tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3806105670225878157.post4357839151520905608..comments2024-03-28T17:16:02.457-04:00Comments on The Automobile and American Life: A Battle Among Nations: Auto Racing in America, 1909-1916John Heitmannhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15891521792448497252noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3806105670225878157.post-29709251224064721392016-05-07T21:01:01.910-04:002016-05-07T21:01:01.910-04:00"Automobile racing entered a new phase of dev..."Automobile racing entered a new phase of development in 1909, when the American Automobile Association took on organizational responsibility for the sport."<br /><br />Actually, the AAA took control of national racing in the United States in 1902 with the creation of the Racing Committee/Board. What changed in 1909, is that the AAA entered into an agreement with the Manufacturers' Contest Association (MCA) in which the MCA contracted out to the AAA and the Contest Board, the reorganized and renamed former Racing Board, its intent to control racing organized by the manufacturers. Although the AAA and the Automobile Club of America (ACA) had waged an ugly war during 1908 over who would represent the USA in international racing, which the ACA won in part due to being accepted in Europe as the US representative. Prior to the ACA quitting the AAA in March 1908, over the issue of due and not anything to do with racing, it was not only a member of the AAA, but the club which had led the move to form the AAA. It is a part of the great misunderstanding that Russ Catlin fostered that it was not until 1909 that the AAA and its Contest Board actually took control of US racing. Not so.<br /><br />In the interest of brevity, I have left out much of both the ACA/AAA war of 1908 as well as the development of the Racing Board and the later Contest Board. Things are rarely simple when it comes to such topics.H Donald Cappshttps://corktreeresearch.org/noreply@blogger.com