Gary Bettenhausen is a retired American auto racing driver. He was born in Blue Island, Illinois

Blue Island, Illinois

Blue Island is a city in Cook County, Illinois. The population was 22,556 at the 2010 census. Blue Island was established in the 1830s as a way station for settlers traveling on the Vincennes Trace, and the settlement prospered because it was conveniently situated a day's journey outside of Chicago...

, raised in Tinley Park, Illinois

Tinley Park, Illinois

Tinley Park is a village located primarily in Cook County, Illinois, United States with a small portion in Will County. The population was 48,401 at the 2000 census, and 58,322 in the 2007 census. It is one of the fastest growing suburbs south of Chicago...

, and currently resides in Monrovia

Monrovia, Indiana

Monrovia is a town in Monroe Township, Morgan County, Indiana, United States. The population was 1,063 at the 2010 census.-Geography:Monrovia is located at ....

, Indiana

Indiana

Indiana is a US state, admitted to the United States as the 19th on December 11, 1816. It is located in the Midwestern United States and Great Lakes Region. With 6,483,802 residents, the state is ranked 15th in population and 16th in population density. Indiana is ranked 38th in land area and is...

.

Racing family

His father was Indianapolis 500

Indianapolis 500

The Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, also known as the Indianapolis 500, the 500 Miles at Indianapolis, the Indy 500 or The 500, is an American automobile race, held annually, typically on the last weekend in May at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana...

 and sprint car

Sprint car racing

Sprint cars are high-powered race cars designed primarily for the purpose of running on short oval or circular dirt or paved tracks. Sprint car racing is popular in the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa....

 legend Tony Bettenhausen

Tony Bettenhausen

Melvin E. "Tony" Bettenhausen was an American racing driver, who won the National Championship in 1951 and 1958....

, and his brother was former Champ Car

Champ Car

Champ Car was the name for a class and specification of open wheel cars used in American Championship Car Racing for many decades, primarily for use in the Indianapolis 500 auto race...

 team owner Tony Bettenhausen Jr. Another brother, Merle Bettenhausen

Merle Bettenhausen

Merle Bettenhausen is a former American race car driver. The second oldest member of the Bettenhausen racing family, he is the son of Tony Bettenhausen and the brother of Gary Bettenhausen and Tony Bettenhausen Jr and was born in Tinley Park, Illinois.Merle's USAC Champ Car racing career was brief...

, was maimed in a fiery crash.

Midgets

He began as a midget car

Midget car racing

Midget cars, also Speedcars in Australia, are very small race cars with a very high power-to-weight ratio and typically use four-cylinder engines.-Cars:Typically, these cars have 300 to 400 horsepower and weigh...

 driver. He finished third in the midget car national points in 1967. He won the first leg of the Astro Grand Prix in 1969, which was held in the Astrodome. He won the 1967 and 1970 Turkey Night Grand Prix

Turkey Night Grand Prix

The Turkey Night Grand Prix is an annual race of midget cars. It has been held on Thanksgiving night most years since 1934. It is currently held in Irwindale, California.-Drivers:The event is considered a major event in the midget cars series...

, the 1972 Astro Grand Prix, and the 1976 Hut Hundred. He has 27 career USAC

United States Automobile Club

The United States Auto Club is one of the sanctioning bodies of auto racing in the United States. From 1956 to 1979, the USAC sanctioned the United States National Championship, and from 1956 to 1997 the organization sanctioned the Indianapolis 500...

 midget wins.

Sprint cars

He won the 1969 and 1971 sprint car

Sprint car racing

Sprint cars are high-powered race cars designed primarily for the purpose of running on short oval or circular dirt or paved tracks. Sprint car racing is popular in the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa....

 championships.

He won the 1980 and 1983 USAC Dirt Track champions in Silver Crown car.

A crash at a sprint car race in Syracuse, New York on July 2, 1974 crushed Gary's left arm and left it paralyzed. He regained enough mobility to drive but has never fully recovered from the injury.

Indy style cars/Indianapolis 500

He competed in Indy style cars from the mid-'1960s until 1996.During this time he won six USAC Indy Car races. Gary made 21 starts in the Indy '500, contesting each event from 1968 until 1982 (with the exception of 1979 when he failed to qualify), and again from 1986 to 1993. His best finish came in 1980 when he finished third after starting 32nd in the 33-car field. He led the 1972 Indianapolis 500 for 138 of the 200 laps, suffering a mechanical failure with just a few laps to go.

NASCAR

He competed in eight career NASCAR

NASCAR

The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing is a family-owned and -operated business venture that sanctions and governs multiple auto racing sports events. It was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1947–48. As of 2009, the CEO for the company is Brian France, grandson of the late Bill France Sr...

