Merle Bettenhausen[1] (born June 9, 1943) is a former American race car driver. The second oldest member of the Bettenhausen racing family, he is the son of Tony Bettenhausen and the brother of Gary Bettenhausen and Tony Bettenhausen Jr.
Merle's USACChamp Car racing career was brief and tragic. Three laps into his first Champ Car race on a paved track, Michigan International Speedway on July 16, 1972, he tangled with Mike Hiss and crashed into the outside wall. The car exploded in flames and Merle tried to climb out while it was still moving. His right arm became trapped between the car and the wall and was torn off.[2]
He currently resides in Indianapolis and works in the retail automobile business. He has a son, Ryan Bettenhausen, and daughter, Tracy Jennings.
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.
Paul Russo was an American racecar driver.
Melvin Eugene "Tony" Bettenhausen was an American racing driver, who won the National Championship in 1951 and 1958.
Gary Bettenhausen was an American midget car driver. He was the winner the 1967 and 1970 Turkey Night Grand Prix, the 1972 Astro Grand Prix, and the 1976 Hut Hundred.
Tony Lee Bettenhausen Jr. was a Champ Car team owner and driver who died in a 2000 plane crash. He was the son of former 14-time Indianapolis 500 competitor Tony Bettenhausen and the brother of 21-time Indy 500 racer Gary Bettenhausen. Another brother, Merle Bettenhausen, was critically injured in his only Indy Car start.
Robin Lee Miller was an American motorsports journalist. Miller was best known for being a writer at The Indianapolis Star from 1968–2001. He also wrote for Autoweek, Car and Driver, ESPN and Speed. At the time of his death, he was a correspondent and senior writer for RACER magazine and website, while also reporting on IndyCar Series broadcasts for NBCSN.
The 45th International 500-Mile Sweepstakes was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana on Tuesday, May 30, 1961. For the first time since 1949, the Indianapolis 500 was not recognized on the World Championship calendar. The race celebrated the 50th anniversary of the first Indy 500 in 1911.
The 64th 500 Mile International Sweepstakes was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana on Sunday, May 25, 1980. Johnny Rutherford won the pole position, led 118 laps, and won the race by a commanding 29.92 second margin. After failing to finish the race the year before, Jim Hall's radical new Chaparral 2K ground effects chassis was a heavy favorite entering the month, and drove a flawless race. Rutherford, the winner in 1974 and 1976, became the sixth driver to win the Indy 500 three times.
Bill Alsup was an American race car driver. He was the first Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART) Rookie of the Year in 1979 and competed in the 1981 Indianapolis 500, finishing 11th. He made 57 CART & USAC Champ Car starts in his career. His best race finish of third came 3 times and he was the 1981 CART Championship runner-up, putting in a winless but consistent season for Penske Racing, his only effort with a top-level team. He returned to his own team the next year and struggled until leaving Champ Car following the 1984 Sanair Super Speedway race.
HVM Racing was an auto racing team owned by Keith Wiggins that competed in the IndyCar Series. It competed in the Champ Car World Series in 2007 as Minardi Team USA when it was co-owned by Paul Stoddart. It has a long history of changes of ownership, including a previous incarnation as CTE-HVM Racing, co-owned by actor/comedian Cedric the Entertainer.
The ABC Supply Wisconsin 250 at Milwaukee IndyFest Presented by the Metro Milwaukee Honda Dealers was an IndyCar Series race held at the Milwaukee Mile in West Allis, Wisconsin.
Lewis Henry Moore was an American racecar driver. He was most known during his racing career for qualifying on the pole position of the 1932 Indianapolis 500. He was later remembered as a five-time Indianapolis 500 winning owner, a record which stood until 1987.
Michael Greenfield is an American former owner-driver in the CART series. Born in Whitestone, New York. In 1985, his first season of SCCA Formula Atlantic racing, Michael finished 2nd in the SCCA National Championship Run Offs at Road Atlanta. During the years 1986 and 1987 he competed in the ECAR Formula Atlantic Championship with a total of 5 wins, finishing 3rd in points in 1987. He made 6 Indy Lights starts in 1988 with Chip Ganassi Racing with one win on his series debut at Pocono. In 1989, with Bettenhausen Racing's 1987 Lola chassis, he attempted to qualify for the Indianapolis 500 but failed to do so, as did teammate Tony Bettenhausen. The same year at the Pocono Raceway event Michael crashed heavily in practice, failing to qualify there as well. In 1990, teamed with his father Peter, they placed first in the Camel Lights division at the 24 Hours of Daytona. He also returned to the CART series that year with a 1987 Lola chassis and competed in 7 races, his career-best finish of 12th coming in at the Meadowlands race. He also ran two more races with Dale Coyne Racing and competed in the 24 Hours of Daytona in 1991, then returned in 1994 and 1995 to attempt to qualify for the Indy 500 with a 1993 Lola powered by a pushrod V8 engine designed and built by his father Peter. In 1994 Michael was not able to complete rookie orientation and the team was forced to hire Johnny Parsons to drive the car, however, it never came up to speed and they did not make a qualifying attempt. In 1995 Michael took over driving duties but again failed to make a qualifying attempt. The team could not get up to speed due to a major reduction of turbo boost for the pushrod V-8s.
The 1981 CART PPG Indy Car World Series season, the third in the CART era of U.S. open-wheel racing, consisted of 11 races, beginning in Avondale, Arizona on March 22 and concluding at the same location on October 31. The PPG Indy Car World Series Drivers' Champion was Rick Mears despite missing Round 2 at Milwaukee due to injuries sustained in the Indianapolis 500. Rookie of the Year was Bob Lazier. After the disagreement with the USAC during the previous season, the 65th Indianapolis 500 was not part of the Series, however no competing race was scheduled and most CART teams and drivers did take part.
The 1982 CART PPG Indy Car World Series season, the fourth in the CART era of U.S. open-wheel racing, consisted of 11 races, beginning in Avondale, Arizona on March 28 and concluding at the same location on November 6. The PPG Indy Car World Series Drivers' Champion was Rick Mears. Rookie of the Year was Bobby Rahal.
The Las Vegas Park Speedway 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.
The 1963 Tony Bettenhausen 200 was the seventh round of the 1963 USAC Championship Car season, held on August 18, 1963, at the 1-mile (1.6 km) Milwaukee Mile, in West Allis, Wisconsin.
The Lotus 29 was a British racing car built by Team Lotus for the 1963 Indianapolis 500. It was their first attempt at the event and the two cars which were entered finished second and seventh in the hands of Jim Clark and Dan Gurney. Although they were not the first rear-engined cars built for the category, they were first to prove that the configuration was definitely a potential race-winner, and that the days of the big and heavy front-engined roadsters were numbered.
William Alan Horstmeyer was an American racing driver from Madison, Wisconsin.
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