THE BRAVEST OF THEM ALL
The Legend of Stan Bowman
Copy write 2011
By: John M. Lucas
In the early 1960s, the United States Auto Club (USAC) sanctioned car races across the United States for race cars known as USAC Sprints. In a conversation with Parnelli Jones, winner of the 1963 Indianapolis 500 and twenty-five USAC Sprint car races during this period, he said, “The bravest drivers of all were the sprint car drivers of the early 1960s.”[i] In a conversation with Mario Andretti, considered by many to be the greatest race driver of all times, he noted, “It was a ‘Golden Era’ of race drivers.[ii] Stan Bowman, who lived in Covington, Kentucky during this era, would become one of those drivers.
Today, auto racing is a multi-media sport. It is dominated by television, advertisers, and matches a driver’s marketing skills along with their driving skills. Today, both the National Association of Stock Car Racing (NASCAR) and the Indy Racing League (IRL) run their races as weekend events. In 1962 it was a different world for the national racing community. The Indianapolis 500, which began in 1911, was the crowned jewel that a driver aspired to achieve. The race itself is held every Memorial Day on May 30 when the thirty–three fastest qualifying drivers started the intensifying and grueling five-hundred mile event at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
The thirty-three drivers that raced in the Indianapolis 500 in the 1960s were a cast of veterans and rookies that experienced the taste of the greatest moment in their lives. But, in the early 1960s, rookie or veteran they all had one thing in common. These were very brave and fearless individuals who participated in a very dangerous sport. Drivers today, whether in an Indy race car or a NASCAR race car, literally sit in a cocoon of safety devices to protect them from a life- ending injury. While still a very dangerous environment, the landscape of a driver’s safety in the early 1960s told a much different story.
Local Success – The “Covington Comet”
In 1959 Bowman drove for a local race car owner in Covington, Kentucky named George Conner, who, along with his father, owned a car parts service in Covington, Kentucky at 7thStreet where Randolph Park is now located. Bowman drove a race car numbered “43” called the Conner’s Special. And special it was. During the 1960 racing season, a thirty- year- old Bowman won the championship at the Lawrenceburg Speedway in Lawrenceburg, Indiana.[i] The next year was another successful year for Bowman – Conner team as many races were won in the Conner’s Special. Stan continued to demonstrate an amazing ability to win races, and this ability did not go unnoticed. In 1961 Bowman made his first contact with the United States Auto Club (“USAC”), the then sanctioning body of the Indianapolis 500 Championship racing division and its associated series, the USAC Sprint car division.[ii]
1961/1962 Racing Scene
The USAC Sprint car scene in 1961 was a very active series filled with famous and soon to be famous names like, A. J. Foyt, Parnelli Jones, Jim Hurtubise, Johnny Rutherford, and several others. The cars they raced could be described as demons on the race track. The light weight race car was supported by a powerful engine. The driver sat in a very upright vertical position. The driver’s only protection from serious injury was a three or four piece safety belt /shoulder harness which again had recently debuted on the scene in sprint car racing. A single roll bar was placed behind the driver and often the driver’s head actually was above the bar. All drivers wore open-face helmets. But in comparison to today’s safety devices, a USAC’s sprint car driver in the 1960s presented himself to many dangers, which resulted in multiple serious injuries and fatalities. The USAC Sprint car race car did not have a roll cage or a fire extinguisher system. There was no fuel cell to help prevent a fire. The driver himself was afforded no fire proof gloves or shoes. A pair of goggles and a bandana covering his mouth was all that protected his face from debris. No fire proof face masks were worn or under garments, no neck restraining devices were used as well as arm restraining devices to keep the drivers’ arms inside the car in the event of an overturned car, which usually occurred multiple times at speeds approaching 100 MPH. In all, when Stan Bowman became officially licensed as a USAC sprint car driver in the spring of 1962 he was entering a world that few ventured into and that many would not survive unscathed. Mario Andretti said, “I would look around at a drivers meeting and say to myself, I wonder who was not going to be here at the end of the season.”[iii]
The Rookie
Stan Bowman began driving USAC Sprints at the age of 32. As a 32-year- old rookie he was be considered an old rookie in a young man’s game. Many believed, however, this would serve him well because of his background. As a barnstorm race car driver in his early years, he was considered a very aggressive driver on the local circuits of Southern Indiana, Southern Ohio, and Northern Kentucky. He also was a participant in the auto thrill shows that held roll over contests, running a car through a wall of fire, and the famous head on collisions. Around 1958 when he began driving for George Conner he had already acquired the fortitude and shown fearlessness that would be required to drive a USAC sprint, which was the path to the Indianapolis 500. The only thing lacking was maturity, which came over the next few years. By 1962, after many successful years on the local scene, the opportunity to drive a USAC sprint car and to compete against the best drivers in America was awaiting him. In the spring of 1962, Bowman was a fearless, aggressive and mature race car driver who was also in prime physical shape to drive those demons of the speedways.
