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

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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

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and three

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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 {{US-autoracing-bio-stub