# 1956 SCCA National Sports Car Championship

The 1956 SCCA National Sports Car Championship season was the sixth season of the Sports Car Club of America's National Sports Car Championship. It began March 10, 1956, and ended November 4, 1956, after eleven races.

## Schedule

| Rnd | Race | Length | Circuit | Location | Date |
| 1 | Walterboro National Championship Sports Car Races | 105 mi (169 km) | Lowcountry Regional Airport | Walterboro, South Carolina | March 10 |
| 2 | Pebble Beach Sports Car Road Race | 100 mi (160 km) | Pebble Beach road circuit | Pebble Beach, California | April 22 |
| 3 | Cumberland National Sports Car Races | 1 hour | Greater Cumberland Regional Airport | Wiley Ford, West Virginia | May 20 |
| 4 | Texan National Championship Sports Car Races | 100 mi (160 km) | Eagle Mountain National Guard Base | Fort Worth, Texas | June 3 |
| 5 | National Road Races | 150 mi (240 km) | Road America | Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin | June 24 |
| 6 | Beverly National Sports Car Races | 90 mi (140 km) | Beverly Airport | Beverly, Massachusetts | July 7 |
| 7 | Seafair National Championship Races | 200 km (120 mi) | Kitsap County Airport | Bremerton, Washington | August 12 |
| 8 | Thompson National Championship Races | 1 hour | Thompson International Speedway | Thompson, Connecticut | September 3 |
| 9 | National Championship Road America Endurance Races | 6 hours | Road America | Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin | September 9 |
| 10 | International Sports Car Grand Prix of Watkins Glen | 50 mi (80 km) | Watkins Glen International | Watkins Glen, New York | September 15 |
| 11 | Palm Springs National Championship Road Races | 100 mi (160 km) | Palm Springs Municipal Airport | Palm Springs, California | November 4 |
    ^A Feature race

