Beloved husband for 75 years of helen nee shanahan who preceded him in death, may 11, 201. Get the best deals on midget auto racing when you shop the largest. Cross won on july 11 in the ridenour offy, defeating johnny. Rockfordil on wednesday, sister lakesmi on thursday, milwaukeewi on friday, chicagoil on saturday, kokomoin on sunday. Bunn ray bunnell ann bunselmyer cody bunting harold bunting jr hj bunting iii mark buonomo frank burany joe burany jack burbridge jack burbrink jb burdett colten burdette harold burdette john burdette bill burdick bob burdick bud burdick. Sim clark bought the car on the west coast, put a ford v860 in it, and then a chevy ii. Later became a helicopter pilot for tv coverage and also ran the sleepy hollow motel near milwaukee. Oddly enough, in those average years of five races before a driver first reached victory lane twice in a season, not a single usac national midget champion arose.
Francis burany obituary wauwatosa, wi milwaukee journal. There were 248 inductees after the 2019 induction ceremony. I remember from those first races mike ohalloran, ronnie householder, myron fohr, frank burany and someone they called leadfoot johnny deetz. Mel kenyon won seven times there and rich vogler won six. Aaa midget 1949 standings championship points standings for the aaa midget 1949.
May 24, 2008 though all of the members of the chicago gang came to win various track championships, wally zale was the driver who set the pace. Don brennan was an up and coming midget racing driver in and around the chicago area in 1947 and 1948 with his career definitely on the rise. Inductees are often honored with their award in january at the chili bowl at tulsa. Cameron beaubier brings confidence to superbike showdown at. Usac midget stars seeking milestone wins in 2020 mrn. National midget auto racing hall of fame geni family tree. Though all of the members of the chicago gang came to win various track championships, wally zale was the driver who set the pace.
The 100lap aaasanctioned midget headliner saw goacher, who was crowned the overall midget titlist at the field in 1950, defeat tony bettenhausen and frank burany. Burany won the 100lap midseason title race on july 30. May 29, 2016 frank was a star midget racer, one good enough to eventually gain induction in the national midget auto racing hall of fame, and also a parttime aaa stock car driver in the 1950s. Services were held monday for frank burany, a hall of fame midget driver from the milwaukee area who raced for more than 35 years. Burany, who was a big winner at soldier field in the preusac days, beat andy linden and tony bettenhausen to the checkered flag in the 50lap headliner that night. Don branson, frank burany, chuck rodee, len sutton, and lloyd ruby drove for wright. In fact, across the board, its almost a scattershot of whether a first multitime winner. Frank burany and mike ohalloran finished second and third. Jan 27, 2015 page 1 of 4 hometowns of midget drivers posted in midgetmadness forum. Frank burany hall of fame midget race car driver home. Aug 24, 2015 but frank burany was a midget driver, above all, and so we shouldnt waste our time with his indistinguished and somewhat substandard big car career.
The 1949 aaa championship car season consisted of 14 races, beginning in arlington, texas on april 24 and concluding in del mar, california on november 6. The aaa national champion was johnnie parsons, and the indianapolis 500 winner was bill holland. Midwest midget racing great and perhaps the last survivor of preworld war ii midget competition, frank burany, died may 22 in wisconsin. Midget racing quickly became known as diminutive dynamite. Frank burany hall of fame midget race car driver posts. Besides his local midget activity, bettenhausen won three aaa national championship indy car events. Individual driver statistics for the 1949 aaa midget. He broke his own record in 1940 scoring 67 victories, believed to be the greatest number of wins in a single season by a midget driver. F rank meaghers ford sierra cosworth sapphire car overturned and struck a tree on a forest. Midget racing action, sanctioned by the american automobile association aaa, took place on two occasions on the flat, quartermile paved oval with art cross and frank burany scoring 100lap wins. With midget racing suffering, raceway opened its 1950 midget racing season on saturday night.
Frank was active as a driver in midget auto racing from. Kokomos rich usac midget history spans 76 races dating back to usacs initial year of operation in 1956. Im doing historical research, and im looking for the hometowns of racers. Midget driver, who was steady but successful, and was inducted into the national midget auto racing hall of fame. Bud abraham rufe anderson chuck andres tommy andrews mike appio cap arnold mark atikinson lloyd axel ted ayers i can also be contacted at.
