Larry Rice (24 March 1946 – 20 May 2009) was an American

racing 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 organise ...

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 event ...

series. He was the 1973 USAC National midget driver's champion and won the USAC Silver Crown series in 1977 and 1981. He was inducted in 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 in Sun Prairie, Wisconsin Sun Prairie is a city in Dane County in the U.S. state of Wi ...

in 1993.

Racing career

Larry's father Bob got him started in racing. Bob purchased Larry's first race car, a Kurtis Craft Half Midget from Bob Cunningham in

Covington, Indiana Covington is a city in, and the county seat of, Fountain County, Indiana, United States. The population was 2,645 at the 2010 census. History Fountain County was formed on April 1, 1826. Later that year, the county seat was established at Coving ...

prior to turning twelve years old. Larry went to Modified

Midget Midget (from ''midge'', a tiny biting insect) is a term for a person of unusually short stature that is considered by some to be pejorative due to its etymology. While not a medical term like "dwarfism", a medical condition with a number of ca ...

racing at the

Logansport, Indiana Logansport is a city in and the county seat of Cass County, Indiana, United States. The population was 18,366 at the 2020 census. Logansport is located in northern Indiana at the junction of the Wabash and Eel rivers, northwest of Kokomo. Hi ...

track from 1965-1967. While in modified midget racing Larry and his father introduced the first car with a suspension system in this type of racing. It was made by Kurtis out of

Indianapolis, Indiana Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Mari ...

. Eventually all cars would have suspension systems on them. Larry graduated from college with a teaching degree. He taught school briefly while racing the modified midget racing circuit. He was fondly known as "The Flying School Teacher" due to his ability to win races. Larry's father Bob worked as a pit crew member for various race teams at 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 the 1970s.

Open wheel career

Rice had a major win when he won the 1970

Hut Hundred Terre Haute Action Track (also The Action Track) is a half-mile dirt track racing, dirt racetrack located at the Vigo County, Indiana, fairgrounds on U.S. Route 41 in Indiana, U.S. Route 41 along the south side of Terre Haute, Indiana. The track ...

. Rice finished third in 1972 USAC National Midget championship, helping his team (Shannon Brothers) win the owner's championship. Rice followed up by winning the 1973 USAC National midget driver's championship himself. Rice was also the 1977 and 1981

USAC Silver Crown Series The United States Auto Club (USAC) is one of the sanctioning bodies of auto racing in the United States. From 1956 to 1979, USAC sanctioned the United States National Championship, and from 1956 to 1997 the organization sanctioned the Indianapol ...

champion. He won the Silver Crown and

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 ...

portions of the 4 Crown Nationals at

Eldora Speedway Eldora Speedway (nicknamed "The Big E", "Auto Racing's Showcase Since 1954," and "The World's Greatest Dirt Track") is a high-banked clay dirt oval. Located north of Rossburg, Ohio in the village of New Weston, Ohio, it features permanent and ...

in 1985. He won his second Silver Crown portion at Eldora in 1987.

Championship car career

He raced in 5 seasons (1974, and 1978–1979, and 1981), with 9 combined career starts, including the

1978 Events January * January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213. * January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd go ...

and

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...

and finished in the top ten 3 times. He was co-named the

1978 Indianapolis 500 The 62nd 500 Mile International Sweepstakes was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana on Sunday, May 28, 1978. Danny Ongais dominated the early stages of the race but eventually dropped out with a blown engine. Al Unser Sr. ...

Rookie of the Year, along with

Rick Mears Rick Ravon Mears (born December 3, 1951) is a retired American race car driver. He is one of four men to win the Indianapolis 500 four times (1979, 1984, 1988, 1991) and is the current record-holder for pole positions in the race with six (1 ...

, for his 11th-place finish.

Announcing career

After he stopped racing in 1991, he became the

color analyst A color commentator or expert commentator is a sports commentator who assists the main (play-by-play) commentator, typically by filling in when play is not in progress. The phrase "colour commentator" is primarily used in Canadian English and the ...

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

Saturday Night Thunder ''Saturday Night Thunder'' is a former ESPN program that showed USAC racing on Saturday nights. It began on Thursday nights with the name ''Thursday Night Thunder'' on ESPN2. It featured dirt (like Ascot Park in Gardena, California) or paved ova ...

program. The program featured midget, sprint, and Silver Crown racing. He also worked as ESPN's regular analyst on

IRL IRL may refer to: Places * Republic of Ireland (ISO 3166-1 alpha-3 country code) * Irlam railway station (National Rail station code IRL), England Organizations * International Rugby League, the governing body for the sport of rugby league * I ...

races. He was known for constantly pointing out when a driver "had to get out of the throttle" to avoid hitting another car.

Insurance Business

Rice later worked for K&K Insurance, specialising in motorsport insurance, and with his son Robbie (who also raced), started their own insurance organisation for motorsport, Short Track Independent Drivers and Associates (STIDA.COM).

Death

Rice died from

lung cancer Lung cancer, also known as lung carcinoma (since about 98–99% of all lung cancers are carcinomas), is a malignant lung tumor characterized by uncontrolled cell growth in tissue (biology), tissues of the lung. Lung carcinomas derive from tran ...

on 20 May 2009.

Complete USAC Championship Car results

Complete PPG Indy Car Series results

Indianapolis 500 results

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rice, Larry 1946 births 2009 deaths Champ Car drivers Racing drivers from Indiana Indianapolis 500 drivers Indianapolis 500 Rookies of the Year Motorsport announcers Deaths from lung cancer Deaths from cancer in Indiana USAC Silver Crown Series drivers