John Mahler (born November 16, 1936, Alpha, Iowa), is a former open wheel race car driver in the USAC and CART

Championship Car American open-wheel car racing, also known as Indy car racing, is a category of professional automobile racing in the United States. As of 2022, the top-level American open-wheel racing championship is sanctioned by IndyCar. Competitive event ...

series. He raced in the 1970-1973 and 1976-1981 seasons, with 39 combined career starts, including the 1972 and 1977-1979

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 ...

. He finished in the top ten 6 times, with his best finish in 6th position in 1970 at the

Indianapolis Raceway Park Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park (formerly Indianapolis Raceway Park, O'Reilly Raceway Park at Indianapolis, and Lucas Oil Raceway) is an auto racing facility in Brownsburg, Indiana, United States, about northwest of downtown Indianapolis. I ...

road course. Mahler qualified for the

1971 Indianapolis 500 The 55th 500 Mile International Sweepstakes was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana on Saturday, May 29, 1971. Al Unser Sr. won for the second consecutive year, dominating most of the race. Unser became the fourth driver ...

but was replaced by his teammate who did not qualify,

Dick Simon Richard Raymond Simon (born September 21, 1933) is retired American auto racing driver and racing team owner. Simon drove Indy cars in USAC and CART, and made 17 starts at the Indianapolis 500. At the 1988 Indianapolis 500, Simon set a record ...

, due to sponsorship commitments. Mahler was presented with the American Auto Racing Writers and Broadcasters Association Jigger Award for the driver with the most hard luck. He was a member of the 1977 and 1979 Last Row Party for earning a position in the 11th and final row of the starting grid. Mahler currently owns and operates Classic Concrete Designs in Kansas City, Missouri.

Complete motorsports results

American Open-Wheel racing results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position, races in ''italics'' indicate fastest race lap)

SCCA National Championship Runoffs

Indianapolis 500 results

External links

Driver Database Profile
1936 births Mahlar, John Living people Indianapolis 500 drivers People from Fayette County, Iowa Racing drivers from Iowa SCCA National Championship Runoffs participants {{US-autoracing-bio-stub