1956 USAC Championship Car season

Sports season August 2023 USAC Championship Car 1956 USAC National Championship Trail 12 May 30 November 12 National champion United States 1912 Jimmy Bryan United States 1912 Pat Flaherty 1955 (AAA) 1957 The 1956 USAC Championship Car season consisted of 12 races, beginning in Speedway, Indiana, on May 30 and concluding in Phoenix, Arizona, on November 12. This was the first year the National Championship was sanctioned by the United States Automobile Club (USAC), which replaced the American Automobile Association (AAA) after the withdrawal of AAA from all forms of racing after the 1955 season.AAA cuts ties with U.S. auto racing https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=hAtbAAAAIBAJ&sjid=LU4NAAAAIBAJ&pg=832%2C837541 The Michigan Daily August 4, 1955 Ann Arbor, Michigan Associated PressUSAC takes over AAA's place https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=a5cpAAAAIBAJ&sjid=hckEAAAAIBAJ&pg=1079%2C1093218 Daytona Beach Morning Journal March 8, 1956 Associated Press There were also three non-championship events. The National Champion was Jimmy Bryan and the Indianapolis 500 winner was Pat Flaherty. Flaherty was unable to race after the Springfield race as he was severely injured in a crash during the race which essentially ended his full time racing career. The defending series champion Bob Sweikert was killed on June 17th during a Sprint Car race at Salem Speedway that was not part of the national championship. Schedule and results Rnd Date Race name Track Location Type Pole position Winning driver 1 May 30 US 1912 International 500 Mile SweepstakesA A Indianapolis Motor Speedway Speedway, Indiana Paved US 1912 Pat Flaherty US 1912 Pat Flaherty 2 June 10 US 1912 Rex Mays Classic Wisconsin State Fair Park Speedway West Allis, Wisconsin Paved US 1912 Johnny Boyd US 1912 Pat Flaherty 3 June 24 US 1912 Langhorne 100 Langhorne Speedway Langhorne, Pennsylvania Dirt US 1912 Billy Garrett US 1912 George Amick 4 July 4 US 1912 Pee Dee 200 Darlington Raceway Darlington, South Carolina Paved US 1912 Andy Linden US 1912 Pat O'ConnorNC July 4 US 1912 Pikes Peak Auto Hill Climb Pikes Peak Highway Pikes Peak, Colorado Hill US 1912 Slim RobertsB B US 1912 Bobby Unser 5 July 14 US 1912 Atlanta 100 Lakewood Speedway Atlanta, Georgia Dirt US 1912 Bob Veith US 1912 Eddie SachsNC July 22 US 1912 Indianapolis Sweepstakes Williams Grove Speedway Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania Dirt US 1912 Ed Elisian US 1912 Jimmy BryanNC August 12 US 1912 Dayton 25 Dayton Speedway Dayton, Ohio Paved US 1912 Pat O'Connor US 1912 Ed Elisian 6 August 19 US 1912 Springfield 100 Illinois State Fairgrounds Springfield, Illinois Dirt US 1912 Rex Easton US 1912 Jimmy Bryan 7 August 26 US 1912 Milwaukee 250 Wisconsin State Fair Park Speedway West Allis, Wisconsin Paved US 1912 Johnny Boyd US 1912 Jimmy Bryan 8 September 3 US 1912 Ted Horn Memorial 100 DuQuoin State Fairgrounds Du Quoin, Illinois Dirt US 1912 Johnny Thomson US 1912 Jimmy Bryan 9 September 8 US 1912 Syracuse 100 Syracuse Mile Syracuse, New York Dirt US 1912 Earl Motter US 1912 Tony Bettenhausen 10 September 15 US 1912 Hoosier Hundred Indiana State Fairgrounds Indianapolis, Indiana Dirt US 1912 Jud Larson US 1912 Jimmy Bryan 11 October 21 US 1912 Golden State 100 California State Fairgrounds Sacramento, California Dirt US 1912 Jud Larson US 1912 Jud Larson 12 November 12 US 1912 Bobby Ball Memorial Arizona State Fairgrounds Phoenix, Arizona Dirt US 1912 George Amick US 1912 George Amick #FFFFFF Paved/Dirt Oval solid 1px #AAAAAA #D0E7FF Road Course/Hill Climb solid 1px #AAAAAA #FB9902 Non-championship race solid 1px #AAAAAA A A Indianapolis 500 was USAC-sanctioned and counted towards the 1956 FIA World Championship of Drivers title. B B No pole is awarded for the Pikes Peak Hill Climb, in this schedule on the pole is the driver who started first. No lap led was awarded for the Pikes Peak Hill Climb, however, a lap was awarded to the drivers that completed the climb. Final points standings List of American Championship car racing point scoring systems Pos Driver INDYUS 1912 MIL1US 1912 LHSUS 1912 DARUS 1912 LAKUS 1912 SPRUS 1912 MIL2US 1912 DQSFUS 1912 SYRUS 1912 ISFUS 1912 CSFUS 1912 ASFUSA Pts 1US 1912 Jimmy Bryan 19 4 6 8 1 1 1 2 1 3 2 1860 2US 1912 Pat Flaherty 1 1 14 5 5 18 1500 3US 1912 Don Freeland 3 6 7 10 2 24 17 11 9 2 13 1280 4US 1912 George Amick DNP DNQ 1 4 13 DNQ 6 5 5 12 13 1 1050 5US 1912 Jimmy Reece 9 7 9 12 7 2 9 DNQ DNQ 6 3 1040 6US 1912 Johnny Boyd 30 5 3 7 5 11 4 11 8 6 980 7US 1912 Bob Veith 7 10 10 DNS 6 15 8 4 17 7 4 8 903 8US 1912 Rodger Ward 8 DNP DNS 19 16 6 3 DNQ 10 3 16 19 862 9US 1912 Sam Hanks 2 800 10US 1912 Johnny Thomson 32 2 18 9 3 10 14 2 3 16 DNP 710 11US 1912 Pat O'Connor 18 11 DNQ 1 17 5 21 DNQ 13 2 15 DNQ 680 12US 1912 Eddie Sachs DNQ 21 1 3 4 DNQ 12 DNQ DNQ 650 13US 1912 Johnnie Parsons 4 17 11 DNQ DNP DNQ 650 14US 1912 Al Keller 14 9 3 DNS 2 4 12 16 5 585 15US 1912 Bob Sweikert 6 3 540 16US 1912 Dick Rathmann 5 21 15 15 DNQ 25 DNQ DNQ 9 DNQ 540 17US 1912 Jack Turner 25 13 11 2 20 17 7 12 DNQ DNQ DNQ 500 18US 1912 Ed Elisian 23 DNQ 4 6 18 DNQ 22 13 6 DNQ 7 16 420 19US 1912 Gene Hartley 11 8 2 22 11 16 DNQ DNP 6 410 20US 1912 Elmer George 18 8 7 19 DNQ 20 6 18 14 5 7 410 21US 1912 Andy Linden 27 DNQ 12 13 8 8 23 7 9 8 11 4 400 22US 1912 Jud Larson gold RY silver 4 1 DNQ 320 23US 1912 Jim Rathmann 20 19 11 4 DNQ 15 3 DNQ 15 300 24US 1912 Tony Bettenhausen 22 DNS DNS 8 1 18 14 9 290 25US 1912 Johnnie Tolan 21 DNQ 10 DNQ 10 5 205 26US 1912 Earl Motter DNQ 17 9 DNQ 9 14 7 13 200 27US 1912 Cliff Griffith 10 DNQ 13 150 28US 1912 Mike Magill DNQ 5 DNQ 10 130 29US 1912 Billy Garrett orange R silver 16 14 13 23 10 12 17 DNQ 8 DNQ DNQ 90 30US 1912 Jim McWithey orange R silver DNQ DNQ 16 15 9 DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ 11 60 31US 1912 Don Branson orange R silver 11 26 10 15 DNQ 50 32US 1912 Fred Agabashian 12 50 33US 1912 Art Bisch orange R silver 17 10 30 34US 1912 Bill Cheesbourg orange R silver DNQ DNQ 14 16 DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ 12 14 10 35US 1912 Keith Andrews 26 12 10 36US 1912 Dempsey Wilson orange R silver DNQ DNQ 12 10 37US 1912 Bob Carpenter orange R silver 12 10 -US 1912 Rex Easton 15 13 DNQ 0 -US 1912 Bob Christie orange R silver 13 0 -US 1912 Jimmy Daywalt 24 DNQ 15 14 DNQ 0 -US 1912 Eddie Russo DNS 17 18 14 DNQ 0 -US 1912 Roy Graham orange R silver 14 DNQ 0 -US 1912 Eddie Johnson 15 DNQ 0 -US 1912 Mel McGaughy DNQ 15 0 -US 1912 Shorty Templeman DNQ 16 19 DNQ 0 -US 1912 Ken Gottschalk orange R silver DNQ DNQ 16 DNQ DNP DNQ 0 -US 1912 Charles Musselman DNQ 16 DNQ 0 -US 1912 Tommy Hinnershitz DNQ 17 17 0 -US 1912 Duke Dinsmore 17 DNQ 18 DNP 0 -US 1912 Van Johnson orange R silver DNQ DNQ DNP 18 0 -US 1912 Jimmy Davies DNQ 18 DNQ 0 -US 1912 Len Sutton DNQ 18 0 -US 1912 Troy Ruttman 31 20 DNS 0 -US 1912 Gene Force 20 0 -US 1912 Danny Kladis 22 0 -US 1912 Al Herman 28 DNQ DNQ DNS 0 -US 1912 Ray Crawford 29 DNQ DNQ DNQ 0 -US 1912 Paul Russo 33 0 –US 1912 Chuck Weyant DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ 0 -US 1912 Johnny Kay DNQ DNQ DNQ 0 -US 1912 Leroy Warriner DNQ DNQ DNQ 0 -US 1912 Marvin Pifer DNQ DNQ 0 -US 1912 Bud Randall DNQ DNQ 0 -US 1912 Jay Abney DNQ 0 -US 1912 Johnny Baldwin DNQ 0 -US 1912 Tony Bonadies DNQ 0 -US 1912 Buddy Cagle DNQ 0 -US 1912 Len Duncan DNQ 0 -US 1912 Edgar Elder DNQ 0 -Italy Giuseppe Farina DNQ 0 -US 1912 Ernie McCoy DNQ 0 -US 1912 Roy Newman DNQ 0 -US 1912 Cal Niday DNQ 0 -US 1912 Dickie Reese DNQ 0 -US 1912 Gig Stephens DNQ 0 -US 1912 Marshall Teague DNQ 0 -US 1912 Dick Fraizer DNQ 0 -US 1912 Paul Howe DNQ 0 -US 1912 Chuck Rodee DNQ 0 -US 1912 Speed McFee DNQ 0 -US 1912 Roger McCluskey DNQ 0 Pos Driver INDYUS 1912 MIL1US 1912 LHSUS 1912 DARUS 1912 LAKUS 1912 SPRUS 1912 MIL2US 1912 DQSFUS 1912 SYRUS 1912 ISFUS 1912 CSFUS 1912 ASFUSA Pts Color Result Gold Winner Silver 2nd place Bronze 3rd place Green 4th & 5th place Light Blue 6th-10th place Dark Blue Finished(Outside Top 10) Purple Did not finish(Ret) Red Did not qualify(DNQ) Brown Withdrawn(Wth) Black Disqualified(DSQ) White Did not start(DNS) Blank Did notparticipate(DNP) Not competing In-line notationBoldPole positionItalicsRan fastest race lap*Led most race lapsgold RY silver Rookie of the Yearorange R silver Rookie References General references http://www.driverdb.com/standings/980-1956/ USAC National Championship 1956 Åberg, Andreas Driver Database 2009-05-12 https://web.archive.org/web/20120908075656/http://www.driverdb.com/standings/980-1956/ 2012-09-08 live http://www.champcarstats.com/year/1956.htm 1956 USAC National Championship Trail ChampCarStats.com 2009-05-12 https://web.archive.org/web/20081010164701/http://www.champcarstats.com/year/1956.htm 2008-10-10 live http://old.motorsport.com/stats/champ/data/1956sum.pdf 1956 Championship Driver Summary Harms Phil Motorsport.com 2011-04-14 https://web.archive.org/web/20120810003609/http://old.motorsport.com/stats/champ/data/1956sum.pdf 2012-08-10 dead http://media.indycar.com/pdf/2011/IICS_2011_Historical_Record_Book_INT6.pdf https://web.archive.org/web/20160304053905/http://media.indycar.com/pdf/2011/IICS_2011_Historical_Record_Book_INT6.pdf 2016-03-04 (p. 282-283) See also 1956 Indianapolis 500 USAC Championship Car season Category:USAC Championship Car Category:1956 in American motorsport