Bowman’s first official USAC sprint car race would take place in April 1962 in Rossburg, Ohio at a track named Eldora. The records of USAC reveal Bowman made an appearance on the USAC sprint car scene in two races in 1961, but he was driving under a temporary license permit.[i] In 1962 Bowman made the decision to become a full-time driver in the USAC sprint car division and sought after his goal of getting an opportunity to drive in an Indianapolis Championship car, which was a level above the sprint cars and were the cars that were driven in the Indianapolis 500.
In April 1962 Bowman obtained a ride in a USAC sprint car sponsored by a company called Beck Construction from Dayton, Ohio. The owner of the car was a gentleman named Harold Beck who had success racing on the high banked tracks of the Midwest but had never won a USAC sprint car race. Beck had been involved in racing along with his son, Sonny, since the early 1950s. Sonny Beck heard about Bowman’s success at Lawrenceburg and watched him race at the speedway. He liked what he saw and asked Bowman if he would like to drive their USAC sprint car. Bowman jumped at the chance and agreed to begin racing on the USAC circuit. In 1962 USAC sprint car racing was going through a revolutionary change. For many years the USAC sprints were powered by the famous Offenhauser engine, which were called “Offys” by many in the racing scene. However, by 1962, the domination of the Chevrolet V-8 motor was taking over this race division of USAC. There was one monumental reason that the Chevy’s, as they were called, were becoming dominant. It was “power” and “low- end torque” that caused the car to spring off the four corners of a race track. Chevrolet brought to the sprint car scene a powerful motor that would produce many wins and records on the USAC sprint car circuit. However, there were still several Offenhauser race cars around, and the Beck Construction No. 11 sprint car was one of them.
Eldora Speedway
When Stan Bowman strapped himself into the Beck Construction No.11 car on April, 22 1962 at Eldora Speedway for his first official USAC sprint car race, he was sitting in a sprint car that had a 220 cubic inch Offy motor that was undersized to the more powerful 250 Offy engine and the emergence of the powerful Chevrolet engine that was rapidly coming on to the scene. As a result, everyone would have agreed that the car had little chance of winning that day.
April 22, 1962 was also a very special day in the history of the Eldora Speedway. Eldora today is owned and operated by Tony Stewart, who is the nationally famous driver in the NASCAR circuit. He purchased the track from a gentleman named Earl Baltes, who founded the speedway in 1954. By 1962 Eldora was becoming famous as a one-half mile banked dirt track that held very exciting local races. In April 1962 Earl Baltes brought the famous USAC sprint car circuit to Eldora to hold the very first USAC sprint car race at the track.[i] As a result, Stan Bowman would drive in his first official USAC sprint car race as a 32 year old rookie at a track which had never sponsored an USAC sprint car race. Bowman was appearing on a track that day with the likes of Jim Hurtubise, Parnelli Jones, Johnny Rutherford, and many other famous USAC drivers. When Stan arrived at the track that day, Harold Beck asked Bowman how he wanted the car set up. Bowman replied “Set it up the way you think it is best, I just drive it.”
