Phil Walters
Phil Walters | |
---|---|
Nationality | American |
Born | New York City, US | April 20, 1916
Died | February 6, 2000 Homosassa, Florida, US | (aged 83)
Philip F. Walters (April 20, 1916 – February 6, 2000) was an American racing driver, who won both the 12 Hours of Sebring and Watkins Glen Grand Prix twice.
Early career
Walters was born in New York City and grew up in Manhasset, New York, and in his late teens began racing midgets at tracks on Long Island. He races under a pseudonym - "Ted Tappett" – so that his family did not know he was racing. By all accounts, Walters’s style was brute-force, all-arms-and-elbows sort of oval racer.[1][2]
The War Years
It was January 1942 when he joined the United States Army Air Corps, as a transport and glider pilot. He flew a Waco CG-4A glider during a disastrous invasion of the Netherlands, which the Germans knew of in advance. He was able to safely land his troops although he was wounded, and taken prisoner. While in a German hospital, ironically, the German surgeon who saved his life by removing a kidney and half a lung had watched Walters win a midget race in Philadelphia five years before. As a result, his strength and stamina were reduced. He finished the World War II with the Air Medal, a Purple Heart, seven Bronze Stars and the rank of Flight officer.[3][4][5]
Following those injuries sustained during the war, he adopted a smoother, less forceful driving style and found this faster, and well-suited to sports car road racing.[6]
Racing career
Post-war career
After the war, Phil went back to racing in Kurtis-Offenhauser midgets. He resumed his winning ways, stringing together 26 feature race wins in row in 1947, and in another 47 events, he would never finish lower than third in the final results. He dominated at the Riverside Park Speedway, becoming their first track champion in 1949. Later he moved in stock cars and posted a record number of victories in USSCRC events, at places like Agawam, Deer Park, Hinchcliff and Cherry Park. In addition to his racing, he formed a business partnership with Bill Frick, called Frick-Tappett Motors, which did race car preparation and they built the well-known ‘Fordillac’ performance cars (Cadillac engines in Ford chassis). Eventually the partnership became a Volkswagen and Porsche dealership.[7][8][9]
The Cunningham Years (1950–1955)
During 1949, Briggs Cunningham bought a Fordillac with an eye on racing it in 24 Hours of Le Mans and approached Walters with the idea of an all-American sports car for endurance racing. After a short while, Phil became the general manager of the B. S. Cunningham Company, who built the first post-war American cars to race at Le Mans. The organizers of Le Mans, Automobile Club de l'Ouest rejected the Fordillac, so Cunningham took two Cadillacs to the Circuit de la Sarthe in 1950. Walters paired with Cunningham and finished 11th in a special-bodied roadster, dubbed ‘Le Monstre’, despite Cunningham getting stuck off-course in some sand for half an hour.[10][11]
Setting a shop in West Palm Beach, Florida, served as a base to the Frick-Tappett division of the B. S. Cunningham Co., the team set its sights on the 1951 Le Mans. Walters, by now Managing Director of Cunningham formed a new driver partnership with fellow American, John Fitch, ran as high as second before finishing 18th. He returned in 1952, this time alongside Duane Carter, only to record a DNF because of a blown Chrysler engine.[12]
Though the Cunningham team did not win at Le Mans, Walters did record a third place in
Cunningham's idea of the all-American dream team ended with his fifth place in the 1954 24 Hours of Le Mans. This enabled Walters to race competitively with the major European marques of the era. During his time racing for Briggs Cunningham, he drove Cunningham, O.S.C.A., Porsche, Cooper, Ferrari and Jaguar sports cars, on road courses across the US and in Europe. It was in one of Cunningham’s Jaguar D-Types that he his second Sebring title, this time partnered by Englishman, Mike Hawthorn.[15][16]
