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Jack McGrath (racing Driver)
John James McGrath (October 8, 1919 – November 6, 1955) was an American racecar driver. McGrath died in an accident at Bobby Ball Memorial, he lost control of his car at Turn 3, crashed and flipped, dying instantly. Biography McGrath was born in Los Angeles, California, and grew up in South Pasadena, California. A major player in the "mighty midgets" at Los Angeles's Gilmore Speedway in the late 1940s, McGrath won the first CRA (California Roadster Association) championship in 1946 and was dubbed "King of the Hot Rods". His efforts, along with those of friend and teammate Manuel Ayulo, helped establish track roadsters as viable race cars. The west coast roadsters evolved into sprint cars in the early 1950s. Major wins at the AAA national level included the 1951 Syracuse and Langhorne 100 mile races, the 1952 Syracuse 100, and the 1953 Milwaukee 200. He finished the 1952 and 1953 AAA championship seasons in second place, and led the first 44 laps of the 1954 Indianapolis ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Los Angeles
Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, cultural center of Southern California. With an estimated 3,878,704 residents within the city limits , it is the List of United States cities by population, second-most populous in the United States, behind only New York City. Los Angeles has an Ethnic groups in Los Angeles, ethnically and culturally diverse population, and is the principal city of a Metropolitan statistical areas, metropolitan area of 12.9 million people (2024). Greater Los Angeles, a combined statistical area that includes the Los Angeles and Riverside–San Bernardino metropolitan areas, is a sprawling metropolis of over 18.5 million residents. The majority of the city proper lies in Los Angeles Basin, a basin in Southern California adjacent to the Pacific Ocean in the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Arizona Republic
''The Arizona Republic'' is an American daily newspaper published in Phoenix. Circulated throughout Arizona, it is the state's largest newspaper. Since 2000, it has been owned by the Gannett newspaper chain. History Early years The newspaper was founded May 19, 1890, under the name ''The Arizona Republican'', by Lewis Wolfley, Clark Churchill, John A. Black, Robert H. Paul, Royal A. Johnson, and Dr. L. C. Toney. Six years later, they would sell the paper to “an experienced newspaperman” from Washington, DC, Charles C. Randolph. On April 28, 1909, the newspaper notified its readers that local businessmen S. W. Higley and Sims Ely purchased the newspaper from George W. Vickers, and would run the paper as president and general manager, respectively. They co-owned the newspaper until December 1911, Higley purchased Ely’s interest in the paper. S. W. Higley would hold sole ownership of the Arizona Republican, serving as president and manager until its sale to Dwight B ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Arizona State Fairgrounds
The Arizona State Fairgrounds is a permanent fairgrounds on McDowell Road, Encanto, Phoenix, Encanto Village, within the city of Phoenix, Arizona, United States. It is currently used yearly to host the Arizona State Fair and the Maricopa County Fair, as well as for other events. The Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum, an arena at the fairgrounds, hosted the Phoenix Suns of the National Basketball Association from 1968 to 1992. In 1992, the team moved to what is known today as Footprint Center. The Dirt track racing, dirt oval track hosted AAA National Championship and USAC National Championship races in 1915 and from 1950 to 1963, and NASCAR Sprint Cup, NASCAR Grand National races in 1951, 1955, 1956 and 1960. It was replaced by the Phoenix Raceway in 1964. History The fairgrounds were created in 1905, when a volunteer organization, the Arizona Territorial Fair Association, purchased the property and first developed it. At that time, Arizona was not yet a state and had territory ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
AAA Contest Board
The AAA Contest Board was the motorsports arm of the American Automobile Association. The contest board sanctioned automobile races from 1904 until 1955, establishing American Championship car racing. Modern-day Indy car racing traces its roots directly to these AAA events. All of the races at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway during that time period were sanctioned by AAA, including the Indianapolis 500. AAA sanctioned the 1905 National Motor Car Championship, the first national championship for major auto racing. It resumed the National Championship in 1916, and again from 1920 to 1955. It also sanctioned the Vanderbilt Cup.White, GordonThe AAA Contest Board, Retrieved 2010-10-22 The AAA Contest Board dissolved and decided to focus strictly on helping the automobiling public as a result of the 1955 Le Mans disaster. History AAA was established in Chicago, Illinois on March 4, 1902. By June the same year, AAA also established the Racing Board. A. R. Pardington was appoint ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Offenhauser
The Offenhauser Racing Engine, or Offy, is a racing engine design that dominated American open wheel racing for more than 50 years and is still popular among vintage sprint and midget car racers. History The Offenhauser engine, familiarly known as the "Offy", was an overhead cam monoblock 4-stroke internal combustion engine developed by Fred Offenhauser and Harry Arminius Miller. Originally, it was sold as a marine engine. In 1930 a four-cylinder Miller engine installed in a race car set a new international land speed record of . Miller developed this engine into a twin overhead cam, four-cylinder, four-valve-per-cylinder racing engine. Variations of this design were used in midgets and sprints into the 1960s, with a choice of carburetion or Hilborn fuel injection. When both Miller and the company to whom he had sold much of the equipment and rights went bankrupt in 1933, Offenhauser opened a shop a block away and bought rights to engines, special tooling and dra ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bill Vukovich
