William Henry Carlson (October 17, 1889 – July 5, 1915) was an American

racing driver Auto racing (also known as car racing, motor racing, or automobile racing) is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles for competition. In North America, the term is commonly used to describe all forms of automobile sport including non ...

. He was killed in an AAA National Championship race at Tacoma Speedway.

Biography

Carlson began his career competing in races on the Pacific coast and was a comparative unknown before he started in the 500-mile classic at

Indianapolis Indianapolis ( ), colloquially known as Indy, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Indiana, most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana, Marion ...

in 1914. He took ninth in the event and "immediately attained prominence on the gasoline circuit." Carlson was a member of the

Maxwell Maxwell may refer to: People * Maxwell (surname), including a list of people and fictional characters with the name ** James Clerk Maxwell, mathematician and physicist * Justice Maxwell (disambiguation) * Maxwell baronets, in the Baronetage of N ...

team for two years in 1914 and 1915 after he was "discovered" by

Ray Harroun Ray Wade Harroun (January 12, 1879 – January 19, 1968) was an American racing driver and pioneering race car constructor. He is most famous for winning the inaugural Indianapolis 500 in 1911. Biography Harroun was born on January 12, 1879, ...

, a Maxwell engineer. His most notable achievement after joining Maxwell was his world's non-stop record of 305 miles made at

San Diego, California San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...

, in January 1915. He came in second to

Barney Oldfield Berna Eli "Barney" Oldfield (January 29, 1878 – October 4, 1946) was a pioneer American racing driver. His name was "synonymous with speed in the first two decades of the 20th century". He was the winner of the inaugural List of American ope ...

Venice, California Venice is a neighborhood of the City of Los Angeles within the Westside region of Los Angeles County, California, United States. Venice was founded by Abbot Kinney in 1905 as a seaside resort town. It was an independent city until 1926, whe ...

. Carlson sustained fatal injuries in the Montamarathon race at Tacoma Speedway on July 4, 1915, dying the following day. Maxwell suspended their racing program for the remainder of the season; the team was disbanded and the automobiles were shipped back to the factory in Detroit.

Motorsports career results

Indianapolis 500 results

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Carlson, Billy 1889 births 1915 deaths Indianapolis 500 drivers Sports deaths in Washington (state) Racing drivers from San Diego