Lucien Bianchi – '67 (versatile racer, was probably best in sportscars, won '68 Le Mans race, killed in a test for'69 Le Mans race) Merle Bettenhausen – '72 (badly burned and lost right arm in a '72 MI Speedway crash, recently retired from IN auto dealership, motivational speaker at Veteran's hospitals and elsewhere) Ross Bentley – '93-'94 (sports car driver in '90's, known for his books on driving techniques, is a driver coach, involved in traffic safety, has a performance consultancy, was driver in Grand-Am ) George Benson – '69 (lives on sailboat in CA, wrote his autobiography, inducted into the National Midget Auto Racing Hall of Fame, began racing motorcycles, reputation as a safe and capable driver)

Justin Bell – '96 (endurance racer, now runs a racing school in FL and drives in endurance events and is a car tester, a Speed TV pit-lane commentator, and writes an online column, son of Derek Bell) Rollie Beale – '68 ('73 USAC sprint champ, 'Little 500' winner, later, a USAC sprint official) Joe Barzda – '51-'53 (quit after involvement in Van Johnson's fatal crash, with brother Jim, he ran the Californian Speed & Sport shop in NJ which fielded cars in CART & endurance racing) Kevin Bartlett – '70 Still very much involved with motorsport, both current and historic)īuzz Barton – '52-'53 (midget, supermodified, and sprint car driver) Stanton Barrett – '09 (stunt driver, tried his skills in various racing divisions without much success, concentrates on his film stunt coordinator roles, but also bobsleds, involved in a racing team management role) Johnny Baldwin – '56 (midget racer from California, continued to race until 1990 in vintage midgets) Scott Atchison – '88 (US Formula Ford in '85 &'87, Super Formula Vee champion, raced in CART but never lived up to promise, also raced in Trans-Am & sportscars, including a few Baja 1000's)ĭick Atkins – '66 (outstanding sprint car driver, killed in a sprint car accident with Don Branson ) Tony Adamowicz – '70-71 (history at Le Mans, now works with a safety manufacturer and is a driver instructor)Ĭhris Amon – '67 (now works on his NZ farm and is a consultant to a few motor racing projects in his homeland) You might be surprised at some of the big names who DIDN'T make it. The year after the driver's name indicates a year they failed to qualify. Jon Noggle researched those who 'almost made it' just since WWII, many of whom we remember. There are hundreds that have entered the Indianapolis 500 but who were unable to make the field in a given year.

33 was just a number we were told by the Hulman George family in case less than 33 drivers can be drummed up. Since the split of Ind圜ar racing in 1996 by Tony George there has been almost zero bumping for the Indy 500. Even the great Juan Fangio was not fast enough to make the Indy 500

Drivers killed at oswego speedway