I was at the 1969 Jimmy Bryan 150 when Follmer won. I really enjoyed the race because he had a naturally aspirated Chevy Small Block.Originally Posted by Vic Mackey
I was at the 1969 Jimmy Bryan 150 when Follmer won. I really enjoyed the race because he had a naturally aspirated Chevy Small Block.
January 28:
Jimmy Bryan (b. 1926)
Bryan was an Indy Car legend in the 1950s. He won three National Championships in four years (1954, 1956 and 1957), and even in the year he didn't win the title he still won 6 of 10 races. In 1958 he got his win at Indy, and went into semi-retirement. In 1960 he went to Langhorne, filling in for Rodger Ward, who hap stepped out of the car. Bryan flipped to his death on the first lap. Interesting timing on this one I guess, considering the post above. I've always like this picture of him, it just says old school, tough guy racer to me:
http://i202.photobucket.com/albums/a...d/bryanjpg.png
Takuma Sato (35)
Will Rahal just go ahead an announce it already? Here's Taku on his way to his history-making pole at Iowa last year:
http://d.yimg.com/i/ng/sp/ap_photo/2...l/l5284910.jpg
Gene Hartley (b. 1926)
Hartley was a long time veteran of the short track wars and the 1959 USAC National Midget Champion. He was a part time Indy Car driver from 1950 through 1963. He recorded only one top five finish, but it was an impressive 2nd at Langhorne in 1956. Here he is in one of his last Indy Car appearances, at Indy in 1961, where he would finish 11th:
http://images31.fotki.com/v1053/phot...rtley_1-vi.jpg
Fred Ellis (b. 1881)
Ellis was a factory driver for the Jackson Automobile Co. during their races in the early days of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. All four of his Indy Car starts came at Indy from 1909-1911, the last of which being the first 500. Here he is at the start of the Wheeler-Schebler Trophy Race during the 1910 Memorial Day weekend races; he's in car #18:
http://images.forum-auto.com/mesimag...8marmon%29.jpg
Jim Adams (75)
Adams was a sports car racer, running mostly Can-Am in the 1960s and 1970s. He entered the 1966 Indy 500, but his entry was declined due to lack of experience. That's the entirety of Adams' Indy Car career. Here he is in his normal environment, the Can-Am race at Laguna Seca that year:
http://sp4.fotolog.com/photo/52/2/32...46632579_f.jpg
January 29:
Johnny McDowell (b. 1915)
McDowell, whose Indy Car career spanned 1948-1952, has an odd statistical record. He won three poles in 1951 (Darlington, Milwaukee and Detroit), but never finished higher than 8th that season, and never higher than 7th in any Indy Car race. He was killed in qualifying for the June Milwaukee race in 1952. Here he is at Indy the year before, where a broken fuel tank in the early laps left him 32nd:
http://ims.cdn.racersites.com/prod/p...92198/FULL.jpg
Jerry Hoyt (b. 1929)
Hoyt, who raced Indy Cars from 1950-1955, also has an odd statistical quirk. Though only the 9th fastest qualifier at Indy in 1955, he wound up on pole, as the fastest of just two qualifiers the first day. The teams had come to an agreement early that day that no one would make a qualifying run because of the high winds, only Hoyt and crew didn't know, as they had been buried back in their garage working all day long and weren't ever part of the discussion. At 5:40 they rolled out and basically got a free shot at pole. He retired early in the race with an oil leak, and a few weeks later would die in a sprint car accident. Here he is in his pole winner:
http://www.vukovichaccident.com/Hoyt.jpg
Alex Figge (31)
He did win a race in Atlantic, but that form didn't carry over, as the 8th he got in his debut in Las Vegas (2007) was his only top 10 finish. Here he is in San Jose that year:
http://allcarcentral.com/champcar_SJ...r_%2707-10.jpg
I had already written this out once and lost it due to dumb user error, so now it's just the quick version.
January 30:
Rudolf Caracciola (b. 1901)
1930s Grand Prix legend... pole at 1937 Vanderbilt Cup in only Indy Car start, broke and finished 24th... injured in practice crash at Indy in 1946 when struck by a bird... convalesced at the Hulman house, as a thank you entire trophy collection donated to IMS museum, where still on display today
Start of '37 Vanderbilt Cup:
http://www.taurtoisemotorsports.com/...%2037%20VC.jpg
Al Smith (b. 1929)
Short track driver who raced Indy Cars from 1966-69... best finish was 5th in series debut (Atlanta 1966)... like every other Smith, failed to qualify at Indy in only appearance (1967)
Smith's sprint car at hometown Dayton Speedway, 1969:
http://wthompson4.sports.officelive....4-13-69_12.jpg
Keith Rachwitz (b. 1925)
Nicknamed "Porky"... sprint car driver who raced Indy Cars on and off throughout the 1960s... best finish was a pair of 9ths, including in lone road course start (Las Vegas 1968)
Porky in sprint car at Hutchinson, Kansas (1958):
http://winfield.50megs.com/Hutch_Nat...y_Rachwitz.jpg
Tommy Copp (b. 1927)
Sprint/midget racer who dabbled in Indy Cars throughout the 1960s, a recurring trend for today... not a good starting record, he DNQed at 10 of his first 11 tries... best finish of 7th (twice)
He's in car #64 toward the back of this photo. It's his Indy Car debut, the last chance race for the June Milwaukee race in 1960; he didn't transfer to the main event:
http://www.racingnation.com/images/c...Milw59HR04.jpg
Ed Madden (b. 1885)
One career Indy Car start, finishing 2nd at Columbus in 1913... drove relief for Harry Endicott in 1913 Indy 500
Here he is in 1911, serving as riding mechanic for Endicott at Indy that year:
http://ims.cdn.racersites.com/prod/p...94685/FULL.jpg
January 31:
Buddy Rice (36)
Hard to believe it's been 7 1/2 years since his last Indy Car win. Here he is enjoying the day after his biggest of all:
