Jimmy Wilburn (November 25, 1908 - August 26, 1984) was an American

racecar 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 ...

from

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

. He won a non-points

Championship Car American open-wheel car racing, also known as Indy car racing, is a category of professional automobile racing in the United States. As of 2022, the top-level American open-wheel racing championship is sanctioned by IndyCar. Competitive events ...

race at

Lakewood Speedway Lakewood Speedway was a race track located south of Atlanta, Georgia, in Lakewood, just north of the eastern arm of Langford Parkway (formerly Lakewood Freeway). The track held many kinds of races between 1919 and 1979, including events sanctione ...

in March 1946 which is the first known Champ Car race to be held after the end of World War II. Later that year he drove in the

1946 Indianapolis 500 The 30th International 500-Mile Sweepstakes was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Thursday, May 30, 1946. This was the first Indianapolis 500 presided over by new track owner Tony Hulman. The track had closed in late 1941 due to World War ...

driving an

Alfa Romeo Alfa Romeo Automobiles S.p.A. () is an Italian luxury car manufacturer and a subsidiary of Stellantis. The company was founded on 24 June 1910, in Milan, Italy. "Alfa" is an acronym of its founding name, "Anonima Lombarda Fabbrica Automobili." ...

and started 16th and retired after 52 laps with engine trouble, credited with the 19th finishing position.

Racing career

Earn in his career, Wilburn raced based out of

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous co ...

in the early 1930s. He next moved to the

Oakland, California Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast of the United States, West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third ...

-based American Racing Association (ARA) before moving back to Los Angeles in the Western Racing Association (WRA). Wilburn next moved to Indianapolis along with Travis "Spider" Webb in 1936 and the duo began competing in Central States Racing Association (CSRA) events in a "big car" (now

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 ...

). CSRA was one of three major sanctioning bodies in the United States along with the

American Automobile Association American Automobile Association (AAA – commonly pronounced as "Triple A") is a federation of motor clubs throughout North America. AAA is a privately held not-for-profit national member association and service organization with over 60 m ...

and the

International Motor Contest Association The International Motor Contest Association (IMCA) was organized in 1915 by J. Alex Sloan, and is currently the oldest active auto racing sanctioning body in the United States. IMCA is currently headquartered in Vinton, Iowa, and features s ...

(IMCA). Wilburn won the 1938 CSRA championship and he won his second CSRA championship in 1939. He repeated for his third straight championship in 1940. In 1941, he won several big shows including an IMCA show at

Reading, Pennsylvania Reading ( ; Pennsylvania Dutch: ''Reddin'') is a city in and the county seat of Berks County, Pennsylvania, United States. The city had a population of 95,112 as of the 2020 census and is the fourth-largest city in Pennsylvania after Philade ...

and twice at

Des Moines, Iowa Des Moines () is the capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Iowa. It is also the county seat of Polk County. A small part of the city extends into Warren County. It was incorporated on September 22, 1851, as Fort Des Moines, ...

. At the IMCA season finale on October 21 at the Louisiana State Fairgrounds, he was battling

Gus Schrader Gus Schrader (May 22, 1895 in Newhall, Iowa – October 22, 1941 in Shreveport, Louisiana) was an American racecar driver. He was the 1933–1937 and 1939–1941 IMCA national sprint car champion. He was considered one of the best "Big Car" (as ...

when Schrader died in an accident. Schrader's car pushed up the track and clipped Wilburn's tire causing Schrader's to flip end-over-end. Racing stopped for

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 vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. A few events were run in 1945 and Wilburn won in front of a large CSRA crowd of over 124,000 people at

Allentown Fairgrounds Allentown Fairgrounds is located at 302 North 17th Street in Allentown, Pennsylvania. It hosts the Great Allentown Fair annually in late August and early September. The fairgrounds was established in 1889 and comprises 46 acres and is owned ...

. Wilburn returned to CSRA in 1946 and won the championship. He won all four IMCA events at the

Iowa State Fairgrounds The Iowa State Fairgrounds is located on the east side of Des Moines, Iowa. It annually hosts the Iowa State Fair in late summer. The state fair was begun in Iowa in 1854 and the current fairgrounds were established in 1886. The fairgrounds wer ...

that year. He also competed in his only

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 ...

that year; he finished 19th. In 1947, he won the CSRA championship and finished second to Emory Collins. In July 1948, Wilburn flipped his

Offenhauser The Offenhauser Racing Engine, or Offy, is a racing engine design that dominated American open wheel racing for more than 50 years and is still popular among vintage sprint and midget car racers. History The Offenhauser engine, familiarly ...

Oskaloosa, Iowa Oskaloosa is a city in, and the county seat of, Mahaska County, Iowa, United States. In the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, Oskaloosa was a national center of bituminous coal mining. The population was 11,558 in the 2020 U.S. Cens ...

and he was unconscious for several weeks. He returned to racing in 1949; he finished third in the IMCA points behind

Frank Luptow Frank Luptow (born Frank Lueptow) (1914-1952) was an American racing driver. He competed in International Motor Contest Association (IMCA) big cars (now sprint cars) and NASCAR stock cars. He won the 1949, 1950, and 1951 IMCA big car championships ...

and Collins. Wilburn won the 1950 CSRA championship before retiring from racing.

Personal life

Wilburn moved with his wife Mary (the couple married in 1939) to

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

after retiring from racing. He died on August 26, 1984.

Career award

*He was inducted in the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame in 1994.

Indianapolis 500 results

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wilburn, Jimmy 1908 births 1984 deaths Indianapolis 500 drivers National Sprint Car Hall of Fame inductees Racing drivers from Los Angeles AAA Championship Car drivers