George Francis Flaherty, Jr. (January 6, 1926 – April 9, 2002), known professionally as Pat Flaherty, was an American racecar driver who won 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 ...

1956 Events January * January 1 – The Anglo-Egyptian Condominium ends in Sudan. * January 8 – Operation Auca: Five U.S. evangelical Christian missionaries, Nate Saint, Roger Youderian, Ed McCully, Jim Elliot and Pete Fleming, ar ...

. He drove in the

AAA AAA, Triple A, or Triple-A is a three-letter initialism or abbreviation which may refer to: Airports * Anaa Airport in French Polynesia (IATA airport code AAA) * Logan County Airport (Illinois) (FAA airport code AAA) Arts, entertainment, and me ...

and USAC

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 1950, 1953–1956, 1958–1959, and 1963 seasons with 19 starts, including the

races in 1950, 1953, 1955, 1956, and 1959. He finished in the top ten 9 times, with victories in 1955 and 1956 at Milwaukee as well as the

1956 Indianapolis 500 The 40th International 500-Mile Sweepstakes was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Wednesday, May 30, 1956. The event was part of the 1956 USAC National Championship Trail and was also race 3 of 8 in the 1956 World Championship of Drive ...

. Born in Glendale, California, Flaherty died in

Oxnard, California Oxnard () is a city in Ventura County, California, United States. On California's South Coast, it is the most populous city in Ventura County and the 22nd-most-populous city in California. Incorporated in 1903, Oxnard lies approximately west ...

World Championship career summary

The Indianapolis 500 was part of the FIA World Championship from 1950 through 1960. Drivers competing at Indy during those years were credited with World Championship points and participation. Pat Flaherty participated in 7 World Championship races. He started on the pole once, won once, and accumulated a total of 8 championship points. After winning the

, Flaherty was severely injured in a race car crash less than three months later, which prevented him from racing at the 1957 500. Flaherty successfully raced pigeons for over twenty years after he retired from auto racing.Among the toasts made at the wedding reception Saturday...
chicagotribune.com; accessed May 13, 2014. He also built and publicised a portable go-kart track where he would race against all-comers.

Complete AAA/USAC Championship Car results

Indianapolis 500 results

* Shared drive with

Jim Rathmann Jim Rathmann (July 16, 1928 – November 23, 2011), born Royal Richard Rathmann, was an American race car driver who won the Indianapolis 500 in 1960. He drove in the AAA and USAC Championship Car series in the 1949–1950 and 1952–1963 sea ...

References

External links

* 1926 births 2002 deaths American racing drivers Indianapolis 500 drivers Indianapolis 500 polesitters Indianapolis 500 winners Sportspeople from Glendale, California Racing drivers from California AAA Championship Car drivers Formula One race winners USAC Stock Car drivers {{US-autoracing-bio-stub