Robert R. Burman (April 23, 1884 – April 8, 1916) was an American

race car driver Auto racing (also known as car racing, motor racing, or automobile racing) is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles for competition. Auto racing has existed since the invention of the automobile. Races of various sorts were organise ...

, he was an

open-wheel An open-wheel single-seater (often known as formula car) is a car with the wheels outside the car's main body, and usually having only one seat. Open-wheel cars contrast with street cars, sports cars, stock cars, and touring cars, which have thei ...

pioneer, setting numerous speed records in the early 1900s. He participated in many historic races and was one of the drivers to compete in the first edition of the

Indianapolis 500 The Indianapolis 500, formally known as the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, and commonly called the Indy 500, is an annual automobile race held at Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS) in Speedway, Indiana, United States, an enclave suburb of Indi ...

in 1911.

Biography

Burman was born in Imlay City, Michigan on April 23, 1884. While working as a road tester for Jackson Automobile Co. in 1906, he got the opportunity to enter in several races, in which he performed well. In 1908, William C. Durant the founder of

General Motors The General Motors Company (GM) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, United States. It is the largest automaker in the United States and ...

brought Burman and the Chevrolet brothers on as drivers for the newly formed

Buick Buick () is a division of the American automobile manufacturer General Motors (GM). Started by automotive pioneer David Dunbar Buick in 1899, it was among the first American marques of automobiles, and was the company that established General ...

racing team. Burman won the Prest-O-Lite Trophy Race in his Buick in 1909, the precursor to the

Indy 500 The Indianapolis 500, formally known as the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, and commonly called the Indy 500, is an annual automobile race held at Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS) in Speedway, Indiana, United States, an enclave suburb of Indianap ...

. He finished first in the 1909 Vesper Club Trophy Race driving for the

team and fourth in the 1909 Lowell Trophy Race. In 1910 Burman won the Remy Brassard Trophy 2 on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. In 1911, Burman won the first four events at the New Orleans Mardi Gras Races with his Buick 60 Special. Racing for racing promoter Ernest Moross, Burman set a

land speed record The land speed record (or absolute land speed record) is the highest speed achieved by a person using a vehicle on land. There is no single body for validation and regulation; in practice the Category C ("Special Vehicles") flying start regul ...

at an average of 141.732 mph over a 1km distance in his 200-horsepower

Blitzen Benz The Blitzen Benz is a race car built by Benz & Cie in Mannheim, Germany, in 1909. In 1910 an enhanced model broke the world land speed record. It was one of six cars based on the Grand Prix car, but it had an enlarged engine, , inline-four, and ...

racecar on the sands of

Daytona Beach Daytona Beach, or simply Daytona, is a coastal resort-city in east-central Florida. Located on the eastern edge of Volusia County near the Atlantic coastline, its population was 72,647 at the 2020 census. Daytona Beach is approximately nort ...

on 23 April 1911, his land speed record was however not officially recognized by the AIACR in Paris. He competed at the first ever

1911 Indianapolis 500 The 1911 International 500-Mile Sweepstakes Race was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Tuesday, May 30, 1911. It was the inaugural running of the Indianapolis 500, which is one of the most prestigious automobile races in the world. Ray ...

in a Benz, before the race he made exhibition runs in the Blitzen Benz on the

Indianapolis Motor Speedway The Indianapolis Motor Speedway is an automobile racing circuit located in Speedway, Indiana, an enclave suburb of Indianapolis, Indiana. It is the home of the Indianapolis 500 and the Verizon 200, and and formerly the home of the United Sta ...

and set speed records at the quarter mile, half mile, kilometer and mile distances. He was crowned speed king before the start of the race. He competed at the

1912 Indianapolis 500 The 1912 Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, or International 500-Mile Sweepstakes Race, the second such race in history, was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Thursday, May 30, 1912. Indiana-born driver Joe Dawson won the race, leadin ...

where he crashed his

Cutting Cutting is the separation or opening of a physical object, into two or more portions, through the application of an acutely directed force. Implements commonly used for wikt:cut, cutting are the knife and saw, or in medicine and science the scal ...

car after 157 laps in the second turn. Burman started the 1913 Indianapolis 500 as the favorite, and led 41 laps early, but his car caught fire on lap 55, he was able to repair his Keeton and continue for a while, but eventually didn't finish the race. In 1914 he won the Kalamazoo Race, and in 1915 he won both the

Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a state in the South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the north, Missouri on the northeast, Arkansas on the east, New ...

