The 1924 AAA National Championship featured a nine-race schedule sanctioned by the American Automobile Association, spanning from February to December and emphasizing high-banked board tracks alongside the brick-surfaced Indianapolis Motor Speedway and one dirt oval. The season kicked off with Harlan Fengler’s victory in the 250-mile Beverly Hills board-track race, followed by the Indianapolis 500 on May 30, where L.L. Corum and Joe Boyer shared the win after Boyer relieved Corum mid-race, marking a rare co-victory in Indy history. Subsequent board-track events at Altoona, Kansas City, Fresno, Charlotte, and Culver City highlighted the era’s perilous wooden ovals, with the sole dirt-track race held at Syracuse’s New York State Fairgrounds.
Jimmy Murphy dominated the season in his Miller Special, securing wins at Altoona on June 14 and September 1, as well as Kansas City on July 4, amassing 1,595 points to claim the national championship posthumously—his second title after 1922. He perished in a crash during the Syracuse dirt-track race on September 15, but his lead held over runners-up Earl Cooper (1,240 points) and Bennett Hill (1,214 points). The year was marred by multiple fatalities, including co-Indy winner Joe Boyer, who died in a wreck at the September 1 Altoona race, underscoring the deadly risks of 1920s open-wheel racing.
May 30, 1924
June 14,1924
July 4, 1924
