"As I look at each print I feel an almost spiritual connection
with the people and events that shaped auto racing history."

Shorty Cantlon, driving a Miller, won the last race at Altoona, ending the board track era.

— 1931

 

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All Time USAC/AAA Sprint Car Driver Victory Totals

1929 through 2002
Compiled by Gene Crucean

The list that follows is a summary of the drivers who have won 15 or more USAC and/or AAA sprint car features from 1929 through 2002. I don't believe a comprehensive list of combined feature winners has ever been published. Writings suggest the AAA first awarded sanctions for non-championship races, as sprint car racing was then called, a couple of years prior to 1929. However, it wasn't until 1929 that the AAA developed systems to determine an annual champion; and, at the conclusion of that year, they awarded the inaugural Pacific Coast title to Mel Kenealy. During subsequent years, the AAA continued to crown a Pacific Coast titlist along with regional champions in the midwest and east. In 1961, USAC, who had succeeded the AAA in 1956, consolidated the regional titles into a national championship. For a closer look at the somewhat nebulous history of sprint car racing, visit my link to Sprint Car Racing History.

1.   Tommy Hinnershitz 2.   Ted Horn 3.   Rex Mays       Bill Holland 5.   Bob Sall 6.   Tom Bigelow 7.   Billy Winn       Jack Hewitt 9.   Troy Ruttman       Larry Dickson 11. Joie Chitwood 12. Pancho Carter 13. Gary Bettenhausen 14. Sheldon Kinser 15. Ernie Triplett 16. Rich Vogler 17. Rollie Beale 18. Doc MacKenzie 19. Tony Willman 20. Don Branson       AJ Foyt 22. Chet Gardner       Duke Nalon 24. Al Gordon       Parnelli Jones       Steve Butler       Tony Elliott

109 86 65 65 64 52 46 46 45 45 44 42 40 37 36 35 32 30 29 28 28 26 26 25 25 25 25

28. Mark Light       Tracy Hines 30. Roger McCluskey       Sam Sessions       Bubby Jones       Ricky Hood 34. Fred Frame       Johnny Thomson 36. Pat O’Connor       Greg Weld       Dave Steele 39. Duane Carter 40. Johnny Hannon 41. Bill Schindler       Mike Nazaruk       Jim Hurtubise 44. Johnny Mantz 45. Frank Bailey       Spider Webb       Eddie Sachs       Dave Darland 49. Frank Beeder       Jimmy Bryan       Bob Sweikert

24 24 23 23 23 23 22 22 21 21 21 20 19 18 18 18 17 16 16 16 16 15 15 15

As an aside to students of sprint car racing history, the underlying data for this project came from many sources … books, magazines, racing periodicals, AAA & USAC yearbooks and more. However, ninety percent of the AAA records were the product of an exhaustive research effort by the late historian Phil Harms. With gratitude to Phil, I would estimate that my source data is about 98 % complete. But not all information has been unearthed. For example, I believe I’m still missing results from two races in 1941. In the never ending pursuit of historic accuracy, I invite others to share and compare their records with mine.