The national midget auto racing hall of fame is a hall of fame and museum for midget cars. One more win with the series by coons would equal him with the great a. Inductees are often honored with their award in january at the chili bowl at tulsa list of inductees. In a limited schedule as a sub for the injured zeb wise in 2018, cole bodine rossville, ind. Ken brenneman frank burany hank butcher vito calia don cameron foster campbell willard cantrell. Frank burany hall of fame midget race car driver facebook. Neal carter, mike ohalleran, frank burany, chuck stevenson, tom. A short field of nascar regulars allowed a number of local drivers and. Feb 03, 2020 oddly enough, in those average years of five races before a driver first reached victory lane twice in a season, not a single usac national midget champion arose.
Frank burany 49 midget driver, later became a helicopter pilot for tv coverage and also ran a motel near milwaukee, supports local racing. Jan 18, 2017 bill boyd born 12 aug 1915 lovelaceville, kentucky. In fact, across the board, its almost a scattershot of whether a first multitime winner will eventually become the champion later that year. Bunn ray bunnell ann bunselmyer cody bunting harold bunting jr hj bunting iii mark buonomo frank burany. See more of frank burany hall of fame midget race car driver on facebook.
A nationally renowned rally driver died while giving a spin to a young fan, the inquest heard yesterday. Amphitheatre, winning the title over the likes of ray richards, gene hartley, mike ohalloran, myron fohr and frank burany. But frank burany was a midget driver, above all, and so we shouldnt waste our time with his indistinguished and somewhat substandard big car career. He spent 22 years running the sleepy hollow motel, 9 years as one of milwaukees first helicopter traffic reporters, and 35 years as a professional midget racecar driver.
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. Frank burany with dale tiny worley to in dark coveralls though. When i say hometown, i mean where they lived when they started racing. Usac national midget career wins calculated at the conclusion of the 2016 season rank wins driver 1 111 mel kenyon 2 95 rich vogler 3 78 bob wente 4 63 bob tattersall 5 59 sleepy tripp 6 48 jimmy davies 7 38 bryan clauson 8 35 tracy hines 9 31 gene hartley 31 chuck rodee 11 30 dave darland 30 mike mcgreevy 30 johnny parsons 14 27 gary. I have been sitting here at 11 pm and enjoying your racing stories more than you will know. I was wondering if marty or somebody else has a list of the 50greatest midget drivers. History vintage cageless midget picture thread page. I remember from those first races mike ohalloran, ronnie householder, myron fohr, frank burany and someone they called leadfoot johnny deetz i wonder if hes the person you mentioned. Apr 07, 2015 frank burany 49 midget driver, later became a helicopter pilot for tv coverage and also ran a motel near milwaukee, supports local racing and auto trade activities, regularly attends bench racing weekend steve butler 89 sprint car ace who retired in the early 90s, now works in the sheet metal business and as an engineer. Danny kladis was mostly a midget driver, so i dont have that much on him. Joe garson scored just two career usac wins, with both coming at californias gardena stadium in 1958. Bill boyd born 12 aug 1915 lovelaceville, kentucky. New usac midget winners that could emerge in 2020 racestar. Mcintosh hopes to join exclusive usac company sprint car.
Page 1 of 4 hometowns of midget drivers posted in midgetmadness forum. Died at the grand old age of 100, but was in good health until. Hales corner speedway midget auto racing program 1967. George bignotti bought the car in 1958 and painted it in red, white and black bowes seal fast colors. Gays biro won the 50 lap usac midget race at the motor city speedway, detroit, mi. Mike ohalleran, frank burany, chuck stevenson, tom vardeman, kenny eaton, duke dinsmore. Held on may 24, 1958 at kokomo speedway in kokomo, in. Active drivers with kokomo midget wins include tracy hines, brady bacon, clauson, michael pickens, dave. Usac national midget career wins calculated at the conclusion of the 2016 season rank wins driver. While perusing my old magazines, i came across the may 2004 issue of sprint car and midget that has a glory days, 2 page bob sheldon picture of danny kladis in the number 39, v860 at lake county fairgrounds in crown point, indiana in 1947.
