Walt hansgen race car driver

His racing career began as a road racing driver, made his grand prix debut at 41 and 46 when he died, several days after crashing during testing for the 1966 24 hours of le mans. Walt hansgen the champ car and indy car online stats. Donohue credited hansgen with introducing him to auto racing and. Walt hansgen at vir by phil allen, with thanks to fred rice. Nov 21, 2019 in 1972, the sommerdale, new jerseynative won the race with car owner roger penske. Click on the site to see walt hansgens career results at that track. The younger sibling served his country during world war ii before working as a welder in. Dirt track legend who died after colliding with red riegel in an usac sprint race.

Aug 21, 1975 he won three national sports car championships as an amateur before he turned professional in 1966, first as the late walt hansgens co. The car changed hands several times, and millstein first saw it at mount equinox in 1979. Hansgens successful racing career aside, he was a very active member of the northern new jersey region where he held the regional executive position. He competed in three nextel cup series events in his career, managing to earn a topten in each outing. Oct 15, 2006 hansgen campaigned the car successfully in 1953, winning at such events as the watkins glen grand prix. A car crash during the midwinter race at californias imperial fairgrounds 1976. Walter edwin hansgen october 28, 1919 april 7, 1966 was an american racecar driver.

Walt hansgen was a star in both sports cars and singleseaters, and his meteoric career carried him from the early days of amateur road racing to the very highest level of professional competition in america and europe. Hansgen entered five formula 1 races, qualifying in two, both at watkins glen. He was the scca national champion four times in a row from 1956 to 1959 in the openwheel racing, hansgen started two times in formula 1 grand prix races and two times at indianapolis 500. I wonder if the car would have finished though doug nye has a photo of walt during the race sitting way forward in the car to avoid an engine fire raging behind him. Hansgen looks over a photo with barc founder dave nicholas in 1959. They worked with track owners by recommending and supporting spectator barriers, runoff areas, modern pits, equipment standards and race control training. He qualified on the pole but his 3442 cc 250 hp d jaguar was overpowered by carroll shelbys 4477 cc 400 hp 450 maserati.

Click on the site to see walt hansgen s career results at that track glossary. As the lead driver on briggs cunningham s dominant team, and later john mecoms team, walt evaluated and developed race cars working closely with jaguar, lister, maserati, and ford. Dad is next to this car and won the race, but he was driving a rearengine scarab. The car that launched walt hansgens racing career walter e. The bob millstein walt hansgen jaguar xk120 special. A veteran of world war ii, after the war he was a notable test driver and successful road racing driver in the us, including four wins in the scca national championships. Walter edwin hansgen october 28, 1919 april 7, 1966 was a racecar driver from the united states. May 19, 2016 before the dealers, the truck rentals, and the team ownership that saw him set records at the indy 500, roger penske was a hugely successful driver. Hansgen campaigned the car successfully in 1953, winning at such events as the watkins glen grand prix. Walt hansgenmark donohue ford mark ii makes a pit stop. Hansgen was born on october 28, 1919 and grew up in a northern new jersey small town. In the best year ever for american sports car racing, walt hansgen had the highest marks in those events that grouped the most powerful cars and finest drivers. Apr 18, 2018 car and driver revisited the pontiac vs.

Brickyard vintage racing invitational the pedigree of the brickyard vintage racing invitational june 2021 at the indianapolis motor speedway is elite, for both machines and drivers. At different points in his career he paired with dan gurney, stirling moss, john fitch, archie scott brown, and augie pabst on circuits as farflung as watkins glen, le mans, silverstone, sebring, and road america. Then there is footage of coming out of turn two for the second time. He goes rather low into the turn but so is hansgen as well as the car right behind dave. Miscellaneous all races for a year all races on a specific date random page chase races road course stats restrictor plate races. Before the dealers, the truck rentals, and the team ownership that saw him set records at the indy 500, roger penske was a hugely successful driver. Driver walt hansgen 1965 nascar grand national results. Before roger penske was a billionaire, he was a very. Fred hansgen ran a car repair shop in westfield, new jersey so his sons fred jr and walter grew up. Briggs realized that lemans was not a race, but an endurance contest, he said. Ford v ferrari 2019 cast and crew credits, including actors, actresses, directors, writers and more. In 1972, the sommerdale, new jerseynative won the race with car owner roger penske.

Ferrari also stars the wolf of wall streets jon bernthal as lee iacocca, the head of ford motor company in the 1960s. He worked in his familys automotive body shop until the age of 32, when bitten hard by the racing bug he scraped and borrowed to purchase a 1951 xk120 brand new from the jaguar dealer in morristown. Active drivers career stats nascar cup series xfinity series gander outdoor truck series pintys series ntt indycar series arca menards series. Pages in category racing drivers from new jersey the following 62 pages are in this category, out of 62 total. One of the greatest american sports car drivers of the 1950s, hansgen built a mighty reputation with his own jaguar xk120, before taking on the role of lead driver. He competed in three nextel cup series events in his career, managing to earn a topten in each outing hansgens debut came in 1964, when he competed at bridgehampton. He was aged fortyone at the time of his grand prix debut and fortysix when he died, several days after crashing during testing for the 1966 24 hours of le mans.

Walt earned two 3rd in class finishes at albany, ga, a. Hansgens debut came in 1964, when he competed at bridgehampton. Hansgen admired donohues ability to set up a car as well as drive it, and in 1964 he provided donohue with an mgb to campaign at an scca endurance race in bridghampton, long island. Daytona 24 hour race, daytona, fl, walt hansgenmark donohue ford mark ii makes a pit stop. He was the scca national champion four times in a row from 1956 to 1959. Walter edwin walt hansgen october 28 1919 april 7 1966 was a driver from the united states. Donohue won the event, generating an invitation from hansgen to join him. It seemed to me,that hansgen, was every aussie boys herosporting,decent, jaguar loving and the very best us sports car driver there ever wasfrom dtype, lister. Walt hansgen 1919 1966 was an american racing driver who achieved the most in the sports car racing in the 1950s and 1960s. The society for the prevention of walt hansgen victories sure. I recognize hurtubise in 8th, hansgen in 9th and an unidentified driver in 10th, maybe sutton. Click on the site to see walt hansgens career results at that track glossary.

Races, wins, podiums, pole positions, fastest laps. The younger sibling served his country during world war ii before working as a welder in the family business. Sep, 2007 it seemed to me,that hansgen, was every aussie boys herosporting,decent, jaguar loving and the very best us sports car driver there ever wasfrom dtype, lister. Jean lariviere pierre marechal rene kippeurth pat fairfield marius mestivier. In a second race there the cunningham pair again finished 12, this time hansgen winning from crawford. Although it has been over 50 years since hansgens passing, his influence continues to this day. Walt was one of the great figures in american road racing in the 50s and 60s. Feb 28, 2003 hansgen had the bad luck to crash on the 16th lap of 100 when olivier gendebien spun in front of him. Hansgen was named the best driver of the year by the new york times, and sports illustrated named him u. Drivers drivers by state compare drivers driver rankings owners crew chiefs. Allan simonsen sebastien enjolras jo gartner jeanlouis lafosse andre haller jo bonnier john woolfe lucien bianchi roby weber walt hansgen lloyd lucky casner christian. Beginning at marlboro on april 20, 1958, walt hansgen won handsomely in the prototype cunningham car, and on may 4 at danville, virginia, teammate ed crawford won in his sister car with hansgen second. Getting the car through the night is job then you can start thinking about chasing down the leader or maintaining the lead. On april 2, 1966, he was running test laps faster than the race record in the j car when it struck a sandbank just past the pits.

