Bob Sweikert
Encyclopedia
Robert Charles 'Bob' Sweikert (born May 20, 1926 Los Angeles
, California
, died June 17, 1956 Salem, Indiana
) was an American racing driver, best known as the winner of the 1955 Indianapolis 500
and the 1955 National Championship
, as well as the 1955 Midwest Sprint car championship
- the only driver in history to sweep all three in a single season. His "Indy 500" win was over-shadowed by the fatal crash of two-time winner Bill Vukovich
during the race earlier that day. Sweikert finished sixth at Indianapolis the following May, but then died weeks later, at age 30, in 1956 after crashing a Sprint car at Salem Speedway
.
for the record of the driver with the fewest points to have won a race.
. There in high school Bob met his future wife, Dorie.
From age 16 Sweikert worked after school as a mechanic at the local Ford dealership in Hayward. A naturally gifted mechanic, he frequently won street races throughout the East Bay. One of his frequent local competitors on the streets was Ed Elisian
, a teenage boy from nearby Oakland, California
. A dozen years later, Elisian and Sweikert were engaged in the racing duel that led to Sweikert's fatal crash at Salem Speedway.
In late 1944, Sweikert enrolled in the US Army Air Force, but suffered a severe knee injury while training at Lowry Field in Colorado. With months to heal and the war over, he was honorably discharged in September 1945.
In 1947, Sweikert met his first wife, divorcee Marion Edwards, at a party at UCLA. They talked about Sweikert's fiancee who had died. During 1947 Sweikert began mailing monthly accounts of his life to Veda Orr, through April 1956. Karl & Veda Orr built & operated their own race cars. Veda wrote many racing articles.
Sweikert returned to Hayward and opened his own small business, Sweikert Automotive, an automotive repair shop based out of his parents' garage. There over the next couple years he built his own track roadster. On Memorial Day
, May 26, 1947 Sweikert ran his first race for prize money at the Oakland Speedway
, and finished second.
Sweikert then quit automotive repair, and became a full time driver. He gained his first racing sponsorship in July 1947, when he became a track roadster race driver for Hubbard Auto Parts of Oakland.
In early 1948, he married divorcee Marion Edwards. They had a large family wedding in West L.A. The same year, Sweikert moved up to midget cars, and won his first training race with the Bay Cities Racing Association. He ran seventy two races that first BCRA season, finishing 14th out of 130 active members in the annual point standings.
On February 12, 1949 Sweikert won the first BCRA Indoor Midget Race Track championship, in Oakland, on the new 1/12 mile oval track.
Sweikert's first chance at driving a Sprint car came next in 1949. He drove in northern California that year and later in Los Angeles.
After 1949 Sweikert became close friends with Johnny Boyd
of Fresno, California
when he met him on the California racing circuit. The two often raced together, and Boyd qualified for entry in the 1955 Indianapolis 500 when Sweikert helped him overcome mechanical handling problems in Boyd's car.
In May 1952, Sweikert ran his first "Indy 500" race. He entered at the 32nd starting position and ran for 77 laps in the McNamara Special car.
In late 1952 his first wife, divorcee Marion, started divorce proceedings so she could marry trackhand and twice divorced 'Buck' Allen, their marriage would later fail in the 1950s. Sweikert fought for custody of their young daughter. Sweikert's mother, Grace, often visited Bob's first-born until Grace passed away. Grace had all of the letters & phonograph records that Bob made for his first-born protected until she received her dad's inheritance and racing collectables at age 21.
In January 1953, Sweikert married his high school sweetheart, divorcee Dorie with her two children, with whom he had recently become reacquainted. They settled in Indiana, to be close to the Speedway where Sweikert hoped to race and win.
On September 12, 1953 Sweikert became the first driver ever to break 100 mi/h on a one-mile (1.6 km) oval track, at the Eastern Speed Dome, Syracuse, New York
.
On September 26, 1953 Sweikert won the Hoosier Hundred, at the Indiana State Fairgrounds, a race which is chronicled by many as "the greatest race ever" run.
On September 11, 1954 Sweikert became the first driver ever to average 90 mi/h in a 100 miles (160.9 km) race, with his win in the Lutes Truck Parts Special #17 car at the Eastern Speed Dome in Syracuse.
On May 30, 1955 Sweikert finally won the Indianapolis 500 race, from the 14th starting position in the Zink Kurtis roadster #6. That car now reside in the Museum at the Indianapolis racetrack. In the winner's circle, Sweikert and Dorie celebrated with singer-actress Dinah Shore
.
