Overton Phillips (20 September 1908 Ottumwa, Iowa – 1 April 1999

Santa Barbara, California Santa Barbara ( es, Santa Bárbara, meaning "Saint Barbara") is a coastal city in Santa Barbara County, California, of which it is also the county seat. Situated on a south-facing section of coastline, the longest such section on the West Co ...

) 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 organi ...

. His nickname was Bunny. He was an authority on Bugatti cars.

Biography

He was born on September 20, 1908, in Ottumwa,

Iowa Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to th ...

. In the trials for the 1937 Indianapolis 500 his car burst into flames when a crank shaft broke and punctured his

gas tank A fuel tank (also called a petrol tank or gas tank) is a safe container for flammable fluids. Though any storage tank for fuel may be so called, the term is typically applied to part of an engine system in which the fuel is stored and propelle ...

. He crashed into the

pit stop In motorsports, a pit stop is a pause for refuelling, new tyres, repairs, mechanical adjustments, a driver change, as a penalty, or any combination of the above. These stops occur in an area called the pits, most commonly accessed via a pit lan ...

killing George Warford. Otto Rohde died of his injuries on June 1. He died on April 1, 1999, in

Indy 500 results

References

1908 births 1999 deaths American racing drivers Indianapolis 500 drivers Sportspeople from Beverly Hills, California Racing drivers from California {{US-autoracing-bio-stub