His ability brought him an offer from
Away from the track
After motor racing, Walters took up sailboat racing and became an accomplished sailor. With his family as crew, he won the competitive Block Island Regatta, sailing a *Peterson 34 *(The Peterson 34 was named OBSESSION and with Phil Walters and his crew, became known as one of the hottest racing sailboats on the Long Island Sound during the 1970s; having won a very impressive number of races during this decade - including the prestigious Block Island Race Week). In the eight years prior to his death, Phil had been a resident of Homosassa, Florida. Before that, he lived in Syosset and worked in Hicksville, where he ran a car dealership – Walters Donaldson VW-Porsche-Audi of Hicksville, New York.[20][21]
Racing record
Career highlights
Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results
Year | Team | Co-Drivers | Car | Class | Laps | Pos. | Class Pos. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1950 | B. S. Cunningham | Briggs Cunningham | Cadillac Le Monstre Spider | S8.0 | 233 | 11th | 3rd |
1951 | B. S. Cunningham | John Fitch | Cunningham C-2R | S8.0 | 223 | 18th | 1st |
1952 | B. S. Cunningham | Duane Carter | Cunningham C-4RK | S8.0 | DNF (engine) | ||
1953 | Briggs Cunningham | John Fitch | Cunningham C-5R | S8.0 | 299 | 3rd | 1st |
1954 | Briggs Cunningham | John Fitch | Ferrari 375 MM | S5.0 | 120 | DNF (Transmission) | |
1955 | Briggs Cunningham | Bill Spear | Jaguar D-Type | S5.0 | 43 | DNF (Valve) |
Complete 12 Hours of Sebring results
Year | Team | Co-Drivers | Car | Class | Laps | Pos. | Class Pos. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1952 | B. S. Cunningham | John Fitch | Cunningham C-4R | S8.0 | 0 | DNS (withdrawn) | |
1953 | Briggs S. Cunningham | John Fitch | Cunningham C-4R | S8.0 | 173 | 1st | 1st |
1954 | B. S. Cunningham | John Fitch | Ferrari 375 MM | S5.0 | 104 | DNF (Engine) | |
1955 | B. S. Cunningham | Mike Hawthorn | Jaguar D-Type | S5.0 | 182 | 1st | 1st |
Complete 12 Hours of Reims results
Year | Team | Co-Drivers | Car | Class | Laps | Pos. | Class Pos. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1953 | Briggs Cunningham | John Fitch | Cunningham C-5R | S+2.0 | DNF (Accident) | ||
1954 | Briggs Cunningham | John Fitch | Cunningham C-4R | S+2.0 | 208 | 6th |
Complete Carrera Panamericana results
Year | Team | Co-Drivers | Car | Class | Pos. | Class Pos. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1951 | Chrysler Saratoga | DNF (accident) |
References
- ^ "Obituaries: Roslyn News - February 18, 2000". Archived from the original on 2015-09-23. Retrieved 2015-03-22.
- ^ http://autoweek.com/article/car-news/ted-tappett-legend-lives-watkins-glen-inducts-phil-walters-driver-decade[permanent dead link]
- ^ "Obituaries: Roslyn News - February 18, 2000". Archived from the original on 2015-09-23. Retrieved 2015-03-22.
- ^ http://autoweek.com/article/car-news/ted-tappett-legend-lives-watkins-glen-inducts-phil-walters-driver-decade[permanent dead link]
- ^ http://near1.com/HALL-OF-FAME/phil_walters.html[permanent dead link]
- ^ http://autoweek.com/article/car-news/ted-tappett-legend-lives-watkins-glen-inducts-phil-walters-driver-decade[permanent dead link]
- ^ "Obituaries: Roslyn News - February 18, 2000". Archived from the original on 2015-09-23. Retrieved 2015-03-22.
- ^ http://autoweek.com/article/car-news/ted-tappett-legend-lives-watkins-glen-inducts-phil-walters-driver-decade[permanent dead link]
- ^ http://near1.com/HALL-OF-FAME/phil_walters.html[permanent dead link]
- ^ "Obituaries: Roslyn News - February 18, 2000". Archived from the original on 2015-09-23. Retrieved 2015-03-22.
