Chuck Arnold... Born ... Arnold drove sporadically in the USAC Championship Car series, racing between 1959 and 1968, with 11 starts, including the 1959 Indianapolis 500. He finished in the top ten 3 times, with his best finish in 5th position, in 1959 at Trenton.
Floyd Roberts... Died ... AAA driver who raced in the 1930's. He won the Indianapolis 500 in 1938 with a record speed of 117.2 mph. He led for 92 laps. The following year, 1939, driving the same car, he was killed in a crash on the backstretch after hitting a wooden fence at near 100 mph. Roberts was the first former winner and defending champion of the race to have been killed while competing.
Bob King won the AAA Midwest Sprint Car race at the Winchester Speedway,Winchester, IN
Potsy Goacher won the first feature of the Night Before the 500 AAA Midget races and Johnny Kay won the second feature at the West 16th Street Speedway, Indianapolis, IN.
Bill Vukovich was killed in a chain-reaction crash while holding a 17-second lead on the 57th lap of the 1955 Indianapolis 500. Vukovich was exiting the second turn, trailing three slower cars , driven by Rodger Ward, Al Keller, and Johnny Boyd, when Ward's car swerved as the result of a strong gust of wind. Keller, swerving into the infield to avoid Ward, lost control and slid back onto the track, striking Boyd's car and pushing it into Vukovich's oncoming path. Vukovich's car struck Boyd's, became airborne, and landed upside down after going over the outside backstretch retaining wall and somersaulting several times, killing him.
Eddie Sachs ... Died ... He was known as the "Caped Crusader of Auto Racing" and "Clown Prince of Auto Racing" for his personality at the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race. He was the father of race car driver and NASCAR car owner Eddie Sachs, Jr. His career included eight USAC Championship Trail wins, 25 top-five finishes in 65 career AAA and USAC starts, including the 1958 USAC Midwest Sprint Car Championship. He won consecutive pole positions (1960-1961) for the Indianapolis 500, finishing second in 1961 for his best finish. Sachs and sports car driver and Indy rookie Dave MacDonald were killed on the second lap of the 1964 Indianapolis 500 in a fiery crash involving seven cars.
Jud Larson won the 30 lap USAC Sprint Car race at the Winchester Speedway, Winchester,IN. Carl Williams finished second followed by Bob Pratt, Bob Harkey and Al Smith.
Mel Kenyon won the 100 lap Night Before The 500 USAC Midget race at the Kokomo Speedway , Kokomo,IN.
Russ Klar won the ARDC Midget race at the Wall Township Speedway, Belmar,NJ.
Bobby Abel won the Super Modified race at the Susquehanna Speedway Park, Newberrytown, PA.
Rick Mears, trailing Gordon Johncock by more than 10 seconds with a dozen laps to go, mounts a furious charge that gets him even as they take the white flag. But Johncock is able to hold on over the final lap and wins by 0.16 seconds, the 500's closest finish to that point.
Neil Bonnett won the World 600 NASCAR Winston Cup race at the Charlotte Motor Speedway, Concord, NC
Mark Martin gets his first of a Nationwide Series-leading 48 victories, winning the Budweiser 200 at Dover. Martins wins by 5 seconds over Larry Pearson.
Helio Castroneves won the 105th Indianapolis 500 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Speedway, IN. Castroneves joined the exclusive club of four-time Indianapolis 500 winners with a stunning victory. Castroneves matched A.J. Foyt (1961, 1964, 1967, 1977), Al Unser (1970, 1971, 1978, 1987) and Rick Mears (1979, 1984, 1988, 1991) as four-time winners of "The Greatest Spectacle in Racing." The Brazilian’s previous victories came in 2001, 2002 and 2009, all as a full-time driver with Team Penske, the winningest team in Indianapolis 500 history.
Kyle Larson won the the Coca-Cola 600 NASCAR Cup race at the Charlotte Motor Speedway, Concord, NC., and in the process gave team owner Rick Hendrick a record 269th victory, most in NASCAR Cup Series history. Teammate Chase Elliott was second 10.051-seconds back followed by Kyle Busch with Hendrick drivers William Byron and Alex Bowman running fourth and fifth, respectively. Larson won all 4 stages of the race.
ONE DAY
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