Gary Bettenhausen (November 18, 1941 – March 16, 2014) was an American auto racing driver. He was born in

Blue Island, Illinois Blue Island is a city in Cook County, Illinois, located approximately south of Chicago's Loop. Blue Island is adjacent to the city of Chicago and shares its northern boundary with that city's Morgan Park neighborhood. The population was 22,55 ...

, raised in

Tinley Park, Illinois Tinley Park (formerly Bremen) is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States, with a small portion in Will County. The village is a suburb of Chicago. Per the 2020 census, the population was 55,971. It is one of the fastest growing suburbs ...

, graduated in the class of 1962 from

Bremen High School (Midlothian, Illinois) Bremen High School, BHS, or simply Bremen is a public four year high school located in Midlothian, Illinois. It is the first school built as part of Bremen Community High School District 228 which also includes Tinley Park High School, Hillcrest ...

Midlothian, Illinois Midlothian () is a village in Bremen Township, Cook County, Illinois, United States. It is a southwestern suburb of Chicago. As of the 2020 census the population was 14,325. History Like many southwest suburbs of Chicago in the 1800s and ear ...

and at the time of his death resided in

Monrovia, Indiana Monrovia is a town in Monroe Township, Morgan County, in the U.S. state of Indiana. The population was 1,063 at the 2010 census. History Monrovia was laid out in 1834, Laid after Liberia's Capital Name. The town's name is derived from Monroe To ...

Personal life

Bettenhausen's father was

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 Indi ...

and

sprint car Sprint cars are high-powered open-wheel race cars, designed primarily for the purpose of running on short oval or circular dirt or paved tracks. Sprint car racing is popular primarily in the United States and Canada, as well as in Australia, New ...

legend

Tony Bettenhausen Melvin Eugene "Tony" Bettenhausen (September 12, 1916 – May 12, 1961) was an American racing driver, who won the National Championship in 1951 and 1958. Bettenhausen was nicknamed the "Tinley Park Express" in honor of his hometown. He was ...

. His brother was former CART driver and team owner

Tony Tony may refer to: People and fictional characters * Tony (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Gregory Tony (born 1978), American law enforcement officer * Motu Tony (born 1981), New Zealand international rugby leagu ...

. Another brother, Merle, lost his arm in a fiery crash. He married his wife Wavelyn on January 4, 1964, and the family had three children, Gary Jr., and twin sons Cary and Todd. They had two grandchildren. Cary and Todd run a medical products company in Indiana and have numerous patents. In addition, Todd is a well-known eSports gamer involved in motorsport simulation equipment. According to

radio broadcaster Mark Jaynes, the twins attended Monrovia High School with him and current Team Penske crew chief Kyle Moyer. graduating together in 1982. Bettenhausen died on March 16, 2014 in Monrovia, Indiana.

Racing career

Midgets

Bettenhausen began as a

midget car Midget cars, also speedcars in Australia, is a class of racing cars. The cars are very small with a very high power-to-weight ratio and typically use four cylinder engines. They originated in the United States in the 1930s and are raced on m ...

driver. He finished third in the midget car national points in 1967. Biography at the National Midget Auto Racing Hall of Fame He won the first leg of the Astro Grand Prix in 1969, which was held in the

Astrodome The NRG Astrodome, also known as the Houston Astrodome or simply the Astrodome, is the world's first multi-purpose, domed sports stadium, located in Houston, Texas. It was financed and assisted in development by Roy Hofheinz, mayor of Houston ...

. He won the 1967 and 1970

Turkey Night Grand Prix The Automotive Racing Products Turkey Night Grand Prix is an annual race of midget cars. It is the third oldest race in the United States behind the Indianapolis 500 and the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb. It has been held on Thanksgiving nig ...

