- Jimmy Davies
Jimmy Davies (
August 8 1929 Glendale, California –June 11 ,1966 Chicago, Illinois ) was an Americanracecar driver in Champ cars and midgets. He was the second man to win three USAC National Midget Championships. [http://www.worthyofhonor.com/Inductees/Jimmy_Davies.htm Biography] at theNational Midget Auto Racing Hall of Fame ] . When Davies won the 100 mile AAA Championship race atDel Mar ,California onNovember 6 ,1949 - aged 20 years, 2 months, 29 days, he became the youngest driver to win a race in a major U.S. open wheel series, a record not broken untilMarco Andretti won the IRL race at Sonoma, California in 2006. Davies raced AAA on a false birth certificate showing him older, (as didTroy Ruttman andJim Rathmann ), and was racing illegally.Midget car career
In 1960 he won the USAC Pacific Coast Midget title as well as the National Midget Championship. He repeated as National Midget champion in 1961 and 1962. He won 46 feature events in the midgets in his career. He traveled to Australia in 1961 and 1962, where he competed against
Bob Tattersall . Davies won the Night Before The 500 midget race three times, in 1960 and 1961 at Kokomo Speedway, and next year at theIndianapolis Speedrome . Davies' midget car was stolen but was recovered a year later when a driver was killed in it at Sacramento. Davies recognized the car in the newspaper photos of the wreck.He died on
June 11 1966 aged 36 from injuries suffered in a midget crash atSanta Fe Speedway inChicago .Career award
*Inducted into the
National Midget Auto Racing Hall of Fame in 1984.Indy 500 results
* Shared drive withArt Cross ,Johnny Parsons ,Sam Hanks andAndy Linden World Championship career summary
The Indianapolis 500 was part of the FIA World Championship from 1950 through 1960. Drivers competing at Indy during those years were credited with World Championship points and participation. Jimmy Davies participated in five World Championship races, finishing on the podium once, and accumulating a total of four championship points.
References
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