Samuel Dwight "Sam" Hanks (July 13, 1914 – June 27, 1994) was an American

race car driver Auto racing (also known as car racing, motor racing, or automobile racing) is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles for competition. Auto racing has existed since the invention of the automobile. Races of various sorts were organis ...

who won the 1957 Indianapolis 500. He was a barnstormer, and raced

midget Midget (from ''midge'', a tiny biting insect) is a term for a person of unusually short stature that is considered by some to be pejorative due to its etymology. While not a medical term like "dwarfism", a medical condition with a number of c ...

and

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...

cars.

Racing career

Hanks was born in

Columbus, Ohio Columbus () is the state capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the 14th-most populous city in the U.S., the second-most populous city in the Midwest, after Chicago, an ...

and lived in

Alhambra, California Alhambra (, , ; from " Alhambra") is a city located in the western San Gabriel Valley region of Los Angeles County, California, United States, approximately eight miles from the Downtown Los Angeles civic center. It was incorporated on July ...

from the age of six. He attended Alhambra High School. Hanks won his first championship in 1937 on the West Coast in the American Midget Association (AMA). He barnstormed the country, racing on the board tracks at

Soldier Field Soldier Field is a multi-purpose stadium on the Near South Side, Chicago, Near South Side of Chicago, Illinois, United States. Opened in 1924 and reconstructed in 2003, the stadium has served as the home of the Chicago Bears of the National Foot ...

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

. Hanks reportedly won the first two board track races at Soldier Field in 1939. He won the 1940 VFW Motor City Speedway championship in

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at ...

. After

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, Hanks captured the 1946 United Racing Association (URA) Blue Circuit Championship. He won the 1947 Night before the 500 midget car race. He was the 1949

AAA AAA, Triple A, or Triple-A is a three-letter initialism or abbreviation which may refer to: Airports * Anaa Airport in French Polynesia (IATA airport code AAA) * Logan County Airport (Illinois) (FAA airport code AAA) Arts, entertainment, and ...

National Midget champion. He won the 1953 AAA National Championship in the ''Bardahl Special''. He won the 1956 Pacific Coast championship in the USAC Stock cars. Hanks considered retiring following the

1956 Indianapolis 500 The 40th International 500-Mile Sweepstakes was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Wednesday, May 30, 1956. The event was part of the 1956 USAC National Championship Trail and was also race 3 of 8 in the 1956 World Championship of Driver ...

, but agreed to return for the 1957 race at the urging of car owner George Salih. He would win in 1957 in his 13th attempt (the most tries of any Indy winner) and announced his retirement from racing in

Victory Circle This is a list of traffic circles in New Jersey. The U.S. state of New Jersey at one point had a total of 101 traffic circles, 44 of which were part of state roads. However, the number has shrunk as traffic circles have been phased out by the ...

. He did not stop racing immediately following his victory, however, but completed his contract to run a

stock car Stock car racing is a form of automobile racing run on oval tracks and road courses measuring approximately . It originally used production-model cars, hence the name "stock car", but is now run using cars specifically built for racing. It ori ...

for the remainder of the 1957 season. He drove the pace car at the

Indianapolis 500 The Indianapolis 500, formally known as the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, and commonly called the Indy 500, is an annual automobile race held at Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS) in Speedway, Indiana, United States, an enclave suburb of India ...

from 1958 to 1963. Hanks is believed to be the only Indianapolis 500 driver to participate in the race before World War II, serve in the war effort, then return to race again after the war. It has also been conjectured that Hanks may have been a distant relative to

Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation thro ...

. Having experienced ill health for three years, Hanks died at his home in

Pacific Palisades, California Pacific Palisades is a neighborhood in the Westside region of Los Angeles, California, situated about west of Downtown Los Angeles. Pacific Palisades was formally founded in 1921 by a Methodist organization, and in the years that followed bec ...

on June 27, 1994, aged 79.

Awards

*He was inducted in 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 ho ...

in 1998. *He was inducted in the

Motorsports Hall of Fame of America The Motorsports Hall of Fame of America (MSHFA) is 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, ...

in 2000. *Hanks 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 Sun Prairie is a city in Dane County in the U.S. state of Wi ...

in 1984. *Hanks was inducted in the

West Coast Stock Car Hall of Fame The West Coast Stock Car Hall Of Fame is a Hall of Fame for people associated with late-model stock car racing on the West Coast of the United States. Many NASCAR Grand National Division, West Series champions are inducted in the Hall of Fame. Th ...

in 2005.

Complete AAA/USAC Championship Car results

Indianapolis 500 results

* Shared drive with Duane Carter

World Championship career summary

The Indianapolis 500 was part of the FIA Formula One World Championship from 1950 through 1960. Drivers competing at Indy during those years were credited with World Championship points and participation. Sam Hanks participated in eight F1 World Championship races. He started on the pole zero times, won one race, set zero fastest laps, and finished on the podium four times. He accumulated a total of 20 championship points.

Television appearance

Hanks portrayed himself in the episode "The Comedians" of the CBS situation comedy ''

Mr. Adams and Eve ''Mr. Adams and Eve'' is an American situation comedy television series about a married couple who are both movie stars. It stars Howard Duff and Ida Lupino (who were actually married at the time) and aired on CBS from January 4, 1957, to July ...

'', starring

Ida Lupino Ida Lupino (4 February 1918Recorded in ''Births Mar 1918'' Camberwell Vol. 1d, p. 1019 (Free BMD). Transcribed as "Lupine" in the official births index – 3 August 1995) was an English-American actress, singer, director, writer, and producer. T ...

and

Howard Duff Howard is an English-language given name originating from Old French Huard (or Houard) from a Germanic source similar to Old High German ''*Hugihard'' "heart-brave", or ''*Hoh-ward'', literally "high defender; chief guardian". It is also prob ...

. The episode aired on November 8, 1957.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hanks, Sam 1914 births 1994 deaths Sportspeople from Columbus, Ohio Racing drivers from Ohio Racing drivers from California Racing drivers from Los Angeles Champ Car champions Indianapolis 500 drivers Indianapolis 500 winners AAA Championship Car drivers Formula One race winners National Sprint Car Hall of Fame inductees USAC Stock Car drivers