- ^ http://autoweek.com/article/car-news/ted-tappett-legend-lives-watkins-glen-inducts-phil-walters-driver-decade[permanent dead link]
- ^ http://autoweek.com/article/car-news/ted-tappett-legend-lives-watkins-glen-inducts-phil-walters-driver-decade[permanent dead link]
- ^ "Obituaries: Roslyn News - February 18, 2000". Archived from the original on 2015-09-23. Retrieved 2015-03-22.
- ^ http://autoweek.com/article/car-news/ted-tappett-legend-lives-watkins-glen-inducts-phil-walters-driver-decade[permanent dead link]
- ^ "Obituaries: Roslyn News - February 18, 2000". Archived from the original on 2015-09-23. Retrieved 2015-03-22.
- ^ http://autoweek.com/article/car-news/ted-tappett-legend-lives-watkins-glen-inducts-phil-walters-driver-decade[permanent dead link]
- ^ "Obituaries: Roslyn News - February 18, 2000". Archived from the original on 2015-09-23. Retrieved 2015-03-22.
- ^ http://autoweek.com/article/car-news/ted-tappett-legend-lives-watkins-glen-inducts-phil-walters-driver-decade[permanent dead link]
- ^ http://near1.com/HALL-OF-FAME/phil_walters.html[permanent dead link]
- ^ "Obituaries: Roslyn News - February 18, 2000". Archived from the original on 2015-09-23. Retrieved 2015-03-22.
- ^ http://near1.com/HALL-OF-FAME/phil_walters.html[permanent dead link]
- ^ "Watkins Glen Grand Prix - Seneca Cup 1950 - Race Results - Racing Sports Cars".
- ^ "100 mile Bridgehampton 1951 - Race Results - Racing Sports Cars".
- ^ "Watkins Glen Grand Prix 1951 - Racing Sports Cars".
- ^ "World Sports Racing Prototypes - SCCA Nationals - final positions and tables". Archived from the original on 2015-02-22. Retrieved 2015-04-20.
- ^ "Giants' Despair Hillclimb 1952 - Racing Sports Cars".
- ^ "Brynfan Tyddyn [Main] 1952 - Racing Sports Cars".
- ^ "Allentown [B+C] 1952 - Racing Sports Cars".
- ^ "SCCA National Thompson [S+3.0] 1952 - Racing Sports Cars".
- ^ "SCCA National Elkhart Lake [S+1.95] 1952 - Racing Sports Cars".
- ^ "200 mile Elkhart Lake 1952 - Racing Sports Cars".
- ^ "World Sports Racing Prototypes - SCCA Nationals - final positions and tables". Archived from the original on 2015-02-22. Retrieved 2015-04-20.
- ^ "Vero Beach 12 Hours 1952 - Racing Sports Cars".
- ^ "Sebring 12 Hours 1953 - Race Results - Racing Sports Cars".
- ^ "Floyd Bennett Cup 1953 - Race Results - Racing Sports Cars".
- ^ "Le Mans 24 Hours 1953 - Race Results - Racing Sports Cars".
- ^ "World Sports Racing Prototypes - SCCA Nationals - final positions and tables". Archived from the original on 2015-02-22. Retrieved 2015-04-20.
- ^ "World Sports Racing Prototypes - SCCA Nationals - final positions and tables". Archived from the original on 2015-02-22. Retrieved 2015-04-20.
- ^ "Watkins Glen Grand Prix 1951 - Racing Sports Cars".
- ^ "World Sports Racing Prototypes - SCCA Nationals - final positions and tables". Archived from the original on 2015-02-22. Retrieved 2015-04-20.
- ^ "World Sports Racing Prototypes - SCCA Nationals - final positions and tables". Archived from the original on 2015-02-22. Retrieved 2015-04-20.
- ^ "World Sports Racing Prototypes - SCCA Nationals - final positions and tables". Archived from the original on 2015-02-22. Retrieved 2015-04-20.
- ^ "GP Trois Rivières 2000 - Race Results - Racing Sports Cars".