In the 1915 Indianapolis 500, Aitken drove relief for two drivers, Gil Anderson and Earl Cooper (who ultimately finished 3rd and 4th).
Foreign others similarly named, see the John Aitken navigation page He started the race twice, in 1911 and 1916. He led the first lap of the first race (1911). Aitken captured the pole position in 1916, but ended up in 15th place (his best finish) that year.
He started the race twice, in 1911 and 1916.
He led the first lap of the first race (1911). Aitken captured the pole position in 1916, but ended up in 15th place (his best finish) that year.
Aitken’s activity at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway was not limited to the Indianapolis 500. (The driver with the second-greatest number of wins at IP Multimedia Subsystem is Ray Harroun, with 8 wins in 1909-1911) Aitken started a total of 41 races at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, which is, again, the most of any driver in the track’s history.
(The driver with the second-greatest number of starts at IP Multimedia Subsystem is A J Foyt, who started a total of 36 races from 1958 to 1994) Outside of his participation at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Aitken is known to have started at least 33 American Automobile Association-sanctioned races, from 1907 to 1916, and to have driven relief in at least three others
He started the race, but was the first driver to drop out, when his car suffered a broken piston after one lap. On Lap 21, he took over the car which had started the race being driven by Howdy Wilcox. Aitken drove that car for the remainder of the race, completing 28 of the total 48 laps, finishing first.
Aitken, therefore, was credited with both first and last place.
(Such scoring would not take place under the current rules of most racing series) Aitken died on October 15, 1918 of bronchopneumonia from the Influenza pandemic of 1918.