The 1914 AAA Championship Car season consisted of 15 races, beginning in Santa Monica, California on February 26 and concluding in Corona, California on November 26. AAA did not award points towards a National Championship during the 1914 season, and did not declare a National Champion. René Thomas was the winner of the Indianapolis 500.
The de facto National Champion as polled by the American automobile journal Motor Age, was Ralph DePalma. Points were not awarded by the AAA Contest Board during the 1914 season. DePalma was named the champion by Chris G. Sinsabaugh, an editor at Motor Age, based upon merit and on track performance. A points table was created retroactively in 1927. At a later point, it was recognized by historians that these championship results should be considered unofficial.
Schedule and results
Date Race NameDistance (miles) Track Location Type Notes Pole position Winning driver February 26 William K. Vanderbilt Cup (295)Santa Monica Road Race CourseSanta Monica, California8.417 mile road course In practice, Dave Lewis skidded, crashed into a crowd, and overturned, crushing to death a spectator, Lewis Smith, and seriously hurting himself and four other attendants. Harry Grant Ralph DePalma February 28 American Grand Prize (404) ACA sanction Eddie Pullen Teddy Tetzlaff May 30 International 500 Mile Sweepstakes Indianapolis Motor Speedway Speedway, Indiana 2.5 mile brick oval 450 cu in., Qualifications based upon demonstrated 75 mph single-lap speed, 30-car field Arthur Duray René Thomas July 3 Golden Potlach Trophy Race (200)Pacific Coast SpeedwayTacoma, Washington2 mile dirt oval 600 cu in. Hughie Hughes July 4 Montamarathon Trophy Race (250) Free-for-all Earl Cooper July 4 Sioux City Race (300) Sioux City Speedway North Sioux City, South Dakota 2 mile dirt oval Gil Andersen Eddie Rickenbacker July 30 Galveston Race 1 (50)Denver Beach CourseGalveston, Texas 5 mile beach course Ralph Mulford August 1 Galveston Race 2 (50)2.5 mile beach course Ralph Mulford August 3 Galveston Race 3 (50) Ralph Mulford August 21 Chicago Auto Club Trophy Race (301)Elgin Road Race CourseElgin, Illinois8.384 mile road course Frank Dearborn Ralph DePalma August 22 Elgin National Trophy Race (301) Spencer Wishart and his riding mechanic Jack Jenter fatally injured Frank Dearborn Ralph DePalma September 26 Kalamazoo Race (100) Recreation Park Kalamazoo, Michigan 1 mile dirt oval Free-formula Bob Burman October 22 Galesburg Race (100) Galesburg District Fairgrounds Galesburg, Illinois 1 mile dirt oval Fritz Walker, riding mechanic for Jack Gable, fatally injured Ralph Mulford October 24 St. Paul Race (100) Minnesota State Fair Speedway St. Paul, Minnesota 1 mile dirt oval Tom Alley November 26 Corona Race (302) Grand Boulevard Corona, California 2.768 mile road course Barney Oldfield Eddie Pullen
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 Ralph DePalma Mercedes 2045 2 Eddie Pullen Mercer 1720 3 René Thomas Delage 1000 4 Barney Oldfield Stutz 990 5 Ralph Mulford Peugeot 780
References
General references http://www.champcarstats.com/year/1914.htm accessed 8/21/15 http://www.teamdan.com/archive/gen/indycar/1914.html accessed 8/21/15