Rex Mays Classic
The Milwaukee Mile's Post-Indianapolis Championship-Car Classic
Named in 1950 for two-time AAA national champion Rex Mays, the June championship-car race at the Milwaukee Mile carried the Rex Mays Classic name through 1985. It began as a 100-mile dirt-track event, continued after the Mile was paved in 1954, grew to 150 miles in 1967 and reached 200 miles for its final two named editions.
Mays won at Milwaukee three times before the memorial name existed — in 1937, 1941 and 1946. Beginning with the June 11, 1950 race, the post-Indianapolis Milwaukee championship event became the Rex Mays Classic.
The 1986 and 1987 races were renamed the Miller American 200 but explicitly retained “in Honor of Rex Mays.” They are shown below as a two-year continuation rather than counted among the 36 named Classic editions.
From AAA Dirt Cars to CART Ground-Effect Machines
The Repeat Winners
Rex Mays Classic Winners, 1950–1985
Preserved Finishing Orders
“In Honor of Rex Mays”
The next enrichment stage is full-field finishing orders for every edition. Championship-car archives are unusually strong for this event, so the Rex Mays Classic should eventually become one of the museum's deepest pre-1980 Special Event collections.