Ray Crawford

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Ray Crawford" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (December 2009) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

Ray Crawford (October 26, 1915 – February 1, 1996) was an American fighter ace, test pilot, race-car driver and businessman.

Biography

Born in

Crawford was introduced to racing by

In 1955, Crawford drove a Lincoln-Kurtis sports car at the 12 Hours of Sebring and finished the race in thirteenth position after running the entire length without a co-driver. To date, he is the only driver to have completed the race without relief of any kind.

Crawford's family owned a successful supermarket chain based in El Monte, California which led to his nickname, "The Flying Grocer." Crawford was one of the first owner-drivers of the post-war era at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and raced his own privately funded cars throughout his career. The only exception came in 1956, when Crawford raced the 12 Hours of Sebring for Chevrolet's inaugural Corvette team. He was also the driver of Corvette's experimental SR-2 at the Bahamas Speedweeks event that December. Cars owned by Crawford also qualified for the Indianapolis 500 with other drivers in 1953, 1954 and 1962.

Serious injuries received during a crash at the 1959 Indianapolis 500 curtailed Crawford's driving career.

Speed legend Mickey Thompson cites Crawford as an early influence in his autobiography, Challenger. Crawford provided Thompson with his first exposure to the Indianapolis 500 as a member of his pit crew.

Crawford died in

, Riverside California. He is the subject of a 2015 biography by Andrew Layton titled Ray Crawford - Speed Merchant. Dick Wallen, a noted auto racing photographer and publisher, also contributed to the book.

World War II Aerial Victory credits

Date	Kills	Location/Comment
March 1, 1943	2	Messerschmitt Bf 109s; On bomber escort
March 22, 1943	1	Messerschmitt Bf 109 (Probably destroyed)
April 5, 1943	1	Messerschmitt Bf 109
April 11, 1943	2	Junkers Ju 52 Transports; Ace status
June 15, 1943	1	Macchi C.202

Awards and decorations

Crawford's ribbons as they appeared upon separation from the armed forces in 1953.

From top, and from left to right:

• Row 1: Distinguished Flying Cross, Air Medal, with 14 oak leaf clusters,
• Row 2: Air Medal, continued, American Defense Service Medal, American Campaign Medal,
• Row 3:
  European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal, World War II Victory Medal, National Defense Service Medal

(key)

References

• Bong, Carl. Dear Mom: So We Have a War. Burgess Publishing, 1993.
• Thompson, Mickey and Griffith Borgeson. Challenger: Mickey Thompson's Own Story of His Life of Speed. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1964.
• Layton, Andrew (2015). Layton, Andrew. Ray Crawford - Speed Merchant. Revolution Press, 2015.
  ISBN 978-1513603230
  .