The race that would be held that fateful day would be talked about for years to come by all who witnessed it. The gray skies were threatening rain that Sunday afternoon when the race started. The race at Eldora that day was treacherous as usual, for the open cockpit sprint race cars. The key to going fast at Eldora would require the courage of a man to race the sprint car down the track and through the turns on the oval race track so it would literally slide through the turns and set itself up to roar down the backstretch to prepare the car to do the same in turns three and four. This driving process was being repeated lap after lap through the race and the danger for the exposed driver existed at every moment and at every turn. Because sprint cars had no fenders, touching of the wheels of another car would often bring a catastrophic result of the car’s flipping several times with totally exposed driver absorbing the blunt force throughout their body. The fans in the grandstands and infield could only marvel at the sheer courage it took for a sprint car driver to take a lap in a sprint car around the track. Many race fans were there that day were there to see the famous USAC sprints make their first appearance at Eldora, and several excited fans were there to see a local hero, Stan Bowman, take on the best USAC had to offer.
The USAC drivers that day likely knew little of the tall lean but muscular driver from Northern Kentucky. Likely Jim Hurtubise, Parnelli Jones and the other drivers did not pay much attention to the Beck Construction car that had never won a USAC sprint car race. However, at the end of the racing twenty-seven laps they knew the name of Bowman and the Beck Construction Special which received the checkered flag in first place.[ii]
That race would be fast and furious on April 22, 1962. It was the beginning of another race season in Southern Ohio in the town of Rossburg that was located near the Indiana state line. Eldora was firmly established by 1962 as a premier dirt trick that was well suited for the USAC sprints, particularly the cars of Parnelli Jones and Jim Hurtubise. They were driving the powerful Chevy engines and were highly favored to win the feature event. Jones and Hurtubise were often called the “Chevy Twins” in 1962 because they often race side by side very close together in the powerful machines.[i] In 1962 Parnelli Jones would successfully defended his USAC sprint car title. He then moved forward to win the 1963 Indianapolis 500, after being named co-rookie of the year in 1961. He was recognized as a driver who could drive on any type of track surface. His rival, Jim Hurtubise, who was often called “Herk,” was a twenty-nine year old young man who had raced all over the country by 1962 and had moved up to the USAC sprint car circuit in 1959. He was named rookie of the year at Indianapolis 500 in 1960 with an eighteenth place finish. Herk would be known for his exciting and bold driving style that thrilled many fans in the grand stands and would have a career that saw him drive even after he was critically burned at Milwaukee in an Indianapolis Championship race in 1964.[ii] When Parnelli Jones, in the white color number “1” “Fike Plumbing Special” and Jim Hurtubise sitting in the reddish orange and gold number”56” Chevy” began the race, along with rookie Stan Bowman on April 22 ,1962, the race was on.
The Race
It was evident at the beginning of the race that day that Jim Hurtubise was determined to win another USAC sprint car event. But, soon to his surprise, he saw Bowman’s dark red number”11” poking the nose of his car under him as they slid through the corners of the very fast dirt track. Billy Teegarden, a local racing legend of Northern Kentucky, Southern Ohio, and Indiana areas and a member of the National Dirt Track Hall of Fame spoke to Jim Hurtubise years later. It was at another race at Eldora when Hurtubise was in the latter stage of his career and was attempting that day to qualify for the famous “World 100” race. Hurtubise told Teagarden that as he went in a corner he glanced to his left that day and saw number ”11” and thought to himself where did this car come from trying to pass him. He continued to say the answer came quickly when Bowman drove into the next turn under him and pulled forward in front of him.[iii] What occurred next was what racing fans were waiting for and likely what Earl Baltes had hoped for in bringing the USAC Sprints to Eldora. A one-on-one race between a nationally known driver, who had previously been named Rookie of the Year at the Indianapolis 500 a few years prior, and Stan Bowman who understood what racing at Eldora was all about and who was attempting to explain it to Mr. Hurtubise. The two drivers, for what seemed like an eternity to the fans, raced side by side, inches from disaster for many laps with Bowman’s holding a slight lead with a steady hand. What Hurtubise would aggressively gain on the straight-aways with the powerful Chevy, Bowman would forcefully take back in the Offenhauser powered machine in the turns. The physical abuse the drivers endured, when both cars picked up the dirt on the track and flung it back at the other driver whose only protection was a pair of goggles on and open- faced helmet, was brutal. At some point past the halfway mark of the race, a quite rain began to fall and the powerful struggle for leadership of the feature event was terminated by the flagman with Bowman’s slight lead. As a result, he became the winner of the first USAC Sprint car race at Eldora speedway. At the end of the race, Stan Bowman pulled the Beck Construction number “11”off the track into the infield and began accepting the congratulations from Harold and Sonny Beck, Harold’s daughter, Diane, race officials and the fans as he sat totally exhausted in his car. Soon after, reporters arrived and began to ask questions of the unknown rookie driver who had defeated the best drivers USAC had to offer on that cloudy April day and given the Beck Construction Special its first USAC sprint car win. Stan Bowman had arrived on the scene and accomplished the first steps toward moving to the highest level in racing, participated in the championship car circuit. He had given a very proud Harold Beck the greatest day in his racing career and presented him with his first and only USAC sprint car win. Over the next two months Stan Bowman would demonstrate that he could drive a sprint car with great skill and this would earn him the attention of an individual who was considered to be one of the top mechanics in Indianapolis championship racing in the 1960s.