http://ims.cdn.racersites.com/prod/p...82524/FULL.jpg
J. J. Lehto (46)
Following six years in F1 and some sports car racing, Lehto came to America for one highly disappointing season with Hogan Racing in 1998. It took him all the way until September to finish a race on the lead lap, and a 5th in Australia was the only real result he achieved. It's still better than what he's doing now though, which is sitting in jail for a couple of years after killing a friend of his in a drunken boating accident. Here he is at Detroit in 1998:
http://mwphoto.smugmug.com/Cars/CART...71_bDgUk-L.jpg
Robbie Groff (46)
Younger brother of Mike, Robbie got a couple of starts in CART in 1994 and a few in the IRL in 1997-98, but didn't do a whole lot in some subpar equipment. His best finish came in his only try at Indy, where he finished 9th in 1997. Here's his ride for that race:
http://www.theautochannel.com/callah...s/rgroff01.jpg
Mauro Baldi (58)
Six drivers who have raced an Indy Car have won all three of the major sports car endurance classics (24 Hours of Le Mans, 24 Hours of Daytona and 12 Hours of Sebring). You'd probably guess A. J. Foyt and Dan Gurney pretty easily. You might pull out Hurley Haywood, Al Holbert or Phil Hill. But I could give people a few hundred guesses and not expect to hear Mauro Baldi's name. He won Le Mans in 1994, Daytona and Sebring in 1998 and Daytona again in 2002. His Indy Car career consisted of just one race. He finished 19th at Mid-Ohio in 1994 driving a Dale Coyne car. Here he is:
http://i55.tinypic.com/2dcgw1x.jpg
Bill Cantrell (b. 1908)
Not to be confused with Billy Cantrell, "Wild Bill" Cantrell made a pair of starts at Indy in 1948-49, plus one other race at DuQuoin in '48. He showed up a couple more times at Indy without success. Where Cantrell really made his mark was in hydroplane racing. Cantrell was one of the sport's all time greats, a hall of famer, and winner of the prestigious Gold Cup in 1949. Here he is at the controls of the Much Crust V, which he took to a runner up finish in the 1953 Gold Cup:
http://www.lesliefield.com/images/su...up_seattle.jpg
February 1:
Ray Pixley (b. 1907)
Pixley came east from Washington to race in the Midwest. He made one Indy Car start, getting a 6th place finish in the 1936 Indianapolis 500. He was killed in a sprint car crash later that summer. Here he is at Indy:
http://ims.cdn.racersites.com/prod/p...93563/FULL.jpg
Tony de Tommaso (61)
De Tommaso had run some minor formula car races in Italy, and without any real success, before making the big jump into an Indy Car. He failed to qualify at Denver in 1991, but did race at Laguna Seca in 1992, finishing 22nd after crashing out. Here he is in the pit lane at Laguna:
http://www.tonydetommaso.it/file_sit...4_download.jpg
Vic, you are amazing dude! Do NOT let this stop!
Don't worry, it won't be stopping for another 11 months. Glad you like it, I'm having a lot of fun putting it together.
February 2:
Billy Boat (46)
Boat picked up a win at Texas and a pole at Indy 1998, but he probably will always be best known for a race he didn't win. That would be the infamous 1997 Texas race, featuring the AJ Foyt/Arie Luyendyk "brawl" in victory lane when each thought he had a winner. Boat got the celebration, but Luyendyk the official win. Here he is at Indy in 1998, the first of his six pole positions that year:
http://www.theautochannel.com/callah...ce1/boat01.jpg
Ira Hall (b. 1892)
Hall was a mostly Indy-only competitor, with appearances sprinkled from 1928-1941. He spent most of his time in sprint cars, winning hundreds of races on his way to the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame. Here he is leading Jimmy Snyder in the 1938 500 before crashing out and finishing 30th:
http://photos.indystar.com/photos/20...plate=indypaws
Howard Hall (b. 1885)
The second Hall in today's birthdays made two Indy Car starts. He was 14th in a road race in San Francisco in 1909, and finished 17th in the inaugural Indianapolis 500 two years later. Here he is at Indy, posing with riding mechanic Rupert Jeffkins:
http://ims.cdn.racersites.com/prod/p...94705/FULL.jpg
Raul Riganti (b. 1893)
Riganti was one of Argentina's top drivers of the 1920s and 1930s. His Indy career was oddly spaced, with starts in 1923, 1933 and 1940. His best result was in '33, when he finished 14th in a Chrysler. Here he is in 1940, when an early crash left him in last:
http://ims.cdn.racersites.com/prod/p...93344/FULL.jpg
Billie Harvey (b. 1950)
Harvey was a stock car/modified racer from Florida whose greatest success came in the ARCA series. He won a pair of races there in 1980, and also won three poles in his ARCA career. In addition, he made eight NASCAR Cup series starts in the early 1980s. His Indy Car career consisted of a single race, the June Milwaukee race in 1980. He started and finished 19th. Here he is, with Gordon Johncock running around the outside:
http://www.floridaracingmemories.com...kee%206-80.jpg
George Tichenor (b. 1920)
Tichenor was a local midget racer who made four attempts at Indy in 1952-1955, but never made the field. He also tried at four other Indy Car races during that time frame, but again never made it, making him 0 for 8 in his career. Here he is at Indy in 1952:
http://pharostribune.com/archive/x11...cc6f873563.jpg
Elmer Shannon (b. 1892)
Shannon's brief Indy Car career consisted of just one race. He finished 13th at Indy in 1919, driving a Duesenberg powered by an engine of his own construction. No photo available.
Delmar Desch (b. 1920)
Desch made five runs up Pikes Peak back when it was a National Championship event in 1947-1951. His best finish, a 7th, came in his first try. No photo available for him either.
