George Poteet (1948 – July 16, 2024) was an American Memphis-based land speed racer and winner of the 1996

Ridler Award The Detroit Autorama, also known as America's Greatest Hot Rod Show, is a showcase of custom cars and hot rods held each year at TCF Center in Detroit, Michigan, in either late February or early March. It is promoted by Championship Auto Shows Inc ...

. Poteet's 1937 Ford roadster (built by Don Pilkenton) won the 1996 Ridler Award. This car would go on to take "America's Most Beautiful Roadster", top prize at the

Oakland Roadster Show The Grand National Roadster Show (a.k.a.: GNRS, or sometimes referred to as ''Oakland Roadster Show'' but never officially called that), started in 1950, and is one of the oldest and longest continuously operating exhibitions of custom vehicles in t ...

. In 2011, Poteet drove ''Speed Demon'' (built by

Ron Main Ron is a shortening of the name Ronald. Ron or RON may also refer to: Arts and media * Big Ron (''EastEnders''), a TV character * Ron (''King of Fighters''), a video game character *Ron Douglas, the protagonist in ''Lucky Stiff'' played by Joe A ...

) to at Bonneville, and eventually breaking both the C/BFS and D/BFS (supercharged

fuel A fuel is any material that can be made to react with other substances so that it releases energy as thermal energy or to be used for work. The concept was originally applied solely to those materials capable of releasing chemical energy but ...

streamliner A streamliner is a vehicle incorporating wikt:streamline, streamlining in a shape providing reduced air resistance. The term is applied to high-speed railway trainsets of the 1930s to 1950s, and to their successor "High-speed rail, bullet trai ...

) records. After making "the fastest piston engine pass ever", ''Speed Demon'' was displayed at the 2018

Detroit Autorama The Detroit Autorama, also known as America's Greatest Hot Rod Show, is a showcase of custom cars and hot rods held each year at TCF Center in Detroit, Michigan, in either late February or early March. It is promoted by Championship Auto Shows I ...

. Poteet died on July 16, 2024, at the age of 75.

Notes

External links

''Hot Rod'' online
1948 births 2024 deaths American racing drivers Land speed records Sportspeople from Memphis, Tennessee {{US-autoracing-bio-stub