Anthony Peter Willman (February 20, 1907

West Allis, Wisconsin West Allis is a city in Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, United States. A suburb of Milwaukee, it is part of the Milwaukee metropolitan area. The population was 60,325 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. Histo ...

– October 12, 1941

Thompson, Connecticut Thompson is a town in Windham County, Connecticut, United States. The town was named after Sir Robert Thompson, an English landholder. The population was 9,189 at the 2020 census. Thompson is located in the northeastern corner of the state and i ...

) was an American

racecar 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 ...

driver. He was killed in a

midget Midget (from ''midge'', a tiny biting insect) is a term for a person of unusually short stature that is considered by some to be pejorative due to its etymology. While not a medical term like "dwarfism", a medical condition with a number of ca ...

car accident.

Racing career

Willman started racing in 1926. Limited racing during the 1930s

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

significantly hurt Willman's career; only 31 national events were held in eight years. So Willman raced in

Midwestern The Midwestern United States, also referred to as the Midwest or the American Midwest, is one of four census regions of the United States Census Bureau (also known as "Region 2"). It occupies the northern central part of the United States. I ...

regional and local races. Willman won the 1934/35 indoor midget championship circuit of races in

Milwaukee Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee is ...

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...

St. Louis St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

, and

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

. He toured the Midwest for the 1936 outdoor season and he won 145 races. In 1936, Willman won the Hankinson Speedway Circuit championship; the circuit featured races on 30 tracks in 17 states. He won the 1939 track championship at the quarter mile track inside the Wisconsin State Fair Park Speedway (now

Milwaukee Mile The Milwaukee Mile is a oval race track in the central United States, located on the grounds of the Wisconsin State Fair Park in West Allis, Wisconsin, a suburb west of Milwaukee. Its grandstand and bleachers seats approximately 37,000 spectator ...

); he repeated the track title in 1941. Willman had misfortune at 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 ...

with his car breaking down at all four of his races while he was doing well. In 1941, he was running in fourth place at the 285 mile mark before a connecting rod broke. In 1938, Willman drove in relief for

Harry McQuinn Harry McQuinn (December 13, 1905–January 1, 1986 ) was an American racecar driver active in the 1930s and 1940s. Born in Nineveh, Indiana, McQuinn raced in a Bob Wilke/Leader Card-sponsored midget car owned by the Marchese Brothers from Mi ...

and finished seventh. 1941 was Willman's most successful year. He won 33 midget car races and the AAA National Short Track championship. One week before his death, Willman lapped the entire 32-car field in a 100-lap midget car event. Willman died on October 12, 1941. He was racing in a midget car heat race at

Thompson International Speedway Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park (TSMP), formerly Thompson Speedway and Thompson International Speedway, is a motorsports park in Thompson, Connecticut, featuring a asphalt oval racetrack and a road racing course. Once known as the " Indiana ...

when he hit the outside wall and he rolled on to the track. The last place car hit and killed him; in the first two laps he had passed 16 cars in the 20 car field. In his career, he had won a single 100-mile Speedway race, 44 sprint car main events, and 85 midget car events.

Career awards

*He was inducted in the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame in 1992.

Personal

Willman was known to be soft-spoken and rarely talked about his racing accomplishments. He was well respected by his competitors;

Tommy Hinnershitz Thomas Paul Hinnershitz (April 6, 1912 – August 1, 1999) was an American race car driver. Hinnershitz was active through the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s on dirt, asphalt and boards, driving "Big Cars" (later Sprint Cars), at that time slightly s ...

said that Willman was the toughest driver that he competed against. Willman was married to Lorraine and he left a daughter named Betty and a son named Eugene who ended up becoming a midget car building and owner in the 1960s and 1970s.

Indianapolis 500 results

Reference:

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Willman, Tony 1907 births 1941 deaths Indianapolis 500 drivers National Sprint Car Hall of Fame inductees People from West Allis, Wisconsin Sportspeople from Milwaukee County, Wisconsin Racing drivers from Milwaukee Racing drivers who died while racing Sports deaths in Connecticut AAA Championship Car drivers