## Season results

Feature race overall winners in bold.
| Rnd | Circuit | BM Winning Team | CM Winning Team | CP Winning Team | DM Winning Team | DP Winning Team | EM Winning Team | EP Winning Team | FM Winning Team | FP Winning Team | GM Winning Team | GP Winning Team | HM Winning Team | Results |
| Rnd | Circuit | BM Winning Driver(s) | CM Winning Driver(s) | CP Winning Driver(s) | DM Winning Driver(s) | DP Winning Driver(s) | EM Winning Driver(s) | EP Winning Driver(s) | FM Winning Driver(s) | FP Winning Driver(s) | GM Winning Driver(s) | GP Winning Driver(s) | HM Winning Driver(s) | Results |
| 1 | Walterboro | #18 Cunningham | #59 Briggs Cunningham | #22 Jaguar | #44 Ferrari | #0 Mercedes-Benz | no entries | #9 Arnolt-Bristol | #47 Porsche | #36 Porsche | #35 Lotus | #40 MG | #90 Crosley | Results |
| 1 | Walterboro | Fred Wacker | Sherwood Johnston | Richard Kessler | Gene Greenspun | Charles Wallace | no entries | S. H. Arnolt | Mike Marshall | Lake Underwood | Frank Baptista | Ralph Durbin | Ed Welch | Results |
| 2 | Pebble Beach | #108 Kurtis-Cadillac | #2 John von Neumann | #46 Chevrolet | #24 Dick Hall | #136 Mercedes-Benz | #38 Frazer Nash | #59 Morgan | #188 Porsche | #86 Porsche | #6 Cooper-Climax | #33 MG | #154 Crosley Special | Results |
| 2 | Pebble Beach | Lou Brero | Phil Hill | Dick Thompson | Carroll Shelby | Tony Settember | Marion Lowe | Bob Oker | Jack McAfee | Dale Johnson | John Fox | Gordon Wilson | Harry Eyerly | Results |
| 3 | Cumberland | #29 Allard-Cadillac | #206 Tage Hansgen | #180 Jaguar | #30 Maserati | #233 Mercedes-Benz #170 Austin-Healey | #6 Ferrari | #181 A.C.-Bristol | #80 Porsche | #209 Porsche | #2 Lotus | #88 Porsche | #249 D.B. | Results |
| 3 | Cumberland | Bob Bucher | Walt Hansgen | Harry Carter | Bill Lloyd | Paul O'Shea (MB) Fred Moore (AH) | Charles Hassan | John B. Mull | Jack McAfee | Lake Underwood | M. R. J. Wyllie | Emil Pupulidy | Howard Hanna | Results |
| 4 | Eagle Mountain | #16 Allard-Lincoln | #58 Ferrari | #18 Chevrolet | #110 Richard Hall | #35 Mercedes-Benz | #83 Siata | #26 Porsche | #78 Porsche | #45 Porsche | #171 Lotus | #66 Alfa Romeo | #76 Giaur | Results |
| 4 | Eagle Mountain | Walt Gray | Sherwood Johnston | Dick Thompson | Carroll Shelby | Paul O'Shea | T. D. Johnson | Richard McGuire | Jack McAfee | Jerry Morton | Ralph Miller | Val Scroggie | Bill Betts | Results |
| 5 | Road America | #51 Allard-Packard | #111 Ferrari | #22 Chevrolet | #66 Maserati | #1 Mercedes-Benz | #6 Ferrari | #44 A.C.-Bristol | #188 Porsche | #26 Porsche | #255 Cooper | #178 Alfa Romeo | #41 FiberSport Crosley | Results |
| 5 | Road America | Walt Gray | Carroll Shelby | Bark Henry | Phil Stewart | Charles Wallace | Ed Lunken | Ernie Erickson | Jack McAfee | Carl Haas | Fred Sclavi | Bill Wuesthoff | John Mays | Results |
| 6 | Beverly | #29 Allard-Cadillac | #144 R. Cherryholme | #111 Chevrolet | #47 Ferrari | #0 Mercedes-Benz | #6 Ferrari | #177 Porsche | #69 Porsche | #37 Porsche | #35 Lotus | #88 Porsche | #2 Bandini | Results |
| 6 | Beverly | Bob Bucher | Carroll Shelby | Dick Thompson | Masten Gregory | Charles Wallace | Ed Lunken | Bengt Söderström | Ed Crawford | Lake Underwood | Frank Baptista | Emil Pupulidy | Henry Rudkin | Results |
| 7 | Seafair | #108 Kurtis-Cadillac | #98 John Edgar | #106 Chevrolet | | #33 Mercedes-Benz | | #97 Morgan | #188 Porsche | #9 Porsche | #66 Cooper-Climax | #87 Alfa Romeo | | Results |
| 7 | Seafair | Lou Brero | Carroll Shelby | Dick Thompson | | Paul O'Shea | | Dave Troffer | Jack McAfee | LeRoy Caverly | John Fox | Paul Naw | | Results |
| 8 | Thompson | no finishers | #41 Auto Engineering | #80 Jaguar | | #111 George Tilp | #7 Temple Buell | #127 A.C.-Bristol | #47 Porsche | #29 Porsche | #44 Lotus | #89 Porsche | #4 PBX | Results |
| 8 | Thompson | no finishers | Walt Hansgen | Harry Carter | | Paul O'Shea | Masten Gregory | Les Cizek | Masten Gregory | John Clapp | Duncan Black | Emil Pupulidy | Dolph Vilardi | Results |
| 9 | Road America | #98 Nash-Healey | #10 John Kilborn | #36 Jaguar | #65 Aston Martin | #33 Mercedes-Benz | #7 Ted Boynton | #86 A.C. | #5 Osca | #56 Porsche | #23 Cooper | #52 Alfa Romeo | #46 Herman Behm | Results |
| 9 | Road America | Andy Rosenberger Robert Gary | John Kilborn Howard Hively | Duke Knowlton William Andrews | Rod Carveth John Barneson | Paul O'Shea Phil Hill | Ted Boynton Bob Ballenger | Frank Campbell Hal Ullrich | Jim Kimberly Carroll Shelby | Chuck Rickert Donald Kriplen | Lance Reventlow Richie Ginther | Ralph Durbin K. Askew | Herman Behm Carl Haas | Results |
| 10 | Watkins Glen | #29 Bob Bucher | #49 Mary L. Constantine | #30 Raymond E. Mason | #86 Edward F. Droesch | #10 George Tilp | #75 William M. Wonder | no entries | #146 Austin L. Conley | #58 F. V. Grauds #67 Sherman L. Decker | #2 M. R. J. Wyllie | #44 Victor V. Forno #105 Robert Holbert | #131 Ecruie Broque | Results |
| 10 | Watkins Glen | Bob Bucher | George Constantine | Raymond Mason | Ed Droesch | Paul O'Shea | William Wonder | no entries | Austin Conley | F. Grauds (overall) Sherman Decker (MG) | M. R. J. Wyllie | Victor Forno (overall) Bob Holbert (MG) | Dick Yares | Results |
| 11 | Palm Springs | #84 Hagemann Special-Chrysler | #98 John Edgar | #106 Chevrolet | #49 Aston Martin | #35 Mercedes-Benz #277 Austin-Healey | #39 Frazer Nash | #59 A.C.-Bristol | #95 Cooper-Climax | #20 Porsche | #91 Lotus | #181 Alfa Romeo | #7 Devin-Panhard | Results |
| 11 | Palm Springs | John Barneson | Carroll Shelby | Dick Thompson | Bob Drake | Jack Bates (MB) Elliott Forbes-Robinson (others) | James Lowe | Bob Oker | Bob Drake | Don Dickey | Harvey Mayer | Richard Morse | James Orr | Results |
    ^A Separate Mercedes-Benz 300SLs and Austin-Healey 100s winners were declared in D Production at Cumberland. The Mercedes ran in a race with C Production, and the Austin-Healeys in a race with E Production.
    ^B D, E, and F Modified were classified together at Seafair; the combined class was won by Jack McAfee's FM Porsche 550. The highest-finishing DM car was Jack Graham's Aston Martin DB3S in 2nd.
    ^C E Modified were classified with D Modified at Seafair.
    ^D H Modified were classified with E Modified at Seafair.
    ^E D and E Modified were classified together for the 1-hour races at Thompson. The class was won by Masten Gregory in an EM Ferrari. D Modified was classed with C Modified in the sprint race.
    ^F Separate Overall and MG winners were declared in F and G Production at Watkins Glen.
    ^G Mercedes-Benz 300 SLs were classified separately from others in D Production at Palm Springs.

## Champions

| Class | Driver | Car |
| B Modified | Walt Gray | Allard J2-Lincoln, Allard J2-Packard |
| C Modified | Walt Hansgen | Jaguar D-Type |
| C Production | Harry Carter | Jaguar XK140MC |
| D Modified | Bill Lloyd | Maserati 300S |
| D Production | Paul O'Shea | Mercedes-Benz 300SL |
| E Modified | E. B. Lunken | Ferrari 500 TR |
| E Production | Bengt Söderström | Porsche 356 1600 |
| F Modified | Jack McAfee | Porsche 550 Spyder |
| F Production | Lake Underwood | Porsche 356 1500 |
| G Modified | Frank Baptista | Lotus Mark IX |
| G Production | Emil Pupulidy | Porsche 356 1300 |
| H Modified | James Orr | Devin-Panhard |