Mel Hansen

Last updated • 1 min readFrom Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia
Mel Hansen
Mel Hansen 1950.jpg
Hansen, circa 1950
BornMelvin Loyd Hansen
(1911-07-07)July 7, 1911
Redfield, South Dakota, U.S.
DiedJune 5, 1963(1963-06-05) (aged 51)
Bloomington, California, U.S.
Champ Car career
21 races run over 7 years
Best finish9th (tie) (1940)
First race 1939 Indianapolis 500 (Indianapolis)
Last race 1949 DuQuoin 100 (DuQuoin)
First win 1948 Atlanta 100 (Lakewood)
Last win 1949 Springfield 100 #1 (Springfield)
WinsPodiums Poles
232

Melvin Lloyd Hansen (born July 7, 1911 – June 5, 1963) was an American racing driver. [1] [2] Hansen was nicknamed the "Firecracker Kid" because he loved to throw the explosive devices under chairs and behind people who were gathered in groups. [3]

Contents

Racing career

Hansen grew up in Bloomington, California, and began racing in stock cars in 1931 at the Riverside Fairgrounds. He continued to race these cars at other Inland Empire tracks in Riverside and Colton in the early 1930s. As this early version of track roadsters waned, he switched to midget car racing, where he achieved great success.

Midget car career

Hansen's first big win was the 1939 Turkey Night Grand Prix at Gilmore Stadium in Rex Mays' Offenhauser. Hansen raced his midget car throughout the nation in 1940, and won 53 features that season. [3] He also claimed the track championship at Fort Miami Speedway in Toledo, Ohio, that season. He won the 1942 track championship at VFW Motor Speedway in Detroit. Hansen raced in the United Racing Association in California, and won the 1945 URA Blue Circuit championship.

Championship car career

Hansen competed in six Indianapolis 500s. He best finish was an eighth-place finish in the 1940 Indianapolis 500. He won the 100-mile AAA Championship race at Atlanta, Georgia, in 1948, and won a 100-mile AAA Championship race at Springfield, Illinois, in 1949.

Accident

Hansen was paralyzed after a midget racing crash on September 8, 1949, at Detroit, and he died on June 5, 1963, after being a paraplegic for fifteen years. [2] [3]

Awards and honors

Motorsports career results

Complete AAA Championship Car results

Year1234567891011121314PosPoints
1946 INDY
11
LAN
DNP
ATL
ISF
MIL
GOS
-0
1947 INDY
27
MIL
LAN
DNS
ATL
BAI
MIL
4
GOS
MIL
13
PIK
SPR
13
ARL 25th169.5
1948 ARL
INDY
25
MIL
14
LAN
DNS
MIL
18
SPR
16
MIL
15
DUQ
16
ATL
1
PIK
SPR
11
DUQ
11
22nd220
1949 ARL
INDY
DNS
MIL
DNS
TRE
2
SPR
1
MIL
16
DUQ
14
PIK
SYR
DNQ
DET
SPR
LAN
SAC
DMR
15th376

Indianapolis 500 results

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rodger Ward</span> American racing driver (1921–2004)

Rodger Morris Ward was an American racing driver best known for his open-wheel career. He is generally regarded as one of the finest drivers of his generation, and is best known for winning two National Championships, and two Indianapolis 500s, both in 1959 and 1962. He also won the AAA National Stock Car Championship in 1951.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Troy Ruttman</span> American racing driver (1930–1997)

Troy Lynn Ruttman was an American racing driver. He is best known for winning the 1952 Indianapolis 500 - at the age of 22 years and 80 days, Ruttman remains the youngest ever winner of the event. Competing since the age of 15, he had a remarkably successful early career, winning several regional and AAA-sanctioned championships.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paul Russo</span> American racing driver (1914–1976)

Paul Frank Russo was an American racing driver.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tony Bettenhausen</span> American racing driver (1916–1961)

Melvin Eugene "Tony" Bettenhausen was an American racing driver known primarily for his open-wheel career. He twice won the National Championship, doing so in 1951 and 1958. He also competed in stock cars, winning under AAA and USAC sanction.

Mike Nazaruk was an American racecar driver. He raced midget cars, sprint cars, and IndyCars. He was nicknamed "Iron Mike."

John Ashley Thomson was an American racecar driver. Thomson was nicknamed "the Flying Scot." He won several championships in midgets and sprint cars before competing in Championship Car racing. He won the pole position for the 1959 Indianapolis 500.

Willard Saulsbury Holland was an American racing driver from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He won the Indianapolis 500 in 1949 and finished second in 1947, 1948, and 1950. He was runner-up in the 1947 American Automobile Association (AAA) National Championship.

William Lawrence Schindler was an American racing driver.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Duke Nalon</span> American racing driver (1913–2001)

Dennis Clayton "Duke" Nalon was an American racing driver. He competed in midget car, sprint car, and Indy car races. Nicknamed "The Iron Duke," Nalon was part of the "Chicago Gang" along with Tony Bettenhausen and others. These racers toured tracks in the Midwest and East Coast of the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Henry Banks</span> American racing driver (1913–1994)

Henry Edwin Banks was an American racing driver. He competed in various disciplines of open-wheel motorsport. Banks is best remembered for winning the 1950 AAA National Championship, and for his later career as a USAC race official.

John Maxwell McDowell was an American racecar driver from Delavan, Illinois. He died in a qualifying crash at the Milwaukee Mile the week after the 1952 Indy 500.

Len Sutton was an American racecar driver. He is best known for finishing second at the 1962 Indianapolis 500.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sam Hanks</span> American racing driver (1914–1994)

Samuel Dwight Hanks was an American racing driver who won the 1957 Indianapolis 500. He was a barnstormer, and raced midget and Championship cars.

Clark Thomas "Shorty" Templeman was an American racecar driver.

Travis Leon "Spider" Webb was an American racing driver. He was the 1948 American Automobile Association (AAA) Midwest Sprint Car champion. He raced in numerous AAA Championship Car races including six Indianapolis 500s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mel Kenyon</span>

Mel Kenyon is a former midget car driver. He is known as the "King of the Midgets", "Miraculous Mel" and "Champion of Midget Auto Racing." The Motorsports Hall of Fame of America says "Many consider him to be midget car racing's greatest driver ever."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rex Mays</span> American racing driver (1913–1949)

Rex Houston Mays Jr. was an American racing driver. He was a two-time National Champion, won four poles for the Indianapolis 500, and is generally regarded as one of the greatest drivers of his era.

Joe Sostilio was an auto racing driver from Natick, Massachusetts. He was born in Newton Centre, Massachusetts. He was a midget and stockcar driver.

Emil William Andres was an American racing driver active during the 1930s and 1940s.

Harry Thomas McQuinn was an American racing driver active in the 1930s and 1940s.

References

  1. "Mel Hansen". www.champcarstats.com. Retrieved 2024-03-17.
  2. 1 2 Brown, Allen. "Mel Hansen". OldRacingCars.com. Retrieved 2024-03-17.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Biography Archived 2007-09-27 at the Wayback Machine at the National Midget Auto Racing Hall of Fame
  4. "1946 AAA National Championship Trail". www.champcarstats.com. Retrieved 2023-10-05.
  5. Capps, H. Donald (October 2009). "The Curious Case of the 1946 Season: An Inconvenient Championship" (PDF). Rear View Mirror. 7 (2): 1–16.