The brilliant Gary Bettenhausen was born on this day in 1941. In the age when sprint car drivers regularly tried their hand at the Indianapolis 500, Bettenhausen was a fan favourite, as Nigel Roebuck remembers
"I can't believe I'm in England," said Gary Bettenhausen at Goodwood, "driving this race car my dad used to drive 53 years ago…"
Bettenhausen's father Tony, whom Denis Jenkinson described in 1957 as 'a sort of Indianapolis Fangio', dominated the 1951 AAA Championship, winning eight of 14 races, but the Belanger Special also won the Indy 500, in the hands of Lee Wallard.
"Most of the races back then were on dirt," said Bettenhausen, "and my dad figured that at Indy, on the pavement, nothing would be as good as the big, long-wheelbase, front-wheel-drive car he was offered. He was wrong! "I've got a spot in my heart for this race car [Belanger Special]. I was 10 when dad drove it, and every weekend we'd wait for that telephone call: won it again.. "
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