Stanley Cole Fuchs (July 7, 1952 – December 18, 2000), known professionally as Stan Fox (''Fuchs'' being the German word for "fox"), was an American

open wheel An open-wheel single-seater (often known as formula car) is a car with the wheels outside the car's main body, and usually having only one seat. Open-wheel cars contrast with street cars, sports cars, stock cars, and touring cars, which have thei ...

race car 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 organise ...

. Fox was one of the last links between the

midget car racing 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 mos ...

world and 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 ...

.Biography
at the

National Midget Auto Racing Hall of Fame The National Midget Auto Racing Hall of Fame is an American Hall of Fame and museum for midget cars. The Hall of Fame is located at Angell Park Speedway in Sun Prairie, Wisconsin Sun Prairie is a city in Dane County in the U.S. state of Wi ...

Midget car career

Fox began his career as a midget car racer. He won the 1979

Badger Midget Badgers are short-legged omnivores in the family Mustelidae (which also includes the otters, wolverines, martens, minks, polecats, weasels, and ferrets). Badgers are a polyphyletic rather than a natural taxonomic grouping, being united by the ...

championship, and the 1979 and 1980

Belleville Nationals Belleville (French, literally "beautiful town") may refer to: Places Canada * Belleville, New Brunswick, an unincorporated community in Wakefield Parish * Belleville, Nova Scotia * Belleville, Ontario France * Belleville, Deux-Sèvres, in the ...

. He placed in the top twelve in points in nine seasons, even after he raced sporadically after moving to

United States Auto Club 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 List of USAC Championship Car seasons, United States National Championship, and from 1956 to 1997 the ...

(USAC) open wheel events. He had 19 USAC career wins. He won the

Turkey Night Grand Prix The Automotive Racing Products Turkey Night Grand Prix is an annual race of midget cars. It is the third oldest race in the United States behind the Indianapolis 500 and the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb. It has been held on Thanksgiving nig ...

in 1990 at the last event at Ascot Park. He won the 1991 Turkey Night Grand Prix, two Copper Classics, three Rex Easton Memorials at

Springfield, Illinois Springfield is the capital of the U.S. state of Illinois and the county seat and largest city of Sangamon County. The city's population was 114,394 at the 2020 census, which makes it the state's seventh most-populous city, the second largest o ...

, two Rodger Mauro Classics, and the midget car portion of the 4-Crown National at

Eldora Speedway Eldora Speedway (nicknamed "The Big E", "Auto Racing's Showcase Since 1954," and "The World's Greatest Dirt Track") is a high-banked clay dirt oval. Located north of Rossburg, Ohio in the village of New Weston, Ohio, it features permanent and ...

IndyCar career

Fox competed in the

eight times between 1987 and 1995 driving for

A. J. Foyt Anthony Joseph Foyt Jr. (born January 16, 1935) is an American retired auto racing driver who has raced in numerous genres of motorsports. His open wheel racing includes United States Automobile Club Champ cars, sprint cars, and midget cars. H ...

and Ron Hemelgarn. He was also a motorcycle racing enthusiast.

Near-fatal crash at Indianapolis

While driving for Ron Hemelgarn, Fox was seriously injured during the 1995 Indianapolis 500 in a serious accident. After starting ninth, Fox went low into the first turn on the first lap of the race and spun. His car connected with the car of Eddie Cheever, Jr. and slammed into the outside wall. Several other cars also became involved. The front nose-cone was ripped from his car, exposing his legs. Fox suffered serious head injuries which put him in a coma for five days, and had surgery to have a blood clot removed from his brain. After a month, Fox had been moved from the Methodist Hospital critical care unit to a private room, and was showing signs of improvement. The accident ended Fox's racing career but he stayed involved with the sport. He started the non-profit organization ''Friends of the Fox'' which supports people with head injuries and brings a person to the track each May to meet drivers and get VIP treatment.

Death

Fox was killed in a head-on collision on December 18, 2000 on the

Desert Road Te Onetapu, commonly known as the Rangipo Desert, is a barren desert-like environment in New Zealand, located in the Ruapehu District on the North Island Volcanic Plateau; to the east of the three active peaks of Mount Tongariro, Mount Ngauruhoe ...

some south of

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

, New Zealand. Fox was driving through the night to attend a speedway meeting and collided head on with a northbound truck and trailer Unit.

Career award

*He was inducted in the

Racing record

American open–wheel racing results

(

key Key or The Key may refer to: Common meanings * Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm * Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock * Key (map ...

)

CART

Indianapolis 500

NASCAR

(

) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. ''Italics'' – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

Winston Cup Series

SuperTruck Series

References

External links

*

1995 Indy 500 Crash Photos

1995 Indy 500 Crash Photos

1995 Indy 500 Crash Photos

Picture of Stan Fox {{DEFAULTSORT:Fox, Stan 1952 births 2000 deaths Champ Car drivers Indianapolis 500 drivers SCCA Formula Super Vee drivers Indy Lights drivers Sportspeople from Janesville, Wisconsin Racing drivers from Wisconsin Road incident deaths in New Zealand NASCAR drivers USAC Silver Crown Series drivers A. J. Foyt Enterprises drivers