Leslie "Gene" Hartley was an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 racecar driver. He was born and died in Roanoke, Indiana

Roanoke, Indiana

Roanoke is a town in Jackson Township, Huntington County, Indiana, United States. The population was 1,722 at the 2010 census. Roanoke is governed by a town council. Town offices include the clerk treasurer, utilities department, police department, and volunteer fire department. The town has a...

.

Hartley was the son of 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 Ted Hartley, who competed into his 60s. "Auto racing is all I’ve ever known," Gene once said in an interview at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway

Indianapolis Motor Speedway

The Indianapolis Motor Speedway, located in Speedway, Indiana in the United States, is the home of the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race and the Brickyard 400....

.

Racing career

He drove in the AAA

American Automobile Association

AAA , formerly known as the American Automobile Association, is a federation of 51 independently operated motor clubs throughout North America. AAA is a not-for-profit member service organization with more than 51 million members. AAA provides services to its members such as travel, automotive,...

 and 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...

 Championship Car series, racing in the 1950 and 1952-1962 seasons with 33 starts. He raced in ten 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...

 races, in each year but 1955 and 1958. His best finish at Indy was tenth in 1957, although he finished eleventh three times. He finished in the Top 10 nine times, with his best finish in second position in 1956 at Langhorne Speedway

Langhorne Speedway

Langhorne Speedway was an automobile racetrack in Middletown Township, Bucks County, near the borough of Langhorne, Pennsylvania, a northern suburb of Philadelphia....

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George was the 1959 USAC National Midget Series champion. His 33 USAC feature wins, eighth best all-time.

Promoter

Hartley co-promoted with Leroy Warriner

Leroy Warriner

Leroy Warriner was an American racing driver from Indianapolis who attempted to qualify for the Indianapolis 500 every year from 1951 to 1958 without succeeding. Warriner only managed to qualify for a single Championship Car race, the September 1953 race at the Indiana State Fairgrounds where he...

 at the Kitley Avenue Speedrome in Indianapolis

Indianapolis

Indianapolis is the capital of the U.S. state of Indiana, and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city's population is 839,489. It is by far Indiana's largest city and, as of the 2010 U.S...

 after his retirement. They hosted midget races at the track that was specifically built for the small cars.

Indy 500 results

Year Car Start Qual Rank Finish Laps Led Retired 1950 1950 Indianapolis 500 The 1950 Indianapolis 500 was an automobile race which was held on Tuesday, May 30, 1950 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The event was the third round of the 1950 World Drivers' Championship... 75 31 129.213 32 16 128 0 Flagged 1952 1952 Indianapolis 500 The 1952 Indianapolis 500 was an automobile race held on Friday, May 30, 1952 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The event was the second round of the 1952 World Drivers' Championship. Troy Ruttman won the race, bringing the Borg-Warner Trophy home for car owner J.C. Agajanian.Bill Vukovich led... 67 18 134.343 24 28 65 0 Exhaust pipe 1953 1953 Indianapolis 500 The 1953 Indianapolis 500 was an automobile race held on Saturday, May 30, 1953 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The event was the second round of the 1953 World Drivers' Championship.-Race:... 41 13 137.263 9 28 53 0 Crash T4 1954 1954 Indianapolis 500 The 1954 Indianapolis 500 was an automobile race held on Monday, May 31, 1954 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The event was the second round of the 1954 World Drivers' Championship.- Classification :- Notes :... 31 17 139.061 10 23 168 0 Engine 1956 1956 Indianapolis 500 The 1956 Indianapolis 500 was an automobile race held on Wednesday, May 30, 1956 at Indianapolis. It was the third round of the 1956 World Drivers' Championship.... 82 22 142.846 15 11 196 0 Flagged 1957 1957 Indianapolis 500 The 1957 Indianapolis 500 was an automobile race held on Thursday, May 30, 1957 at Indianapolis. The event was the third round of the 1957 World Drivers' Championship and the first round of the 1957 USAC Championship Car season.- Classification :- Notes :... 22 14 141.271 16 10 200 0 Running 1959 1959 Indianapolis 500 The 1959 Indianapolis 500 was an automobile race held at Indianapolis on Saturday, May 30, 1959. The event was part of the 1959 World Drivers' Championship.- Classification :- Notes :*Fastest Lead Lap: Johnny Thomson - 1:01.89... 88 9 143.575 10 11 200 0 Running 1960 1960 Indianapolis 500 The 1960 Indianapolis 500 was an automobile race held at Indianapolis on Monday, May 30, 1960. The event was part of the 1960 World Drivers' Championship; the last Indianapolis 500 to be included in the Championship.- Classification :... 48 24 143.896 16 14 196 0 Flagged 1961 1961 Indianapolis 500 Results of the 1961 Indianapolis 500 held at Indianapolis on Tuesday, May 30, 1961. This was the first Indianapolis 500 not to be included in the Formula One World Championship since 1949.... 28 15 144.817 22 11 198 0 Flagged 1962 1962 Indianapolis 500 Results of the 1962 Indianapolis 500 held at Indianapolis on Wednesday, May 30, 1962.-Trivia:Parnelli Jones became the first driver to officially qualify for the race at .... 67 20 146.969 15 32 17 0 Crash FS Totals 1421 0

Starts 10 Poles 0 Front Row 0 Wins 0 Top 5 0 Top 10 1 Retired 4

World Championship career summary

The Indianapolis 500 was part of the FIA World Championship from 1950 through 1960. Drivers competing at Indy during those years were credited with World Championship points and participation. Gene Hartley participated in 8 World Championship races, with a best finish of tenth.