Don Branson
| Don Branson | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Born | Donald Laverne Branson June 20, 1920 Champ Car career | ||||||
| 125 races run over 11 years | |||||||
| Years active | 1956–1966 | ||||||
| Best finish | 3rd – 1960 | ||||||
| First race | 1956 Springfield 100 (Springfield) | ||||||
| Last race | 1966 Golden State 100 (Sacramento) | ||||||
| First win | 1962 Langhorne 100 (Langhorne) | ||||||
| Last win | 1966 Tony Bettenhausen Memorial (Springfield) | ||||||
| |||||||
| Formula One World Championship career | |||||||
| Active years | 1959–1960 | ||||||
| Teams | Phillips | ||||||
| Entries | 2 | ||||||
| Career points | 3 | ||||||
| First entry | 1959 Indianapolis 500 | ||||||
| Last entry | 1960 Indianapolis 500 | ||||||
Donald L. Branson[1] (June 2, 1920 – November 12, 1966) was an American racecar driver.
Career
Born in
sprint cars, racing champ cars in the 1956–1966 seasons with 128 starts, including the 1959–1966 Indianapolis 500
races. He finished in the top ten 85 times, with 7 victories.
Branson was also the 1959 and 1964
USAC Sprint Car Series
Champion.
He was killed in 1966 in a crash at a sprint car race at Ascot Park in Gardena, California, which also claimed the life of fellow driver Dick Atkins. The fatal wreck occurred with only a few races left in the season for the USAC series.
Awards
He was inducted in the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame in 1994 and the National Midget Auto Racing Hall of Fame in 2012.[2]
Complete USAC Championship Car results
| Year | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | Pos | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1956 | INDY |
MIL |
LAN |
DAR |
ATL |
SPR 11 |
MIL 26 |
DUQ 10 |
SYR 15 |
ISF DNQ |
SAC |
PHX |
31st | 50 | ||||||
| 1957 | INDY |
LAN 9 |
MIL 21 |
DET 10 |
ATL 8 |
SPR 11 |
MIL DNQ |
DUQ 9 |
SYR DNS |
ISF 5 |
TRE 19 |
SAC |
PHX |
19th | 280 | |||||
| 1958 | TRE | INDY |
MIL DNQ |
LAN 4 |
ATL 5 |
SPR 7 |
MIL 12 |
DUQ 3 |
SYR 6 |
ISF 4 |
TRE 6 |
SAC 12 |
PHX 7 |
9th | 790 | |||||
| 1959 | DAY 11 |
TRE 13 |
INDY 24 |
MIL 9 |
LAN 9 |
SPR 2 |
MIL |
DUQ 2 |
SYR 2 |
ISF 17 |
TRE 5 |
SAC 5 |
PHX 15 |
7th | 780 | |||||
| 1960 | TRE 22 |
INDY 4 |
MIL 22 |
LAN 15 |
SPR 7 |
MIL 19 |
DUQ 8 |
SYR 12 |
ISF 4 |
TRE 4 |
SAC 3 |
PHX 4 |
3rd | 1.220 | ||||||
| 1961 | TRE 16 |
INDY 33 |
MIL 6 |
LAN 14 |
MIL 24 |
SPR 15 |
DUQ 6 |
SYR 17 |
ISF 8 |
TRE 4 |
SAC 7 |
PHX 3 |
12th | 530 | ||||||
| 1962 | TRE 4 |
INDY 12 |
MIL 17 |
LAN 4 |
TRE 2 |
SPR 3 |
MIL 25 |
LAN 1 |
SYR 7 |
ISF 2 |
TRE 1 |
SAC 2 |
PHX 8 |
4th | 1,700 | |||||
| 1963 | TRE 17 |
INDY 5 |
MIL 17 |
LAN DNS |
TRE 12 |
SPR 3 |
MIL 10 |
DUQ 5 |
ISF 2 |
TRE 5 |
SAC 6 |
PHX 7 |
5th | 1,352 | ||||||
| 1964 | PHX 4 |
TRE |
INDY 12 |
MIL 15 |
LAN 2 |
TRE 3 |
SPR 3 |
MIL 13 |
DUQ 3 |
ISF 3 |
TRE 2 |
SAC 3 |
PHX 3 |
4th | 1,700 | |||||
| 1965 | PHX 1 |
TRE 13 |
INDY 8 |
MIL 20 |
LAN 15 |
PIP | TRE 4 |
IRP 6 |
ATL 8 |
LAN 6 |
MIL 6 |
SPR 6 |
MIL 25 |
DUQ 1 |
ISF 13 |
TRE 15 |
SAC 1 |
PHX 5 |
4th | 1,875 |
| 1966 | PHX 16 |
TRE 10 |
INDY 23 |
MIL 15 |
LAN 4 |
ATL 6 |
PIP |
IRP 9 |
LAN 5 |
SPR 1 |
MIL 23 |
DUQ 6 |
ISF 4 |
TRE 23 |
SAC 4 |
PHX |
7th | 1.135 | ||
Indianapolis 500 results
|
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Complete Formula One World Championship results
(key)
| Year | Entrant | Chassis | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | WDC | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1959 | Bob Estes | Phillips | L4
|
MON |
500 24 |
NED |
FRA |
GBR |
GER |
POR |
ITA |
USA |
NC | 0 | |
| 1960 | Bob Estes | Phillips | L4
|
ARG |
MON |
500 4 |
NED |
BEL |
FRA |
GBR |
POR |
ITA |
USA |
21st | 3 |
References
- ^ "Don Branson". www.champcarstats.com. Retrieved 2023-06-09.
- National Speed Sport News. Archived from the originalon December 28, 2013. Retrieved December 27, 2013.
 | This biographical article related to United States auto racing is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |