Val Haresnape – the forgotten AAA official

Born in Kansas in 1891 to British immigrant parents, Valentine ‘Val’ Haresnape, his brother, sister, and parents moved to Los Angeles where he became interested in auto racing and first worked as a pit official under Art Pillsbury at the original Ascot one-mile track. In April 1924 in addition to his job at the Riverside Portland Cement Company, Val was elected to serve as the Southern California representative to the AAA (American Automobile Association) Contest Board. Val served as a member of the Board until he was named National Secretary on May 23, 1926 with Means as assistant secretary.       

Soon after he was named Secretary, the Contest Board directed Haresnape and Means to complete a historical analysis of the records of all pre-1920 AAA races to determine the “true” National Championship winners for the 1909 to 1920 championships. Most notable in their analysis, the pair developed a points system and decided to count all 11 AAA sanctioned events held in 1920 and thus awarded the 1920 National Championship to Tommy Milton instead of Gaston Chevrolet. Their altered championship results stood until 1951 when the controversial Russ Catlin revised them yet again, and Catlin claimed he partially used Haresnape’s notes.  

Val quit the AAA on December 3 1927 after 18 months of service to join the Stutz Motor Company on December 18 but quickly returned as Board Secretary in early 1928 while remaining a part-time Stutz employee.  In 1929, in addition to his regular national duties, Val served on the contest committee with Tommy Milton the first two-time winner of the Indianapolis ‘500,’ and Indianapolis Motor Speedway Vice-President TE “Pop” Myers for the record runs at Daytona Beach Florida.  

During the winter of 1929/30, Haresnape contracted scarlet fever and he resigned from the AAA on February 3 1930, replaced by his mentor Arthur Pillsbury. Though he resigned as secretary, Haresnape retained his role as Racing Director for the AAA at the upcoming 27th annual Daytona Beach speed trials. 

The Sunbeam team poses with the Silver Bullet at Daytona

Louis Coatelen, the Frenchman who ran the Sunbeam Motor Car Company of Wolverhampton England had directed the design and construction of the Sunbeam ‘Silver Bullet’ powered by two supercharged V-12 24-liter (1465 cubic inch) aircraft style engines that together produced an astounding 3000 horsepower. Almost immediately upon Coatelen’s arrival in Florida in mid-March 1930 Louis and Irish driver Kaye Don began a series of disputes over the preparations of the 31-foot long 4-ton machine which resulted in repeated delays.

On March 21 1930 annoyed by the Sunbeam team’s delays, Val Haresnape issued an ultimatum to the pair to patch up their differences or the AAA would withdraw sanction for the trials. A few days later, after Val acted as an arbitrator, Kaye made a one-way practice run at 198 (MPH) miles per hour against Henry Seagrave’s record of 231 MPH in the Napier ‘Golden Arrow’ which ended with the car on fire. 

Apparently the stress of events was too much for Haresnape’s weakened heart as he collapsed and went home to Los Angeles in the early April. Despite repeated trial runs, the Sunbeam effort was ultimately unsuccessful - the team abandoned the attempt and returned to England on April 22. The following day, Val Haresnape suffered a massive heart attack at his residence at 1535 Cambria Avenue in the Los Angeles Westlake neighborhood and died at 39 years old.  

As they commented on Haresape’s passing, the editors of Automotive Industries magazine wrote, “he was the hardest working individual ever to hold the position of Secretary of the AAA Contest Board. His two terms were marked by outstandingly aggressive administration. Val Haresnape’s outstanding contribution was a sense of duty that knew no middle ground. He was relentless in his opposition to misstatements and evasion and believed himself insusceptible to the toll of overwork.”

Valentine ‘Val’ Haresnape was laid to rest in Forest Lawn Cemetery in Glendale California. His widow Geneva who never remarried, died in 1975 and rests beside him.