Johnnie Tolan (October 22, 1917 – June 6, 1986 in

Redondo Beach, California Redondo Beach (Spanish for ) is a coastal city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, located in the South Bay (Los Angeles County), South Bay region of the Greater Los Angeles area. It is one of three adjacent Beach Cities, beach c ...

) was an American racecar driver.

Racing career

Tolan won 45 midget car races in 1946, and won the Rocky Mountain Midget Racing Association championship.Biography
at 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 ...

Tolan repeated his championship in 1947, and scored 47 wins. He had 27 feature wins in 1948. He captured the 1950

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Midwest championship. He captured his first National Midget championship in 1952, as well as the Midwest championship. He won the 1953

Night Before the 500 The Dave Steele Carb Night Classic is a United States Auto Club Dirt track racing, dirt track car race held in Brownsburg, Indiana, Brownsburg, Indiana, United States, which takes place in late May before the Indianapolis 500 at the nearby Indian ...

midget car race. He competed at 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 ...

1956 Events January * January 1 – The Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, Anglo-Egyptian Condominium ends in Sudan after 57 years. * January 8 – Operation Auca: Five U.S. evangelical Christian Missionary, missionaries, Nate Saint, Roger Youderian, E ...

1957 Events January * January 1 – The Saarland joins West Germany. * January 3 – Hamilton Watch Company introduces the first electric watch. * January 5 – South African player Russell Endean becomes the first batsman to be Dismissal (cricke ...

, and

1958 Events January * January 1 – The European Economic Community (EEC) comes into being. * January 3 – The West Indies Federation is formed. * January 4 ** Edmund Hillary's Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition completes the thir ...

. His best finish was thirteenth in 1958. Tolan traveled with Bob Tattersall and

Jimmy Davies Jimmy Davies may refer to: *Jimmy Davies (racing driver) (1929–1966), American racecar driver in Champ cars, and midgets *Jimmy Davies (RAF officer) (1913–1940), American airman in World War Two * Jimmy Davies (football manager), English footba ...

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in 1964. Tolan suffered career ending back injuries at the Sydney Showgrounds. Tolan had a ritual at each midget racing event. He would smoke a cigarette during warmups. He would flip the cigarette toward the starting line on his first high speed lap. He believed that he would have a successful night if he hit the mark.

Career award

*He was inducted in the

in 1988.

Indy 500 results

World Championship career summary

The Indianapolis 500 was included in the FIA World Championship from 1950 to 1960. Drivers racing at Indy during that period earned World Championship points and participation recognition. Johnnie Tolan competed in 3 World Championship races but did not score any World Championship points.

References

1917 births 1986 deaths Indianapolis 500 drivers {{US-autoracing-bio-stub Racing drivers from Colorado