William Vukovich (born Vaso Vukovich, December 13, 1918 – May 30, 1955) was an American racing driver. He won the 1953 and 1954 Indianapolis 500s, plus two more American Automobile Association National Championship races, and died while leading the 1955 Indianapolis 500. Several drivers of his generation have referred to Vukovich as the greatest ever in American motorsport. He is generally considered one of the best racing drivers of his generation, and is the only driver to lead the most laps in three consecutive Indianapolis 500s. Early life Childhood William Vukovich was born in Alameda, near Oakland, California. He was the fifth of eight children and the youngest of three sons born to John Vucurovich, a carpenter and police officer, and Mildred (née Syerković). Vukovich's parents emigrated from Serbia, and Anglicized their surname from "Vucurović" to Vucurovich to aid its pronunciation. Later, upon suggestion of the judge presiding over their naturalization, the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1954 Indianapolis 500
The 38th International 500-Mile Sweepstakes was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Monday, May 31, 1954. The event was part of the 1954 AAA National Championship Trail, and was also race 2 of 9 in the 1954 World Championship of Drivers. Time trials Time trials was scheduled for four days. *Saturday May 15 – Pole Day time trials *Sunday May 16 – Second day time trials *Saturday May 22 – Third day time trials *Sunday May 23 – Fourth day time trials Bob Scott Qualifying Run Late in the afternoon on the final day of time trials, Bob Scott was bumped from the field. With help from his friend Bob Sweikert, Scott was able to find a new car to qualify, the number 18 owned by Ray Brady. With only minutes left in time trials, Scott went on track to qualify. His first three laps were fast enough to bump into the starting lineup. As the sun was setting low in the sky, Scott was unable to see the flag waved by the flagman, having lost track of how many laps he had run, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1952 AAA Championship Car Season
The 1952 AAA Championship Car season consisted of 12 races, beginning in Speedway, Indiana on May 30 and concluding in Phoenix, Arizona on November 11. There was also one non-championship event in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania. The AAA National Champion was Chuck Stevenson, and the Indianapolis 500 winner was Troy Ruttman. Johnny McDowell was killed at the Milwaukee while qualifying for the Rex Mays Classic. Joe James died in the San José 100 race. Schedule and results : Indianapolis 500 was AAA-sanctioned and counted towards the 1952 FIA World Championship of Drivers title. : No pole is awarded for the Pikes Peak Hill Climb, in this schedule on the pole is the driver who started first. No lap led was awarded for the Pikes Peak Hill Climb, however, a lap was awarded to the drivers that completed the climb. Final points standings Note: The points became the car, when not only one driver led the car, the relieved driver became small part of the points. Points for ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
American Championship Car Racing
American open-wheel car racing, generally and commonly known as Indy car racing, is a category of professional automobile racing in the United States. As of 2025 IndyCar Series, 2025, the top-level American open-wheel racing championship is sanctioned by IndyCar and is known as the IndyCar Series. Competitive events for professional-level, open-wheel car, open-wheel race cars have been conducted under the auspices of various sanctioning bodies, and traces it roots as far back as 1902. A season-long, points-based, ''National Championship'' of drivers has been officially recognized in 1905, 1916, and each year since 1920 (except for a hiatus during World War II, WWII). As such, for many years, this discipline of motorsports was known as Championship car racing (or Champ car racing for short). That name has fallen from use, and the term ''Indy car'' racing (derived from the Indianapolis 500, Indy 500) has become the preferred moniker. The machines, typically referred to as "Indy c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sprint Cars
Sprint cars are open-wheel race cars, designed primarily for the purpose of running on short oval, circular dirt or paved tracks. Historically known simply as "big cars," distinguishing them from "midget cars," sprint car racing is popular primarily in the United States and Canada, as well as in Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa. Sprint cars have very high power-to-weight ratios, with weights of approximately (including the driver) and power outputs of over , which give them a power-to-weight ratio besting that of contemporary F1 cars. Typically, they are powered by a naturally aspirated, methanol-injected overhead valve American V8 engine with a displacement of 410 cubic inches (6.7L) and capable of engine speeds of 9000 rpm. Depending on the mechanical setup (engine, gearing, shocks, etc.) and the track layout, these cars can achieve speeds in excess of . A lower-budget and very popular class of sprint cars uses 360-cubic-inch (5.9L) engines that produce up to 775 horse ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
