Duane_Carter
Duane Carter
American racing driver
Duane Carter (May 5, 1913 – March 7, 1993) was an American racecar driver. He raced midget cars, sprint cars, and IndyCars.[1] Carter was born in Fresno, California, and he died in Indianapolis, Indiana. His son Pancho raced in Indy cars, along with Johnny Parsons (whom he helped raise[2]).
| Duane Carter | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Carter at Chicago's Soldier Field racetrack, circa 1946 | |||||||
| Born | Duane Claude Carter (1913-05-05)May 5, 1913 Fresno, California, U.S. | ||||||
| Died | March 7, 1993(1993-03-07) (aged 79) Indianapolis, Indiana, U.S. | ||||||
| Awards | |||||||
| Indianapolis Motor Speedway Hall of Fame (2005) | |||||||
| Champ Car career | |||||||
| 45 races run over 15 years | |||||||
| Years active | 1947-1955, 1959-1964 | ||||||
| Best finish | 4th – 1952 | ||||||
| First race | 1948 Indianapolis 500 (Indianapolis) | ||||||
| Last race | 1963 Indianapolis 500 (Indianapolis) | ||||||
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| Formula One World Championship career | |||||||
| Active years | 1950 – 1955, 1959 – 1960 | ||||||
| Teams | Kurtis Kraft, Kuzma, Lesovsky, Stevens, Diedt | ||||||
| Entries | 8 | ||||||
| Championships | 0 | ||||||
| Wins | 0 | ||||||
| Podiums | 1 | ||||||
| Career points | 6.5 | ||||||
| Pole positions | 0 | ||||||
| Fastest laps | 0 | ||||||
| First entry | 1950 Indianapolis 500 | ||||||
| Last entry | 1960 Indianapolis 500 | ||||||
Midget cars
Carter started racing midgets at the 1/5 mile dirt track in the west side of Fresno while attending Fresno State University. He was one of six drivers who went to Western Springs Stadium in Auckland, New Zealand in 1937. He won the first ever midget car race at that track. The car he drove still exists in a museum in Auckland. He was a consistent winner on the Nutley board track in 1939 while future journalist Chris Economaki was his unofficial crew chief. He won the 1940 Detroit VFW Motor Speedway title, the 1942 championship at Sportsman Park in Cleveland. He captured a 500 lap victory in his midget car at the 1947 Los Angeles Coliseum Motordome after Danny Oakes was initially declared the winner.[1]
Sprint cars
He moved up to the sprint cars, and won the 1950 Midwest division.[1]
Indy Cars
He drove in the AAA and USAC Championship Car series, racing in the 1948–1955, 1959–1960, and 1963 seasons with 47 starts, including the Indianapolis 500 races in each season. He finished in the top ten 23 times, with his best finish in 2nd position in 1953 at Phoenix. In his last race, at the Indy 500, he drove the innovative John Crosthwaite designed Harvey Aluminium Special ‘roller skate car’ with the then pioneering low profile, wide racing tyres and a stock Chevrolet engine. [3] [4] [5] [6] [7]
He retired from competition in 1956 to take the Competition Director position for USAC. He returned to competition in 1959 after Henry Banks took over the position.[1]
- Carter was inducted into the Fresno County Athletic Hall of Fame in 1967.[8]
- He was inducted in the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame in 1991.
- He was inducted in the National Midget Auto Racing Hall of Fame in 1989.[1]
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* shared drive with Sam Hanks
** shared drive with Troy Ruttman
- Carter drove 1,741 laps or 4,352.5 miles (7,004.7 km) at Indianapolis without leading a lap. This currently ranks 5th on the all-time list.
(key)
| Year | Entrant | Chassis | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | WDC | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1950 | Murrell Belanger | Stevens | Offenhauser L4 | GBR | MON | 500 12 |
SUI | BEL | FRA | ITA | NC | 0 | |||
| 1951 | Mobiloil / Rotary Engineering | Diedt Tuffanelli Derrico | Offenhauser L4 | SUI | 500 8 |
BEL | FRA | GBR | GER | ITA | ESP | NC | 0 | ||
| 1952 | Belanger Motors | Lesovsky | Offenhauser L4 | SUI | 500 4 |
BEL | FRA | GBR | GER | NED | ITA | 15th | 3 | ||
| 1953 | Bardahl / Ed Walsh | Kurtis Kraft 4000 | Offenhauser L4 | ARG | 500 3 † |
NED | BEL | FRA | GBR | GER | SUI | ITA | 13th= | 2 | |
| 1954 | Automobile Shippers / Casaroll | Kurtis Kraft 500A | Offenhauser L4 | ARG | 500 4 * |
BEL | FRA | GBR | GER | SUI | ITA | ESP | 23rd= | 1.5 | |
| 1955 | J.C. Agajanian | Kuzma Indy Roadster | Offenhauser L4 | ARG | MON | 500 11 |
BEL | NED | GBR | ITA | NC | 0 | |||
| 1959 | Smokey Yunick | Kurtis Kraft 500H | Offenhauser L4 | MON | 500 7 |
NED | FRA | GBR | GER | POR | ITA | USA | NC | 0 | |
| 1960 | Thompson / Ensley & Murphy | Kuzma Indy Roadster | Offenhauser L4 | ARG | MON | 500 12 |
NED | BEL | FRA | GBR | POR | ITA | USA | NC | 0 |
- † Indicates shared drive with Sam Hanks after retiring his own car.
- * Indicates shared drive with Troy Ruttman. Carter's own car finished 15th after being taken over by Marshall Teague, Jimmy Jackson and Tony Bettenhausen.
- Biography at the National Midget Auto Racing Hall of Fame Archived September 27, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
- Biography for Johnny Parsons at the National Midget Auto Racing Hall of Fame Archived September 29, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
- Road & Track magazine June 1963
- Motor Trend magazine June 1963
- Car & Driver magazine June 1963
- Car and Driver magazine August 1963
- Indianapolis 500 Mile Race USAC Yearbook 1963. Floyd Clymer
- "Fresno County Athletic Hall of Fame | Home". Fresno County Athletic Hall of Fame | Home. Archived from the original on 2017-07-31. Retrieved 2017-02-02.