February 3:
Rocky Moran (62)
Very nearly pulled off a shocker by winning his debut at Watkins Glen in 1981 in an Eagle/Chevy, only to run out of fuel. He finished 6th. He wouldn't make another Indy Car start until 1985, and never came close to that level of success again, although he did get another 6th at Long Beach in 1988. Here he is at Indy that year in one of AJ Foyt's cars, leading Rich Vogler:
http://www.taurtoisemotorsports.com/...0Indy%2088.jpg
Milt Marion (b. 1909)
Marion was a sprint car racer from New York who sprinkled in the occasional Indy Car appearance throughout the 1930s, failing to qualify more often than not. His best finish came in the first race he did make, a 7th at Springfield in 1935. Marion's mark on history came in 1936, when he won the very first stock car race held on the Daytona Beach course, a AAA sanctioned event. Here he is prior to a sprint car event:
http://www.dabica.com/newimages/hrsyr402.jpg
Harry Hunt (b. 1901)
Hunt was a Chicago driver who made four attempts at Indy in the mid 1930s without making the show. He did manage to make two Indy Car starts at Springfield, including a 7th place finish in 1934. Here he is in practice at Indy in 1935, when engine troubles derailed his qualifying run:
http://ims.cdn.racersites.com/prod/p...136/MEDIUM.jpg
Chico Serra (55)
The 1979 British F3 champ, Serra spent three seasons racing in F1 with backmarker teams. His lone Indy Car appearance came afterward, at Portland in 1985. He started near the back and lost an engine in the early stages, finishing 25th. He later raced stock cars in his native Brazil, winning the title in 1999-2001. Here is his run at Portland:
http://www.gptotal.com.br/2005/leito...0080506/04.jpg
Johnny Moorhouse (b. 1922)
Moorhouse was a top midget driver on the west coast in the 1940s and 1950s. In 1959 he found a ride for Indy, and another Indy Car's late season western swing in Phoenix and Sacramento, but didn't make any field. He's shown here on the program cover for a midget race in 1956, that's him second from the top on the right:
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51N%2B-AQhHFL.jpg
Lennie Waldo (68)
Waldo was a long time sprint car driver who also put four NASCAR starts on his resume in 1968 and would occasionally pop up in a stock car elsewhere. A USAC Gold Crown dirt driver, he was entered at the funky 1981 Pocono 500 but didn't appear, and didn't qualify for the one dirt race he did attempt at Springfield later that year. Here he is running a sprint car at Winchester in this undated photo:
http://www.retrorockets.org/1/imagelib/LH_OS-049.jpg
Roscoe Rann (b. 1917)
Rann was a southern short tracker, mainly racing sprints and midgets in Texas and Florida. He had one appearance at Indy in 1951, but didn't qualify. Here's a shot of him enjoying a midget victory:
http://www.oldracingcars.info/wp-con...10/03/Hoot.jpg
Ben Shoaff (b. 1897)
Shoaff made a couple of entries at the board track at Uniontown, PA in 1917-18, but never made a field. A decade later he returned to Indy Cars to make two starts at Indy, 1927 and 1928. He finished 13th and 26th respectively. No photo available.
Bennie Benefiel (b. 1904)
Benefiel's lone attempt came at Indy in 1932, where he was involved in a practise crash that killed Harry Cox, his riding mechanic. Benefiel retired on the spot. Again, no photo available.
Ol' Lennie Waldo. Didn't he used to drive a funky pink roadster sprint car?
February 4:
Van Johnson (b. 1927)
Johnson put up an odd statistical line from 1956-1959. He failed to qualify for 10 of his first 15 entries, and never finished higher than 10th. Then he goes to Langhorne, drives his way through the field from 11th and wins. Sadly, he didn't get a chance to build on that. At his next Indy Car race, a non-points event at Williams Grove, he was killed in an accident. Here he is on his way to that Langhorne victory, driving underneath Don Freeland:
http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/a...8&d=1253632134
Bay Darnell (81)
Darnell spent 20 years in USAC competition, but not in the Indy Car division. Darnell was a long time USAC Stock Car competitor, picking up four wins over the course of his career. He sprinkled in three NASCAR Cup level starts, and also three Indy Car races in the late 1960s. His best was a 9th in his debut at DuQuoin in 1965. His grandson is current NASCAR driver Erik Darnell. Here's Bay at the Indiana State Fairgrounds in 1974, where he would pick up his first USAC Stock Car victory:
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-qCBtkAg37l...ounds_1974.jpg
Wally Butler (b. 1898)
Butler made two entries without a start. He was ruled ineligible at the Beverly Hills board track for some reason in 1923, and didn't get his qualifying run in time for Indy in 1924. No photo available.
February 5:
Teddy Tetzlaff (b. 1883)
Tetzlaff is one of the forgotten early stars of the sport. One of the top drivers of the late '00s and early '10s, he picked up three wins in 1912 and was awarded 2nd place in the 1912 championship standings (it's worth noting that the points for the early years were retroactively added in the future, so it's not really known how the seasons would've played out had the drivers actually known they were racing for a championship). In 1914 Tetzlaff set the world land speed record at Bonneville with a run of 141.73 mph. Later on he would appear in several silent movies, performing the driving scenes. Here he is at Indy for the first 500, where he crashed out early:
http://www.imscdn.com/gallery/500/in...f_car_1911.jpg
Bob McDonogh (b. 1899)
If Tetzlaff is forgotten, then McDonogh is downright obscure. Spending the second half of the 1920s in an Indy Car, McDonogh picked up a pair of victories in 1925, at Altoona, PA and Laurel, MD. McDonogh was a board track specialist, making 32 of his 38 career starts on the boards. Almost every time he ventured off them was for Indy, where he recorded a best finish of 6th in 1927. Here he is posing by his Laurel race winner in 1925:
http://theselvedgeyard.files.wordpre...-auto-race.jpg
Hector Rebaque (56)
Rebaque was undoubtedly the most surprising winner of the CART era when he won at Elkhart Lake in 1982. Rebaque had spent five largely unsuccessful years in F1 before coming over to race for Gerry Forsythe's new team in 1982. He didn't finish any of the first five races he drove for Forsythe, but fell into a shock win at Road America when a handful of drivers ran out of fuel in front of him. The only lap he led in that race was the last one, and it turned out to be the last lap he ever drove in an Indy Car. Here he is at the 20 year anniversary of that win, with the other Mexican drivers in the series at that time (Mario Dominguez, Michel Jourdain, Jr. and Adrian Fernandez):
http://www.autoracing1.com/Images/20...t/Mexicans.jpg
Louis Wagner (b. 1882)
