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Most of the items in the driver pages are self explanatory, but a few could use some clarification, so here it is.

Joe Smith
Joseph Richard Smith
Birthplace: Houston, Texas
Born: April 4, 1888
Died: June 26, 1962

The driver's common name is listed in bold.  His full name, or as much of it is known, is listed underneath.  Birthplace is the actual location the driver was born.  If I have a town he was listed as being from in a race report or program, but do not have a confirmed birthplace, I will use that.  It will be shown as Listed Hometown instead of Birthplace.  The flag is of the driver's country of record.  It may not match where the driver was born if the driver was born outside of his country of citizenship.

Year Series Starts DNS/DNQ Wins 2nds 3rds 4ths 5ths Best Finish Poles Points Standing
1912 AAA 8 0 0 0 0 0 0 13 0 0 39
1913 AAA 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 11 0 2 31
1914 AAA 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 12 0 1 30
Includes ACA 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 14 0 0 NR
1915 AAA 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 12 0 1 31T
Total 16 1 0 0 0 0 0 11 0 4

Most of the headings in this part of the table are self-explanatory.  DNS/DNQ involves any race where the driver was entered and did not start.  Most commonly the driver did not make the field.  He may also have not made a qualifying attempt, may have had a problem in practice, may have been entered and not even shown at the track.  Best Finish is the driver's highest finishing position if he did not record a top 5.  If a driver did not start a race that season, or for his career, it will show NS (no starts) in that column.  The standing column is for season ending points standings.  If a driver did not score and was not given a position in the standings, it will show NR (not ranked) in that column.  A T following a number means the driver tied for that position.  A number in red represents an all time season or career record.  A number in blue represents a national season or career record for that driver.  If the number is in italics, the driver shares the record.

The biggest issue to remember is when the word "Includes" appears in the year column.  This happens when a race is sanctioned or points are awarded by two different series.  This is done in order to show the season results for the two different series.  I used the word Includes instead of just the year to help separate those races and keep them from being double counted when figuring the career totals.  This means if you simply add all the starts listed together, the number will not add up to the number listed in the career totals.  Same with any poles or top 5s in these races.  Admittedly it's a little cumbersome, but it was the best way possible to show the races in their context of being part of two series.  The points are added together, because they were scored in different series, so you are not double counting them.  This "double series" situation occurs in the ACA races from the early years which were included in the AAA championships, the Indy 500 in 1979 and from 1983-95 when it was sanctioned by USAC and scored in the CART series, and the first 5 races of 1980, which were co-sanctioned by CART and USAC until USAC withdrew.

For the years 1909-15 and 1917-19 you will see the point totals followed by an asterisk.  That is because those points should not be considered official.  Points were retroactively assigned to those seasons years later, so they can't really be considered genuine.  Also, in the career points spot you will sometimes see a total like this: 100/250*.  The 100 represents the number of points scored in seasons where points were actually awarded (1916, 1920-present).  The second number is the total including the points later awarded for 1909-15 and 1917-19.  A lot of times the first number will be a 0, because the driver only competed in seasons where points were awarded retroactively.

Track Type Starts DNS/DNQ Wins 2nds 3rds 4ths 5ths Best Finish Poles
Paved Oval 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 13 0
Road Course 9 1 0 0 0 0 0 11 0
Street Course 8 0 0 0 0 0 0 7 0

Pretty self-explanatory, these are the different types of tracks the driver raced on, and how he fared in each.

Series Starts DNS/DNQ Wins 2nds 3rds 4ths 5ths Best Finish Poles
CART 18 1 0 0 0 0 0 7 0
USAC 2 0 0 0 0 1 0 0

Again, pretty easy, these are the different series the driver raced in, and how he fared in each.  Remember, some races counted in two different series, so the totals here again will not match the career totals if there are "double series" races the driver has competed in.

Start # Date Track Type Series Car # Sponsor/Name Chassis Engine Start Finish Laps Status

Points

1 6/7/1992 Detroit SC CART 50 Agip/Fendi/Hawaii Tropic Lola T9100 Cosworth DFS 16 18 59 Wrecked
2 7/19/1992 Toronto SC CART 50 Agip/Fendi/Hawaii Tropic Lola T9100 Cosworth DFS 18 16 87 Engine
3 8/9/1992 Cleveland RC CART 50 Agip/Fendi/Hawaii Tropic TrueSports 91 Cosworth DFS 18 9 82 Flagged 4
-- 8/23/1992 Elkhart Lake RC CART 50 Agip/Hawaiian Tropic Lola T9100 Cosworth DFS -- -- -- DNS, too slow
4 8/30/1992 Vancouver SC CART 50 Agip/Hawaiian Tropic Lola T9100 Cosworth DFS 15 21 48 Engine
5 9/13/1992 Mid-Ohio RC CART 50 Agip/Hawaiian Tropic Lola T9100 Cosworth DFS 17 19 56 Broken coolant line