 Winston Cup

NEXTEL Cup

The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series is the top racing series of the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing . The series was originally known as the Strictly Stock Series and Grand National Series . While leasing its naming rights to R. J...

 events. He had four Top 10 finishes. His highest career finish was a fourth place finish at the 1974 Motor State 360 at the Michigan International Speedway

Michigan International Speedway

Michigan International Speedway is a two-mile moderate-banked D-shaped superspeedway located off U.S. Highway 12 on more than in Brooklyn, in the scenic Irish Hills area of southeastern Michigan. The track is used primarily for NASCAR events. It is sometimes known as a "sister track" to Texas...

 in 1974.

Awards

• He was inducted in the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame
  National Sprint Car Hall of Fame & Museum
  The National Sprint Car Hall of Fame & Museum is a Hall of Fame and museum for sprint car drivers, owners, mechanics, builders, manufacturers, promoters, sanctioning officials and media members....
  
   in 1993.
• He was a 1998 inductee in the National Midget Auto Racing Hall of Fame
  National Midget Auto Racing Hall of Fame
  The National Midget Auto Racing Hall of Fame is a Hall of Fame and museum for midget cars. The Hall of Fame is located at Angell Park Speedway in Sun Prairie, Wisconsin, and can be accessed during weekly Sunday races during the summer.-A-C:...
  
  .