Wagner, a Frenchman, was one of the very early stars of Grand Prix racing. He won the third running of the Vanderbilt Cup on Long Island in 1906, and in 1908 he won the very first United States Grand Prix (then known as the American Grand Prize) at Savannah, GA. He was on top of his game for a long time, long enough to win the very first British Grand Prix at Brooklands in 1926. His National Championship career consisted of two races. He finished 9th at the 1911 American Grand Prize in Savannah, then returned eight years later to race at Indy, only to drop out not long after the 100 mile mark. Here he is in his in 1911 Savannah run, at the wheel of a Fiat:
http://www.velocetoday.com/wp-conten...ner-fiat-s.jpg
February 6:
Cliff Griffith (b. 1916)
The 1946 and 1947 Midwest Dirt Track Racing Association champion, Griffith was a semi-regular on the Indy Car circuit from 1950-1952. He continued on for another decade or so afterward as a mostly Indy-only driver. His two best finishes came in his first two starts, 4th at Springfield and 5th at Syracuse, and he took pole for the lone Indy Car race held in Raleigh in 1952. Here he is at Indy in 1952, when he finished 9th:
http://ims.cdn.racersites.com/prod/p...92046/FULL.jpg
Chuck Parsons (b. 1924)
Coming out of the SCCA ranks, Parsons was one of the top US sports car drivers of the late 1960s. He was the 1966 USRRC champion and a front runner in the Can-Am series. In 1969 he teamed up with Mark Donohue to win the 24 Hours of Daytona aboard a Penske Racing Lola. His one appearance in an Indy Car came at Riverside in 1967. He started 17th and finished 15th in a Leader Card entry. Here he is in the Can-Am race at Laguna Seca in 1969, where he finished 3rd:
http://www.tamsoldracecarsite.net/To...nsLolaT160.jpg
Patrick Lemarie (44)
Lemarie was the very first driver for what was then PK (now KV) Racing when they debuted in 2003. Lemarie had raced in the US a decade earlier in the Atlantic series, even posting a runner up finish, but had no such success this time around. He scored a best finish of 10th before being replaced after six races. Here he is on his way to 13th at Long Beach:
http://www.racebyrace.com/gallery200.../190_9033l.jpg
February 7:
Tee Linn (b. 1907)
Slow day today, as Linn is our only birthday. Born William Lynn, this promising young driver raced under the name of Tee Linn to avoid having his wealthy Philadelphia family discover his racing activities. He made one Indy Car start, finishing 11th at Syracuse in 1933. He failed to qualify at Indy the next year, and later on that season broke his shoulder in a racing accident. Linn retired after that wreck. Here's Tee during his racing days:
http://winfield.50megs.com/Adams/TeeLinn.jpg
February 8
Mike Magill (b. 1920)
"Iron" Mike Magill was a star in the eastern sprint car ranks before coming to the Midwest, winning URC titles in 1950, 1951 and 1953. He added a part time Indy Car career to his sprint car duties in the mid to late '50s as well. Magill was particularly good at Langhorne. In fact four of his six best finishes came there: 4th in 1955, 5th in 1956, 7th in 1958 and 8th in his lone NASCAR Speedway Division start in 1952. Here he is prior to the 1959 Indy 500, which would end up being his final Indy Car start:
http://www.nationalspeedsportnews.co...2aimsc6186.jpg
"Raph" (b. 1910)
It looks odd to see a driver racing under a one word nickname, but it was a lot easier than using George Raphael Bethenod de Montbressieux I suppose. Raph raced sports cars and in minor European Grand Prix races in the 1930s and 1940s. His lone Indy Car race was the 1936 Vanderbilt Cup, where he was black flagged for receiving outside assistance and wound up with a 42nd place finish. That gives him the dubious honor of having the lowest best career finish of any driver who ever raced an Indy Car. He made one other entry, at Indy in 1946, but didn't appear. Here's the Maserati he raced in the Vanderbilt Cup in its restored state today:
http://www.vanderbiltcupraces.com/vc...3_edited-1.jpg
February 9:
Jan Opperman (b. 1939)
Jan Opperman might be the most beloved sprint car driver out there. One of the first true "outlaw" drivers, Opperman criss-crossed the country, racing across a number of different series instead of focusing on one particular championship, and piled up an impressive number of high profile victories. He squeezed in a handul of Indy Car races as well in the mid 1970s, including a 6th place finish at the 1976 California 500. Sadly that's were the highlights end. Six days later he suffered a nasty head injury in the Hoosier Hundred. He came back the next year but wasn't the same, and crashed with even more dire circumstances in 1981, leaving him an invalid for the rest of his life. Here's a snapshot of him in better days at Indy;
http://www.kc-raceway.com/5x7opperman.jpg
Airton Dare (34)
Seems weird to say, but Dare is AJ Foyt's most recent winning driver. It was the lone victory of Dare's career when he took the win at Kansas in 2002. Here he is on his way to winning a squeaker over Sam Hornish:
http://media.lawrence.com/img/photos...cf7613005fe067
Arthur Duray (b. 1882)
Duray was a successful Grand Prix driver and aviation pioneer who also broke the land speed record three times in 1903-1904. He made the trip to Indianapolis in 1914, and drove his Peugeot to 2nd place in his only Indy start. He made two other Indy Car starts four years later, both on the Uniontown boards, with finishes of 4th and 9th. Here he is in the 1906 Vanderbilt Cup, where despite this tire drama he came home 3rd:
http://www.vanderbiltcupraces.com/vc...edited-1-1.jpg
Joel Camathias (31)
Did you know Joel Camathias was sponsored by his hometown of Lugano, Switzerland? If you watched Champ Car in the first half of 2003 you did, because the announcers were so intrigued by that fact that they brought it up every chance they got. That's about all that was going on here. A 9th place finish in his debut at St. Petersburg was his best result in the seven races he ran. He's since been racing GT cars in Europe. Here he is on his way to 14th at Long Beach:
http://www.deepthrottle.com/Photo/lb03_c_camathias2.jpg
Jack Curtner (b. 1893)
Curtner's short Indy Car career consisted of two races in 1922. He finished 14th at Indy, and then 8th the next month at Uniontown. Here's the group photo of the drivers at that Uniontown race, Curtner is the one in the all white suit and goggles standing in front of the pole:
http://66.154.44.164/forum/attachmen...2&d=1269203231
February 10:
Eddie Johnson (b. 1919)
In addition to being a successful midget racer, Johnson spent 18 years as a part time competitor on the Indy Car trail. He made at least one appearance every year from 1949 to 1966, but never started more than five races in any one season. He had a solid record at Indianapolis, with five top 10 finishes in 13 starts, highlighted by a 6th place in 1960. His best result in any Indy Car race came at Trenton, where he finished 3rd in 1959. Here he is at Indy in 1956, when he went on to finish 15th:
http://www.imscdn.com/gallery/500/in...ie_Johnson.jpg
Danny Kladis (b. 1917)