Clint Brawner
In 1962, the USAC Sprint Car Division represented the primary path to gain entrance in the upper elite USAC Championship Division. The sprint division was slowly being overwhelmed by the powerful Chevy V-8 cars but the championship cars were still dominated by the front engine Offenhauser roadsters, although the rear engine cars were soon to revolutionize Indianapolis Championship Racing. While one or two styles of cars dominated the sport, there were multiple personalities addressing the racing industry. The Indianapolis 500 Motor Speedway was owned and operated by Anton “Tony” Hulman who hailed from Terre HauteIndiana, home of the famed half-mile dirt track called the “action” track because of the many thrills and spills that occurred on an unusually rough and rutted surface. Other names that were on the scene during the 1962 season were John Zink, a car owner whose car had previously won the Indianapolis 500 in 1955 and 1958. Another famous name in racing in 1962 that controlled the operation of the famous Dean Van Lines racing organization was a man named Clint Brawner. And in the spring of 1962, he was looking for a race car driver to drive his Indianapolis championship car.
Clint Brawner was considered by all to be a great observer of racing talent and one of the greatest minds in auto-racing in 1962. He was known to be one of the best mechanics in Indianapolis style racing and in 1969 won the Indianapolis 500 with Mario Andretti as the driver.[i] Mario Andretti said Clint Brawner was a “tough cookie,” who understood drivers and would work with his driver.[ii]The history of drivers who drove for Clint Brawner would become legendary names in the racing world, Jimmy Bryan, A. J. Foyt, and Mario Andretti over the years.
In 1962 Clint Brawner was the chief mechanic for Al Dean, who owned the famous Dean Van Lines race cars. Brawner had complete control over the selection of a driver for the Dean Van Lines cars. That year a race driver named Eddie Sachs was driving for Dean Van Lines. Eddie Sachs was at the top of his career in 1962. He started in the Indianapolis 500 since 1957, winning the pole position for the race in 1960 and 1961, and his best finish was the year before when he finished 2nd in the race behind Roger Ward. In 1962 the Indianapolis Championship Racing Series ran races on both a dirt and asphalt surface. Most drivers in 1962 would have likely preferred one type of surface over another. Also, it was well known that some drivers performed better on a dirt track and others drover better on the asphalt surface. The story goes that in 1962 Eddie Sachs told Clint Brawner that he no longer wanted to drive on dirt tracks in the Championship races. As a result, Clint Brawner was faced with the prospect of finding a new driver for the Dean Van Lines Special when it raced on dirt. While this issue was at the forefront for Mr. Brawner, Stan Bowman was making a serious impression on the dirt tracks in the sprint car division with great finishes in April and May on the Midwest dirt tracks.