, the 1972 Astro Grand Prix, and the 1976

Hut Hundred Terre Haute Action Track (also The Action Track) is a half-mile dirt track racing, dirt racetrack located at the Vigo County, Indiana, fairgrounds on U.S. Route 41 in Indiana, U.S. Route 41 along the south side of Terre Haute, Indiana. The track ...

, on his way to a total of 27 career wins in USAC midget car competition.

Sprint cars

Bettenhausen won the 1969 and 1971

championships. He won the 1980 and 1983 USAC Dirt Track champions in a Silver Crown car. A crash at a Championship Dirt Car race (AKA Silver Crown Car) in Syracuse, New York on July 4, 1974 crushed his left arm and left it paralyzed. He regained enough mobility to drive but never fully recovered from the injury. GBettenhausenPocono

Indy/Championship Cars & Indianapolis 500

Bettenhausen competed in Champ/Indy style cars from the mid-1960s until 1996. During this time he won six USAC Indy Car races. He made 21 starts in the Indianapolis 500, contesting each event from 1968 until 1982 (with the exception of 1979 when he failed to qualify), and again from 1986 to 1993. His best finish came in 1980 when he finished third after starting 32nd in the 33-car field. In the

1972 Indianapolis 500 The 56th 500 Mile International Sweepstakes was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana, on Saturday, May 27, 1972. The race is notable in that for the first time, the cars were permitted bolt-on wings, and speeds climbed dr ...

, Bettenhausen led 138 laps (of 200), and appeared on his way to victory. But he suffered a blown engine with only 24 laps remaining, and dropped out to finish 14th. In the

1991 Indianapolis 500 The 75th Indianapolis 500 was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana, on Sunday, May 26, 1991. Rick Mears won from the pole position, becoming the third four-time winner of the Indy 500, joining A. J. Foyt and Al Unser. Duri ...

, Bettenhausen was the fastest qualifier at 224.468 mph. As his time was recorded on the second day of qualifying,

Rick Mears Rick Ravon Mears (born December 3, 1951) is a retired American race car driver. He is one of four men to win the Indianapolis 500 four times (1979, 1984, 1988, 1991) and is the current record-holder for pole positions in the race with six (1 ...

, who had qualified slower (224.113 mph), started on the pole position.

NASCAR

Bettenhausen competed in eight career

NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. The privately owned company was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1948, and ...

Winston Cup The NASCAR Cup Series is the top racing series of the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR). The series began in 1949 as the Strictly Stock Division, and from 1950 to 1970 it was known as the Grand National Division. In 1971, ...

events.http://racing-reference.info/driver?id=bettega01 Biography at racing-reference.info He had four Top 10 finishes. His highest career finish was a fourth-place finish at the 1974

Motor State 360 The NASCAR Cup Series has held stock car races annually at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, Michigan since 1969. Traditionally, the track held two Cup Series races, one in June, around Father's Day weekend and another in August. The ...

at the

Michigan International Speedway Michigan International Speedway (MIS) is a moderate-banked D-shaped speedway located off U.S. Highway 12 on more than approximately south of the village of Brooklyn, in the scenic Irish Hills area of southeastern Michigan. The track ...

Awards

*He was inducted in the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame in 1993. *He was a 1998 inductee 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 ...

Motorsports career results

American open-wheel racing

(

key Key or The Key may refer to: Common meanings * Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm * Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock * Key (map ...

) (Races in bold indicate pole position)

USAC Championship Car

PPG Indy Car World Series

=Indianapolis 500

NASCAR

(

) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. ''Italics'' – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

Grand National Series

Winston Cup Series

=Daytona 500

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bettenhausen, Gary 1941 births 2014 deaths People from Tinley Park, Illinois Racing drivers from Illinois Indianapolis 500 drivers Champ Car drivers NASCAR drivers National Sprint Car Hall of Fame inductees People from Monrovia, Indiana People from Blue Island, Illinois Bettenhausen family Team Penske drivers USAC Silver Crown Series drivers Bettenhausen Racing drivers