A member of the National Midget Racing Hall of Fame, Kladis first showed up at Indy in 1946 with a young car owner making his first Indy attempt. He put Andy Granatelli's car in the show, getting the last spot on the grid. An early exit left him with a 21st place finish. Kladis would make seven more tries at Indy, but never made the field again. His other three Indy Car starts came in the mid 1950s, with a best of 13th at DuQuoin in 1954. At the time of his death in 2009, Kladis was the oldest living Indy starter at 92. Here he is in Granatelli's car:
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_QRstYe4Q5V...400/kladis.jpg
February 11:
Roberto Moreno (53)
I don't think I've ever seen a driver sob any harder in joy after getting out of the car than Moreno in Cleveland in 2000. And that was just after winning the pole! The next day he finally got that long awaited first win, almost exactly 15 years to the day after his Indy Car debut at the Meadowlands in 1985. Here he is celebrating that victory:
http://desmond.imageshack.us/Himg849...jpg&res=medium
John Surtees (78)
Surtees was the dominant motorcycle racer of the late 1950s. He took four World Championships in five years (1956, 1958-1960), and became the first rider to win the Isle of Man TT three straight years. (If you've never seen video of this race, look it up, it's insane.) His switch to cars went nearly as well. After just a few years in F1 he won the 1964 World Championship for Ferrari, making him the only person to win the world title on both two wheels and four. He made one Indy Car start in his career, racing at Riverside in 1967. He qualified 4th, but retired with a broken magneto and finished 20th. Here he is at Riverside:
http://www.chromjuwelen.com/images/c...841a8e72_z.jpg
February 12:
Floyd Roberts (b. 1904)
Floyd Roberts holds the odd distinction of winning the series championship in a year where he failed to qualify for half the races. The year was 1938. Roberts had shown promise in a handful of Indy Car starts during the previous few years, and the 1938 Indy 500 is where he put it all together, winning the race from pole. The sport was at its low point in the late 30s and early 40s, and no lower than 1938, when there were just two races on the schedule, Indy and a 100 miler on the dirt mile at Syracuse. Roberts didn't even make the field in Syracuse, but he already had a nearly insurmountable lead (with Indy being five times longer than Syracuse it paid five times as many points). The only driver who could've caught him, Wilbur Shaw, didn't even go to Syracuse, and the title was Roberts'. Unfortunately Roberts would die the next year defending his win at Indy. Here he is in 1938, working with one of the Firestone mechanics:
http://www.imscdn.com/gallery/500/in..._car_46894.jpg
Tora Takagi (38)
Takagi raced from 2001-2004, spending two years in each series during the split era. He made history as the first Japanese driver to record a podium finish when he started and finished 3rd in the June Texas race in 2003. Here he is getting a little help at Laguna Seca the previous year:
http://www.autoracing1.com/images/Ph...0211Takagi.jpg
Jack Turner (b. 1920)
"Cactus Jack" Turner was one of the premier midget drivers to come out of the Pacific Northwest. He was the AAA's first two time national midget champion, going back-to-back in 1954 and 1955. He would make his Indy Car debut in '55, sticking around through 1963. He failed to make fields as often as he did qualify, but he did put together some nice runs, including a career best 2nd at Darlington in 1956. In 1961 he crashed out of Indy in dramatic style, flipping down the main straight. In 1962 he again flipped on the main straight during the race. He flipped a 3rd time on the main straight in practice in 1963. At that point he had had enough and retired. Here he is making a pit stop during the 1957 500, where he would finish 11th:
http://www.imscdn.com/gallery/500/in...ner__11795.jpg
Ronnie Duman (b. 1929)
Duman was a developing young star on the Midwestern short tracks in the late 1950s, culminating in back-to-back wins in the prestigious Little 500 in 1958 and 1959. He made his Indy Car debut in 1961 and spent most of the decade there. In a bit of an odd quirk he recorded eight 6th place finishes but could only crack the top five once. That career best came in the 1965 season opener at Phoenix, a 3rd. Duman would eventually die in the 1968 June Milwaukee race. His son Rick would go on to be a long time Indy Car mechanic, winning the Clint Brawner Mechanical Excellence Award at Indy in 2005. Here's Ronnie in the 1968 Indy 500, where he would finish in 6th:
http://www.can-am-cars.com/productca...409_detail.jpg
Dick Tobias (b. 1932)
"Toby" Tobias was a legend in dirt modified racing in the Northeast during the 1960s and 1970s, as well as a top sprint car competitor. He racked up an estimated 300 feature wins during his career. On top of driving, he revolutionized modified racing by developing the first purpose built, tube frame chassis. His Indy Car career consisted of two dirt car starts in 1970, finishing 19th at Springfield and 8th at DuQuoin. He kept racing and winning in modifieds and sprint cars until his death in a 1978 USAC sprint car race. Here he is in that 1970 DuQuoin event:
http://www.thevintageracer.com/consoli/77tobyP6bJ.jpg
Jorge Koechlin (62)
Peru's only Indy Car driver, Koechlin made his lone start at Laguna Seca in 1983. A broken gearbox left him with a 15th place finish. After his driving career Koechlin would go on to be a broadcaster for ESPN's Spanish language racing broadcasts. Here he is at Laguna:
http://img138.imageshack.us/img138/270/guessvt4.jpg
Frederick McEvoy (b. 1907)
An Australian socialite, McEvoy is probably best described as a gentleman racer, albeit a skilled one. His lone Indy Car appearance came in a Maserati at the 1936 Vanderbilt Cup. With relief help from European front runner Carlo Felice Trossi, the team came through with a 6th place finish. His greatest racing moments came not in a car but in a bobsled. He was the flag bearer for the British team in the 1936 Winter Olympics, and won a bronze medal in the four man bobsled. He would win three bobsledding world championships in the next two years as well. Here he is at the Vanderbilt Cup:
http://www.vanderbiltcupraces.com/vc...7_edited-1.jpg
February 13:
Jim Crawford (b. 1948)
Crawford came up through British Formula Atlantic, advancing to F1 with two starts in 1975. He never made it back to F1, spending the next few years bouncing around Atlantic and F2, and winning the British National F1 title in 1982. He came to the US to race Indy Cars in 1984, and though he finished 4th at Long Beach in each of his first two tries, within two years he focused solely on Indianapolis. He came back every year through 1995, and while he was constantly fast in his Buicks, their notorious reliability often let him down. He suffered terrible foot and ankle injuries in a practice crash in 1987, but came back the next year to record his best Indy finish, a 6th. Here he is in that 1988 race:
http://www.forix.com/8w/crawford/jc-ind88.jpg
