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Illinois State Fairgrounds Racetrack
Illinois State Fairgrounds Racetrack is a one mile long clay oval motor racetrack on the Illinois State Fairgrounds in Springfield, the state capital. It is frequently nicknamed The Springfield Mile. Constructed in the late 19th century and reconstructed in 1927, the track has hosted competitive auto racing since 1910, making it one of the oldest speedways in the United States. The original mile track utilized the current frontstretch and the other side was behind the current grandstands and the straightaways were connected by tight turns. It is the oldest track to continually host national championship dirt track racing, holding its first national championship race in 1934 under the American Automobile Association banner. It is the home of five world records for automobile racing, making it one of the fastest dirt tracks in the world. Since 1993, the venue is managed by Bob Sargent's Track Enterprises. The Illinois State Fair mile currently hosts the Allen Crowe Memorial 10 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Springfield, Illinois
Springfield is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Illinois. Its population was 114,394 at the 2020 United States census, which makes it the state's List of cities in Illinois, seventh-most populous city, the second-most populous outside of the Chicago metropolitan area (after Rockford, Illinois, Rockford), and the most populous in Central Illinois. Approximately 208,000 residents live in the Springfield, Illinois metropolitan area, Springfield metropolitan area, which consists of all of Sangamon County, Illinois, Sangamon and Menard County, Illinois, Menard counties. The city lies in a plain near the Sangamon River north of Lake Springfield. Springfield is the county seat of Sangamon County and is located along historic Route 66. Springfield was settled by European-Americans in the late 1810s, around the time Illinois became a state. The most famous historic resident was Abraham Lincoln, who lived in Springfield from 1837 until 1861, wh ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Billy Winn (racing Driver)
James Murdock "Billy" Winn (August 27, 1909 – August 20, 1938) was an American racing driver. Racing career Primarily a big car driver, Winn competed in four Indianapolis 500 races (1931, 1932, 1936, and 1937) and drove as a relief driver in 1933, 1934, 1935, and 1938. He also drove his single-gear sprint car in the 1936 and 1937 Vanderbilt Cup races, running near the front of both races but being sidelined by mechanical failure both years. Death Winn was killed in a non-points paying AAA Championship Car event held at the Illinois State Fairgrounds on August 20, 1938, when tire failure caused Winn's Miller A miller is a person who operates a mill, a machine to grind a grain (for example corn or wheat) to make flour. Milling is among the oldest of human occupations. "Miller", "Milne" and other variants are common surnames, as are their equivalents ... to overturn on the fourth lap of the 100-mile race. Awards and honors Winn was inducted in the National Sprint ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Myron Fohr
Myron William Fohr (June 17, 1912 – January 14, 1994) was an American racing driver, notable for his Indy car career. He finished runner-up in the American Automobile Association (AAA) National Championship in 1948 and 1949, and twice raced in the Indianapolis 500. Racing career Fohr made 25 AAA Championship car starts from 1947 through 1950. He won four times, twice in 1948 (at Milwaukee and Springfield) and twice in 1949 (at Milwaukee and Trenton; back-to-back rounds of the championship). He finished second in the national championship in both 1948 and 1949. Aside from a good finish in the Indianapolis 500, Fohr endured a dismal 1950 season, failing to qualify several times. His last Championship car appearances came in 1951, when he failed to qualify for both the Indianapolis 500 and the following race at the Milwaukee Mile. Fohr won a number of AAA-sanctioned stock car feature races at his hometown track, the Milwaukee Mile. He was the winner of the inaugural race of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ted Horn
Eylard Theodore Horn (February 27, 1910 – October 10, 1948) was an American racing driver. Widely considered one of the greatest racers of his era, he was the first person in history to win the AAA Contest Board, AAA American open-wheel car racing, National Championship three times consecutively, doing so in 1946, 1947 and 1948. Early life and career Eylard Theodore Horn was born in Cincinnati, Ohio. Horn's family moved several times during his childhood, finally settling in Los Angeles. At 15 years of age he found work at the Los Angeles Times newspaper. On his way to work one day Horn was pulled over for speeding. Try as he might he could not get out of this situation easily. The policeman gave him a fairly unusual punishment for the infraction. The young man was to travel to a race track called San Jose Speedway where usually there were more cars than drivers, then find a willing car owner to let him drive. Once he got all the speed he had out of his system he could pick ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tony Bettenhausen
Melvin Eugene "Tony" Bettenhausen (September 12, 1916 – May 12, 1961) was an American racing driver known primarily for his open-wheel career. He twice won the National Championship, doing so in 1951 and 1958. He also competed in stock cars, winning under AAA and USAC sanction. Bettenhausen was nicknamed the "Tinley Park Express" in honor of his hometown. He was nicknamed "Tunney" after heavyweight boxing champion Gene Tunney. "Tunney" later became "Tony." Racing career Midget car career Bettenhausen was part of the midget car "Chicago Gang" with Emil Andres, Cowboy O'Rourke, Paul Russo, Jimmy Snyder, and Wally Zale. These racers toured tracks in the Midwest and East Coast of the United States. Bettenhausen won the track championship at the Milwaukee Mile in 1942, 1946, and 1947. He was the Chicago Raceway Park champion in 1941, 1942, and 1947. In October 1950, he was involved in a race in Sacramento, California, when his car locked wheels with another racer's car, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Novi Engine
