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Auto
racing continues to be the most dangerous sport in the United
States. But during the post World War II years of the 1940s, 50s
and 60s, racing was an era when many open wheel drivers never
returned home. It seemed there was always an abundance of
drivers and as soon as one seat became open it was soon filled
by someone else.
Rookie drivers and survivors found their way to the next track
to strap on inadequate head protection, maybe a pair of gloves
and often bare arms with tattoos. Competitors sat upright in a
seat with their head and shoulders well above the rest of the
racecar. Cars were equipped with poor seatbelts and sometimes no
belt at all. No sign of a roll bar or cage and fire was a
constant threat.
This article is a group of short stories relating to spouses,
families, drivers and others who faced the reality of injury or
worst on a racing weekend.
Wednesday,
May 23, 2007
Marvin E. Scattergood
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Dumb, Dumber and
Dead |
Erling "Chick" Barbo achieved
racing success in the Pacific Northwest racing midgets and
sprint cars. High school friends tagged him with the nickname of
"Chick" when he was reluctant to attempt a daring sandlot
motorcycle jump.
Tommy Mattson received similar racing accolades in a sprinter on
the opposite coast. He was one of a small handful of successful
drivers from the state of Delaware.
Mattson and Barbo were competing in a AAA sprint car event at
Salem, Indiana on July 24, 1949. Instead of lining up properly
for the front row in a heat, they began banging wheels,
apparently to get the advantage. This turned out to be poor
judgment because it led to their demise. Both racing machines
crashed landed outside turn 4 of the high banks of the
half-miler before the green flag waved.
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Ironic |
Carlyle "Duke" Dinsmore and
Rex Mays had qualified and started an AAA event at Milwaukee,
Wisconsin, June 6, 1948. Dinsmore crashed in the south turn
tossing him from his moving car. Mays spun to a stop then began
waving other drivers aside to protect Duke. Dinsmore survived to
race many more years and lived to be 72 years of age. The
correct spelling of Duke's surname is as Dismoor.
Mays suffered a similar single car crash at Del Mar, California
on November 6, 1949 where he was ejected from his Wolf (#15)
Special. Some oncoming cars missed him, others didn't and he was
fatally injured. Rex was reluctant to wear a safety belt because
he believed his survival rate was high outside a crashing racer.
One year after Mays’ death, a plaque was mounted on the outer
wall at the Milwaukee dirt mile to commemorate his heroic deed
that probably saved his friend’s live.
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Cal Niday ~ A One
Legged Racer |
As a young man Cal Niday had
lost a leg in a motorcycle accident. When he learned a midget
racer had a hand brake and no clutch, he began his racing
career.
Midget racing was his first love, but he competed in the Indy
"500" three times, 1953-1955, and his best finish was 10th in
1954. In the 1955 race, while running third with less than
25-laps remaining, he crashed. In a coma for several weeks from
a concussion, he decided to retire from competition.
Ironically, Niday would die at the age of 74 at the wheel of a
midget he had raced regularly many years earlier. On February
14, 1988 he was participating in a historic racecar exhibition
when he struck a spinning car in front of him and his racer
turned upside down.
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Photographer
Escapes Death, But Not As Lucky A Decade Later |
Free lance photographer Dale
Mueller escaped serious injury when a sprint car crashed through
a turn 1 photographer’s box at the Greater Salem (Indiana)
Speedway, June 17, 1956. Bob Sweikert, winner of the 1955 Indy
500, lost control of his racer when the right rear wheel made
contact with the wall near the start/finish line and continued
down the straightaway, crashing through the retaining fence.
Sweikert was thrown clear of his burning racecar, but died at
the scene.
A decade later, Mueller died when the catwalk from where he was
filming racing from atop the Illinois State Fair grandstand in
Springfield, fell to the ground, August 20, 1966. A rope
attached to the catwalk and to a tractor on the ground by the
Green Berets may have contributed to the accident. . Another
photographer on the catwalk and a state fair employee on the
ground also died.
Mueller was well-known as the founder of the St. Louis Auto
Racing Fan Club.
