1915 AAA Championship Car season

The 1915 AAA Championship Car season consisted of 27 races, beginning in San Diego, California on January 9 and concluding in San Francisco, California on November 25. The de facto National Champion as poled by the American automobile journal Motor Age was Earl Cooper and the winner of the Indianapolis 500 was Ralph DePalma. Points were not awarded by the AAA Contest Board during the 1915 season. Champions of the day were decided by Chris G. Sinsabaugh, an editor at Motor Age, based on merit and on track performance. The points table was created retroactively in 1927 – all championship results should be considered unofficial.

1915 AAA Championship Car season
AAA National Championship Trail
Season
Races27
Start dateJanuary 9
End dateNovember 25
Awards
National champion Earl Cooper (unofficial)
Indianapolis 500 winner Ralph DePalma


Schedule and results
Date Race Name
Distance (miles)		 Track Location Type Notes Pole position Winning driver
January 9 San Diego Exposition Road Race (305) Point Loma Road Race Course San Diego, California 5.982 mile road course Earl Cooper
February 3 Tropica Race (101) Tropica Road Glendale, California 1.906 mile road course Eddie O'Donnell
February 7 Ascot Race (100) Ascot Park Los Angeles, California 1 mile dirt oval Jack Callaghan fatally injured[1][2] Eddie O'Donnell
February 27 American Grand Prize (406) Panama–Pacific International Exposition San Francisco, California 3.905 mile road course ACA sanction Earl Cooper Dario Resta
March 6 William K. Vanderbilt Cup (301) 3.849 mile road course 600 cu in. Barney Oldfield Dario Resta
March 17 Venice Race (301) Venice Road Race Course Venice, California 3.105 mile road course Cliff Durant Barney Oldfield
March 20 Tucson Race (103) Tucson Road Race Course Tucson, Arizona 4.298 mile road course Barney Oldfield
April 29 Southern Sweepstakes Road Race (200) Oklahoma City Road Race Course Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 2.404 mile road course John Raimey Bob Burman
May 31 International 500 Mile Sweepstakes Indianapolis Motor Speedway Speedway, Indiana 2.5 mile brick oval 24-car field Howdy Wilcox Ralph DePalma
June 9 Galesburg Race (100) Galesburg District Fairgrounds Galesburg, Illinois 1 mile dirt oval Tom Alley Eddie O'Donnell
June 26 Chicago Race (500) Speedway Park Maywood, Illinois 2 mile board oval Dario Resta Dario Resta
July 3 Sioux City Race (300) Sioux City Speedway North Sioux City, South Dakota 2 mile dirt oval 450 cu in.; C. C. Cox fatally injured[3] Eddie Rickenbacker
July 4 Montamarathon Trophy Race (250) Pacific Coast Speedway Tacoma, Washington 2 mile board oval 650 cu in.; Billy Carlson and his riding mechanic Paul Franzen fatally injured[4][5] Glover Ruckstell
July 5 Golden Potlach Trophy Race (200) Eddie Pullen
July 5 Omaha Race (300) Omaha Speedway Omaha, Nebraska 1.25 mile board oval Eddie O'Donnell Eddie Rickenbacker
July 9 Burlington Race (100) Tri-State Fair Grounds Burlington, Iowa 0.5 mile dirt oval Bob Burman
August 7 Des Moines Race (300) Des Moines Speedway Valley Junction, Iowa 1 mile board oval 300 cu in.; Joe Cooper and Maurice Keeler, riding mechanic for William Chandler, fatally injured[6] Ralph Mulford
August 7 Challenge Cup Match Race (100) Speedway Park Maywood, Illinois 2 mile board oval 600 cu in. Barney Oldfield Dario Resta
August 20 Chicago Auto Club Trophy Race (300) Elgin Road Race Course Elgin, Illinois 8.384 mile road course 300 cu in. Earl Cooper
August 21 Elgin National Trophy Race (300) 450 cu in. Gil Andersen
August 28 Kalamazoo Race (100) Recreation Park Kalamazoo, Michigan 1 mile dirt oval Free-for-all Ralph DePalma
September 4 Minneapolis Race (500) Twin City Motor Speedway Minneapolis, Minnesota 2 mile concrete oval 300 cu in. Dario Resta Earl Cooper/Johnny Aitken
September 18 Providence Race (100) Narragansett Park Speedway Cranston, Rhode Island 1 mile concrete oval Eddie Rickenbacker
October 9 Astor Cup (350) Sheepshead Bay Speedway Sheepshead Bay, New York 2 mile board oval 300 cu in.; Harry Grant fatally injured in practice[7][8] Dario Resta Gil Andersen
November 2 Harkness Gold Medal Race (100) Ralph DePalma Dario Resta
November 20 Phoenix Race (109) Arizona State Fairgrounds Phoenix, Arizona 1 mile dirt oval Earl Cooper
November 25 San Francisco Race 3 (100) Panama–Pacific International Exposition San Francisco, California 1 mile dirt oval Earl Cooper

Leading National Championship standings

The points paying system for the 1909–1915 and 1917–1919 season were retroactively applied in 1927 and revised in 1951 using the points system from 1920.

 #  Driver Sponsor Points
1 Earl Cooper Stutz 3780
2 Dario Resta Peugeot 3320
3 Gil Andersen Stutz 2590
4 Eddie O'Donnell Duesenberg 2285
5 Eddie Rickenbacker Maxwell 1765

References
  1. "Callaghan badly hurt in Los Angeles race". The Milwaukee Sentinel. February 8, 1915.
  2. "Jack Callaghan dies; was hurt on Sunday". The Milwaukee Sentinel. February 9, 1915.
  3. "Cincinnati driver meets death in auto race at Sioux City". The Cincinnati Enquirer. July 4, 1915. Archived from the original on 2018-07-31.
  4. "Franzen killed in race" (PDF). The New York Times. July 5, 1915. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2018-10-01.
  5. "Auto driver dies" (PDF). The New York Times. July 6, 1915. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2018-10-01.
  6. "Joe Cooper and a mechanician killed in race". The Gazette Times. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. August 8, 1915.
  7. "Auto driver Grant severely burned" (PDF). The New York Times. September 28, 1915. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2018-10-01.
  8. "Harry Grant dies of burns" (PDF). The New York Times. October 8, 1915. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2018-10-01.

General references
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