The Novi engine is an American dual overhead cam supercharged V8 engine used in racing cars in the Indianapolis 500 from 1941 to 1966. Designed by Bud Winfield and Leo Goossen, it was built by Fred Offenhauser. Early years The Novi was first used in 1941 at the Indianapolis 500 under the "Winfield" name; it produced over , an amazing output for the time. It was fitted to a 1935 frame built for a Miller engine, but its power made the vehicle very difficult to handle.Andy Granatelli recounts the difficulties and fatalities involved with the Novi in Karl Ludvigsen, ''Novi V-8: Indy Cars 1941 through 1965.'' After World War II, the Novi was used again in 1946 in the Indianapolis 500, developed with 510 horsepower and fitted in a more advanced Kurtis Kraft front-drive chassis. It performed well in a car driven by Ralph Hepburn, who set the track record and led the field for 44 laps. Drivers such as Paul Russo and Duke Nalon later drove cars powered by the engine at notable speeds, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rex Mays
Rex Houston Mays Jr. (March 10, 1913 – November 6, 1949) was an American racing driver. He was a two-time List of American open-wheel racing national champions, National Champion, won four Pole position, poles for the Indianapolis 500, and is generally regarded as one of the greatest drivers of his era. Racing career Mays won regional sprint car championships in the mid-1930s. He made his Indianapolis 500 debut in 1934 and won Pole position, the pole in 1935, 1936, and again in 1940 and finished second, he returned the next year and finished second again. Mays won the AAA National Championship in 1940 AAA Championship Car season, 1940 and 1941 AAA Championship Car season, 1941. However, World War II suspended racing until 1946, denying Mays of what likely would have been the peak of his career. After the war, Mays again won the Indianapolis pole in 1948 but was knocked out by a mechanical problem. In a race at Milwaukee Mile, Milwaukee, a fellow driver, Duke Dinsmore, was th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Emil Andres
Emil William Andres (February 22, 1911 – July 20, 1999) was an American racing driver active during the 1930s and 1940s. Racing career Andres was part of the midget car racing "Chicago Gang," along with Tony Bettenhausen, Cowboy O'Rourke, Paul Russo, Jimmy Snyder, and Wally Zale.Biography for at the These racers toured tracks in the Midwest and East Coast of the United States. World Drivers' Championship career The |
John Crone
John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second Epistle of John, often shortened to 2 John * Third Epistle of John, often shortened to 3 John People * John the Baptist (died ), regarded as a prophet and the forerunner of Jesus Christ * John the Apostle (died ), one of the twelve apostles of Jesus Christ * John the Evangelist, assigned author of the Fourth Gospel, once identified with the Apostle * John of Patmos, also known as John the Divine or John the Revelator, the author of the Book of Revelation, once identified with the Apostle * John the Presbyter, a figure either identified with or distinguished from the Apostle, the Evangelist and John of Patmos Other people with the given name Religious figures * John, father of Andrew the Apostle and Saint Peter * Pope John (disambigu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ford Motor Company
Ford Motor Company (commonly known as Ford) is an American multinational corporation, multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Dearborn, Michigan, United States. It was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. The company sells automobiles and commercial vehicles under the List of Ford vehicles, Ford brand, and luxury cars under its Lincoln Motor Company, Lincoln brand. The company is listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the single-letter ticker symbol F and is controlled by the Ford family (Michigan), Ford family. They have minority ownership but a plurality of the voting power. Ford introduced methods for large-scale manufacturing of cars and large-scale management of an industrial workforce using elaborately engineered manufacturing sequences typified by moving assembly lines. By 1914, these methods were known around the world as Fordism. Ford's former British subsidiaries Jaguar Cars, Jaguar and Land Rover, acquired in 1989 and 2000, r ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tony Willman
Anthony Peter Willman (April 28, 1905 – October 12, 1941) was an American racing driver. He was killed in a midget car accident. Racing career Willman started racing in 1926. Limited racing during the 1930s Great Depression significantly hurt Willman's career; only 31 national events were held in eight years. So Willman raced in Midwestern regional and local races. Willman won the 1934/35 indoor midget championship circuit of races in Milwaukee, Detroit, St. Louis, and Chicago. He toured the Midwest for the 1936 outdoor season and he won 145 races. In 1936, Willman won the Hankinson Speedway Circuit championship; the circuit featured races on 30 tracks in 17 states. He won the 1939 track championship at the quarter mile track inside the Wisconsin State Fair Park Speedway (now Milwaukee Mile); he repeated the track title in 1941. Willman had misfortune at the Indianapolis 500 with his car breaking down during all four of his races while he was doing well. In 1941, he was runn ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mauri Rose
Maurice Rose (May 26, 1906 – January 1, 1981) was an American racing driver. He won the Indianapolis 500 in 1941, 1947, and 1948, becoming the race's third three-time winner. He also won the AAA National Championship in 1936. Racing career Indianapolis 500 career Although Rose had driven in every Indianapolis 500 since 1933, he earned his first pole position when he put his Maserati on the pole for the 1941 Indianapolis 500; but spark plug problems sidelined his car after sixty laps. He then took over the Wetteroth/Offenhauser car being driven by Floyd Davis that had started in 17th place. Rose went on to win. In 1947 and 1948, Rose captured back-to-back Indianapolis 500s driving one of the Diedt/Offenhauser Blue Crown Spark Plug Specials, owned and prepared by veteran driver/car owner Lou Moore. Late in the 1947 race, Rose found himself lying second to his rookie teammate, Bill Holland, when both were given a sign reading "EZY" from pit lane. Holland reduced ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