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The Robson,
Ruttman, Vukovich, Sneva and Unser Families
All 5 of these families
experienced the joy of winning the “500”, yet each had to endure
the lost of a loved one from a racing injury. |
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The Robson Family |
The Robson brothers, Hal and
George, often raced against each other. George was small in
stature and frequently called "Little" George. He competed
several times in the May Classic, before WW II and won the race
in 1946, the first post war "500". Hal's Indy rookie attempt was
same year his brother won. During a race, later that year, at
the Lakewood Speedway in Atlanta, George, on September 2,
“Little” George and George Barringer tangled with several other
racers in heavy dust and were killed.
Unable to see the slow moving car of Billy DeVore because of the
terrible conditions, Robson slammed into DeVore's car and was in
turn hit by several other racers, including George Barringer.
Sizing-up the situation, Ted Horn abruptly stopped and tried to
wave down other competitors but failed because of poor
visibility.
A little known fact about “Little” George, he was the first
foreign-born "Indy" winner in the post war era. His birthplace
was in England before migrating to Canada and then to the
States.
Hal continued racing several more years and at times at "Indy".
1948 was his final year at the "Speedway" and his racing career
ended uneventfully. He died July 2, 1996.
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The Ruttman Family |
The likeness of Troy Ruttman's
face was added to the BorgWarner Indianapolis 500 Trophy after
taking the checkers first in 1952 race.
Ruttman was only 22 when he triumphed at the Brickyard in only
his fourth attempt, becoming the youngest driver at that time to
win the spring classic. However, he was later seriously injured
in a sprint car race at Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and didn't return to
action until 1954. A broken shoulder didn't heal properly and he
missed the entire 1953 season. He also sat out the 1958 and 1959
season, except for the 1958 French Grand Prix in Reims. He
started 18th on the grid and crossed the finish line tenth.
Ruttman would qualify and race at Indy 12 times altogether
before announcing his retirement from the sport after the 1964
race. His racing attention now focused on his son, Troy, Jr.
The junior Ruttman was racing in his first major event in a
Super Modified at Pocono in Pennsylvania, May 4, 1969. Past the
halfway mark of the 100 miler, the throttle apparently stuck and
then he crashed through several safety fences. He was 18 and his
injuries were fatal.
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The Vukovich
Family |
The first third-generation
family to compete at Indy was the Bill Vukovich family. Bill
started there 5 times and was leading the 1952 race with a
handful of laps remaining when he was sidelined with a steering
breakdown. He won the next two years, 1953 and 54, and was
leading the 1955 "500" when he was involved in a crash with
several other drivers that sent his speeding racer over the
backstretch fence where he died.
His son Billy raced a dozen times at Indy and had 2 outstanding
finishes with a second place in 1973 and third, 1974. His son,
Billy III, started there 3 times.
The youngest Vukovich, just like his grandfather, died of racing
injuries. He passed on November 25, 1990 at Mesa Marin Speedway
in Bakersfield, California in a sprint car.
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The Sneva Family
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Edsol was the patriarch of
Sneva family and an advocate of auto racing and his sons would
follow his lead. The most successful offspring was Tom who raced
at Indy 18 times, winning 3 poles, won one race and had 5 top 5
finishes. Brother Jerry started Indy 5 times without measurable
success.
Two other brothers Edsol, Jr. and Blaine competed in local and
area racing. Edsol, Jr., or Babe, died of racing injuries after
crashing at Calgary in the summer of 1975 and went into a coma
for 19 months.
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The Unser Family |
The Unsers have won more races
at Indy then any other family. Thus far, 3 members have scored 9
wins there, yet the "Speedway" claimed one of the clan.
The eldest driver, Jerry, Jr., a rising star in the racing
world, was the reigning national stock car champion in 1956. He
qualified and started the 1958 race and was involved in a first
lap 7 car crash and he sailed over the north turn wall. He was
uninjured
Returning the next year during practice on May 2, he crashed and
suffered serious burns that proved fatal. His car had spun and
hit the wall, sending it end over end down the front
straightaway. Parts began flying everywhere and if that wasn't
bad enough, the car caught fire. Jerry died of burns two weeks
later on Sunday May 17th. After his death, fire-resistant
driving suits became mandatory.
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Two Close Friends
From Phoenix |
Many great open wheel racers
have come out of the state of Arizona and two were Bobby Ball
and Jimmy Bryan, both from Phoenix. Each made the “Great
Spectacles in Racing”. Like so many drivers of their time they
started completion in a Ford V-8 60 powered midget. Ball showed
great promise after winning his first main in January of 1947
and Jimmy won his first feature one month later.
