National champions
edit
- ^A From 1979-1995, the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race and the American Open Wheel National Championship were sanctioned by separate organizations, USAC and CART, respectively, with the former running a multi-race championship series, the USAC Gold Crown Championship, independent of the latter from 1979-1984.
- ^B From 1984-1995, while winners of the USAC Gold Crown Championship continued to be officially declared, such championship, officially beginning just after the previous year's race, then consisted solely of the "season-ending" race at Indianapolis, thus making such winners indistinguishable from Indianapolis winners in the respective years of such championships' conclusions.
Retrospectively awarded champions
editIn 1926 Val Haresnape and Arthur Means, Secretary and Assistant Secretary, respectively, of the AAA Contest Board, 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.[2][3][4]
In 1951 racing historian Russ Catlin officially revised AAA records with championship results based on all AAA races from 1902–1915 and 1916–1919, first published in the 1952 Indianapolis 500 program. This had the effect of retroactively creating seven newly credited champions and changing the 1909 champion from Bert Dingley to George Robertson and the 1920 champion from Gaston Chevrolet to Tommy Milton.[3][4]
| Year | Haresnape & Means (1926-7) | Russ Catlin (1951) | Motor Age (yearly) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 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 |
Bert Dingley
|
| 1910 | Ray Harroun |
Ray Harroun |
Ralph Mulford
|
| 1911 | Ralph Mulford |
Ralph Mulford |
Harvey Herrick
|
| 1912 |  Ralph DePalma |
Ralph DePalma |
Ralph DePalma
|
| 1913 |  Earl Cooper |
Earl Cooper |
Earl Cooper
|
| 1914 | Ralph DePalma |
Ralph DePalma |
Ralph DePalma
|
| 1915 | Earl Cooper |
Earl Cooper |
Gil Andersen
|
| 1916 |  Dario Resta |
Dario Resta |
none named |
| 1917 | Earl Cooper |
Earl Cooper |
none named |
| 1918 | Ralph Mulford |
Ralph Mulford |
none named |
| 1919 | Howdy Wilcox |
Howdy Wilcox |
Eddie Hearne
|
| 1920 | Tommy Milton/ Gaston ChevroletA |
Tommy Milton |
none named |
| [3][4] | |||
- ^A Harsnape and Means originally awarded the 1920 championship to Milton, but subsequently reverted to Chevrolet.
Multiple championship winners
editThis list of champions includes winners of all titles awarded in the "National champions" list above (including the "USAC Gold Crown Championship" which, in some years, was awarded to the winner of the Indy 500).
| Wins | Driver | Titles |
|---|---|---|
| 7 |  A. J. Foyt
|
USAC National Championship (6), USAC Championship (1) |
| 6 | Rick Mears
|
SCCA/CART Series (1), CART PPG Series (2), USAC Gold Crown Championship (3) |
| 4 | Mario Andretti
|
USAC National Championship (3), CART PPG Series (1) |
| Bobby Rahal
|
CART PPG Series (3), USAC Gold Crown Championship (1) | |
| Al Unser Jr.
|
CART PPG Series (2), USAC Gold Crown Championship (2) | |
| Sébastien Bourdais
|
Champ Car World Series (4) | |
| 3 | Louis Meyer
|
AAA National Championship (3) |
| Ted Horn
|
AAA National Championship (3) | |
| Jimmy Bryan
|
AAA National Championship (1), USAC National Championship (2) | |
| Al Unser
|
CART PPG Series (2), USAC Gold Crown Championship (1) | |
 Emerson Fittipaldi
|
CART PPG Series (1), USAC Gold Crown Championship (2) | |
| Sam Hornish Jr.
|
Indy Racing League (2), IRL IndyCar Series (1) | |
| Dario Franchitti
|
IndyCar Series (3) | |
| 2 | Jimmy Murphy
|
AAA National Championship (2) |
| Wilbur Shaw
|
AAA National Championship (2) | |
| Rex Mays
|
AAA National Championship (2) | |
| Tony Bettenhausen
|
AAA National Championship (1), USAC National Championship (1) | |
| Joe Leonard
|
USAC National Championship (2) | |
| Tom Sneva
|
USAC National Championship (2) | |
| Johnny Rutherford
|
CART PPG Series (1), USAC Gold Crown Championship (1) | |
 Jacques Villeneuve
|
CART PPG Series (1), USAC Gold Crown Championship (1) | |
 Alex Zanardi
|
CART FedEx Championship Series (2) | |
| Gil de Ferran
|
CART FedEx Championship Series (2) | |
 Scott Dixon
|
IndyCar Series (2) |
- ^ "Through The Years". Champ Car Stats. Archived from the original on 9 June 2011. Retrieved 9 June 2011.
- ^ "Record of Champion Drivers 1909-1928 incl". Official Bulletin, Contest Board of the American Automobile Association. IV (6). Washington, D. C. February 8, 1929. Archived from the original (PDF) on 9 June 2011.
- ^ a b c Printz, John G. (March 15, 1985). "The U.S. National Championship Driving Title". CART News Media Guide 1985: 265–267.
{{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter|coauthors=ignored (|author=suggested) (help) - ^ a b c Capps, Don (29 March 2010). "Automobile Racing History and History". Rear View Mirror. 8W. Archived from the original on 9 June 2011. Retrieved 9 June 2011.