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Chuck Weyant
Chuck Weyant (April 3, 1923 – January 24, 2017) was an American racecar driver. He was born in St. Mary's, Ohio. Until his death, Weyant was the oldest living Indianapolis 500 veteran. He died on January 24, 2017, at the age of 93. Midget cars Weyant came from a racing family. He started out racing against his brother and father in the early 1940s before the US joined World War II. He had his first win in 1947 after the war. Weyant won track titles at Charleston and Belleville, Illinois. The finished in the top 25 in the National points battle nine times between 1951 and 1971. He won at least 64 feature events, including 13 National events.Biography
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Kurtis Kraft
Kurtis Kraft was an American designer and builder of race cars. The company built midget cars, quartermidgets, sports cars, sprint cars, Bonneville cars, and USAC Championship cars. It was founded by Frank Kurtis when he built his own midget car chassis in the late 1930s.Biography
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Kurtis built some very low fiberglass bodied two-seaters sports cars under his own name in between 1949 and 1955.
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American Automobile Association
American Automobile Association (AAA) is a federation of motor clubs throughout North America. AAA is a privately held not-for-profit national member association and service organization with over 60 million members in the United States and Canada. AAA provides services to its members, including roadside assistance and others. Its national headquarters are in Heathrow, Florida. History The American Automobile Association (AAA) was founded on March 4, 1902, in Chicago, Illinois, in response to a lack of roads and highways suitable for automobiles.Automobile Men Organize
. ''Minneapolis Daily Times''. March 5, 1902. p. 6.
At that time, nine motor clubs with a total of 1,500 members banded together to form the AAA. Those individual motor clubs included the Chicago Automobile Club, Automobile Club of America, Automobile Club of N ...
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Indianapolis 500 Drivers
Indianapolis ( ), colloquially known as Indy, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Indiana, most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana, Marion County. Indianapolis is situated in the state's central till plain region along the west fork of the White River (Indiana), White River. The city's official slogan, "Crossroads of America", reflects its historic importance as a transportation hub and its relative proximity to other major North American markets. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the Indianapolis (balance), balance population was 887,642. Indianapolis is the List of United States cities by population, 16th-most populous city in the U.S., the third-most populous city in the Midwestern United States, Midwest after Chicago and Columbus, Ohio, and the fourth-most populous state capital in the nation after Phoenix, Arizona, Phoenix, Austin, Texas, Austin, and Columbu ...
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2017 Deaths
This is a list of lists of deaths of notable people, organized by year. New deaths articles are added to their respective month (e.g., Deaths in ) and then linked below. 2025 2024 2023 2022 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011 2010 2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002 2001 2000 1999 1998 1997 1996 1995 1994 1993 1992 1991 1990 1989 1988 1987 1986 Earlier years ''Deaths in years earlier than this can usually be found in the main articles of the years.'' See also * Lists of deaths by day * Deaths by year (category) {{DEFAULTSORT:deaths by year ...
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1923 Births
In Greece, this year contained only 352 days as 13 days was skipped to achieve the calendrical switch from Julian to Gregorian Calendar. It happened there that Wednesday, 15 February ''(Julian Calendar)'' was followed by Thursday, 1 March ''(Gregorian Calendar).'' Events January–February * January 9, January 5 – Lithuania begins the Klaipėda Revolt to annex the Klaipėda Region (Memel Territory). * January 11 – Despite strong British protests, troops from France and Belgium Occupation of the Ruhr, occupy the Ruhr area, to force Germany to make reparation payments. * January 17 (or 9) – First flight of the first rotorcraft, Juan de la Cierva's Cierva C.4 autogyro, in Spain. (It is first demonstrated to the military on January 31.) * February 5 – Australian cricketer Bill Ponsford makes 429 runs to break the world record for the highest first-class cricket score for the first time in his third match at this level, at Melbourne Cricket Ground, giving the Victor ...
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1958 Indianapolis 500
The 42nd International 500-Mile Sweepstakes was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Friday, May 30, 1958. The event was part of the 1958 USAC National Championship Trail, and was also race 4 of 11 in the 1958 World Championship of Drivers. The race is best known for a massive first-lap, 15-car pileup that resulted in the death of fan-favorite driver Pat O'Connor. Jimmy Bryan was the race winner. This marked the first time that one car would carry two drivers to separate wins at the race, in back-to-back years, with Sam Hanks winning the previous year's race in the same car. The race featured young rookie A. J. Foyt's debut at Indy. On lap 148, he spun in an oil slick, blew out the tires, and dropped out of the race. Juan Manuel Fangio arrived at Indy under much fanfare as he attempted to qualify for the Indy 500 and score points towards the World Championship. He practiced early in the month, but withdrew when he could not get up to speed. Time trials Time trials ...