Walt hansgen grand prix date car race position pts. Carrigans character, hansgen, was an american race car driver who died after a crash during testing in rainy conditions at the same race. Walt hansgen f1 drivers, indy cars, formula one, golden age, racing. Walt hansgen racing career profile driver database. Click on the number of races to see individual races for that year. Their mission as stated in the original bylaws was. I am presently in the research stage for a book i am writing a biography of walt hansgen. Driving with randy pearsall, the duo finished 10th in their first race at. Real name clarence, he was a hard driving driver, a hard drinking man. After the death of walt hansgen in a j car ford while testing at le mans in april, the decision was made to shelve the j car and focus on the proven mk iis, and little development was done for the rest of the 1966 world sports car championship season. He won three national sports car championships as an amateur before he turned professional in 1966, first as the late walt hansgens co. Starting 9th in the field, hansgen shocked the field by running well enough to post a 3rd place finish, just two laps down. This 1956 corvette is a beautifully executed replica of the famous race car. We dont mean in any way to imply that walt hansgen wasnt widely known.

Jakes stable driver jim haynes in his formula iii cooper. Usac champ car series indianapolis indy 500 indianapolis motor speedway, indiana 31 may 1965. His career spanned, what i believe to be, the most. Sports car racing photo gallery of walt hansgen usas cars photo gallery. Walt earned two 3rd in class finishes at albany, ga, a secomd place at brooklyn, ny and thompson. Without the benefit of a roll cage, and massively injured when the j car was crushed around him, hansgen died after being removed from life support. He was a lead driver for holmanmoody racing and was testing the ford gt mk2 at le mans when he crashed on april 2, 1966. See more ideas about race cars, racing and sports car racing. The society for the prevention of walt hansgen victories sure he looked like a marine but he was a nice man.

Finally, in august 1966, shelby american resumed testing and development work with miles. More than 300 of the worlds most exceptional vintage race cars will compete in 12 different sportscar vintage racing association svra classes on the 14turn, 2. Walt hansgen born 28 oct 1919 westfield, new jersey. He was killed in april 1966, in an accident with ford gt40 during a test for. He was a fourtime scca national champion and raced with distinction in formula 1, nascar and at the indianapolis 500 where at age 44 in 1964 he was the oldest, and fastest, rookie to qualify for the 500 up to that time.

Jun 24, 2019 walt hansgen lloyd lucky casner christian bino heins jeanmarie brussin louis hery pierre levegh tom cole jr. Get the latest race results, news, videos, pictures, win record and more for walt hansgen on. Walt hansgen gt40 after the crash that took his life in. Jun 20, 2017 walt hansgen gt40 after the crash that took his life in practice for 1966 le mans. Dan said that even though he was a faster onelap driver than briggs cunningham, that briggs had always finished higher at lemans than he did. Walt hansgen did not win the inaugural race at virginia international raceway in august of 1957. Donohue credited hansgen with introducing him to auto racing and cites friendships with racers like hansgen as his unfair advantage. Walt hansgen october 28, 1919 april 7, 1966 is a former nascar driver from westfield, nj. Hansgen was also named the new york times best driver of the year and sports illustrated u. After an intense few weeks of frantic testing and preparation, fitch and co driver walt hansgen scored a class win at sebring, prompting a famous advertisement that showed their battlescarred no.

Walt hansgen inducted into scca hall of fame briggs. Walt hansgen inducted into scca hall of fame briggs cunningham. The prototypical engineer driver, hansgen helped develop many of the greatest race cars of his era, first as lead driver for the cunningham race team and later for john mecom racing. Fred hansgen ran a car repair shop in westfield, new jersey so his sons fred jr and walter grew up around cars. Mar 10, 2006 walt hansgen was a star in both sports cars and singleseaters, and his meteoric career carried him from the early days of amateur road racing to the very highest level of professional competition in america and europe. The car changed hands several times, and millstein first saw it. Walt hansgen was one of the best known american road racing drivers of the postwar era. Click on the year to see the standings for that year. Walter edwin walt hansgen october 28 1919 april 7 1966 was a driver from. Walt went off the road to avoid hitting him and crashed. Once i adopted briggs strategy of driving the race car tenderly, i finally put myself in a position to win.