Gary Bettenhausen (November 18, 1941 – March 16, 2014) was an American auto racing driver. He was born in Blue Island, Illinois, raised in

Tinley Park, Illinois Tinley Park (formerly Bremen) is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States, with a small portion in Will County. The village is a suburb of Chicago. Per the 2020 census, the population was 55,971. It is one of the fastest growing subur ...

, graduated in the class of 1962 from

Bremen High School (Midlothian, Illinois) Bremen High School, BHS, or simply Bremen is a public four year high school located in Midlothian, Illinois. It is the first school built as part of Bremen Community High School District 228 which also includes Tinley Park High School, Hillcrest ...

in Midlothian, Illinois and at the time of his death resided in Monrovia, Indiana.

Personal life

Bettenhausen's father was

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 ...

and sprint car legend Tony Bettenhausen. His brother was former

CART A cart or dray (Australia and New Zealand) is a vehicle designed for transport, using two wheels and normally pulled by one or a pair of draught animals. A handcart is pulled or pushed by one or more people. It is different from the flatbed ...

driver and team owner Tony. Another brother, Merle, lost his arm in a fiery crash. He married his wife Wavelyn on January 4, 1964, and the family had three children, Gary Jr., and twin sons Cary and Todd. They had two grandchildren. Cary and Todd run a medical products company in Indiana and have numerous patents. In addition, Todd is a well-known eSports gamer involved in motorsport simulation equipment. According to

radio broadcaster Mark Jaynes, the twins attended Monrovia High School with him and current Team Penske crew chief Kyle Moyer. graduating together in 1982. Bettenhausen died on March 16, 2014 in Monrovia, Indiana.

Racing career

Midgets

Bettenhausen began as 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 mo ...

driver. He finished third in the midget car national points in 1967. Biography at the National Midget Auto Racing Hall of Fame He won the first leg of the

Astro Grand Prix Astro may refer to: Entertainment and media * Astro (South Korean band), a South Korean boy band * Astro (UB40) (1957–2021), member of the British reggae band UB40 * Astro (Chilean band), a Chilean indie rock band * Astro (Japanese band), ...

in 1969, which was held in the

Astrodome The NRG Astrodome, also known as the Houston Astrodome or simply the Astrodome, is the world's first multi-purpose, domed sports stadium, located in Houston, Texas. It was financed and assisted in development by Roy Hofheinz, mayor of Houston ...

. He won the 1967 and 1970 Turkey Night Grand Prix, the 1972 Astro Grand Prix, and the 1976 Hut Hundred, on his way to a total of 27 career wins in USAC midget car competition.

Sprint cars

Bettenhausen won the 1969 and 1971 sprint car championships. He won the 1980 and 1983 USAC Dirt Track champions in a Silver Crown car. A crash at a Championship Dirt Car race (AKA Silver Crown Car) in Syracuse, New York on July 4, 1974 crushed his left arm and left it paralyzed. He regained enough mobility to drive but never fully recovered from the injury. GBettenhausenPocono

Indy/Championship Cars & Indianapolis 500

Bettenhausen competed in Champ/Indy style cars from the mid-1960s until 1996. During this time he won six USAC Indy Car races. He made 21 starts in the Indianapolis 500, contesting each event from 1968 until 1982 (with the exception of 1979 when he failed to qualify), and again from 1986 to 1993. His best finish came in 1980 when he finished third after starting 32nd in the 33-car field. In the 1972 Indianapolis 500, Bettenhausen led 138 laps (of 200), and appeared on his way to victory. But he suffered a blown engine with only 24 laps remaining, and dropped out to finish 14th. In the

1991 Indianapolis 500 The 75th Indianapolis 500 was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana, on Sunday, May 26, 1991. Rick Mears won from the pole position, becoming the third four-time winner of the Indy 500, joining A. J. Foyt and Al Unser. Duri ...

, Bettenhausen was the fastest qualifier at 224.468 mph. As his time was recorded on the second day of qualifying,

Rick Mears Rick Ravon Mears (born December 3, 1951) is a retired American race car driver. He is one of four men to win the Indianapolis 500 four times (1979, 1984, 1988, 1991) and is the current record-holder for pole positions in the race with six (197 ...

, who had qualified slower (224.113 mph), started on the pole position.

NASCAR

Bettenhausen competed in eight career

NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. The privately owned company was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1948, and ...

Winston Cup The NASCAR Cup Series is the top racing series of the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR). The series began in 1949 as the Strictly Stock Division, and from 1950 to 1970 it was known as the Grand National Division. In 1971, ...

events.http://racing-reference.info/driver?id=bettega01 Biography at racing-reference.info He had four Top 10 finishes. His highest career finish was a fourth-place finish at the 1974

Motor State 360 The NASCAR Cup Series has held stock car races annually at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, Michigan since 1969. Traditionally, the track held two Cup Series races, one in June, around Father's Day weekend and another in August. The ...

at the Michigan International Speedway.

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 h ...

in 1993. *He was a 1998 inductee in the National Midget Auto Racing Hall of Fame.

Motorsports career results

American open-wheel racing

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position)

USAC Championship Car

PPG Indy Car World Series

=Indianapolis 500

NASCAR

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

Grand National Series

Winston Cup Series

=Daytona 500

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bettenhausen, Gary 1941 births 2014 deaths People from Tinley Park, Illinois Racing drivers from Illinois Indianapolis 500 drivers Champ Car drivers NASCAR drivers National Sprint Car Hall of Fame inductees People from Monrovia, Indiana People from Blue Island, Illinois Bettenhausen family Team Penske drivers USAC Silver Crown Series drivers Bettenhausen Racing drivers