George J. Viola (February 22, 1914 – February 26, 2003), better known by his racing name George Rice, was a midget race car driver from

Milford, Connecticut Milford is a coastal city in New Haven County, Connecticut, United States, located between New Haven and Bridgeport. The population was 50,558 at the 2020 United States Census. The city includes the village of Devon and the borough of Woodmont. ...

Personal life

George fathered two daughters, Sarah and Glorianna, and a son, Edward, with his wife Bess.

Racing career

Rice was born George J. Viola. When he started racing, he drove

sprint cars Sprint may refer to: Aerospace *Spring WS202 Sprint, a Canadian aircraft design *Sprint (missile), an anti-ballistic missile Automotive and motorcycle * Alfa Romeo Sprint, automobile produced by Alfa Romeo between 1976 and 1989 *Chevrolet Sprint ...

, not midgets. When he heard about midgets he wanted to try them but his sprint car club at that time don't permit drivers to compete in other series. Viola took the last name of his friend Charlie Rice to become "George Rice". When his younger brother, John, decided to race midgets also, he took the name Johnny Rice and the pair became known as the "Rice Brothers". In the 1940s in particular he was very successful. In 1947 alone he won the Midget track championship at Danbury (CT) Fair Racearena, Deer Park (NY) Speedway, and won his second consecutive title at West Haven (CT) Speedway. He was the 1947

ARDC The abbreviation ARDC may refer to: *Air Research and Development Command, later renamed the Air Force Systems Command * Amateur Radio Digital Communications, a mode using IP addresses beginning with 44.x *American Racing Drivers Club, a midget car ...

Midget champion. In 1948 he won the Bridgeport (CT) Speedway Midget track championship. George also raced in

24 Hours of Le Mans The 24 Hours of Le Mans (french: link=no, 24 Heures du Mans) is an endurance-focused Sports car racing, sports car race held annually near the town of Le Mans, France. It is the world's oldest active Endurance racing (motorsport), endurance r ...

with the

Briggs Cunningham Briggs Swift Cunningham II (January 19, 1907 – July 2, 2003) was an American entrepreneur and sportsman. He is best known for skippering the yacht ''Columbia'' to victory in the 1958 America's Cup race, and for his efforts as a driver, team o ...

team in 1952.

Awards

He was named to 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 Angell Park Speedway has a 1/3 mile () dirt racetrack located in Sun Prairie, Wiscons ...

in 2009.

References

** 1948 "Midget Auto Racing Souvenir Program" article by Nat Kleinfeld {{DEFAULTSORT:Rice, George 1914 births 2003 deaths People from Milford, Connecticut Sportspeople from New Haven County, Connecticut 24 Hours of Le Mans drivers Racing drivers from Connecticut