Kelly Petillo

Cavino Michele "Kelly" Petillo,[1] (December 5, 1903 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania – June 30, 1970 Los Angeles, California) was an American race car driver.

Petillo competed in the Indianapolis 500 on ten occasions, winning the race in 1935 in a year that marked the first win by a car powered by an Offenhauser engine. Petillo went on to win the 1935 AAA National Driving Championship. In 1937, Petillo participated in the Vanderbilt Cup but engine problems forced him out of the race

Off the track, Petillo had numerous run-ins with the law, including charges of attempted rape and attempted murder. Police arrested him in victory lane after winning a race at Owosso Speedway, on charges of assault to commit murder seven days earlier. He was sentenced to ten years in the Indiana State Prison. He was released on parole in 1955, but went missing. He was re-captured in 1957, incidentally, at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.[2] He was returned to prison until 1959, after which he was denied entry to the Indianapolis 500 in 1959 and 1960, officially due to age.

Petillo died of emphysema in 1970.

Indianapolis 500 results

Year Car Start Qual Rank Finish Laps Led Retired
1932 36 40 104.645 40 12 189 0 Flagged
1933 27 25 113.037 18 19 168 0 Spun & stalled
1934 17 1 119.329 1 11 200 6 Running
1935 5 22 115.095 15 1 200 102 Running
1937 25 20 124.129 2 20 109 0 Out of oil
1938 35 21 119.827 19 22 100 0 Camshaft
1939 35 24 123.660 16 18 141 0 Pistons
1940 35 13 125.331 5 21 128 0 Bearing
1941 22 19 124.417 7 27 48 0 Rod
Totals 1283 108

Starts 9
Poles 1
Front Row 1
Wins 1
Top 5 1
Top 10 1
Retired 6

Preceded by
Bill Cummings		 Indianapolis 500 Winner
1935 		Succeeded by
Louis Meyer

References

  1. ↑ "The Talk of Gasoline Alley" 10780-WIBC, May 23, 2003
  2. ↑ Mitchell, Dawn (May 23, 2014). "Retro Indy: Kelly Petillo was a Indy 500 winner with a rap sheet". The Indianapolis Star. Retrieved April 22, 2015.