Rex Mays

Rex Mays
Rex Mays
	Mays, circa 1935
Born	Rex Houston Mays Jr.; March 10, 1913; Riverside, California, U.S.
Died	November 6, 1949 (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 finish	1st (1940, 1941)
First race	1934 Indianapolis 500 (Indianapolis)
Last race	1949 Del Mar 100 (Del Mar)
First win	1936 Goshen 100 (Goshen)
Last win	1946 Milwaukee 100 (Milwaukee)

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

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

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

Mays has been inducted into the following halls of fame:

Auto Racing Hall of Fame (1963)^[3]
National Sprint Car Hall of Fame (1990)^[5]
International Motorsports Hall of Fame (1993)^[4]
Motorsports Hall of Fame of America (1995)^[6]
Riverside Sport Hall of Fame^[7]

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

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 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

Year	Car	Start	Qual	Rank	Finish	Laps	Led	Retired
1934	35	23	113.639	15	23	53	0	Front axle
1935	33	1	120.736	1	17	123	89	Spring shackle
1936	33	1	119.644	1	15	192	12	Out of gas
1937	14	23	119.968	10	33	24	0	Overheating
1938	8	3	122.845	5	28	45	16	Supercharger
1939	15	19	126.413	7	16	145	1	Rings
1940	33	1	127.850	1	2	200	59	Running
1941	1	2	128.301	2	2	200	38	Running
1946	1	14	128.861	2	30	26	3	Manifold
1947	9	20	124.412	7	6	200	0	Running
1948	5	1	130.577	2	19	129	36	Fuel leak
1949	5	2	129.552	4	25	48	12	Engine
Totals						1385	266

Starts	12
Poles	4
Front Row	7
Wins	0
Top 5	2
Top 10	3
Retired	9

References

^ "AutoRacingRecords.com". www.autoracingrecords.com. Retrieved 2024-03-31.
^ "AutoRacingRecords.com". www.autoracingrecords.com. Retrieved 2024-03-31.
^ ^a ^b "Rex Mays". IMS Museum. Retrieved 2023-10-09.
^ ^a ^b ^c "Rex Mays". International Motorsports Hall of Fame. Retrieved 2023-10-09.
^ "Rex Mays". www.sprintcarhof.com. Retrieved 2023-10-09.
^ ^a ^b "Rex Mays". www.mshf.com. Retrieved 2023-10-09.
^ "Rex Mays | Riverside Sport Hall of Fame". 2011-02-14. Retrieved 2023-10-09.
^ "1946 AAA National Championship Trail". www.champcarstats.com. Retrieved 2023-10-09.
^ Capps, H. Donald (October 2009). "The Curious Case of the 1946 Season: An Inconvenient Championship" (PDF). Rear View Mirror. 7 (2): 1–16.