AAA Contest Board
Year Means & Haresnape ( 1926-27 ) Russ Catlin ( 1951 )
1902 - Harry Harkness
1903 - Barney Oldfield
1904 - George Heath
1905 - Victor Hémery
1906 - Joe Tracy
1907 - Eddie Bald
1908 - Lewis Strang
1909 Bert Dingley George Robertson
1910 Ray Harroun Ray Harroun
1911 Ralph Mulford Ralph Mulford
1912 Ralph DePalma Ralph DePalma
1913 Earl Cooper Earl Cooper
1914 Ralph DePalma Ralph DePalma
1915 Earl Cooper Earl Cooper
1916 Dario Resta Dario Resta
1917 Earl Cooper Earl Cooper
1918 Ralph Mulford Ralph Mulford
1919 Howard Wilcox Howard Wilcox
1920 Tommy Milton Gaston Chevrolet Tommy Milton
Controversy -- Retrospectively awarded champions
In 1927 Arthur Means , the Assistant Secretary of the AAA Contest Board , with the approval of Secretary Val Haresnape , retrospectively calculated championship results for major AAA-sanctioned races run between 1909 and 1915 and for 1917 to 1920 . The pair also initially changed the 1920 championship winner to Tommy Milton , but by no later than 1929 had restored Gaston Chevrolet . [ 4 ] [ 5 ] [ 6 ] In 1951 Russ Catlin officially revised AAA records with results based on all AAA races from 1902 to 1919 , and first published his list in the 1952 Indianapolis 500 program . Using his own devised system of awarding championship points , this had the effect of retroactively creating seven new champions and changing the 1909 champion from Bert Dingley to George Robertson and the 1920 champion from Gaston Chevrolet to Tommy Milton . [ 4 ] [ 5 ] IndyCar currently recognizes Russ Catlin 's list from 1909-1919 , but with Gaston Chevrolet as champion for 1920 . [ 7 ] Each year from 1909 to 1915 and in 1919 , the American automobile journal Motor Age selected a `` driver of the year '' . [ 5 ] Likewise , other contemporary publications such as The Horseless Age , MoToR , The New York Times , and Los Angeles Times made similar selections . All retrospectively awarded championships named by Haresnape & Means and Catlin are unequivocally considered unofficial by accredited historians and statisticians . Furthermore , some consider them revisionist history , and discredit the entire effort made by both parties as illegitimate , unnecessary , fictional , and not consistent with contemporary accounts . These actions have made it difficult to distinguish fact from fiction regarding AAA sanctioned national racing in that proper handbooks and official statistical supplement still partially intermix the revisionist accounts with official record .
The AAA Contest Board was the motorsports arm of American Automobile Association. The contest board sanctioned automobile races from 1904 until 1955, establishing of Championship Car racing. Modern-day IndyCar racing traces its roots directly to these AAA events. All of the races at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway during that time period were sanctioned by AAA, including the Indianapolis 500. AAA sanctioned the 1905 National Motor Car Championship, the first national championship for major auto racing. It sanctioned the National Championship in 1916, and then from 1920 to 1955. It also sanctioned the Vanderbilt Cup. The AAA Contest Board dissolved and decided to focus strictly on helping the automobiling public, as a result of the 1955 Le Mans disaster.