Tommy Hinnershitz
| Tommy Hinnershitz | |||||||
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| Born | Thomas Paul Hinnershitz April 6, 1912 Champ Car career | ||||||
| 51+ races run over 14 years | |||||||
| Best finish | 5th (1946) | ||||||
| First race | 1938 Syracuse 100 (Syracuse) | ||||||
| Last race | 1956 Bobby Ball Memorial (Phoenix) | ||||||
| First win | 1946 Winston-Salem Race (Winston-Salem) | ||||||
| Last win | 1946 Richmond Race #2 (Richmond) | ||||||
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Thomas Paul Hinnershitz (April 6, 1912 – August 1, 1999) was an American
During his 30-year career, Hinnershitz captured 103
Hinnershitz mainly raced his own cars (not for other owners), serving as his own mechanic.[2] He was one of the first drivers to have car sponsorship.[2] Hinnershitz was known for racing wearing overalls, which drew in fans at fairgrounds races in Corn Belt states such as Iowa and the Minnesota.[2]
Background and personal life
Thomas Paul Hinnershitz was born on a farm near Oley, Pennsylvania.[4] He farmed a 63-acre (25 ha) farm on weekdays and raced on the weekend.[4]
He married Betty Selmen in 1935.[4] They had a daughter Jean in 1939 and a daughter Carol in 1943.[4]
Racing career
Hinnershitz began racing in 1930 with a 1914
Hinnershitz raced his midget car with a boat outboard motor at the 1/6-mile, 45-degree Nutley, New Jersey, bicycle board track Velodrome in the late 1930s.[2][3] Hinnershitz's passed his Indianapolis Motor Speedway test in 1939 but did not qualify for the race.[4] He won the first feature at Williams Grove Speedway, a AAA Sprint car race.[5]
Hinnershitz won the AAA Eastern Sprint Car championship in 1949, 1950, 1951, 1952, and 1955.[6] AAA stopped sanctioning racing and USAC took over sanctioning for 1956. He won USAC Eastern Sprint Car championship in 1956 and 1959.[6]
In the 1950s, he became one of the first drivers to have a car sponsor.[2] He carried the Miracle Power fuel additive sponsorship while racing with an Offenhauser race engine.[2]
Retirement and life after racing
Hinnershitz retired from racing in 1960 three hours after witnessing his friend Johnny Thomson die at a Allentown Fairgrounds race in Pennsylvania.[2] "I had been thinking about retiring for several weeks," Hinnershitz was quoted. "But I won't say what happened to John didn't help me make it definite. I quit for two reasons. One, I didn't approve of some of the new drivers and their driving philosophies. Two, my hands were gone. I simply couldn't grip the wheel well enough."[2] He held 39 track records at his retirement.[4] A. J. Foyt was quoted in his biography A.J.: "Of all the drivers on dirt Tommy Hinnershitz stands out in my mind as the best. Man, he had that sprint car up on two wheels, one wheel up on its side, whatever it took. And he almost never turned it over."[4]
Hinnershitz continued to work in the racing field for several more years as an Indy car mechanic.[2] He died on August 1, 1999.[6]
Nicknames
Hinnershitz was nicknamed "The Flying Dutchman", "The Flying Farmer", and the "Oley Dirt Farmer".[2]
Awards and honors
Career awards
- Hinnershitz was inducted into the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame in 1975.[6]
- Hinnershitz was inducted into the Eastern Motorsport Press Association Hall of Fame in 1975.[3]
- Hinnershitz was inducted into the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame in the first class of 1990.[6]
- Hinnershitz was inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in 2003.[2]
- Hinnershitz was inducted into the United States Auto Club Hall of Fame in 2016.[6]
Honors
- Williams Grove Speedway hosts the "Tommy Hinnershitz Classic," an All Star Circuit of Champions sprint car race as of 2019.[7]
Motorsports career results
Indianapolis 500 results
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References
- ^ "Tommy Hinnershitz". www.champcarstats.com. Retrieved 2023-06-11.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q "Hinnershitz, Tommy - Historic - 2003 Inductees". Motorsports Hall of Fame. Retrieved September 5, 2020.
- ^ a b c d "Tommy Hinnershitz". Eastern Motorsport Press Association. Retrieved September 5, 2020.
- ^ National Sprint Car Hall of Fame. Retrieved September 6, 2020.
- FloRacing.
- ^ a b c d e f "8 Initial 2016 USAC Hall of Fame Inductees Announced". usacracing.com. Retrieved September 5, 2020.
- ^ Staff, SPEED SPORT (September 21, 2019). "It's Reutzel In Tommy Hinnershitz Classic". Speed Sport. Retrieved August 6, 2020.
Further reading
- Ludwig, Gary. "Tommy Hinnershitz - The Life and Times of an Auto-Racing Legend." ISBN 978-0-9815099-4-5. Basket Road Press Inc. 2009.
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