Larry Cannon (April 13, 1937 – November 6, 1995) was an American race car driver. Born in

Danville, Illinois Danville is a city in and the county seat of Vermilion County, Illinois. As of the 2010 census, its population was 33,027. As of 2019, the population was an estimated 30,479. History The area that is now Danville was once home to the Miami, K ...

, Cannon also died there in 1995, after suffering an

embolism An embolism is the lodging of an embolus, a blockage-causing piece of material, inside a blood vessel. The embolus may be a blood clot (thrombus), a fat globule (fat embolism), a bubble of air or other gas ( gas embolism), amniotic fluid (am ...

. He drove in the USAC and CART

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 event ...

series, racing in the 1970-1971 and 1973-1981 seasons, with 44 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 1974, 1976, and 1980. He finished in the top ten 7 times, with his best finish in 8th position in 1976 at both College Station and

Michigan International Speedway Michigan International Speedway (MIS) is a moderate-banked D-shaped speedway located off U.S. Highway 12 on more than approximately south of the village of Brooklyn, in the scenic Irish Hills area of southeastern Michigan. The track ...

. Cannon did not qualify for the 1977 Indianapolis 500, but did compete as a relief driver. In the final ten laps, Cannon took over the car of John Mahler, and drove it to the finish. He prided himself as being one of only a handful of drivers to be on the track at the moment

A. J. Foyt Anthony Joseph Foyt Jr. (born January 16, 1935) is an American retired auto racing driver who has raced in numerous genres of motorsports. His open wheel racing includes United States Automobile Club Champ cars, sprint cars, and midget cars. H ...

won his record fourth Indy 500. For the three times he qualified for the Indianapolis 500 (1974, 1976, 1980),

Johnny Rutherford John Sherman "Johnny" Rutherford III (born March 12, 1938), also known as "Lone Star JR", is an American former automobile racing driver. During an Indy Car career that spanned more than three decades, he scored 27 wins and 23 pole positions in ...

won the race all three times. He was commonly known by his nickname Larry "Boom Boom" Cannon, and was a

barber A barber is a person whose occupation is mainly to cut, dress, groom, style and shave men's and boys' hair or beards. A barber's place of work is known as a "barbershop" or a "barber's". Barbershops are also places of social interaction and publi ...

by trade.

Indianapolis 500 results

References

External links

* 1937 births 1995 deaths Champ Car drivers Indianapolis 500 drivers People from Danville, Illinois Racing drivers from Illinois Deaths from embolism USAC Silver Crown Series drivers {{US-autoracing-bio-stub