Ronnie Johncox (43)
A winner on the Midwestern short tracks, Johncox made eight IRL starts in 1999-2000, with a best of 11th in his debut at Texas. Now out of the cockpit but still in the sport, he owns a company that provides chassis kits to NASCAR teams and performs prototyping work. Here he is at Indy in 2000, where he did not make the field:
http://insideracingtechnology.com/Re.../cooprjeff.jpg
Reeves Dutton (b. 1887)
Dutton, who served as Earl Cooper's riding mechanic with the Stutz team for a number of years, made his only points-paying Indy Car start in 1920. He finished 12th on the Beverly Hills board track. He also relieved Cooper for a time at Indy the year before in addition to serving as riding mechanic for the race. Dutton may be the oldest Indy Car driver ever, as he lived to the ripe old age of 101. Here he is with Cooper at Indy in 1919:
http://www.gotomn.com/racing/history...utz%201915.JPG
February 14:
Joe Jagersberger (b. 1884)
Jagersberger was born in Austria but came to the US in his teens. He unwittingly played a key role in the first Indy 500. A broken steering knuckle sent his car out of control on the front straight, crashing through the judges' stand. Several other cars piled into the mess, which led to the scoring disruption that cast some doubts over who actually won the race. Jagersberger picked up a 5th that October in his other Indy Car start at Philadelphia, but a month later would lose a leg in a race accident, ending his career. He then moved to the mechanical side of the sport, eventually earning induction into the Sprint Car Hall of Fame as an engine builder and manufacturer. He's in car #8 in this photo from Indy:
http://photos.indystar.com/photos/20...071/inline.jpg
Bayliss Levrett (b. 1913)
Levrett came up racing roadsters and sprint cars on the West Coast in the 1930s and 1940s. Nine of his 10 Indy Car starts came in 1949, including a 4th place finish at Milwaukee and a front row start in Springfield. Indy the next year would be his final start. He made a couple more attempts, but a practice crash at Indy in 1952 sent him into retirement. Here he is before his first 500 in 1949:
http://www.edjusticejr.com/images/In...crew-small.jpg
Richard Seaman (b. 1913)
Seaman started racing small sports cars in 1934 and immediately became a winner. He caught the eye of the mighty Mercedes-Benz team, who signed him for their Grand Prix cars in 1937. That was the year he made his lone Indy Car start in the Vanderbilt Cup. Seaman started 4th and came through with a 2nd place finish. He would go on to win the German GP at the Nurburgring in 1938. In 1939 Seaman was killed in an accident at Spa-Francorchamps during the Belgian GP. His grave is still maintained by Mercedes-Benz today as a mark of respect. Here's a portrait of Seaman in his racing days:
http://www.sportscardigest.com/wp-co...s/seaman-7.jpg
Banjo Matthews (b. 1932)
Matthews was a solid driver in his early days racing modifieds, but his biggest contributions came in NASCAR's garage area. His true talent was in building cars, and his chassis dominated Winston Cup racing in the 1970s and 1980s. From 1974-1985 Matthews-built cars won 72% of NASCAR races, including a clean sweep in 1978, which was also the fourth year in a row a Matthews car won the championship. He would be inducted in to the International Motorsports Hall of Fame in 1998 for his efforts. He is known to have raced in the 1953 NASCAR Speedway Division, which is what gets him on this list, but because statistics are incomplete for that season I don't have any specific results. Here he is in a modified race at Daytona Beach in 1955. He's in the #49, trailing Fireball Roberts:
http://www.legendsofnascar.com/banjo49_fireball.jpg
Enrique Mansilla (54)
Mansilla left his native Argentina to race in Europe in 1981. He nearly won the British F3 title in 1982, but missed out due to political reasons. Not racing politics but actual politics; the Falklands War broke out and he lost most of his funding, as it wasn't a good time to be an Argentine in England. After a couple of years he found himself in Ron Hemelgarn's Indy Car for three races in 1985. His best result came in his debut, a 9th at Elkhart Lake. Here he is during that event:
http://www.comicozzie.com/gallery2/d...CART-85-14.jpg
Fred Clemons (b. 1889)
Clemons raced twice at Indy, but never the 500. He made two starts during the Labor Day weekend race meeting in 1910, finishing in 5th spot both times. He entered the first 500 the next year but did not qualify. His Indy Car career looked over, but 21 years later he would get back behind the wheel at Indy, in a car powered by an engine of his own design. Again, he didn't qualify. Here's Clemons enjoying the spoils of a victory:
http://image1.findagrave.com/photos/...6875646438.jpg
Fred Merzney (b. 1895)
Merzney spent a lot of time racing in hill climbs as well as sprint cars. He entered the 1932 Indy 500 but failed to qualify. In this group photo taken at Ascot, Merzney is the third driver to the right of Al Gordon:
http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/a...2&d=1314811651
Charles Muth (b. 1892)
Muth made one appearance in an Indy Car, racing in the 1914 American Grand Prize at Santa Monica. He ran out of fuel and finished 10th. No photo available.
February 15:
Graham Hill (b. 1929)
If you look at Hill's starting record in an Indy Car, it's not that good. In six attempts he has as many DNQs as starts. But I suppose a little thing like winning Indy might polish up the resume a touch. Here he is on his way to that victory in 1966:
http://www.500legends.com/uploads/me...%20picture.jpg
Earl Motter (b. 1919)
Motter was a top midget racer who spent some time in Indy Cars from 1955-1959. A surprise pole at Syracuse in 1956 would be the highlight; his best finish was a 6th at the 1958 Hoosier Hundred. He also married Bill Vukovich's widow in an interesting side note. Here he is at Springfield in 1958, driving the #25. The other drivers shown are Len Sutton (48), Don Branson (10), AJ Foyt (29) and Buzz Barton (86).
http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/i...shaw32/aa1.jpg
My friend Alex Padilla (February 14th, 1971) raced Barber-Saab, Indy Lights & a few Rolex 24's
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alex_Pa...(racing_driver)
Do you NEED a car this fast...? NO, but do you WANT a car this fast?? YES!!! -Tom Hnatiw
Race CARS Not DOGS!!! Adopt or foster a retired greyhound -Me
And his nephew, Tom Motter, has a series of books about West Coast racing that belong on the shelves of anyone who's enjoying this thread.Earl Motter (b. 1919)
Motter was a top midget racer who spent some time in Indy Cars from 1955-1959. A surprise pole at Syracuse in 1956 would be the highlight; his best finish was a 6th at the 1958 Hoosier Hundred. He also married Bill Vukovich's widow in an interesting side note. Here he is at Springfield in 1958, driving the #25. The other drivers shown are Len Sutton (48), Don Branson (10), AJ Foyt (29) and Buzz Barton (86).
