Tony Bettenhausen

Interesting facts

Tony Bettenhausen won the 1958 national championship without winning a single race that season - consistency alone carried him to the title. He carried two nicknames: "Tinley Park Express" after his hometown, and "Tunney," after boxer Gene Tunney, which later shortened to "Tony." On 12 May 1961 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, he was testing a car for fellow driver Paul Russo when a failed anchor bolt let the front axle twist out of alignment under braking - the car slammed into the wall and rolled roughly 100 metres along the barrier before stopping. Bettenhausen died instantly in the impact, aged 44 - the tragic irony being that he wasn't even driving his own car, but helping test another driver's entry. Tony Bettenhausen raced in Formula 1 from 1950 to 1960, across 11 seasons as an American driver. He scored a total of 11 championship points over his career.