Jack Turner

12/2/1920 - 12/9/2004

Record updated

Jack Turner, Indianapolis 500 veteran, best known for surviving three spectacular flips in consecutive Indy 500 races of 1961, 1962 and 1963 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. A native of Seattle, Turner began racing in the Northwest in 1938. He enlisted in the Army shortly after Pearl Harbor and spent 32 months in the South Pacific. He made his first Indianapolis 500 start in 1956. He won the AAA Midget National Championship in 1954 and 1955. Turner made six Indy 500 starts, with his best finish of 11th in 1957 coming at the wheel of the Bardahl Special. But Turner was best remembered for his flips that became a feature of Indy 500 highlight films. He retired after the frightening crash in 1963 when his car barrel rolled a number of times in practice.