Frank Stallworth Lockhart (March 5, 1903 or March 8, 1903 – April 25, 1928) 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 ...

active in the 1920s, considered by many historians to be a

legend A legend is a genre of folklore that consists of a narrative featuring human actions, believed or perceived to have taken place in human history. Narratives in this genre may demonstrate human values, and possess certain qualities that give the ...

in the sport on par with

Jim Clark James Clark (4 March 1936 – 7 April 1968) was a British racing driver from Scotland, who competed in Formula One from to . Clark won two Formula One World Drivers' Championship titles with Lotus, and—at the time of his death—held the ...

, 1960s British World Drivers' Champion. During a "remarkable if all too short" career, Lockhart won numerous races on both

dirt Dirt is any matter considered unclean, especially when in contact with a person's clothes, skin, or possessions. In such cases, they are said to become dirty. Common types of dirt include: * Debris: scattered pieces of waste or remains * Du ...

and board tracks, and the

1926 Indianapolis 500 The 14th International 500-Mile Sweepstakes Race was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Monday, May 31, 1926. Louis Chevrolet drove the Chrysler Indianapolis 500 pace cars, pace car for the start. Rain halted the race at lap 72, and off ...

. In all, he scored nine AAA championship race wins and two vice-championships in two years of competition. Having set a world

land speed record The land speed record (LSR) or absolute land speed record is the highest speed achieved by a person using a vehicle on land. By a 1964 agreement between the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) and Fédération Internationale de M ...

at the

Muroc dry lake Rogers Dry Lake is an Endorheic basin, endorheic desert salt pan (geology), salt pan in the Mojave Desert of Kern County, California. The lake derives its name from the Anglicization from the Spanish name, Rodriguez Dry Lake. It is the central pa ...

in April 1927, Lockhart was killed during another speed record attempt at

Daytona Beach Daytona Beach is a coastal resort city in Volusia County, Florida, United States. Located on the East Coast of the United States, its population was 72,647 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Deltona–Daytona Beach–Ormond Beach metropo ...

a year later.Biography
at the

Motorsports Hall of Fame of America The Motorsports Hall of Fame of America (MSHFA) is a hall of fame that honors motorsports competitors and contributors from the United States from all disciplines, with categories for Open Wheel, Stock Cars, Powerboats, Drag Racing, Motorcycles ...

, Retrieved March 15, 2007

Driving career

Lockhart was raised in

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural List of regions of California, region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Its densely populated coastal reg ...

. He had a strong engineering and motor building ability that he used to build custom cars throughout his career. Lockhart began his career in Frontenac-prepared Fords (Fronty Fords) at dirt track events, where he showed remarkable speed against the dominating

Duesenberg Duesenberg Automobile & Motors Company, Inc. was an American race car, racing and luxury car, luxury automobile manufacturer founded in Indianapolis, Indiana, by brothers Fred Duesenberg, Fred and August Duesenberg in 1920. The company is kn ...

s and

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 ...

s for two seasons.Mike Twite, "Frank Lockhart" in Tom Northey, ed., ''World of Automobiles'' (London: Orbis Publishing Ltd, 1974), Volume 11, p.1210

1926

Lockhart's big break came when he was signed as a relief driver for

Pete Kreis Albert Jacob "Pete" Kreis (January 19, 1900 – May 25, 1934) was an American racing driver. Kreis was a wealthy contractor who took a month off each year to drive in the 500. Death Kreis and his riding mechanic Robert Hahn were killed while ...

's eight-cylinder

supercharged In an internal combustion engine, a supercharger compresses the intake gas, forcing more air into the engine in order to produce more power for a given displacement. It is a form of forced induction that is mechanically powered (usually by ...

Miller at the

. He convinced Kreis to allow him to take some "warm up" laps, and he clocked quicker times than Kreis (). He set a new unofficial track record on his first official qualifying lap (a three-lap average was used to set a track record). He cut down a tire and crashed on the second qualifying lap. He also had mechanical problems on his second attempt. He slowed down on his third and final attempt, and qualified 20th overall with a speed of . On race day, he moved from 20th to fifth by Lap 5, having passed 14 cars on that lap alone. He moved up to second on Lap 16. Lockhart took the lead from Dave Lewis shortly after a rain delay on Lap 72. Lewis and Lockhart battled for the lead for the next 20 laps, until Lewis dropped out. Lockhart nearly stretched out a two-lap lead before rain ended the race on Lap 160, becoming the fourth

rookie A rookie is a person new to an occupation, profession, or hobby. In sports, a ''rookie'' is a professional athlete in their first season (or year). In contrast with a veteran who has experience, a rookie is typically considered needing more tra ...

to win 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 ...

. Lockhart bought the car. He later bought a second Miller car, and he set track records almost everywhere he went. He won four more AAA championship races in 1926, and finished second in the standings.

1927

Lockhart's car was the first car equipped with an

intercooler An intercooler is a heat exchanger used to cool a gas after compression. Often found in turbocharged engines, intercoolers are also used in air compressors, air conditioners, refrigeration and gas turbines. Internal combustion engines Mo ...

. The intercooler added to his speed at his first race at

Culver City Culver City is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 40,779. It is mostly surrounded by Los Angeles, but also shares a border with the unincorporated area of Ladera Heights to the ea ...

in March with Lockhart finishing fourth after starting from the

pole position In a motorsports race, the pole position is usually the best and "statistically the most advantageous" starting position on the track. The pole position is usually earned by the driver with the best qualifying times in the trials before the ra ...