Indy 500 results

Year	Chassis	Engine	Start	Finish
1968 1968 Indianapolis 500 -Race schedule:- Time Trials :1968 was the second and eventually the final year the controversial turbine cars were running in the 1968 race classic. Turbine cars were entered by STP and by Carroll Shelby...	Gerhardt Gerhardt Gerhardt is a masculine name of German origin. It can refer to any of the following:-As a first name:* Gerhardt, a Dutch musician* Gerhardt Boldt, German soldier and writer* Gerhardt Laves, American linguist...	Offy	22nd	24th
1969 1969 Indianapolis 500 Results of the 1969 Indianapolis 500 held at Indianapolis on Friday, May 30, 1969.-Race schedule:-Jigger Sirois:On pole day, Saturday May 17, rain threatened to wash out the afternoon. At the time, the rules did not specifically provide for rain delay extensions during the pole round...	Gerhardt Gerhardt Gerhardt is a masculine name of German origin. It can refer to any of the following:-As a first name:* Gerhardt, a Dutch musician* Gerhardt Boldt, German soldier and writer* Gerhardt Laves, American linguist...	Offy	9th	26th
1970 1970 Indianapolis 500 The 1970 Indianapolis 500 was held at Indianapolis on Saturday, May 30, 1970.Following in the footsteps of his brother, Bobby, Al Unser dominates the 500, leading 190 laps, matching Jim Clark's total in 1965, and the most since 1953, when Bill Vukovich led all but five laps in the race...	Gerhardt Gerhardt Gerhardt is a masculine name of German origin. It can refer to any of the following:-As a first name:* Gerhardt, a Dutch musician* Gerhardt Boldt, German soldier and writer* Gerhardt Laves, American linguist...	Offy	20th	26th
1971 1971 Indianapolis 500 The 1971 Indianapolis 500 was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Saturday, May 29, 1971. ABC television broadcast the race for the first time in same-day tape delay....	Gerhardt Gerhardt Gerhardt is a masculine name of German origin. It can refer to any of the following:-As a first name:* Gerhardt, a Dutch musician* Gerhardt Boldt, German soldier and writer* Gerhardt Laves, American linguist...	Offy	13th	10th
1972 1972 Indianapolis 500 The 1972 Indianapolis 500 was held at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Saturday, May 27, 1972.Gary Bettenhausen leads 138 laps until his engine blows on lap 176. Jerry Grant gets the lead but pits for new tires on lap 188 in team mate Bobby Unser’s pit. Bettenhausen’s Penske team mate Mark Donohue...	McLaren	Offy	4th	14th
1973 1973 Indianapolis 500 The 57th Indianapolis 500 was held at Indianapolis on Wednesday, May 30, 1973. The race was held over three days due to rain and 2 major accidents. After 133 laps , rain halted the race, and Gordon Johncock was declared the winner....	McLaren	Offy	5th	5th
1974 1974 Indianapolis 500 The 58th Indianapolis 500 was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Sunday, May 26, 1974. Johnny Rutherford, in his eleventh attempt, won the race from the 25th starting position, the farthest back since Fred Frame in 1932....	McLaren	Offy	11th	32nd
1975 1975 Indianapolis 500 The 1975 Indianapolis 500 was held at Indianapolis on Sunday, May 25, 1975.Wally Dallenbach Sr. had a twenty-second lead when he retired on lap 162 with a burned piston. Johnny Rutherford lost the inherited lead to Bobby Unser when he pitted. On lap 171 the yellow came out for rain and the two...	Eagle	Offy	19th	15th
1976 1976 Indianapolis 500 The 1976 Indianapolis 500 was held at Indianapolis on Sunday, May 30, 1976.Rain stopped the race on lap 102. Two hours later, the race was about to be restarted, but the rain fell again. Officials called the race at that point and Johnny Rutherford was declared the winner...	Eagle	Offy	8th	28th
1977 1977 Indianapolis 500 The 1977 Indianapolis 500 was held at Indianapolis on Sunday, May 29, 1977.Gordon Johncock led 129 laps and had a 16 second lead on A.J. Foyt one lap after final pit stops when his crankshaft broke. Foyt became the first driver to win four times. Tom Sneva broke the barrier in qualifying, and...	King	Offy	21st	16th
1978 1978 Indianapolis 500 The 1978 Indianapolis 500 was held at Indianapolis on Sunday, May 28, 1978. For the first time, Mary Fendrich Hulman, widow of Tony Hulman, delivered the command for drivers to start engines....	King	Offy	31st	16th
1979 1979 Indianapolis 500 The 1979 Indianapolis 500 was held at Indianapolis on Sunday, May 27, 1979.The month was filled with controversy on and off the track. A court injunction was issued after USAC denied entries by the start-up CART series. During time trials, several cars were disqualified due to illegal wastegate...	King	Offy	Failed to Qualify
1980 1980 Indianapolis 500 Results of the 1980 Indianapolis 500 held at Indianapolis on Sunday, May 25, 1980.-Recap:After failing in its 1979 debut, Jim Hall's radically new Chaparral chassis is driven to easy victory by Johnny Rutherford. Tom Sneva becomes the first driver to place second after starting last. He also...	Wildcat	DGS(Offy)	32nd	3rd
1981 1981 Indianapolis 500 The 65th Indianapolis 500 was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Sunday, May 24, 1981. A hectic month of May was interrupted several times by rain. Bobby Unser took the checkered flag as the winner, with Mario Andretti second...	Lightning	Cosworth Cosworth Cosworth is a high performance engineering company founded in London in 1958, specialising in engines and electronics for automobile racing , mainstream automotive and defence industries...	11th	26th
1982 1982 Indianapolis 500 The 66th Indianapolis 500 was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Sunday, May 30, 1982. Gordon Johncock, who had previously won the rain-shortened 1973 race, was the winner...	Lightning	Cosworth Cosworth Cosworth is a high performance engineering company founded in London in 1958, specialising in engines and electronics for automobile racing , mainstream automotive and defence industries...	30th	12th
1983 1983 Indianapolis 500 Results of the 1983 Indianapolis 500 held at Indianapolis on Sunday, May 29, 1983.-Recap:Three-time runner up Tom Sneva is stuck behind the lapped car of Al Unser, Jr., who is helping protect the lead of his father Al Unser despite being shown the blue "move-over" flag...	Lightning	Chevrolet Chevrolet Chevrolet , also known as Chevy , is a brand of vehicle produced by General Motors Company . Founded by Louis Chevrolet and ousted GM founder William C. Durant on November 3, 1911, General Motors acquired Chevrolet in 1918...	Failed to Qualify
