 | |
| AAA Championship Car | |
|---|---|
| Venue | Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course |
| First race | 1916 |
| Distance | 100 miles (1st race) 100 miles (2nd race) |
| Laps | 42 Laps (Race 1) 42 Laps (Race 2) |
| Most wins (driver) | Johnny Aitken |
| Most wins (manufacturer) | Peugeot |
The Harvest Auto Racing Classic was a series of three automobile races held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Saturday September 9, 1916. The meet, held four months after the 1916 Indianapolis 500, featured a 20-mile race, a 50-mile race, and a 100-mile race. The main event, a 100-mile Championship Car race, paid points towards the 1916 AAA National Championship. Johnny Aitken won all three races, two of which had a margin of victory of less than a car length.
The event was a unique footnote in the history of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Between 1911 and 1993, the Harvest Auto Racing Classic was the only time an official race other than the Indianapolis 500 was contested at the track. It was also the last event held at the facility prior to the United States involvement in World War I. The track would shut down for two years (1917–1918) during the war, and reopened in 1919.