Rex Mays

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Rex Mays
Mays, circa 1935
BornRex Houston Mays Jr.
(1913-03-10)March 10, 1913
Riverside, California, U.S.
DiedNovember 6, 1949(1949-11-06) (aged 36)
Del Mar, California, U.S.
Championship titles
AAA West Coast Big Car (1934, 1935)
AAA Midwest Big Car (1936, 1937)
AAA Championship Car (1940, 1941)
Champ Car career
57 races run over 12 years
Best finish1st (1940, 1941)
First race1934 Indianapolis 500 (Indianapolis)
Last race1949 Del Mar 100 (Del Mar)
First win1936 Goshen 100 (Goshen)
Last win1946 Milwaukee 100 (Milwaukee)
Wins Podiums Poles
8 19 19

Rex Houston Mays Jr. (March 10, 1913 – November 6, 1949) was an American racing driver. He was a two-time National Champion, won four poles for the Indianapolis 500, and is generally regarded as one of the greatest drivers of his era.

Racing career

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Mays won regional sprint car championships in the mid-1930s.[1][2] 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.[3] 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 Indianapolis pole in 1948, but was knocked out by a mechanical problem.

In a race at Milwaukee, a fellow driver, Duke Dinsmore, was thrown from his car during an incident in the south turn. Mays was leading the race and saw Dinsmore's body lying in the middle of the south turn. Mays spun his car into the wall, got out of the car, and pulled the unconscious Dinsmore to safety.[4]

Death

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Mays was killed at the age of 36 in a crash during the only Championship Car race held at Del Mar Fairgrounds race track in Del Mar, California in November 1949.[4] 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.

Awards and honors

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Mays has been inducted into the following halls of fame:

In addition, the Milwaukee Mile Indy car race traditionally run the weekend after the Indianapolis 500 was renamed in Mays' honor, recognizing not only his career and tragic death, but his selfless earlier actions in protecting Dinsmore. The Rex Mays Classic ran as such from 1950 to 1987 - at which time the Mays name was eliminated in favor of Miller High Life sponsorship. Riverside International Raceway also held an Indy car race named after Mays, the Rex Mays 300, which ran from 1967 to 1969.[6]

Motorsports career results

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AAA Championship Car results

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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
13 		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 1,225
1941 INDY
2 		MIL
1 		NYS
1 		1st 1,225
1946 INDY
30 		LAN
1 		ATL
11 		ISF
1 		MIL
1 		GOS
DNQ 		9th 613
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 1,030
  • 1946 table only includes results of the six races run to "championship car" specifications. Points total includes the 71 races run to "big car" specifications.[8][9]

Indianapolis 500 results

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References

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