For the first time in many years the National Championship was won by other than the first place man in the Indianapolis 500-mile race. Rex Mays, who finished second to Wilbur Shaw in this event, won both of the two other Championship races of the American Automobile Association's schedule, and by so doing received 1,225 points, the highest number of earned points since the 1936 season. Wilbur Shaw ranked second with 1,000 earned points, and Mauri Rose, who placed third in the Indianapolis classic, ranked third also in total number of earned points with 675 points.
By winning the 1940 Indianapolis '500' Wilbur Shaw became the first man to win in two consecutive years. His 1940 victory brought his total to three, tying the record of Louie Meyer who won in 1928, 1933 and 1936. Shaw's time in winning the twenty-ninth annual '500' was 4 hours 22 minutes 31.17 seconds, an average of 114.3 m.p.h. Rain, which began before the 400 mile distance was reached, forced officials to bring the race under the yellow caution flag and thus preserved the record of 117.2 m.p.h. established by Floyd Roberts in 1938. Shaw drove the same car, a 'Boyle Special,' which carried him to victory in 1939. It is interesting to note that the car driven by Rex Mays is the same machine in which Louie Meyer was wrecked in 1939 with only five miles to go, after leading the race during the final stages.
Besides Indianapolis, there were 100-mile Championship races held on the one-mile tracks at Springfield, Illinois, and Syracuse, N. Y. Another similar race, scheduled to be held at Milwaukee, was cancelled as a result of continual rain.
The majority of races continue to be held on half-mile tracks, most of which are located in the Eastern States. Seventy such races in all were held in 1940. Joie Chitwood, last year's Eastern Champion, after a rather unsuccessful first half of the season, finally passed Bill Holland to retain his championship. Holland was not passed without a struggle, however, as he flew to the last races of the season, landing his plane inside the race track. The three leading drivers in the Eastern Circuit in their ranking order were: Joie Chitwood, Bill Holland, and Ted Horn.
Midget automobile racing continued to hold the attention of a considerable number of spectators, due chiefly to the fact that it is an evening sport and can be attended with a minimum of travel. Races are held on a regular weekly schedule, and during 1940 races were held on tracks at Haverhill, Mass.; West Springfield, Mass.; Bridgeport, Conn.; Buffalo, N. Y.; Castle Hill, Bronx, N. Y.; Freeport, L. I., New York; Coney Island, N. Y.; Union, N. J.; Allentown, Pa.; Philadelphia, Pa.; Cleveland, Detroit, Chicago, and Los Angeles. This class of racing is done on tracks of about one-fifth mile in length and average speeds of 50 to 60 m.p.h. are attained. The cars weigh about 800 pounds and use engines of about 100 cubic inches developing from 50 to over 100 horsepower. Of the various midget racing circuits in operation, the most important are the Eastern and the Pacific. The winner of the Eastern Midget Racing circuit was Charles Miller, who accumulated 4,497½ points. In the Pacific Coast Midget Racing circuit, Roy Russing with 1,537.8 points was the winner.
Three midget races of National Championship rating were held during the season. The first was a 100-mile event on the one-mile Langhorne Speedway and demonstrated that the small cars were capable of speeds close to 100 miles per hour. The winner of the Langhorne event was Joe Garson driving the Peter's Offenhauser Special. The second Champion ship, a 150 lap event, held on the fifth-mile, Castle Hill, New York, track was won by John Ritter driving a car powered with a two-cycle, outboard type of engine. Roy Russing drove the Offenhauser powered car owned by Rex Mays to first place in the Los Angeles event at the close of the season.
The second annual 200-mile A.A.A. sanctioned Stock Car Race at the Langhorne Speedway was won by Henry Banks driving a Buick car. Thirty-six stock cars of ten different makes started the race. The winner's time was 2 hours 53 minutes 15.11 seconds for an average of 69.26 miles per hour.
Due mainly to the international situation there were no attempts made to better the World's Speed Record of 369.7 m.p.h. established in 1939 by John Cobb, an Englishman, on the Bonneville Saltbeds. However, the Saltbeds were not without activity and two high-speed runs were made during July. Ab Jenkins established a total of 92 American and International records in the unlimited and 'A' displacement classes. His highest average speed was for the 25 mile distance when 185.2 m.p.h. was attained. With Cliff Bergere as relief driver the 'Mormon Meteor' car was driven through all distances up to 24 hours.
The car driven by George Barringer was of the Indianapolis type and was of technical interest due to its many engineering innovations. Thirty-three new American and International Class 'D' records were established for distances from one kilometer to 500 miles. Speed of 158.2 miles per hour was averaged over the five mile distance and for the 500 miles 142.9 m.p.h. was achieved.
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