Mostly self-explanatory with a couple of exceptions.  In the status column is listed the reason out if retired.  If the driver finished on the lead lap I've tried to include the race time and average speed.  If I don't have in he is listed as Finished.  A driver one or more laps down is listed as Flagged.  For non-starters, in general a driver who failed to make the field is listed as DNS, too slow.  If he didn't make a qualifying attempt he's listed as Did not qualify.  It's not 100%, but I've tried to stay as close to that as possible.  Any other issues are usually fully explained.  In the points column, if there is an asterisk after the number, that indicates an unofficial total.  The championships from 1909-15 and 17-19 were awarded retroactively years later.  Since there wasn't actually a championship at the time of those races, the points and standings don't really have an official "feel" to them, and are noted as such.  Type is the type of track, the code for which is:

There are also notations in the Start # column.  The number is which career start it is (63 is the driver's 63rd career start).  If the driver did not start, the notation -- is in the column.  If the driver is in 2 or more different entries, a / will follow all extra entries to show they are all a part of the same event.  For example, is a driver starts the race in one car, and had a different car he ran in practice, the race result line will have the start number, and the line below will have the other car he ran with the notation --/ for non-start, extra car.  The rule for listing another car is if there is a change in number, name, chassis or engine.  If the car is identical to the primary car and is simply a T car with the same number, it is not listed.  Other notations are NC for non championship race (these races are not included in the career totals) and RD for relief drive.  Again, these can be followed with / or -- if necessary.  A ** is used only in 2 special circumstances where a race was cancelled, the Charlotte IRL race in 1999 and the Ft. Worth CART race in 2001.

Relief Drivers

Drivers who started a race, and then drove in relief of another driver during that race, are only given credit for the finishing position of the car they started.  The lone exception is if the driver came in relief and was involved in a race win, he is granted credit for the win as well as the starting driver.  I realize this is an inconsistency, but I felt it was more important to recognize the contribution a driver had in winning a race.

Rankings

There are a number of areas where you will see driver rankings.  There are ranked by country, state, series, track, etc.  The order used to determine the rankings is as follows:

Extended Stats - Chassis and Engine Data

In the chassis and engine sections of the extended driver stats pages there is a situation similar to the main page where the DNS/Q totals may not add up the same.  This is because there are instances where a driver has appeared at a race with two or more different chassis or engines.  Here is an example:

-- 7/4/1951 Darlington PO AAA 59 Granatelli Bardahl Kurtis 3000 Offy -- -- -- DNS, too slow
--/ 7/4/1951 Darlington PO AAA 63 Ray Brady Schroeder Offy -- -- -- Did not qualify

In this case, the driver missed the field in both a Kurtis and a Schroeder chassis.  Each chassis will be assigned a DNS/Q in the extended stats, so it will add up to two misses on that table, even though it was only one actual DNS/Q.  In the engine table Offy has one DNS/Q assigned to it, since it doesn't make sense to double count the same miss.  Here's another example:

175 4/27/2002 Motegi PO CART 26 KOOL Lola Honda 3 19 84 Mechanical
--/ 4/27/2002 Motegi PO CART 26 KOOL Reynard Honda -- -- -- Did not qualify

In this situation, Reynard is assigned a DNS/Q, even though the driver did start the race, because he did not make the field in the Reynard.  Honda does not receive a DNS/Q for that miss because the driver did start the race in another Honda powered entry.

The 1946 Season

1946 presents special problems because of the lack of complete info.  This is the season where sprint car races as well as Champ Car events all counted toward the championship, and there is a lot of missing data in the sprint car results.  That leads to some different notations in the season fields.  It also leads to a different definition of the term "start".  Many times I know that a driver took part in the event, but I don't know if he qualified for the feature or was eliminated in the heat races.  For right now, unless I know for a fact that he didn't transfer to the feature he's given credit for a start.  It's not the greatest system, but for right now it's the best option.

Year Series Starts DNS/DNQ Wins 2nds 3rds 4ths 5ths Best Finish Poles Points Standing
1946 AAA 8+ 0 0 0 0 0 0 8 0 173.5 31

In this case, it's undetermined how many races that driver started.  Eight starts are known, so eight is used with the plus sign to indicate more starts were possibly made.  Sometimes there will also be a plus sign in the points column, since full point totals for drivers with less than 50 aren't yet known.

Year Series Starts DNS/DNQ Wins 2nds 3rds 4ths 5ths Best Finish Poles Points Standing
1946 AAA 7+ 0 0 0 0 0 0 ?? 0 40+ 69

In this case the driver's best finish isn't known.  He appeared at seven events, but didn't finish high enough to be noted in a race report.  I also know he scored at least 40 points, but don't know the exact total.

Year Series Starts DNS/DNQ Wins 2nds 3rds 4ths 5ths Best Finish Poles Points Standing
1946 AAA ?? 0 0 0 0 0 0 ?? 0 ?? 80

Even less is known about this driver.  I know he took part in the season, but haven't found his name in a race report yet.  This season has a lot of missing data obviously.

Start # Date Track Type Series Car # Sponsor/Name Chassis Engine Start Finish Laps Status

Points

1 5/5/1946 Trenton 1 DO AAA X X X X X X X Entered, may not have transferred to feature

10

2 5/19/1946 Williams Grove 3 DO AAA X X X X X X X Entered, may not have transferred to feature

4

3 6/9/1946 Williams Grove 4 DO AAA X X X X X X X Entered, may not have transferred to feature

4

Here's a driver who has made several appearances, but I don't know if he made the feature and where he finished if he did.  The notation Entered, may not have transferred to feature is used.  Points were awarded for the heat races as well as the feature, which explains the point totals.