Ball started in two “500”, 1951 and 1952, finishing a
respectable 5th in his rookie year. His first and only major win
came in a AAA Championship 100-mile race at San Jose in November
1952. The following January he was involved in an midget
accident at Carrell Speedway in California that left him in a
coma. He passed away some 14 months later on February 27, 1954.
Bryan qualified and took the green flag at Indy in 9 “500” and
won the 1958 event and also had a second and third place finish.
Altogether he had 23 major wins including the Bobby Ball
Memorial race at Phoenix, November 1957. Jimmy went in to
semi-retirement from racing and then chose to run a champ car
race, June 19,1960, at Langhorne (Pennsylvania) Speedway where
he crashed on the very first lap and died of his injuries. He
was buried in Greenwood Memory Lawn in Phoenix, the same
cemetery where his friend Bobby Ball was laid to rest.
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A Master Racing
Mechanic |
Clay Smith gained recognition
as a master mechanic first as an engine builder and then as a
camshaft designer. His reputation grew from his affiliation with
a variety of racecars including, midgets, sprint cars, stock
cars and land speed racers. He finally got the nod from J. C.
Agajanian to wrench an Indy Car for the 1948 race. Stock car
veteran Johnny Mantz was at the wheel in 1949 for the duo and
they finished a respectable 7th for all their efforts. Then in
1952 Troy Ruttman drove to the “500” win for J. C. and Clay.
Two of Smith’s close friends were drivers Rodger Ward and Chuck
Stevenson. He had been chief mechanic on each of their cars. One
day in September 1954 at the DuQuoin Illinois State Fair track
Ward and Stevenson touched wheels during a race, sending Ward's
car spinning into the pits, where it hit and killed Smith.
Fellow mechanic Smokey Yunick once said, “Clay Smith was the
world’s smartest mechanic”.
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First AAA ~ Then
USAC |
The America Automobile
Association or AAA was the first major open wheel sanctioning
body for auto racing in the United States beginning in 1904. It
pulled its support at season’s end, 1955. It believed this type
of racing had become just too deadly. The United States Auto
Club or USAC started sanctioning open wheel racing in 1956.
Of the 33 qualifiers for the 1955 Indy “500” 17 drivers died at
the wheel in a racecar. Also, the death date of 1988 for Cal
Niday is correct. Review a story elsewhere in this article about
him.
1 Bob Sweikert (winner), at Salem, IN, sprint race, June 17,
1956;
2 Tony Bettenhausen (2nd), at Indy, May 12, 1961;
3 Jimmy Davies (3rd), at Willow Springs, IL, midget race, June
11, 1966;
4 Johnny Thomson (4th), at Allentown, PA, sprint race, September
24, 1960;
5 Walt Faulkner (5th), at Vallejo, CA, stock car race, April 22,
1956;
6 Al Herman (7th), at West Haven, CT, midget race, June 18,
1960;
7 Pat O’Connor (8th), at Indy, June 30, 1958;
8 Cal Niday (16th), Lancaster, CA, exhibition ~ midget ,
February 14, 1988;
9 Shorty Templeman (18th), at Marion, OH, midget race, August
23,1962
10 Keith Andrews (20th), at Indy, May 15, 1958;
11 Jimmy Bryan (24th), at Langhorne, PA, June 9, 1960;
12 Bill Vukovich (25th), at Indy, May 30,1955;
13 Jack McGrath (26th), at Phoenix, AZ, champ car, November 6,
1955
14 Al Keller (27th), at Phoenix, AZ, champ car, November
19,1961;
15 Ed Elisian (30th), at Milwaukee, WI, champ Car, August 30,
1959;
16 Jerry Hoyt (31st), at Oklahoma City, OK, sprint car, July 10,
1955;
17 Jimmy Reece (33rd), at Trenton, NJ, champ car, September 28,
1958
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Carl Scarborough |
During the running of the 37th
Indianapolis 500-Mile Race on May 30, 1953,
a driver died who was not involved in a racing incident. He was
Carl Scarborough, competing in only his second 500 when he was
signaled in to the pits on lap 70.
