Gary Bettenhausen

Gary Bettenhausen
Born	(1941-11-18) November 18, 1941 Tinley Park, Illinois
Awards	1993 National Sprint Car Hall of Fame Inductee 1998 National Midget Auto Racing Hall of Fame inductee 1967 and 1971 Sprint car champion 1980 and 1983 USAC Silver Crown champion
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series career
8 race(s) run over 2 year(s)
Best finish	43rd - 1974 (Grand National)
First race	1967 Daytona 500 (Daytona)
Last race	1974 Motor State 360 (Michigan)

Gary Bettenhausen (born November 18, 1941) is a retired American auto racing driver. He was born in Blue Island, Illinois, raised in Tinley Park, Illinois, and currently resides in Monrovia, Indiana.

Racing family

His father was Indianapolis 500 and sprint car legend Tony Bettenhausen. His brother was former CART driver and team owner Tony. Another brother, Merle, was injured in a fiery crash.

Racing career

Midgets

He began as a midget car driver. He finished third in the midget car national points in 1967.^[1] He won the first leg of the Astro Grand Prix in 1969, which was held in the Astrodome. He won the 1967 and 1970 Turkey Night Grand Prix, the 1972 Astro Grand Prix, and the 1976 Hut Hundred. He has 27 career USAC midget wins.

Sprint cars

He won the 1969 and 1971 sprint car championships.^[1]

He won the 1980 and 1983 USAC Dirt Track champions in Silver Crown car.^[1]

A crash at a Championship Dirt Car race (AKA Silver Crown Car) in Syracuse, New York on July 2, 1974 crushed Gary's left arm and left it paralyzed. He regained enough mobility to drive but has never fully recovered from the injury.

Bettenhausen racing in CART at Pocono Raceway in 1984

Indy style cars/Indianapolis 500

He competed in Indy style cars from the mid-'1960s until 1996. During this time he won six USAC Indy Car races. Gary made 21 starts in the Indy '500, contesting each event from 1968 until 1982 (with the exception of 1979 when he failed to qualify), and again from 1986 to 1993.^[1] His best finish came in 1980 when he finished third after starting 32nd in the 33-car field. He led the 1972 Indianapolis 500 for 138 of the 200 laps, suffering a mechanical failure with just a few laps to go.

NASCAR

He competed in eight career NASCAR Winston Cup events.^[2] He had four Top 10 finishes. His highest career finish was a fourth place finish at the 1974 Motor State 360 at the Michigan International Speedway in 1974.^[2]

Awards

• He was inducted in the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame in 1993.
• He was a 1998 inductee in the National Midget Auto Racing Hall of Fame.^[1]

Indy 500 results

References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 http://www.worthyofhonor.com/Inductees/Gary_Bettenhausen.htm Biography at the National Midget Auto Racing Hall of Fame
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 http://racing-reference.info/driver?id=bettega01 Biography at racing-reference.info