http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/i...shaw32/aa1.jpg
http://www.bookfinder.com/author/tom-motter/
February 16:
Walt Faulkner (b. 1918)
A successful midget racer, Faulkner began his Indy Car career right at the front. In 1950 Faulkner became the first rookie to win the Indy 500 pole position. He was the fastest qualifier the next year as well, but only started 14th since his time came after pole day. He had a lot of early success, with a win and a 2nd place points finish in 1950, and two wins and 3rd in the championship in 1951, but then struggled for the next few years. Faulkner died in a USAC stock car crash in 1956. Here he is in the 1950 Indy pole winner:
http://ims.cdn.racersites.com/prod/p...92397/FULL.jpg
Jay Howard (31)
So will he or won't he race this year? I was hoping to use this spot for a picture of his new ride, but since that didn't develop we'll have to wait for the first DW12 pic in this thread. Here he is at Indy last year:
http://indycar.cdn.racersites.com/pr...26426/FULL.jpg
John DePalma (b. 1885)
DePalma is an Indy Car winner, not as a driver but as riding mechanic for his older brother, the great Ralph DePalma. John got behind the wheel a little himself, with a pair of Indy Car starts. He finished 21st in the 1915 Indianapolis 500, and was 9th at Beverly Hills in 1920. Here his #17 Delage sits on the grid at Indy in 1915:
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qTpKSgjbAs...9-starting.jpg
Jean Behra (b. 1921)
Behra spent most of the 1950s in Formula 1. Though he never won a World Championship race, he did win a number of non-championship Grand Prix. He was also a successful sports car racer, an in 1958 he put together an eight race winning streak in a Porsche. His lone Indy Car appearance came at the "Race of Two Worlds" at Monza in 1957. It was supposed to be a head-to-head showdown between Indy Car and F1, but the only European starters wound up being three Jaguars fresh off of racing at Le Mans. Behra entered in a Maserati, but was unable to start. In 1959 Behra was killed in a sports car race at AVUS in Germany. Here he is in the 1957 British GP, driving the Maserati he attempted to race at Monza:
http://g.imagehost.org/0638/1957_Mas...ehra_GBR01.jpg
February 17:
Jimmy Gleason (b. 1898)
Gleason first appeared on the Indy Car scene back in 1925, but it wasn't until the 1928 Indy 500 that he made his first start. He had a 3rd place finish at the Brickyard the next year, but his first few seasons were mostly lackluster. He began to come into his own in 1931. After a 6th place at Indy, Gleason took 2nd place on the boards of Altoona on July 4th. Two months later he returned and picked up his first Indy Car win in one of the heat races for the Labor Day weekend race, but wasn't able to start the main event. That win was his final start; five days later he was killed in practice for the Indy Car race at Syracuse. Here's Gleason at that first Indy start:
http://www.taurtoisemotorsports.com/...%20gleason.jpg
Myron Stevens (b. 1901)
Stevens made two Indy Car starts, and made the most of them, finishing 3rd at Altoona in 1929 and 4th at Indianapolis in 1931. But where Stevens really made his mark was as a constructor. First building cars for Harry Miller, then off on his own, Myron Stevens built the cars that won six Indy 500s (1923, 1926, 1928, 1929, 1931 and 1936). Here he is in 1931, when he drove his own creation to that 4th place finish while Louis Schneider was winning the race in another of his cars:
http://ims.cdn.racersites.com/prod/p...94070/FULL.jpg
John Morton (70)
Morton made on-and-off appearances over the course of a decade, but almost all of his starts came in 1984. He spent much more time, and found much more success, racing sports cars. He won SCCA national championships in 1970 and 1971 and a Trans-Am class championship in 1972. He later went on to race in Can-Am and IMSA, and had a bit of a career renaissance with the Nisaan GT team, where in 1994 he was overall winner at the 12 Hours of Sebring and class winner at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. His best Indy Car result came in his debut at Long Beach, a 9th in 1984. Here he is, leading Michael Andretti during that race:
http://datsun510.com/photopost/data/..._LBGP_1984.jpg
Louis Tomei (b. 1910)
Tomei was essentially an Indy specialist in an Indy Car career that spanned from 1932 to 1949. Eight of his 10 career starts came at IMS, though his career best finish of 8th came on the dirt mile at Oakland in his first Indy Car race. Tomei, along with teammate Emil Andres, made a bit of Indy history in 1946, when they wore the first radios to communicate with the pits during the race. He didn't get much use from it though, as he retired with a broken oil line in the early laps. Here he is, headset and all:
http://theoldmotor.com/wp-content/up...08/Radio-1.jpg
Colby Scroggin (b. 1925)
Scroggin was a star on the IMCA and CRA sprint car trails in the 1950s and 1960s. In fact it was just last month that he was elected to the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame in recognition of his record there. After missing the field for the first several Indy Car races he attempted in the mid-'50s, Scroggin took another shot at Indy Cars, making six starts in 1962-1963. His best result came at Milwaukee, with an 8th place in the June 1963 running. Here he is racing in an IMCA sprint car race in this undated photo:
http://winfield.50megs.com/Hutch_Nat..._Scroggins.jpg
February 18:
Jim McElreath (84)
McElreath won five races in an Indy Car career that spanned nearly a quarter of a century (1961-1984). Highlights include winning the 1962 Indy Rookie of the Year award and a win in the inaugural California 500 at Ontario in 1970. He continued racing on the dirt as well, winning the first ever USAC Silver Crown race, at Nazareth in 1971. In 2002 he earned election into the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame. Here's McElreath at the wheel of one of the legendary Novis at Indy in 1964:
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_JBA_90Mrxs...reath+novi.png
Jimmy Kite (36)
Kite burst on the scene with a dramatic win in the Silver Crown portion of the 1997 Copper World Classic, and parlayed that victory into an Indy Car ride later that summer. His best result came in the season finale at Las Vegas, where he came home 6th. Kite bounced in and out of Indy Car rides over the course of the next decade, but wasn't ever able to top that result. Here he is at his first Indy 500 in 1998, where he finished 11th:
http://www.theautochannel.com/callah...ce1/kite01.jpg
