10/11/1926 - 6/7/1958
Record updated 10-Nov-06
Started racing midgets in 1948 before moving on to Sprint Cars in California, dominating the 1956 season, winning 10 of the 27 races. He moved up to Champ cars in 1958 and won his first race in the Rex Mays 100. Sadly his career was cut short when he crashed at the Lakewood Speedway in Atlanta, Georgia and succumbed to his injuries.
A Phoenix-based Arizonan who, like fellow Arizonan Jimmy Bryan, he liked to grip an unlit cigar in his teeth while racing.
He served in WW2 and on his return to the USA, started racing midgets in 1948 in Phoenix, Arizona before moving on to the CRA (California Racing Association) Sprint Cars, dominating the 1956 season, winning 10 of the 27 races, including 6 in a row.
His first Championship race came in 1958 at Sacramento. Then at the Indy 500 he got involved in the first lap pile-up. However a week later he took his first and sadly only win at the Rex Mays 100. He qualified on pole and after dicing with Tony Bettenhausen for most of the race, he took the lead for the last time on the 94th lap and held on for the win.
Sadly, in the 100 mile race at Lakewood Speedway in Atlanta, Georgia on July 4th, 1958, he slid high in a turn, clipped the guard rail and flipped the Central Excavating Special, suffering head injuries that proved fatal, ending a promising career
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