Relief driver Bob Scott jumped into the seat while Scarborough
was taken to the infield hospital where he died from heat
exhaustion a short time later. He was 38 years of age.
Scott brought home the Lee Elkins owned No. 73 McNamara Special
home in 12th position and the $3,000 plus prize money was
shared.
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First Two Deaths
At Daytona |
When fans visualize racing at
Daytona International Speedway they automatically think NASCAR
Stock Cars. Yet the first driver to die at the new track was
Marshall Teague who had made the switch from NASCAR to open
wheel racing and had competed in the 1953 and 1957 Indy “500s.”
Then, while testing his Sumar Special Indy Car he crashed to his
death during a practice session, February 11, 1959.
During the Indy Car race there, April 4, Jim Rathmann won, but
on the final lap, fast qualifier, George Amick crashed and
became the second fatality there. The July 4 race was canceled
due to safety concerns and no other Indy Car race as been
scheduled there.
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Widow Marries
Again |
Race drivers have been called
many things including headstrong, brave and fearless while their
wife’s sit in the grandstand with their finger crossed watching
their husband on the track. One such spouse was Sandy Johnson
when her husband, Dale Van Johnson, crashed to his death in a
sprint car at Williams Grove, PA, July 19, 1959.
Several years later Sandy married another sprint car driver
named Jackie McLaughlin and he too crashed and died, at
Nazareth, PA, August 23, 1964.
She married yet another race driver named Walt and his last name
is not important at this point but he sold his racecars and
retired from racing.
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Esther L. Vukovich |
After her husband, Bill
Vukovich, won his first “500” in 1953, Esther made it clear to
all in the sound of her voice that she didn’t what her 9 year
old son, Billy, Jr., to race.
Of course, her son did race and so did her grandson and she did
remarry and to racecar driver Earl Motter in 1958. Motter
announced his retirement from racing after a midget race in
April of 1960. Review a story about Bill, Bill, Jr. and Billy
III elsewhere in this article.
When Esther died December 18, 1983, she was buried alongside
Vuky in Belmont Memorial Park in Fresno, CA.
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Frank Luptow, Wife
and Daughter |
Frank Luptow won the IMCA
(International Motor Contest Association) point championship
three consecutive times in 1949, 1950 and 1951 and won nearly 40
feature races in 1949. He then turned to stock car racing that
paid larger purses and believed to be a much saver kind of
racing.
1952 looked to be another banner year for Luptow as he drove a
Hudson Hornet at Milwaukee, WI for the win on August 22, in a
AAA 100 mile event. He won his next race, too, several days
later at Terre Haute, IN, and returned to Milwaukee on September
7, where he finished second behind Marshall Teague.
Then fate step in at Lakewood Speedway in Atlanta, GA, on
September 21, an axle broke and he crashed and lost his life. He
left a wife, Betty and a daughter, Susie. Sometime later, Betty
married race driver Bobby Grim and Susie, would eventually marry
race driver Sheldon Kinser.
Grim would continue racing at Indy and frequently in the midget
car division. He had 9 “500” starts, his best finish was 10th
and he scored 12 USAC midget feature. He died of cancer on June
14, 1995.
Kinser, also raced in the “500” and registered 37 USAC Sprint
Car features and 5 USAC Silver Crown events. Ironically, he
would die of cancer on August 1, 1988. Susie found happiness
once again when she married another sprint car driver. And, at
this point his name has no importance as it seems he has slip in
to a quite retirement from racing.
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Ron Hughes, Jr. |
Many drivers have made a
comeback to compete again after a serious spill and so did Texas
driver Ron Hughes, Jr.
He was an overall five time Texas Outlaw Midget Champion,
winning the title in 1982, 83, 84. Then paralyzed by a crash in
Denver, CO from the waist down in a USAC midget spill in 1984.
His father, Ron Hugh, Sr., help prepare his son’s midget car
with hand controls so he could race again and he won two more
Texas Outlaw Midget Champion titles in 1988 and 89. Sadly, he
lost his life in a crash at Devils Bowl (Mesquite, Texas)
Speedway in March of 1990.
In memory of this gallant racer, The Ron Hughes Jr. Memorial
Award is presented annually to the Kansas Midget Klassic feature
winner at Dodge City (Kansas) Raceway Park.
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