Southern Sweepstakes Road Race and the Burlington Race in his Peugeot L76. He finished sixth in the

1915 Indianapolis 500 The 5th International 500-Mile Sweepstakes Race was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Monday, May 31, 1915. The traditional race date of May 30 fell on a Sunday, but race organizers declined to schedule the race for Sunday. The race was ...

Death

On 8 April 1916, Bob Burman was killed during the

Corona Corona (from the Latin for 'crown') most commonly refers to: * Stellar corona, the outer atmosphere of the Sun or another star * Corona (beer), a Mexican beer * Corona, informal term for the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, which causes the COVID-19 di ...

road race when one of his rear tires exploded and his open-cockpit

Peugeot Peugeot (, , ) is a French brand of automobiles owned by Stellantis. The family business that preceded the current Peugeot companies was founded in 1810, with a steel foundry that soon started making hand tools and kitchen equipment, and then ...

car rolled over, along with his

riding mechanic A riding mechanic was a mechanic that rode along with a race car during races, and who was tasked with maintaining, monitoring, and repairing the car during the race. The various duties included manually pumping oil and fuel, checking tire wear, ...

Erick Schrader and a policeman on duty. Three spectators were also killed, and five others were seriously injured. His death caused his friends

Barney Oldfield Berna Eli "Barney" Oldfield (January 29, 1878 – October 4, 1946) was an American pioneer automobile racer; his "name was synonymous with speed in the first two decades of the 20th century". After success in bicycle racing, he began auto ...

and

Harry Arminius Miller Harold Arminius Miller (December 9, 1875 – May 3, 1943), commonly called Harry, was an American race car designer and builder who was most active in the 1920s and 1930s. Griffith Borgeson called him "the greatest creative figure in the hist ...

to join forces to build a race car that incorporated a roll cage inside a streamlined driver's compartment that completely enclosed the driver. It was called the

Golden Submarine The Golden Submarine was an early twentieth century streamlined race car designed and built in 1917 by Fred Offenhauser and Harry A. Miller for Barney Oldfield. AutoWeek said that the vehicle brought Miller "nationwide prominence as a race-car b ...

Awards

He was inducted in the

National Sprint Car Hall of Fame The National Sprint Car Hall of Fame & Museum is a Hall of Fame and museum for sprint car drivers, owners, mechanics, builders, manufacturers, promoters, sanctioning officials and media members. The museum is located in Knoxville, Iowa, the h ...

in 2011.

Indianapolis 500 results

Images

File:Burman,_Disbrow,_Tower,_Grinnon_at_Indianapolis_1911.jpg, Bob Burman, Louis Disbrow, Jack Tower, and Joe Grennon at the

File:Bob Burman Cutting racecar after accident in 1912 Indy 500.jpg, Burman's crashed

racer, built by the Clark-Carter Automobile Company at the

Image:Burman2.jpg, Bob Burman's Keeton racer finished 11th place at Indianapolis in 1913 Image:Burman3.jpg, Bob Burman's Keeton racer photo taken by George L Mooney in 1913 File:Burman and his "Benz" LOC 2162737993.jpg, Race car driver Bob Burman and his Blitzen Benz, 1911 File:Louis Chevrolet in Buick Bug 1910.jpg, Chevrolet in Buick 60 special, as part of the Buick racing team in 1910

References

External links

* 1884 births 1916 deaths People from Imlay City, Michigan Sportspeople from Metro Detroit Racing drivers from Michigan Indianapolis 500 drivers AAA Championship Car drivers Racing drivers who died while racing Sports deaths in California National Sprint Car Hall of Fame inductees {{US-autoracing-bio-stub