Wally Dallenbach Sr. (born December 12, 1936) is a former
Indy car driver from
East Brunswick Township, New Jersey, USA. He drove in 180 Indy Car races between 1965 and 1979, winning five times. He is the father of
NASCAR driver and commentator,
Wally Dallenbach Jr.
Wally Dallenbach Jr. (born May 23, 1963) is an American racing driver who formerly competed in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series. He competed in 226 Winston Cup races from 1991 to 2001 and had 23 top 10 finishes. The son of open wheel racer and forme ...
Biography
Dallenbach nearly won the 1975
Indianapolis 500, dueling with
A. J. Foyt for many laps. He led for half of the race, but burned a
piston
A piston is a component of reciprocating engines, reciprocating pumps, gas compressors, hydraulic cylinders and pneumatic cylinders, among other similar mechanisms. It is the moving component that is contained by a cylinder and is made gas-tig ...
on lap 162, twelve laps before the race was called due to rain.
Bobby Unser won the race, which was halted at lap 174 (435 miles).
He joined CART as competition director in 1980 and became chief steward of the sport in 1981, a position he held until 2004. Under his tenure, he improved the safety program in CART. He also established nondenominational church services for drivers and their families.
Dallenbach has been inducted into the Colorado Sports Hall of Fame, due to his exploits at the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb, and the New Jersey Sports Hall of Fame. Dallenbach was also voted into the
American Motorcyclist Association
The American Motorcyclist Association (AMA) is an American nonprofit organization of more than 200,000 motorcyclists that organizes numerous motorcycling activities and campaigns for motorcyclists' legal rights. Its mission statement is "to promo ...
Motorcycle Hall of Fame, for his work as founder and president of the Colorado 500 Invitational charity motorcycle rides.
Dallenbach was voted into the Colorado Motorsports Hall of Fame.
He will be inducted into the
Motorsports Hall of Fame of America on March 17, 2020.
[2020 Inductees]
at the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America
He is the brother of the former
Pillar of Fire International superintendent
Robert Barney Dallenbach
Robert Barney Dallenbach (born August 6, 1927) is a bishop in the Pillar of Fire International. He also was the church's fifth general superintendent until losing a vote of confidence at the 2008 Pillar of Fire annual camp meeting convention. He ...
.
Racing results
Indy 500 results
*In 1972, Dallenbach was bumped on the final day of time trials.
Art Pollard crashed his qualified car on May 16, and was too injured to drive on race day. Dallenbach was hired to fill the seat, and the car was moved to 33rd starting position.
USAC Champ Car 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 ...
) (Races in bold indicate pole position)
CART IndyCar Series 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 ...
)
Current life
Dallenbach maintains his interest in motorsports as the president of the Colorado 500 motorcycle race. This event has raised over a million dollars in community support
The Colorado 500 Online
/ref> for the town of Basalt, Colorado, located in the Roaring Fork Valley region of western Colorado.
He owns a ranch, fairground, cabins and a private automotive restoration garage near the Fryingpan River
The Fryingpan River is a tributary of the Roaring Fork River, approximately long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed March 18, 2011 in Eagle and Pitkin counties in Colora ...
in upper Basalt.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dallenbach, Wally Sr.
1936 births
Champ Car drivers
Indianapolis 500 drivers
International Race of Champions drivers
Living people
People from East Brunswick, New Jersey
Racing drivers from New Jersey
Sportspeople from the New York metropolitan area
People from Basalt, Colorado
USAC Silver Crown Series drivers