. Lockhart qualified on the pole for the

1927 Indianapolis 500 The 15th International 500-Mile Sweepstakes Race was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Monday, May 30, 1927. First-time starter George Souders won by eight laps, the largest margin since 1913. Souders became the first driver to win t ...

in his Perfect Circle Miller. He led the opening 81 laps, and a full 107 before his car broke a

connecting rod A connecting rod, also called a 'con rod', is the part of a reciprocating engine, piston engine which connects the piston to the crankshaft. Together with the crank (mechanism), crank, the connecting rod converts the reciprocating motion of the p ...

, setting an opening lap-leader record that stood for 64 years. He won four AAA championship races in 1927, and repeated the vice-championship.

Championship car career summary

In his racing career Lockhart set the all-time qualifying speed record at the

Atlantic City Speedway The Atlantic City Speedway was a board oval racing track located near Hammonton, New Jersey. The track was built in 1926, and hosted eight American Automobile Association sanctioned races before the track was demolished in 1933. As of 2025, the ...

, a record first exceeded at Indianapolis in 1960. He competed in 22 board track races in his career, with eight wins and fourteen Top 5 finishes, and is 25th on the all-time lap leader board at Indianapolis.

Land speed record and death

On April 11, 1927, Lockhart took one of his tiny 91 cubic inch (1491 cc) supercharged, intercooled Millers out at the

and set a

of for a two-way average in the mile (1.6 km), with a peak speed of . Backed by

Stutz Motor Company The Stutz Motor Car Company was an American automobile manufacturer based in Indianapolis, Indiana that produced high-end sports and luxury cars. The company was founded in 1911 as the Ideal Motor Car Company before merging with the Stutz ...

, Lockhart combined two supercharged 91 ci (1.5 L)

DOHC An overhead camshaft (OHC) engine is a piston engine in which the camshaft is located in the cylinder head above the combustion chamber. This contrasts with earlier overhead valve engines (OHV), where the camshaft is located below the combus ...

Miller motors, producing about ,Tom Northey, "Land Speed Record", ''op. cit.'', Volume 10, p.1164. the smallest-

displacement Displacement may refer to: Physical sciences Mathematics and physics *Displacement (geometry), is the difference between the final and initial position of a point trajectory (for instance, the center of mass of a moving object). The actual path ...

car ever to make the attempt,David Burgess Wise, "Stutz", ''op. cit.'', Volume 19, p.2230. to set a new land speed record in the 122–183

cubic inch The cubic inch (symbol in3) is a unit of volume in the Imperial units and United States customary units systems. It is the volume of a cube with each of its three dimensions (length, width, and height) being one inch long which is equivalent ...

(2–3

litre The litre ( Commonwealth spelling) or liter ( American spelling) (SI symbols L and l, other symbol used: ℓ) is a metric unit of volume. It is equal to 1 cubic decimetre (dm3), 1000 cubic centimetres (cm3) or 0.001 cubic metres (m3). A ...

) class at

. On April 25, 1928, Lockhart's ''Stutz Black Hawk Special''

streamliner A streamliner is a vehicle incorporating streamlining in a shape providing reduced air resistance. The term is applied to high-speed railway trainsets of the 1930s to 1950s, and to their successor " bullet trains". Less commonly, the term i ...

(named for the

Indiana Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...

town that was home to Stutz's factory) turned a warmup run of , with his first official pass at , well below the mark set earlier in the year by

Ray Keech Charles Raymond Keech (May 1, 1900 – June 15, 1929) was an American racing driver. He is best remembered for winning the 1929 Indianapolis 500, as well as for setting a land speed record. Racing career Land speed record Keech set th ...

in his 81-litre (4178 ci) '' Triplex Special''. On Lockhart's return pass the ''Black Hawk Special'' right rear tire exploded due to a blister which had formed during his first pass at speed, went out of control and tumbled violently across the sand, throwing Lockhart from the car and killing him instantly.

Awards and honors

Lockhart has been inducted into the following halls of fame: *

Auto Racing Hall of Fame The Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum is an automotive museum on the grounds of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana, United States, which houses the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Hall of Fame. It is intrinsically linked to the Ind ...

(1965) *

National Sprint Car Hall of Fame The National Sprint Car Hall of Fame & Museum is a hall of fame and museum for sprint car drivers, owners, mechanics, builders, manufacturers, promoters, sanctioning officials and media members. The museum is located in Knoxville, Iowa, the h ...

(1990) *

(1999)

Motorsports career results

Indianapolis 500 results

References

External links

Frank Lockhart - ChampCarStats.com

Frank Lockhart - Motorsport Memorial
*
Frank Stallworth Lockhart - stutzblackhawk.tripod.com

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lockhart, Frank 1903 births 1928 deaths Racing drivers from Dayton, Ohio Racing drivers from Los Angeles Indianapolis 500 drivers Indianapolis 500 polesitters Indianapolis 500 winners AAA Championship Car drivers 20th-century American sportsmen Land speed record people Racing drivers who died while racing Sports deaths in Florida Filmed deaths in motorsport National Sprint Car Hall of Fame inductees