Rex Mays

Rex Houston Mays, Jr. (March 10, 1913 – November 6, 1949) was a former AAA Championship Car race driver. He was a two-time AAA champion and won 8 points-scoring races.

Rex Mays
NationalityAmerican
BornRex Houston Mays II
(1913-03-10)March 10, 1913
Riverside, California, United States
DiedNovember 16, 1949(1949-11-16) (aged 36)
Del Mar, California, United States
Cause of deathInjuries from a racing accident

He made his Indianapolis 500 debut in 1934 and won the pole in 1935, 1936, and again in 1940 and finished second, he returned the next year and finished second again. Mays won the AAA National Championship in 1940 and 1941. However, World War II suspended racing until 1946, denying Mays of what likely would have been the peak of his career. After the war, Mays again won the Indy pole in 1948 but was knocked out by a mechanical problem.

He was killed at the age of 36 in a crash during the only Champ Car race held at Del Mar Fairgrounds race track in Del Mar, California in November 1949. In this accident, Mays swerved to miss a car that had crashed in front of him. His car went out of control and flipped, throwing Mays to the track surface, where he was hit by a trailing car.

In a race at Milwaukee, a fellow driver, Duke Dinsmore, was thrown from his car during an incident in the south turn. Rex Mays was leading the race and saw Dinsmore's body lying in the middle of the south turn. Rex spun his car into the wall, got out of the car, and pulled the unconscious Duke Dinsmore to safety. Because of his selfless heroic action, the June race at the Milwaukee Mile was named the "Rex Mays Classic" (from 1950 to 1987).[1]

In addition, the road racing course just outside his hometown of Riverside held, from 1967 to 1969, a 300-mile Indianapolis-car event called the Rex Mays 300.

Career awards

Complete AAA Championship Car results
Year 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Pos Points
1934 INDY
23		 SPR NYS MFD
16		 - 0
1935 INDY
17		 MIN SPR NYS ALT LAN - 0
1936 INDY
15		 GTP
1		 NYS
3		 GVC
DNS		 11th 200
1937 INDY
33		 GVC
3		 NYS
1		 8th 405
1938 INDY
28		 NYS
2		 13th 165
1939 INDY
16		 MIL
17		 NYS
13		 - 0
1940 INDY
2		 SPR
1		 NYS
1		 1st 1225
1941 INDY
2		 MIL
1		 NYS
1		 1st 1225
1946 INDY
30		 LAN
1		 ATL
11		 ISF
1		 MIL
1		 GOS
DNQ		 5th 620
1947 INDY
6		 MIL
2		 LAN
DNQ		 ATL
12		 BAI
15		 MIL
10		 GOS
DNS		 MIL
16		 PIK SPR
16		 ARL
4		 5th 765.7
1948 ARL
16		 INDY
19		 MIL
17		 LAN
16		 MIL
4		 SPR
4		 MIL
7		 DUQ
17		 ATL
10		 PIK SPR
14		 DUQ
18		 13th 360
1949 ARL
2		 INDY
25		 MIL
7		 TRE
10		 SPR
2		 MIL
3		 DUQ
15		 PIK NYS
15		 DET
11		 SPR
2		 SAC
2		 DMR
18		 6th 1030

Indianapolis 500 results

References
  1. "Rex Mays, Historic, Class of 1995". Motorsports Hall of Fame.
  2. Rex Mays at the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.