Tony Bettenhausen

Lore & Background

Bettenhausen was nicknamed the 'Tinley Park Express' in honor of his hometown. He was nicknamed 'Tunney' after heavyweight boxing champion Gene Tunney, which later became 'Tony'. He was part of the midget car 'Chicago Gang' with Emil Andres, Cowboy O'Rourke, Paul Russo, Jimmy Snyder, and Wally Zale. He won the track championship at the Milwaukee Mile in 1942, 1946, and 1947, and was the Chicago Raceway Park champion in 1941, 1942, and 1947. In October 1950, his car locked wheels with another racer's car in Sacramento, California, causing a crash through the guard rail that resulted in fatal injuries to spectator Peter Bernard Stuberak and injuries to two other spectators. He won the 1959 Turkey Night Grand Prix and the Hut Hundred in 1955 and 1956. He drove in the AAA and USAC Championship Car series, with 121 starts including 14 in the Indianapolis 500, finishing in the top ten 74 times with 21 victories. He won the National Championship in 1951 after eight victories and two second-place finishes in fourteen events, then announced retirement from all racing but the Indianapolis 500. He returned full-time in 1954. He was involved in a midget car wreck in Chicago, suffering head injuries after striking a concrete wall, and was in critical condition for several days. He prearranged to co-drive with Paul Russo in the 1955 Indianapolis 500, finishing second. In 1958, he became the first driver to claim the National Championship without a win, assured with a second-place finish at Phoenix. He finished second in the national championship to Rodger Ward in 1959. He participated in all 11 World Drivers' Championship races held at Indianapolis, finishing in the top three once, setting one fastest leader lap, and scoring 11 points. He was killed in a May 12, 1961 crash at Indianapolis while testing a Stearly Motor Freight Special vehicle for Paul Russo. The crash was caused by an anchor bolt that fell off the front radius rod support, causing the front axle to twist and misalign the front wheels when brakes were applied, driving the car into the wall. He died instantly and was buried at Crown Hill Cemetery and Arboretum, Section 58, Lot 110. He was the father of Gary Bettenhausen, Tony Bettenhausen Jr., and Merle Bettenhausen. He has been inducted into the Auto Racing Hall of Fame (1968), National Midget Auto Racing Hall of Fame (1985), International Motorsports Hall

In Their Own Story

The sun was low over the Milwaukee Mile, casting long amber shadows across the concrete. Tony sat in his car, hands wrapped around the wheel, feeling the vibration of the Offenhauser idle through the steering column. He could smell the oil, the hot rubber, the faint metallic tang of the track surface. Around him, the pit crew moved in practiced silence, wrenches clicking, tires spinning. He didn't look at them. He never did. He looked at the track, at the white line, at the turn one where he'd lost a fender last year and where he'd won the race the year before. The green flag would drop in two minutes. He could hear the crowd, thousands of them, a low roar like the lake in winter. He exhaled, felt his heart settle into that cold, focused rhythm he'd carried since he was a kid in a Milwaukee garage, turning wrenches on a friend's roadster. He wasn't thinking about the crowd. He wasn't thinking about the trophy, or the sponsors, or the story the papers would write. He was thinking about the car in front of him, the gap, the angle, the exact moment to commit. He always committed. That was the thing about Tony. That was the whole thing.

Reader's Guide

Tony Bettenhausen was a two-time National Champion (1951, 1958) and a 14-time Indianapolis 500 starter, with a best finish of second in 1955. He never won the Indianapolis 500. He died in a testing crash at Indianapolis in 1961. His hometown was Tinley Park, Illinois, not Milwaukee.

Did You Know?

• Bettenhausen was nicknamed the 'Tinley Park Express' after his hometown.
• He was the first driver to win the National Championship without a victory (1958).
• He co-drove with Paul Russo to a second-place finish in the 1955 Indianapolis 500.
• His fatal crash at Indianapolis was caused by a loose anchor bolt on the front radius rod support.