Clint Brawner later recalled in 1962, “I was looking for a rare, brainy driver. One of them was Stan Bowman. Bowman had never raced a big Indy car, but at that time was going great guns racing sprint cars.”[iii] Brawner took particular notice that Stan had won the season opening race at Eldora in an underpowered 220 cubic inch Offy over the bigger Chevy engine of Hurtubise’s car. Brawner also heard about a race in New Bremen, Ohio where Stan, as Brawner stated, “He even ran Parnelli Jones into the ground, forcing Parnelli to blow out a tire trying to keep up with him.”[iv]As word of Bowman’s driving skill spread through the USAC racing community, it reached Clint Brawner through a gentleman named Fred Cleveland. Fred Cleveland was from the Greater Cincinnati area and he had owned race cars that Stan Bowman had driven on the local tracks. These cars were called modifieds. A modified race car was a small race car with a coup-shaped body and had a roll bar cage inside similar to what one sees in a NASCAR today. They were fast, quick race cars Bowman used to develop his tremendous driving skill. They raced mostly on one-half and one-quarter dirt mile tracks. Clint Brawner had always admired dirt track racing because he believed racing on a dirt track was perhaps the toughest racing of all.[v] In 1962 dirt tracks were dusty, rutted places with clogs of dirt and occasionally rocks whizzing passed and into a driver’s body in an exposed open cockpit race car. Often the driver returned after a twenty-five lap feature bruised and bloodied.
Bowman is hired by Brawner
Over the years, Fred Cleveland had developed the name “Modified Freddie” and had an association with another racing icon, A. J. Watson. Watson would team up with the great A. J. Foyt and become legends in the racing world with their success at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Clint Brawner recalled that Bowman was recommended to him by “Modified Freddie” so the word reached Stan likely in May of 1962 that Brawner wanted him to drive for him.[vi]Brawner later recalled “because Bowman hustled so hard on dirt, and the next championship race was at Langhorne, I decided to go with him.”[vii]
While all the talk about Stan Bowman getting a ride in a championship car was stirring, he ran three races. On May 6, 1962, he finished third, behind Jim Hurtubise and Parnelli Jones at the New Bremen. On, May 27, 1962 he finished eighteenth at IndianapolisRacewayPark, where he broke a crankshaft on the first lap of the feature race. However, he set a track record in a heat race at IndianapolisRacewayPark that evening prior to the featured event.
On June 3, 1962, he drove another sprint car, because the Beck Construction was not repaired.[i] He finished second at a race held at New Bremen, Ohio. The second place finish on June 3, 1962 at New Bremen was very special because he was driving one of the powerful Chevys for the first time. When Bowman blew the engine on May 27 at IndianapolisRacewayPark, he was informed by Harold Beck that it would take two weeks to get a crankshaft from California needed to fix the car. He then was given an offer to drive another sprint car owned by Clyde Gutzwiller from Cincinnati, Ohio. The car was a yellow sprint car numbered “19” sponsored by C & J Engineering.[ii]
Milwaukee Mile
The traditional champion race after the Indianapolis 500 during the 1960s was the “Milwaukee 100” at the famous Milwaukee mile race track. The track was located on the Wisconsin state fairgrounds and was a premier race on the Championship circuit. With its being held immediately after the Indianapolis 500, there was always an atmosphere that the racing season was now in full swing. The race in 1962 was held on Sunday, June 10 and this would be a very interesting day in Stan’s life. There was no sprint car race scheduled on that day because many of the sprint car drivers like A. J. Foyt, Parnelli Jones and Jim Hurtubise were driving the in their championship cars for the Milwaukee race. Stan, his wife Margie and their 12 year- old son Randy drove to Milwaukee to watch the race along with Charlie Cleveland, Fred Cleveland’s brother, and his wife.[iii] Bowman knew he was scheduled to drive at Langhorne, Pennsylvania for Clint Brawner in his first championship race in July. What happened at Milwaukee that day follows two twists. Prior to the actual qualification for the race that day Bowman was given an opportunity to take Jim Hurtubise’s car, the John Zink Trackmaster Special Indy race car, out on the track to warm the race car up and scuff in the tries prior to the actual race. As most drivers did in those days Bowman had his racing uniform and helmet with him. When it was discovered that Hurtubise was running late and could not make it to the warm-up session, Stan was asked to take the Zink Special out on the famous Milwaukee track for a few laps. One can only imagine how Stan must have felt when he strapped himself in an Indianapolis Championship race car for the very first time on the famous Milwaukee Mile race track. Billy Teegarden later said Bowman told him that he and Jim Hurtubise had become friends in May racing together. When Hurtubise heard Bowman had obtained a ride in the Dean Van Lines car for the Langhorne race, he told Bowman that he would be conveniently late for the warm-up session in Milwaukee on June 10, so unofficial arrangements were made for Stan to get a few laps in an Indy car prior to going to Langhorne.21
