center|Led most race laps|-|style="text-align:center" colspan=2| Rookie of the Year|-|style="text-align:center" colspan=2| Rookie|}|}|}References
- Web site: AAA National Championship 1951 . Åberg, Andreas . Driver Database . 2011-04-15 . https://web.archive.org/web/20121019094123/http://www.driverdb.com/standings/1140-1951/ . 2012-10-19 . live .
- Web site: 1951 AAA National Championship Trail . ChampCarStats.com . 2011-04-15 . https://web.archive.org/web/20120323154315/http://www.champcarstats.com/year/1951.htm . 2012-03-23 . live .
- Web site: 1951 Championship Driver Summary . Harms . Phil . Motorsport.com . 2011-04-15 . https://web.archive.org/web/20120810003609/http://old.motorsport.com/stats/champ/data/1951sum.pdf . 2012-08-10 . dead .
- http://media.indycar.com/pdf/2011/IICS_2011_Historical_Record_Book_INT6.pdf (p. 299-302)
See also
|
|
|
Ray Shadbolt
Jean Achard