The 1916 AAA Championship Car season consisted of 15 races, beginning in Brooklyn, New York on May 13 and concluding in Los Angeles, California on November 30. There were also 12 non-championship races. For the first time since the 1905 season, the AAA awarded points towards a National Championship. The AAA National Champion and Indianapolis 500 winner was Dario Resta.
Schedule and results
Rnd Date Race name Length Track Location Type Pole position Winning driverNC April 8 Corona Race Grand Boulevard Corona, California Road — Eddie O'DonnellNC April 29 Raisin Classic Fresno Road Race Course Fresno, California Road — Eddie O'DonnellNCMay 13 Coney Island Cup Sheepshead Bay SpeedwayBrooklyn, New YorkBoard — Johnny Aitken Queens Cup — Ralph Mulford 1 May 13 Metropolitan Trophy Sheepshead Bay Speedway Brooklyn, New York Board — Eddie Rickenbacker 2 May 30 1916 Indianapolis 500 Indianapolis Motor Speedway Speedway, Indiana Brick Johnny Aitken Dario Resta 3 June 11 Chicago Race Speedway Park Maywood, Illinois Board Ralph DePalma Dario RestaNC June 24 Des Moines Sprint Race Des Moines Speedway Valley Junction, Iowa Board — Eddie Rickenbacker 4 June 24 Des Moines Race Des Moines Speedway Valley Junction, Iowa Board Ralph DePalma Ralph DePalma 5 July 4 Minneapolis Race Twin City Motor Speedway Minneapolis, Minnesota Concrete Louis Chevrolet Ralph DePalmaNC July 15 Omaha Sprint Race Omaha Speedway Omaha, Nebraska Board — Ralph DePalma 6 July 15 Omaha Race Omaha Speedway Omaha, Nebraska Board Ralph Mulford Dario RestaNCJuly 22 Kansas City Race Kansas City SpeedwayKansas City, MissouriDirt — Ralph DePalma — W. W. Brown 7 August 5 Montamarathon/Potlach Trophy Race Pacific Coast Speedway Tacoma, Washington Board Sterling Price Eddie RickenbackerNC August 19 Speedway Grand Prix Speedway Park Maywood, Illinois Board Dario Resta Dario Resta 8 September 4 International Sweepstakes Cincinnati Motor Speedway Sharonville, Ohio Board Howdy Wilcox Johnny AitkenNCSeptember 9 Harvest Auto Racing Classic Indianapolis Motor SpeedwaySpeedway, IndianaBrick Louis Chevrolet Johnny Aitken — Johnny Aitken 9 September 9 Harvest Auto Racing Classic Indianapolis Motor Speedway Speedway, Indiana Brick — Johnny Aitken 10 September 30 Astor Cup Race Sheepshead Bay Speedway Brooklyn, New York Board — Johnny Aitken 11 October 14 Grand American Auto Race Speedway Park Maywood, Illinois Board Art Klein Dario Resta 12 October 28 Harkness Trophy Race Sheepshead Bay Speedway Brooklyn, New York Board James Benedict Johnny Aitken 13 November 16 William K. Vanderbilt Cup Santa Monica Road Race Course Santa Monica, California Road Mike Moosie Dario Resta14November 18 American Grand PrizeSanta Monica Road Race CourseSanta Monica, CaliforniaRoad Mike Moosie Howdy Wilcox Johnny Aitken 15 November 30 Championship Award Sweepstakes Ascot Speedway South Los Angeles, California Dirt Eddie Rickenbacker Eddie RickenbackerNC December 2 Universal Trophy Uniontown Speedway Hopwood, Pennsylvania Board — Louis Chevrolet
Reduced from 500 to 300 miles due to the onset of World War I. Sanctioned by the Automobile Club of America, AAA awarded points. Shared drive.
Leading National Championship standings
# Driver Car Points 1 Dario Resta Peugeot 4100 2 Johnny Aitken Peugeot 3440 3 Eddie Rickenbacker Maxwell, Peugeot, Duesenberg 2910 4 Ralph DePalma Mercedes, Peugeot 1790 5 Earl Cooper Stutz-Wisconsin, Stutz 1405 6 Wilbur D'Alene Duesenberg 1120 7 Tommy Milton Duesenberg 690 8 Pete Henderson Maxwell 667 9 Frank Galvin Sunbeam Motor Car Company 645 10 Ralph Mulford Peugeot 620
References
General references
See also 1916 Indianapolis 500 1916 American Grand Prize