In 1975 Clint Brawner wrote a book titled “Indianapolis 500 Mechanic” that detailed Brawner’s historic career in Indianapolis Championship racing. Brawner was always an admirer of dirt track drivers, particularly since he had so much success in the 1950s with a driver named Jimmy Bryan, who was a 500 winner. Clint Brawner believed driving on the rutted, dusty dirt surfaces of these types of race courses revealed the true quality of a driver’s potential.[iv] Brawner noted in his book that Bowman visited him at this racing garage in the famous Gasoline Alley at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Brawner said he proceeded to sit him in the Dean Van Lines car and made the adjustments to properly fit him in the Championship race car. Brawner observed Bowman’s excitement when he was sitting in the racing machine thinking about the prospect of racing it. “He could scarcely speak a word.”[v] It was at that time Stan advised Brawner that he had a sprint car race prior to Langhorne in Terre Haute, Indiana on June 17. Stan invited Clint Brawner to come to the race.[vi]
Terre Haute, the Action Track
In June, 1962 the Terre Haute race track was a very fast and rutted one-half mile dirt track. It was located at the Vigo County Fairgrounds in Terre Haute, Indiana. The track opened in 1952 and was a crowd favorite because of the intense racing of the sprint cars. The nick name for the track was the “action track”. Action came in the racing events and was common at the one-half mile dirt track where there were lots of thrills and spills. Stan Bowman arrived at Terre Haute on June 17, 1962 in very high spirits. He was driving the Gutzwiller sprint car for the second time powered by the Chevy motor. He had previously raced it at New Bremen, Ohio and finished second to Parnelli Jones and had raced A. J. Foyt for the first time and finished ahead of him in the race. He was sitting third in the USAC Sprint car standings and would soon race in Clint Brawner’s Dean Van Lines Special in the upcoming championship race at Langhorne. The month of May had been good for Stan, and the month of June seemed better with his signing to drive for Dean Van Lines and earning a recent second place finish at the New Bremen the very first time in the No. 19 Gutzwiller Special.
The race at Terre Haute on that Sunday would be a typical USAC car race. After the cars ran qualifying laps there would be short heat races followed by the main feature event. Clint Brawner later remarked he had a very uneasy feeling that day coming to watch Stan Bowman’s race.[i] Brawner hated sprint cars for a very simple reason. He knew of too many talented drivers who were either critically injured or tragically killed in the cars. Mario Andretti recalled racing in two sprint car races where four drivers lost their lives. Don Branson and Jud Larson were two of those drivers and were veterans of the Indianapolis 500.[ii] By 1962 the USAC sprint was a lethal machine with its incredible horsepower. Drivers sat upright without the protection of a caged roll bar or any protection on the car itself to keep it from touching the wheels of another sprint car. The result of the unfortunate contact often caused vicious flips of the cars often against inadequate guard rails. Simply put in 1962 USAC had not addressed car or track safety. To go one lap around a one-half mile dirt track at full speed put one in a very dangerous situation. This was a very dangerous time in USAC sprint car racing.
A year earlier Brawner had witnessed at Terre Haute a car flipping nine times before it came to a complete stop. The driver’s potential career was over.[iii] On June 18 Bowman qualified and was placed in a heat race. Following custom, prior to the actual heat race the sprint car drivers took their cars on to the track to warm up the car a few laps prior to the actual race. As Stan was warming up for the heat race, he was racing down the front straight away and the front axle on the car suddenly broke which caused the front end of the car to collapse and dig into the track. The car proceeded to flip violently end over end into and over the guard rail. Bowman still strapped in the race car landed in a fence outside the track.
The surprise accident startled many. Race cars seldom wreck during a warm-up session. However, there is no difference whether a sprint car flips during a warm up lap or during a race. The results can be lethal. And in Stan Bowman’s case they were that day. With no roll cage to protect him and with wearing the traditional open faced helmet, Bowman was openly exposed to the blunt force trauma of the hard and rutted surface of the track and the guardrail he came into contact with as the car flip end over end. Stan Bowman’s injuries were indeed massive and fatal. He was taken to the local hospital where he died a few days later on June 22, 1962.[iv] As an honor to Stan Bowman, Clint Brawner provided a Dean Van Lines racing uniform he was laid to rest.
