Charles Van Acker (14 March 1912

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

– 31 May 1998

South Bend, Indiana South Bend is a city in St. Joseph County, Indiana, United States, and its county seat. It lies along the St. Joseph River (Lake Michigan), St. Joseph River near its southernmost bend, from which it derives its name. It is the List of cities in ...

) was a Belgian-

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. He first attempted to qualify for the

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in 1946 but was too slow. In 1947 he made the race and finished in 29th after a crash on lap 24. He also competed in seven more races of the

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that season and finished 4th in points. In 1948 he finished 11th in the Indy 500 and 10th in the National Championship. 1949 saw him crash 10 laps into the Indy 500 and struggle to qualify much of the rest of the season. He attempted the 1950 Indianapolis 500 but failed to qualify in what would be his last Championship Car appearance. He owned and operated the South Bend Motor Speedway in South Bend, Indiana and once after a dirt track crash in

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was declared dead. However, Van Acker claims that the reports were exaggerated and that he was not that seriously injured.Charles Van Acker
''Historic Racing'', Retrieved 2010-12-24

Motorsports career results

Complete AAA Championship Car results

Indianapolis 500 results

Complete Formula One World Championship results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Van Acker, Charles Belgian racing drivers Indianapolis 500 drivers 1912 births 1998 deaths Racing drivers from Brussels AAA Championship Car drivers Belgian emigrants to the United States Racing drivers from Indiana