Larry Dickson (born September 8, 1938,

Marietta, Ohio Marietta is a city in, and the county seat of, Washington County, Ohio, United States. It is located in southeastern Ohio at the confluence of the Muskingum and Ohio Rivers, northeast of Parkersburg, West Virginia. As of the 2020 census, Mar ...

), is a former driver in the USAC and

CART A cart or dray (Australia and New Zealand) is a vehicle designed for transport, using two wheels and normally pulled by one or a pair of draught animals. A handcart is pulled or pushed by one or more people. It is different from the flatbed tr ...

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 ...

series. He raced in the 1965-1981 seasons, with 105 combined career starts, including 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 ...

in 1966-1969, 1971, 1978–1979, and 1981. He finished in the top ten 44 times, with his best finish in 2nd position in 1968 at Springfield. Dickson was also a 3 time USAC

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 ...

Series Champion in 1968, 1970 and 1975. Larry won 43 USAC Sprint car races and was the all-time leader in the division until

Tom Bigelow Thomas Allan Bigelow (born October 31, 1939 in Whitewater, Wisconsin) is a former driver in the USAC and CART Championship Car series. Racing career Midget car racing He began his racing career at the Badger Midget Racing Association at Angell P ...

broke his record. In the years 1968-71 Larry and

Gary Bettenhausen Gary Bettenhausen (November 18, 1941 – March 16, 2014) was an American auto racing driver. He was born in Blue Island, Illinois, raised in Tinley Park, Illinois, graduated in the class of 1962 from Bremen High School (Midlothian, Illinois) in Mi ...

raced each other in what was billed as "The Larry and Gary Show" or "Thunder (Bettenhausen) and Lightning (Dickson)" exchanging the USAC Sprint Car title between each other during those years. Larry also ventured to NASCAR to drive Richie Giachetti's Ford Torino in the

Daytona 500 The Daytona 500 is a NASCAR Cup Series motor race held annually at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. It is the first of two Cup races held every year at Daytona, the second being the Coke Zero Sugar 400, and one of three ...

, running in the top ten before the engine expired. Larry finished his career in the USAC Silver Crown car owned by his brother, Tommy and Max Brittain. Larry is now semi-retired, living in Indianapolis and tending to his real estate investments.

Awards

*In 1990, he was inducted into the

National Sprint Car Hall of Fame The National Sprint Car Hall of Fame & Museum is a Hall of Fame and museum for sprint car drivers, owners, mechanics, builders, manufacturers, promoters, sanctioning officials and media members. The museum is located in Knoxville, Iowa, the ho ...

as part of its inaugural class.

Indy 500 results

USAC Sprint Cars = Three-time National Champion1968, 1970 and 1975. USAC records,

National Speed Sport News ''Speed Sport'', formerly the ''National Speed Sport News ''(NSSN) is an American magazine and Web site covering national, local, and regional auto racing topics. Yahoo! News called it "one of the most famous motorsports publications in the country ...

and other national racing press. uNITWS RACING CLUB - National Champion and Rookie of the Year 1964

, Winner of the US Open supermodified race at Williams Grove, PA 1964

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dickson, Larry 1938 births Living people Indianapolis 500 drivers National Sprint Car Hall of Fame inductees Sportspeople from Marietta, Ohio Racing drivers from Ohio USAC Silver Crown Series drivers