Bowman’s death was a shock to the local racing scene and to his dedicated fans. He was perceived as a man who was on his way to win the Indianapolis 500, and it came to a sad and shocking end on that fateful Sunday afternoon in June of 1962. When word of Stan’s death reached the Greater Cincinnati area, race fans at the local racetracks honored him with moments of silence for their fallen hero.
For Clint Brawner, it was the beginning of a series of misfortunes with drivers that would ironically result in Mario Andretti’s getting the opportunity to drive for Brawner and Dean Van Lines. After Bowman’s sudden death, Clint retained another sprint driver named Donald Davis, who in August 1962 suffered a fatal injury at New Bremer similar to Bowman’s tragic accident. Next, Clint Brawner put Chuck Hulse in the Dean Van Lines car, and he received a serious eye injury in a sprint car race just prior to the 1963 Indianapolis 500. Still searching for a driver, he went on to hire a new driver to the USAC sprint car division from Pennsylvania. His name was Mario Andretti, who would become one of racings icons of the sport. Mario Andretti said, “In those days you waited around with your helmet because you never knew when an opportunity would come up. It was a dangerous business. I was a successor to Stan Bowman, Donald Davis, and Chuck Hulse, and I was lucky to survive. Others were not so lucky.”[i]
Conclusion
Stan Bowman, along with the other sprint car drivers of that day were, as Parnelli Jones said, “The Bravest Ones.”[ii] Their story was repeated many times over in the 1960s with a very tragic ending. However, their misfortunes would lead to the increased safety of auto racing over the years. A roll bar cage on the sprint cars, arm and head restraints, better safety walls at the tracks, all would result in a still dangerous but safer sport as we know it today. No one will ever know if Stan Bowman would have been an Indianapolis 500 winner but few would have bet against it.
About the Author
John Lucas is a history lecturer at NorthernKentuckyUniversity and Vice President and General Counsel for The Union Central Life Insurance Company in Cincinnati, Ohio. He is also a member of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Safety Organization and works at the Indianapolis 500 and the Brickyard 400 races.
The author wishes to thank Randy Bowman, son of Stan Bowman, for his input in the article. Christian Lucas and Carolyn Roark for their editing and input in the article. Diane Beck Lane, for her contribution of pictures and input in the article. Mario Andretti and Parnelli Jones, for giving their comments and reflections for this article, and Kenneth Coles, (colesracing photos.com) for his permission to use some of the pictures in the article.
[i] Ibid.
[ii] Ibid., conversation with Mario Andretti
[iii] Ibid., Clint Brawner, Indianapolis500 Mechanic, p 124
[iv] Motorsport Memorial article
[i] Records of 1962 USAC Sprint car season
[ii] Jalopy Journal, Vintage Sprint Car Thread
[iii] Ibid., Conversation with Billy Teegarden
[iv] Ibid., Clint Brawner, Indianapolis 500 Mechanic
[v] Ibid., p 124
[vi] Ibid.
[i] Motorsport Hall of Fame and Museum. Article on Clint Brawner
[ii] Ibid., conversation with Mario Andretti
[iii] Clint Brawner, Indianapolis 500 Mechanic, p. 124
[iv] Ibid.
[v] Ibid.
[vi] Ibid.
[vii] Ibid.
[i] National Sprint Car Hall of Fame and Museum – Article on Jim Hurtubise
[ii] Ibid.
[iii] Interview with Billy Teegarden on November 1,2009
[i] Ibid.
[ii] Ibid.
[i] Records of Eldora Speedway, Rossburg, Ohio
[i] “The Legendary Lawrenceburg Speedway,” 19894 Official Souvenir Magazine, Article by Carrol Hamilton
[ii] Ibid.
[iii] Ibid., conversation with Mario Andretti
[i] Conversation with Parnelli Jones on 12/14/09, winner of the 1963 Indianapolis 500, and a winner of 25 USAC Sprint car races and the 1961 and 1962 USAC Sprint Car Championships
[ii] Conversation with Mario Andretti on 1/05/10, winner of the 1969 Indianapolis 500, 1976 Daytona 500, and a Formula One Champion