1984 1984 Indianapolis 500 Results of the 1984 Indianapolis 500 held at Indianapolis on Sunday, May 27, 1984.-Recap:An exciting first half turns dull as defending champion Tom Sneva and Mario Andretti fall out late with mechanical trouble, leaving Rick Mears the winner by over two laps. Rookies Roberto Guerrero, Al Holbert,...	March March Engineering March Engineering was a Formula One constructor and manufacturer of customer racing cars from the United Kingdom. Although only moderately successful in Grand Prix competition, March racing cars enjoyed much better achievement in other categories of competition including Formula Two, Formula Three,...	Cosworth Cosworth Cosworth is a high performance engineering company founded in London in 1958, specialising in engines and electronics for automobile racing , mainstream automotive and defence industries...	Failed to Qualify
1986 1986 Indianapolis 500 The 70th Indianapolis 500 was held at Indianapolis on Saturday, May 31, 1986. After being rained out on May 25–26, the race was rescheduled for the following weekend...	March March Engineering March Engineering was a Formula One constructor and manufacturer of customer racing cars from the United Kingdom. Although only moderately successful in Grand Prix competition, March racing cars enjoyed much better achievement in other categories of competition including Formula Two, Formula Three,...	Cosworth Cosworth Cosworth is a high performance engineering company founded in London in 1958, specialising in engines and electronics for automobile racing , mainstream automotive and defence industries...	29th	11th
1987 1987 Indianapolis 500 The 71st Indianapolis 500 was held Sunday May 24, 1987 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. During the month of May, an unusually high 25 crashes occurred during practice and qualifying. After dominating practice, qualifying, and most of the race, leader Mario Andretti slowed with mechanical...	March March Engineering March Engineering was a Formula One constructor and manufacturer of customer racing cars from the United Kingdom. Although only moderately successful in Grand Prix competition, March racing cars enjoyed much better achievement in other categories of competition including Formula Two, Formula Three,...	Cosworth Cosworth Cosworth is a high performance engineering company founded in London in 1958, specialising in engines and electronics for automobile racing , mainstream automotive and defence industries...	15th	5th
1988 1988 Indianapolis 500 The 72nd Indianapolis 500 was held Sunday May 29, 1988 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Team Penske dominated the month, sweeping the top three starting positions with Rick Mears winning the pole position, Danny Sullivan on the inside of the front row, and Al Unser, Sr. on the outside...	March March Engineering March Engineering was a Formula One constructor and manufacturer of customer racing cars from the United Kingdom. Although only moderately successful in Grand Prix competition, March racing cars enjoyed much better achievement in other categories of competition including Formula Two, Formula Three,...	Cosworth Cosworth Cosworth is a high performance engineering company founded in London in 1958, specialising in engines and electronics for automobile racing , mainstream automotive and defence industries...	Failed to Qualify
1989 1989 Indianapolis 500 The 73rd Indianapolis 500 was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Sunday, May 28, 1989. Emerson Fittipaldi became the first foreign winner of the race since 1966. Though Fittipaldi dominated most of the race, he dropped to second in the waning laps. On the 199th lap, Al Unser, Jr. was...	Lola	Buick Buick Buick is a premium brand of General Motors . Buick models are sold in the United States, Canada, Mexico, China, Taiwan, and Israel, with China being its largest market. Buick holds the distinction as the oldest active American make...	14th	33rd
1990 1990 Indianapolis 500 The 74th Indianapolis 500 was held at Indianapolis on Sunday, May 27, 1990. Arie Luyendyk took the lead with 32 laps to go, and earned his first-ever victory in championship-level competition...	Lola	Buick Buick Buick is a premium brand of General Motors . Buick models are sold in the United States, Canada, Mexico, China, Taiwan, and Israel, with China being its largest market. Buick holds the distinction as the oldest active American make...	18th	31st
1991 1991 Indianapolis 500 The 75th Indianapolis 500 was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Sunday, May 26, 1991. Rick Mears won from the pole position, becoming the third four-time winner of the Indy 500, joining A. J. Foyt and Al Unser....	Lola	Buick Buick Buick is a premium brand of General Motors . Buick models are sold in the United States, Canada, Mexico, China, Taiwan, and Israel, with China being its largest market. Buick holds the distinction as the oldest active American make...	12th	22nd
1992 1992 Indianapolis 500 The 76th Indianapolis 500 was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Sunday, May 24, 1992. The race is famous for the fierce battle in the closing laps, as race winner Al Unser, Jr...	Lola	Buick Buick Buick is a premium brand of General Motors . Buick models are sold in the United States, Canada, Mexico, China, Taiwan, and Israel, with China being its largest market. Buick holds the distinction as the oldest active American make...	5th	17th
1993 1993 Indianapolis 500 The 77th Indianapolis 500 was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Sunday, May 30, 1993. Emerson Fittipaldi took the lead with 16 laps to go, and won his second career Indy 500 victory...	Lola	Menard Team Menard Team Menard was an auto racing team in the Indianapolis 500 and Indy Racing League owned by John Menard. From 1991 to 1996 they modified their own Buick V6 engines for racing. This combination won pole for the 500 with Scott Brayton in 1995 and 1996; Tony Stewart used this combination for the first... -Buick Buick Buick is a premium brand of General Motors . Buick models are sold in the United States, Canada, Mexico, China, Taiwan, and Israel, with China being its largest market. Buick holds the distinction as the oldest active American make...	18th	17th
1994 1994 Indianapolis 500 The 78th Indianapolis 500 was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Sunday, May 29, 1994. Al Unser, Jr. won from the pole position, his second Indy 500 victory. Much to the surprise of competitors, media, and fans, Marlboro Team Penske arrived at the Speedway with a brand new, secretly-built...	Penske Penske Racing Penske Racing is a racing team that competes in the IndyCar Series and NASCAR. They also previously competed in road racing, and Formula One. Penske Racing is a division of Penske Corporation, and is owned and chaired by Roger Penske...	Ilmor Ilmor Ilmor, founded by Mario Illien and Paul Morgan in November 1983, is a British independent high-performance autosport engineering company. With manufacturing based in Brixworth, Northamptonshire, and maintenance offices in Plymouth, Michigan, the company supplies engines and consultancy to the...	Failed to Qualify