Pete Romcevich (July 7, 1906–September 7, 1952) was a
Serbian-
American
American(s) may refer to:
* American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America"
** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America
** American ancestry, pe ...
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 organis ...
. He was born Slavko Romčević to a Serbian family in the small village of
Stipan
Stipan is a masculine given name cognate to Stjepan (Stephen), used by ikavian speakers.
Notable people with the name include:
* Stipan Blažetin, Hungarian-Croatian writer
* Stipan Dora, Bunjevac wrestler from Serbia
* Stipan Đurić, Hungarian ...
near
Lasinja
Lasinja is a village and a municipality in Karlovac County, Croatia. The prehistoric Lasinja culture is named after Lasinja.
History
Culture
Demographics
According to the 2011 census, the municipality of Lasinja has 1624 inhabitants, 86.58% ...
,
Croatia in what was then the
Kingdom of Yugoslavija . Romcevich arrived to the United States in 1922 as a 16-year old, joining his brother, Gjuro (George) Romčević who emigrated and arrived in the United States first. George saved money and sent for Pete. Romcevich had a successful midget car racing career and fabricated racing cars at his Speedway Garage in Roby, Indiana (now part of Hammond, Indiana). He qualified and raced in the 1947 Indianapolis 500 driving a car owned by Anthony "Andy" Granatelli and attempted to qualify again in one of Granatelli's cars before a crash during qualifying. He was killed in a midget race at the
Michigan State Fairgrounds Speedway in
Detroit when his car went out of control.
Indianapolis 500 results- Driver Stats
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References
1906 births
1952 deaths
American racing drivers
Serbian racing drivers
Racing drivers who died while racing
Indianapolis 500 drivers
Yugoslav emigrants to the United States
American people of Serbian descent
Sports deaths in Michigan
{{US-autoracing-bio-stub
People from the Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia