Clark Thomas "Shorty" Templeman
(August 12, 1919 in
Pueblo, Colorado
Pueblo () is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Home rule municipality, home rule municipality that is the county seat and the List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous municipality of Pueblo County, Colorado, Pueblo County, Colorado ...
– August 24, 1962 in
Marion, Ohio
Marion is a city in and the county seat of Marion County, Ohio, Marion County, Ohio, United States. The municipality is located in north-central Ohio, approximately north of Columbus, Ohio, Columbus.
The population was 35,999 at the 2020 United S ...
) 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 organis ...
.
Championship car
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 series, racing in the 1954-1962 seasons with 42 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 ...
races in 1955, 1958, and 1960–1962. He finished in the top ten 16 times, with his best finish in 2nd position, in 1961 at both DuQuoin and Syracuse. His best Indy finish was 4th in 1961.
Midget car
He won five
Washington state
Washington (), officially the State of Washington, is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. Named for George Washington—the first U.S. president—the state was formed from the western part of the Washington ...
and three
Oregon
Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...
midget state championships.
[Biography]
at the National Midget Auto Racing Hall of Fame Templeman won all three
Night Before the 500 midget car features at the
16th Street Speedway
Owen J. Bush Stadium was a baseball stadium in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States. It was home to the Indianapolis Indians from 1931 to 1996. It was also home to a few Negro league teams, as well as a Continental Football League team, the Indi ...
in Indianapolis in 1956.
Templeman won the first three
USAC National Midget 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 ...
champions when he won titles in 1956, 1957, and 1958.
Templeman died as a result of injuries sustained in a
midget car
Midget cars, also speedcars in Australia, is a class of racing cars. The cars are very small with a very high power-to-weight ratio and typically use four cylinder engines. They originated in the United States in the 1930s and are raced on most ...
crash at the
Marion County, Ohio Fairgrounds track.
Career awards
*He was inducted in the
National Sprint Car Hall of Fame
The National Sprint Car Hall of Fame & Museum is a Hall of Fame and museum for sprint car drivers, owners, mechanics, builders, manufacturers, promoters, sanctioning officials and media members. The museum is located in Knoxville, Iowa, the ho ...
in 1984.
*He was inducted in the
National Midget Auto Racing Hall of Fame in the inaugural class of 1984.
Indianapolis 500 results
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. Shorty Templeman participated in 3 World Championship races but scored no World Championship points.
References
1919 births
1962 deaths
Indianapolis 500 drivers
Racing drivers who died while racing
National Sprint Car Hall of Fame inductees
Sports deaths in Ohio
Sportspeople from Pueblo, Colorado
Racing drivers from Colorado
AAA Championship Car drivers
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