1946 AAA Championship Car season

The 1946 AAA Championship Car season was the first season of American Championship car racing following World War II. After four years without racing in the United States, the AAA Contest Board was initially concerned about having enough races and entrants for the 1946 season. Even the Indianapolis 500 was in doubt, as the speedway was neglected during the war, and owner Eddie Rickenbacker sold the track to Tony Hulman only in November 1945. However, as the season progressed, it proved to be a success, and marked a successful return of the National Championship.

Background
Previously, only races of over 100 miles (160 km) on tracks one mile (1.6 km) or longer were able to hold National Championship events. Due to the concerns about the car counts and participation, the AAA Contest Board opened the championship to "Big Car" races (today known as Sprint Cars). The season officially consisted of 77 races (6 Champ Car races and 71 Big Car races), beginning at Mechanicsburg on April 14 and concluding at Richmond on November 10.

After car counts were better than expected, confusion arose over whether the 71 Big Car events counted towards the National Championship. Some news sources of the time reported points only from the six Champ Car events. However, the Contest Board mentions reverting to only Champ Car races eligible for the National Championship in 1947, and the prize money and 1947 car numbers match the points standings for the full 77-race schedule.

Despite later publications suggesting the season was only six races (including official statistical publications released by the league decades later), historians firmly contend that the 1946 season should be regarded as the full 77-race schedule.

The AAA National Champion was Ted Horn, and the Indianapolis 500 winner was George Robson. Incidentally, Horn would have be declared the champion with or without the 71 "Big Car" races included, based on his points totals.

Schedule and results
Scheduled for 100 miles, stopped early due to fatal accident involving George Robson and George Barringer. Rex Mays was leading at the time of the accident, but after a protest, was found to have been involved in the accident and had his win stripped.

Note: Bill Holland started on the pole position in the Lakewood Race on July 4 and Ted Horn started on the pole position in the DuBois Race on July 20.

IndyCar Schedule and results
In the IZOD IndyCar Series 2011 Historical Record Book just only the 6 races for "ChampCar" class. (page 72)

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 * Scheduled for 100 miles, stopped early due to fatal accident involving George Robson and George Barringer. Rex Mays was leading at the time of the accident, but after a protest, was found to have been involved in the accident and had his win stripped.
 * 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.

Leading National Championship standings
† Robson was killed in the race at Lakewood Speedway on September 2