Duane Claude Carter (May 5, 1913 – March 7, 1993) was an American racecar driver. He raced

midget cars Midget cars, also Speedcars in Australia, is a class of racing cars. The cars are very small, with a very high power-to-weight ratio, and typically use four-cylinder engines. They originated in the United States in the 1930s and are raced on most ...

, sprint cars, and

IndyCar IndyCar, LLC (stylized as INDYCAR), is an auto racing sanctioning body for American open-wheel car racing headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana. The organization sanctions two racing series: the premier IndyCar Series with the Indianapolis ...

s.Biography at the National Midget Auto Racing Hall of Fame
Carter was born in

Fresno, California Fresno (; ) is a city in the San Joaquin Valley of California, United States. It is the county seat of Fresno County, California, Fresno County and the largest city in the greater Central Valley (California), Central Valley region. It covers a ...

, and he died in

Indianapolis, Indiana 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 ...

. His son Pancho raced in Indy cars, along with Johnny Parsons (whom he helped raise).

Racing career

Midget cars

Carter started racing midgets at the 1/5 mile dirt track in the west side of Fresno while attending Fresno State University. He was one of six drivers who went to Western Springs Stadium in

Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

in 1937. He won the first ever midget car race at that track. The car he drove still exists in a museum in Auckland. He was a consistent winner on the Nutley board track in 1939 while future journalist Chris Economaki was his unofficial crew chief. He won the 1940 Detroit VFW Motor Speedway title, the 1942 championship at Sportsman Park in

Cleveland Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–U.S. maritime border and approximately west of the Ohio-Pennsylvania st ...

. He captured a 500 lap victory in his midget car at the 1947 Los Angeles Coliseum Motordome after Danny Oakes was initially declared the winner.

Sprint cars

He moved up to the sprint cars, and won the 1950 Midwest division.

Indy Cars

He drove in the AAA and USAC Championship Car series, racing in the 1948–1955, 1959–1960, and 1963 seasons with 47 starts, including the

Indianapolis 500 The Indianapolis 500, formally known as the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, and commonly shortened to Indy 500, is an annual automobile race held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana, United States, an enclave suburb of Indian ...

races in each season. He finished in the top ten 23 times, with his best finish in 2nd position in 1953 at Phoenix. In his last race, at the Indy 500, he drove the innovative John Crosthwaite designed Harvey Aluminium Special ‘roller skate car’ with the then pioneering low profile, wide racing tyres and a stock Chevrolet engine.

USAC director

He retired from competition in 1956 to take the Competition Director position for USAC. He returned to competition in 1959 after

Henry Banks Henry Edwin Banks (June 14, 1913 – December 18, 1994) was an American racing driver. He competed in various disciplines of open-wheel motorsport. Banks is best remembered for winning the 1950 AAA National Championship, and for his later caree ...

took over the position.

Career awards

*Carter was inducted into the Fresno County Athletic Hall of Fame in 1967. *He was inducted in the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame in 1991. *He was inducted in the

National Midget Auto Racing Hall of Fame The National Midget Auto Racing Hall of Fame is an American Hall of Fame and museum for midget cars. The Hall of Fame is located at Angell Park Speedway in Sun Prairie, Wisconsin, and can be accessed during weekly Sunday races during the summe ...

in 1989.

Indianapolis 500 results

* shared drive with

Sam Hanks Samuel Dwight Hanks (July 13, 1914 – June 27, 1994) was an American racing driver who won the 1957 Indianapolis 500. He was a barnstorming (sports), barnstormer, and raced Midget car racing, midget and American Championship car racing, Champion ...

** shared drive with Troy Ruttman *Carter drove 1,741 laps or at Indianapolis without leading a lap. This currently ranks 5th on the all-time list.

Complete Formula One World Championship results

( key) : ''† Indicates shared drive with

after retiring his own car.'' : ''* Indicates shared drive with Troy Ruttman. Carter's own car finished 15th after being taken over by Marshall Teague, Jimmy Jackson and Tony Bettenhausen.''

24 Hours of Le Mans results

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Carter, Duane 1913 births 1993 deaths 24 Hours of Le Mans drivers Indianapolis 500 drivers National Sprint Car Hall of Fame inductees Racing drivers from Fresno, California AAA Championship Car drivers 20th-century American sportsmen World Sportscar Championship drivers Carrera Panamericana drivers