George Anthony Metzler, Jr. (1912 to June 3, 1949) was an American racecar driver. Metzler was killed attempting to qualify for the

1949 Indianapolis 500 The 33rd International 500-Mile Sweepstakes was an automobile race held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Monday, May 30, 1949. After two years of failures to his teammate, Bill Holland finally won one for himself, giving car owner Lou Moore ...

Metzler had attended 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 Indi ...

as a boy and young man, and his uncle Edwin Metzler had participated in the race as a riding mechanic in 1936 and '37. In his 20s, he had started racing on dirt tracks in the Midwest. He was drafted into the

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during

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and saw combat in

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. He first attempted to qualify for the Indy 500 in 1947, but had his car break down during the drivers test. Unable to get a car running in 1948, he came back to the track in 1949 driving an older car that had first entered the race in 1936. Having difficulty getting enough speed from the car to qualify, Metzler was perhaps too careless trying to get in to the field the final day, and drove into the wall in turn one. He suffered numerous injuries, and died six days later, leaving behind a wife and two children. George Metzler is buried in Holy Cross and Saint Joseph Cemetery in Indianapolis, IN.

Sources

Terry Reed, ''Indy: The Race and Ritual of the Indianapolis 500''. Potomac Books Inc.; Second edition (April 1, 2005). Pages 62–76 {{DEFAULTSORT:Metzler, George 1949 deaths Racing drivers who died while racing Sports deaths in Indiana Burials in Indiana 1912 births
FindAGrave.com memorial for George Metzler