Rex Mays of Los Angeles won the National AAA Championship title and duplicated his performance of 1940 by finishing second in the Indianapolis 500 mile Grand Prix and winning the National Championship events run at Milwaukee, Wis., and Syracuse, N. Y. Mays' total number of earned points was 1,225, equaling the number he won last year. Mauri Rose, co-winner at Indianapolis with Floyd Davis, received no points, since he did not finish with the car which he started the race. Davis drove the first 72 laps and then Rose, his own car being disabled, took over and won the race.
Ralph Hepburn, who took fourth spot at Indianapolis, earned second position in the National AAA standing, followed by Cliff Bergere in third place. It is significant to note that Bergere was the first man to drive the entire 500 miles at Indianapolis without making a single pit stop.
The greatest number of races under official AAA sanction were held on the half-mile speedways, the majority of which are located in the Eastern Circuit. Bill Holland took the lead in point standings early in the year and continued to hold a comfortable margin over his opponents throughout the season. The three leading drivers in the Eastern circuit were Bill Holland, with 786 points, Henry Rogers. 470 points, and Walt Ader, 407 points.
A lively schedule of races developed in the Midwestern Circuit with tracks at Dayton, Ohio, Winchester, Fort Wayne, and Jungle Park, Ind., all operating under AAA sanction for the first time in several years. Competition in this Circuit was very close, with Duke Nalon finally passing his competitors to win the Midwestern Championship with 607 points. Other leading drivers in this Circuit were Tony Bettenhausen, taking second position with 520 points, and Elbert Booker, with 305 points for third place.
Midget automobile racing continued to be one of the most popular sports and enjoyed a very successful season. The Eastern Circuit ran the regular weekly schedule of seven races as in previous years. In addition, the series of races at Buffalo (N. Y.) Stadium, was an outstanding success and a circuit of tracks in New England was operated without interruption. George Fonder was the winner of the Eastern Midget Circuit, with Charles Miller, last year's champion, as runner up. On the Pacific Coast Circuit. Roy Russing won the Western championship for the second consecutive year.
National Championship midget races were held at the Williams Grove (Pa.) Speedway and at the Gilmore Stadium in Los Angeles. Inasmuch as two entirely separate groups of drivers participated in each race no competition points have been issued.
A decided increase in the popularity of Stock Car racing was noted during the year, with five major races of this type being held. Attendance at all events was extremely satisfactory.
Inclement weather and continued surface water at the Bonneville Salt Beds, in Utah, did not permit any speed record attempts during the year. Ab Jenkins, of Salt Lake City, reported his car was in readiness there for an attempt at new American and International Records, but he was never able to run. The War prevented any of the English speed-record aspirants from coming over as in previous years.
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