Ray Crawford (October 26, 1915 – February 1, 1996) was an American fighter ace, test pilot, race-car driver and businessman.

Biography

Born in

Roswell, New Mexico Roswell () is a city in and the county seat of Chaves County, New Mexico, Chaves County, New Mexico, United States. The population was 48,422 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of municipalities in New Mexico, fi ...

, Crawford served as a U.S. Army Air Corps

fighter pilot A fighter pilot or combat pilot is a Military aviation, military aviator trained to engage in air-to-air combat, Air-to-ground weaponry, air-to-ground combat and sometimes Electronic-warfare aircraft, electronic warfare while in the cockpit of ...

and flew the

P-38 Lightning The Lockheed P-38 Lightning is an American single-seat, twin piston-engined fighter aircraft that was used during World War II. Developed for the United States Army Air Corps (USAAC) by the Lockheed Corporation, the P-38 incorporated a distinc ...

in combat over North Africa in 1943. He was tied as the top-ranking fighter ace of the 97th Fighter Squadron with six enemy aircraft confirmed destroyed and one probably destroyed. Rotated home, he eventually became an early jet pilot. At war's end Crawford was evaluating the Lockheed

P-80 Shooting Star The Lockheed P-80 Shooting Star is the first jet fighter used operationally by the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) during World War II. Designed and built by Lockheed in 1943 and delivered just 143 days from the start of design, two p ...

at Burbank, California and was to have flown the very aircraft that fighter ace Richard Bong was eventually killed in. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross and the Air Medal with fourteen Oak Leaf Clusters before separating from active duty as a Captain in February, 1946. Crawford remained in the Air Force Reserves until April 1953. Crawford was introduced to racing by

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 ...

, a former high school classmate, and competed notably with unlimited hydroplanes and automobiles. He drove in the

AAA AAA, Triple A, or Triple-A is a three-letter initialism or abbreviation which may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Gaming * AAA (video game industry) - a category of high budget video games *'' TripleA'', an open source wargame Mu ...

and 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 1954-59 seasons with 9 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 1955-56, and 1959. In 1954, he won the stock-car class of the

Carrera Panamericana The Carrera Panamericana was a border-to-border sedan (stock and touring and sports car) rally racing event on open roads in Mexico similar to the Mille Miglia and Targa Florio in Italy. Running for five consecutive years from 1950 to 1954, i ...

(a nine-stage, five-day race across Mexico) in a Lincoln. He also finished 7th and 4th in the invitational "Race of Two Worlds" events held at Monza Autodrome, Italy in 1957 and 1958, respectively. In 1955, Crawford drove a Lincoln-Kurtis sports car at the

12 Hours of Sebring The 12 Hours of Sebring is an annual motorsport Endurance racing (motorsport), endurance race for Sports car racing, sports cars held at Sebring International Raceway, on the site of the former Hendricks Army Airfield World War II air base in S ...

and finished the race in thirteenth position after running the entire length without a co-driver. To date, he is the only driver to have completed the race without relief of any kind. Crawford's family owned a successful supermarket chain based in

El Monte, California El Monte is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. The city lies in the San Gabriel Valley, east of the city of Los Angeles. El Monte's slogan is "Welcome to Friendly El Monte" and is historically known as "The End of the San ...

which led to his nickname, "The Flying Grocer." Crawford was one of the first owner-drivers of the post-war era at the

Indianapolis Motor Speedway The Indianapolis Motor Speedway is a motor racing circuit located in Speedway, Indiana, United States, an enclave suburb of Indianapolis, Indiana. It is the home of the Indianapolis 500 and the Brickyard 400, and and formerly the home of the U ...

and raced his own privately funded cars throughout his career. The only exception came in 1956, when Crawford raced the

for Chevrolet's inaugural

Corvette A corvette is a small warship. It is traditionally the smallest class of vessel considered to be a proper (or " rated") warship. The warship class above the corvette is that of the frigate, while the class below was historically that of the sloo ...

team. He was also the driver of Corvette's experimental SR-2 at the Bahamas Speedweeks event that December. Cars owned by Crawford also qualified for the

with other drivers in 1953, 1954 and 1962. Serious injuries received during a crash at the 1959 Indianapolis 500 curtailed Crawford's driving career. Speed legend

Mickey Thompson Marion Lee "Mickey" Thompson (December 7, 1928March 16, 1988) was an American auto racing builder and promoter. A hot rodder since his youth, Thompson increasingly pursued land speed records in his late 20s and early 30s.

cites Crawford as an early influence in his autobiography, ''Challenger''. Crawford provided Thompson with his first exposure to the Indianapolis 500 as a member of his pit crew. Crawford died in

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

on February 1, 1996 after battling

Alzheimer's disease Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease and the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in remembering recent events. As the disease advances, symptoms can include problems wit ...

and is buried at Riverside National Cemetery, Riverside California. He is the subject of a 2015 biography by Andrew Layton titled ''Ray Crawford - Speed Merchant''. Dick Wallen, a noted auto racing photographer and publisher, also contributed to the book.

World War II Aerial Victory credits

Awards and decorations

Crawford's ribbons as they appeared upon separation from the armed forces in 1953. From top, and from left to right: * Row 1: Distinguished Flying Cross,

Air Medal The Air Medal (AM) is a military decoration of the United States Armed Forces. It was created in 1942 and is awarded for single acts of heroism or meritorious achievement while participating in aerial flight. Criteria The Air Medal was establi ...

, with 14 oak leaf clusters, * Row 2:

, continued,

American Defense Service Medal The American Defense Service Medal was a United States service medals of the World Wars, military award of the United States Armed Forces, established by , by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, on June 28, 1941. The medal was intended to recogniz ...

American Campaign Medal The American Campaign Medal was a military award of the United States Armed Forces which was first created on November 6, 1942, by issued by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The medal was intended to recognize those military members who had per ...

, * Row 3: European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal,

World War II Victory Medal The World War II Victory Medal was a service medal of the United States military which was established by an Act of Congress on 6 July 1945 (Public Law 135, 79th Congress) and promulgated by Section V, War Department Bulletin 12, 1945. Histo ...

National Defense Service Medal The National Defense Service Medal (NDSM) is a service award of the United States Armed Forces established by President Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1953. It was awarded to every member of the U.S. Armed Forces who served during any one of four s ...

Indy 500 results

Complete Formula One World Championship results

( key)

References

* Bong, Carl. ''Dear Mom: So We Have a War.'' Burgess Publishing, 1993. * Thompson, Mickey and Griffith Borgeson. ''Challenger: Mickey Thompson's Own Story of His Life of Speed.'' Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1964. * {{DEFAULTSORT:Crawford, Ray 1915 births 1996 deaths American test pilots Indianapolis 500 drivers People from Roswell, New Mexico Racing drivers from New Mexico Recipients of the Air Medal Recipients of the Distinguished Flying Cross (United States) United States Army Air Forces pilots of World War II World Sportscar Championship drivers Military personnel from New Mexico Carrera Panamericana drivers