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1957 Indianapolis 500
The 41st International 500-Mile Sweepstakes was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Thursday, May 30, 1957. The event was part of the 1957 USAC National Championship Trail and it was the third race of the eight-race 1957 World Championship of Drivers. Sam Hanks won the Indianapolis 500 in his thirteenth attempt, the most such by any 500 winner. He retired from competition at Indy in victory lane. Contrary to popular belief, Hanks did not completely retire from racing until the end of the year. He skipped the Race of Two Worlds when his entrant withdrew, but competed in USAC Stock Car events later in the year, winning the event at Trenton, and finished third in points championships for 1957. Hanks received a record $103,844 purse, the first driver to win a $100,000 single-race payday. The total race purse was also a record, over $300,000 for the first time. Hanks won the race in George Salih's "Lay-down Offy". The Offenhauser engine was mounted on its side and shif ...
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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 spectators. Opened in 1903 as a dirt track, it was paved in 1954. In addition to the oval, there is a road circuit located in the infield. As the oldest operating motor speedway in the world, the Milwaukee Mile has hosted at least one auto race every year from 1903 to 2025 (except during U.S. involvement in World War II). The track has held events sanctioned by major bodies, such as the American Automobile Association, AAA, United States Automobile Club, USAC, NASCAR, Championship Auto Racing Teams, CART/Champ Car World Series, CCWS, and the IndyCar Series. There have also been many races in regional series such as ARTGO. Famous racers who have won at the track include: Barney Oldfield, Ralph DePalma, Rex Mays, Ted Horn, Johnny Mantz, Norm Nels ...
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Las Vegas Park Speedway
The Las Vegas Park was a horse and automobile racing facility in Las Vegas, Nevada. It was built to be a horse racing facility and it held single races in NASCAR Grand National Series, AAA, and USAC Stock cars before it was demolished. It opened as the Las Vegas Jockey Club. History Construction Joseph M. Smoot hitched a ride from lawyer Hank Greenspun to get from New York City to Las Vegas. He claimed to have helped build tracks in California and Florida which turned out to be untrue. The track was built to be a major horse racing facility on the south side of Las Vegas. Smoot funded the track by convincing 8000 shareholders to give him $2 million. "Old Joe knew a track wouldn't have a chance and he said so when he came here in 1946," Greenspun later said in his biography. After the construction was delayed well past its original opening date, Smoot published an apology in a local newspaper. Smoot and two others were charged with felony embezzlement after he could not provide r ...
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Indianapolis 500
The Indianapolis 500, formally known as the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, and commonly shortened to Indy 500, is an annual automobile race held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana, United States, an enclave suburb of Indianapolis. The event is traditionally held over Memorial Day weekend, usually the last weekend of May. It is contested as part of the IndyCar Series, the top level of American open-wheel car racing, a formula colloquially known as "Indy car racing". The track itself is nicknamed the "Brickyard", as the racing surface was first paved in brick in the fall of 1909. One yard of brick remains exposed at the start/finish line. The event, billed as ''The Greatest Spectacle in Racing'', is considered part of the Triple Crown of Motorsport along with the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the Monaco Grand Prix, with which it has frequently shared a date. The inaugural race was held in 1911 and was won by Ray Harroun. The event celebrated its 100th anniversary ...
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Championship Car
American open-wheel car racing, generally and commonly known as Indy car racing, is a category of professional automobile racing in the United States. As of 2025, the top-level American open-wheel racing championship is sanctioned by IndyCar and is known as the IndyCar Series. Competitive events for professional-level, open-wheel race cars have been conducted under the auspices of various sanctioning bodies, and traces it roots as far back as 1902. A season-long, points-based, ''National Championship'' of drivers has been officially recognized in 1905, 1916, and each year since 1920 (except for a hiatus during WWII). As such, for many years, this discipline of motorsports was known as Championship car racing (or Champ car racing for short). That name has fallen from use, and the term ''Indy car'' racing (derived from the Indy 500) has become the preferred moniker. The machines, typically referred to as "Indy cars", are a formula of single-seat, open cockpit, open-wheel, purpos ...
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United States Automobile 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 United States National Championship, and from 1956 to 1997 the organization sanctioned the Indianapolis 500. USAC serves as the sanctioning body for a number of racing series, including the Silver Crown Series, National Sprint Cars, National Midgets, Speed2 Midget Series, .25 Midget Series, Stadium Super Trucks, and GT World Challenge America. Seven-time USAC champion Levi Jones is USAC's Competition Director. History When the American Automobile Association (AAA) withdrew from auto racing after the 1955 season, citing the Le Mans disaster and the death of Bill Vukovich at Indianapolis as contributing factors, both the SCCA and NASCAR were mentioned as its potential successor. Ultimately, USAC was formed by Indianapolis Motor Speedway owner Tony Hulman. It became the arbiter of rules, car design, and other matters for what it terme ...
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