Cameron beaubier brings confidence to superbike showdown. The midget series ran under the name of wisconsin racing association but changed it to badger in 1938 to avoid confusion with the wisconsin auto racing association, which promoted racing events at the wisconsin state fair park milwaukee mile, carl marchese was both badger president while his brother handled duties at wara inc. He finished 5th in his indy car debut at arlington, tx in 1949, but only entered four more races afterward, and made only one further start, coming home 10th at his. Frank burany born 16 aug 1915 milwaukee, wisconsin. Caleb armstrong, teddy beach, johnny boyd, frank burany, russ congdon, ray elliott, aaron fike, danny frye, billy garrett, mike gregg, jim hettinger, john heydenreich, bubby jones, levi jones, andy linden, bobby marshman, roger mccluskey. Wisconsins frank burany won the first usac midget feature held at the field on june 8, 1957.
Hardwood door corp midget archive auto racing memories. I started to come up with a list who i thought would be considered great,but i know somebody else already has it. National midget auto racing hall of fame wikipedia. Chicago just before ww2 was a hotbed of midget racing, and it really isnt any surprise that young danny became attracted to the little doodlebugs, with guys like duke nalon, tony bettenhausen, jimmy snyder, emil andres, paul russo, wally zale etc. Jan 12, 2005 page 1 of 3 50 greatest midget drivers. History vintage cageless midget picture thread page 107. Wisconsins frank burany, hall of fame midget driver, a very long successful career, lived to be 100 years old. Frank was a star midget racer, one good enough to eventually gain induction in the national midget auto racing hall of fame, and also a parttime aaa stock car driver in the 1950s. Feb 29, 2020 wisconsins frank burany won the first usac midget feature held at the field on june 8, 1957. Mar 02, 2020 frank burany caught his first two usac midget wins in 1957 at soldier field, which to this day still serves as the home of the nfls chicago bears. For frank burany, even his hundredth birthday was just another day. Wisconsin s frank burany claimed two united states auto club usac midget 100. While in auckland for the international events in the late 60s, the capitol motors chevy ii was a bit sluggish and not fully competitive. This weekends kokomo midget grand prix kicks off 2015.
In 1936, zale won a record 65 features in a single season. The official website of midget racing champion landy scott. Excellent midget driver, who started racing in 1934. The program is complete and loaded with great midget race cars has a small coupon neatly cut out, shows some pencil markings with drivers names filled in on lineups, solid good condition while card shows wear, some creasing please checks scans both. Frank burany caught his first two usac midget wins in 1957 at soldier field, which to this day still serves as the home of the nfls chicago bears. Cross won on july 11 in the ridenour offy, defeating johnny tolan, joe james, jim rigsby and sam hanks.
Rich murray morris, il august 27, 2014 saturday night, august 30th, the grundy county speedway will host the 34th annual bob lockard memorial featuring the darcy gmc stars national midgets. Foyt and would also place him on another exclusive list alongside bobby unser as only the second driver to win usac feature events in five decades, the first of which for coons came during a usac arizona regional midget event at raven raceway in 1987. The season was marred by george metzlers death at indianapolis in practice, bill shefflers death. Frank burany race data a site statistician has marked the race results section incomplete, meaning a fullfield rundown of each position and corresponding driver is missing. Survived a horrific crash in 1947, where he suffered breaks or bruising to his stomach, legs, back, kidney, liver, shoulder and eyes, to race on until the early 1960s, by which time he had. Frank burany racing career profile driver database. Bud abraham rufe anderson chuck andres tommy andrews mike appio cap arnold mark atikinson lloyd axel ted ayers i can also be. Milwaukee native frank burany hall of fame midget race car driver.
Wainwright, described in a prerace article in the hammond times as a newcomer and a kansas city star joined such legendary midget racers as tony bettenhausen, dennis duke nalon, frank burany, and henry banks in a twoday program that saw time trials and heat races completed on saturday and the 100mile feature on sunday june. Missing lap data race presumed to run to scheduled distance. From the late 1930s and for about 30 years or so, burany was one of the leading midget auto racing drivers in the midwest. He spent 22 years running the sleepy hollow motel, 9 years as one of milwaukees first helicopter traffic reporters, and 35.