Pete Henderson (b. 1895)
While it was commonly reported that Scott Goodyear was the first Canadian to win an Indy Car race, he actually missed out by three quarters of a century. Ontario's Pete Henderson won a 50 mile race on the boards of Chicago in 1917. Henderson was a front runner in the sport from 1915-1917, but that would be his lone win. Here he is in his final start, the 1920 Indianapolis 500, where he finished 10th:
http://www.imscdn.com/gallery/500/in..._Henderson.jpg
Norm Brown (75)
Brown came off the Midwestern short tracks to make a handful of Indy Car starts, mostly in 1967. A 4th place run on the Springfield dirt was the highlight of the season for him. Brown was severely burned in an accident at Milwaukee in 1968 that ended his career, but he would eventually recover. Here's Brown in his earlier days, racing a supermodified at Michigan's Berlin Speedway in 1959:
http://www.mmshof.org/photos/brown_norm.jpg
Gary Congdon (b. 1937)
Congdon spent a decade on the dirt before getting his first Indy Car shot in 1965. 1966 saw him shine at the tricky Langhorne oval, with a 3rd fastest qualifying run in the June race and a career best 4th place finish in August. 1967 saw him set an odd mark at Indy; he drove six different cars that May without putting any of them in the show. Congdon died in a midget crash at the Hut 100 that fall. Here he is running on the IRP road course in 1967:
http://www.oldracingcars.com/Images/...n-IRP-800x.jpg
Giovanni Lavaggi (54)
"Johnny Carwash" came from the European sports car ranks to make four Indy Car appearances (two starts/two DNQs) in 1994. He finished 30th at Cleveland and 15th at Elkhart Lake. Things took an upturn in 1995, when he won the 24 Hours of Daytona in a Porsche. He then made 10 largely forgettable F1 appearances in 1995-1996 before returning to sports cars. Here he is in that first start at Cleveland:
http://www.giovannilavaggi.com/ingle...gi/indycar.jpg
Jack Scales (b. 1886)
Scales came from England, spending plenty of time racing at the old Brooklands track. His Indy Car career consisted of a pair of DNQs. He entered a race on the Cincinnati board track in 1917 but failed to show, and didn't make the field at Indy in 1920. Here he is at Indy:
http://lh5.ggpht.com/-bBMXy08NNUo/R2...%252520dnq.jpg
Jim Brubaker (b. 1913)
Brubaker attempted to make the field for the first four post-WWII Indy 500s (1946-1949), but never made the show. He does get credit for two National Championship starts thanks to the oddball 1946 season where sprint car races counted; he raced at the DuBois and Port Royal tracks in Pennsylvania. This portrait of him was taken at Indy in 1947:
http://indiamond6.ulib.iupui.edu/cgi...B=1&DMROTATE=0
I'd just like to add that this is a very cool thread. Thanks.
RIP Daniel Clive Wheldon, 2005 & 2011 Indianapolis 500 Champion
February 19:
John Paul, Jr. (52)
Winning the 1983 Michigan 500 in just his 4th career start makes you wonder what might've been had he been able to keep his life on track. He did find one way to get into the record book though when he finally returned to Victory Lane at Texas in 1998. That gap of 15 years, two months and three days is by far the longest gap between wins of any Indy Car driver in history. Here he is at Road America during that rookie season, where he finished 5th:
http://www.comicozzie.com/gallery2/d.../83CART-27.jpg
Fred Comer (b. 1893)
Comer was a board track specialist, as 43 of his 48 Indy Car starts came on the wooden ovals. A consistent front runner, Comer picked up the only Indy Car win of his career at Atlantic City in 1926. The boards would ultimately provide his undoing, as he was killed in an Indy Car race at the Rockingham Speedway in Salem, New Hampshire in 1928. Here he is at Indy in 1925, where he would finish 11th:
http://www.imscdn.com/gallery/indyca...Comer_9251.jpg
Ernie McCoy (b. 1921)
A winning sprint/midget driver from Pennsylvania, McCoy's Indy Car career got off to a good start in 1953. He made the show for the first four races he entered, including an 8th at Indy in his debut and 5th places finishes on the dirt miles of Milwaukee and Detroit. Over the next few years he only made one more start among handful of DNQs before fading from the Indy Car scene after 1956. Here he is making a pit stop in that 1953 Indy 500:
http://p2.la-img.com/1020/19526/6649227_5_l.jpg
Danny Jones (78)
Jones was a fixture at the front of CRA sprint car fields when he made his Indy Car debut in 1960. He made two starts each in 1960 and 1961, with his best result coming in his final race, a 9th in the 1961 Hoosier Hundred. Here's the Joe Hunt Magneto Special he raced in 1960, fully restored and on track in a historic event at Laguna Seca:
http://files.conceptcarz.com/img/Wat...V-07-MH_01.jpg
Paul Pitzer (68)
Pitzer, a Pennsylvania driver, is a long time veteran of the dirt track wars. He took part in the bizarre 1981 Pocono 500 in one of the Silver Crown cars that were added to the field. He also ran in two of the dirt Silver Crown races that were designated Gold Crown events, with a best of 10th at DuQuoin. Here he is that year at Williams Grove (this was not one of the Gold Crown races):
http://www.thevintageracer.com/usac8...aul_pitzer.jpg
Perry Grimm (b. 1914)
Grimm was a champion midget racer on the West Coast, and a two time winner of the Turkey Night Grand Prix in 1946 and 1949. He's also credited with revolutionizing midget racing in Australia in the 1940s. He and Cal Niday had destroyed the fields during a trip there, and Grimm provided mechanical assistance to upgrade the quality of Australian midgets to the American standard. His lone Indy Car appearance came at Indy in 1952. He was already at the end of his career by that point, but he did pass his rookie test. He did not qualify for the race. Here he is racing a midget in this undated photo:
http://www.thevintageracer.com/grimm/65action.jpg
Sherman Cleveland (b. 1937)
The up-and-coming Cleveland had developed a reputation as a fast but wild sprint car driver. He had entered the Indy Car race on the Sacramento dirt in 1965, but an accident a few days prior convinced officials to decline his entry as they didn't think he was ready. It would be Cleveland's only Indy Car attempt. The next July he was killed in a sprint car race in California, something that didn't surprise some of his competitors based on his driving style. Here he is during the winter of 1965-66 racing a midget in Australia; he's on the outside of Bob Tattersall:
http://i56.photobucket.com/albums/g1...nCleveland.jpg
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