John Bedford White (January 18, 1932 – December 24, 1977) was an American race car driver. Born in

Warren, Michigan Warren is a city in Macomb County, Michigan, Macomb County in the U.S. state of Michigan. An inner-ring Metro Detroit, suburb of Detroit, Warren borders Detroit to the north, roughly north of downtown Detroit. The population was 139,387 at the ...

, White 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 ...

. He drove in the USAC

Championship Car American open-wheel car racing, generally and commonly known as Indy car racing, is a category of professional automobile racing in the United States. As of 2025, the top-level American open-wheel racing championship is sanctioned by IndyCar a ...

series, racing in the 1963 and 1964 seasons, with 11 career starts, including the 1964

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 ...

. He finished in the top ten 7 times, with his best finish in 4th position at the

1964 Indianapolis 500 The 48th International 500-Mile Sweepstakes was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana on Saturday, May 30, 1964. The race was won by A. J. Foyt, but is primarily remembered for a fiery seven-car accident which resulted in ...

, which earned him Rookie of the Year. The career of Johnny White came to an end on June 14, 1964, when he was paralyzed from the neck down after flipping his sprint car and rolling along the top of the guard rail at the Terre Haute Action Track. Over the years the injuries that Johnny received eventually took a toll on his overall health, resulting in his death on Christmas Eve, 1977.

Award

White was inducted into the

Michigan Motor Sports Hall of Fame The Michigan Motor Sports Hall of Fame is a non-profit hall of fame for Michigan auto racers. It was founded in 1982 by Dick Lee and was incorporated April 19, 1982, as a non-profit 501(c) (3) non-stock Michigan corporation. The Michigan Motor Sp ...

in 1985, and was inducted into the

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 ...

in 1999.

References

External links

Driver in a Tight Corner
at ''Sports Illustrated'' archives * 1932 births 1977 deaths Indianapolis 500 drivers Indianapolis 500 Rookies of the Year National Sprint Car Hall of Fame inductees Racing drivers from Detroit Sportspeople from Warren, Michigan Racing drivers who died while racing {{US-autoracing-bio-stub