In September 1955 Sweikert became the only driver in history to win the original American motor sports Triple Crown
, by sweeping the Indianapolis 500, the AAA
big car National Championship
, and the Midwest sprint car championship
.
In May 1956, at his final return to the Indianapolis 500, Sweikert began in the 10th starting position and came in for a 6th place finish, with the team's D-A Lubricant roadster.
Weeks later, Sweikert's fatal sprint car crash occurred on June 17, 1956, at Salem Speedway. While completing the third lap, Sweikert was running near the outside wall in 4th place, side by side with his past teenage East Bay streets rival, Ed Elisian, in 5th. Coming out of the 4th turn, the two cars started down the straightaway in front of the grandstand. Running close to the wall, Sweikert's right rear wheel clipped a steel beam sticking out onto the track from the wall at the end of the stands. The sprint car flew over the edge of the track, down the embankment, and landed a hundred feet below, where it briefly burst into flames. Sweikert was pronounced dead upon arrival at Washington County Hospital. He is buried at Lone Tree Cemetery
in Fairview, California
.
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, died June 17, 1956 Salem, Indiana
Salem, Indiana
Salem is a city in Washington Township, Washington County, Indiana, United States. Salem serves as the county seat, and its downtown area is on the National Register of Historic Places...
) was an American racing driver, best known as the winner of the 1955 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 the 1955 National Championship
American Championship Car Racing
Since 1916 there has been a recognized United States national automobile racing National Championship for drivers of professional-level, single-seat open wheel race cars. The championship has been under the auspices of several different sanctioning bodies since 1909. Since 1911, the Indianapolis...
, as well as the 1955 Midwest Sprint car championship
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....
- the only driver in history to sweep all three in a single season. His "Indy 500" win was over-shadowed by the fatal crash of two-time winner Bill Vukovich
Bill Vukovich
Bill Vukovich was a Serbian American automobile racing driver. He won the 1953 and 1954 Indianapolis 500 plus two more American Automobile Association National Championship races...
during the race earlier that day. Sweikert finished sixth at Indianapolis the following May, but then died weeks later, at age 30, in 1956 after crashing a Sprint car at Salem Speedway
Salem Speedway
Salem Speedway is a .555 mile long paved oval motor racetrack in Washington Township, Washington County, near Salem, Indiana, approximately south of Indianapolis. It opened in 1947. Major auto racing series that run at Salem are ARCA, USAR and the USAC...
.
Indy 500 results
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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. Bob Sweikert participated in 5 World Championship races. He won 1 race and accumulated a total of 8 championship points. He is tied with Pat FlahertyPat Flaherty
George Francis 'Pat' Flaherty, Jr. was an American racecar driver who won the Indianapolis 500 in 1956....
for the record of the driver with the fewest points to have won a race.
Biography
Bob Sweikert grew up in pre-war Los Angeles. His mother had married his stepfather, an electrician for the state of California, when Bob was an infant. Bob was raised through his early teen years with his older stepbrother, Ed, who enlisted in the US Navy, and then soon died in 1942, at the onset of World War II. That year the family moved briefly to San Francisco, then across the bay to the rural town of Hayward, CaliforniaHayward, California
Hayward is a city located in the East Bay in Alameda County, California. With a population of 144,186, Hayward is the sixth largest city in the San Francisco Bay Area and the third largest in Alameda County. Hayward was ranked as the 37th most populous municipality in California. It is included in...
. There in high school Bob met his future wife, Dorie.
From age 16 Sweikert worked after school as a mechanic at the local Ford dealership in Hayward. A naturally gifted mechanic, he frequently won street races throughout the East Bay. One of his frequent local competitors on the streets was Ed Elisian
Ed Elisian
Ed Elisian was an American racing driver, mainly competing in the National Championship...
, a teenage boy from nearby Oakland, California
Oakland, California
Oakland is a major West Coast port city on San Francisco Bay in the U.S. state of California. It is the eighth-largest city in the state with a 2010 population of 390,724...
. A dozen years later, Elisian and Sweikert were engaged in the racing duel that led to Sweikert's fatal crash at Salem Speedway.
In late 1944, Sweikert enrolled in the US Army Air Force, but suffered a severe knee injury while training at Lowry Field in Colorado. With months to heal and the war over, he was honorably discharged in September 1945.
In 1947, Sweikert met his first wife, divorcee Marion Edwards, at a party at UCLA. They talked about Sweikert's fiancee who had died. During 1947 Sweikert began mailing monthly accounts of his life to Veda Orr, through April 1956. Karl & Veda Orr built & operated their own race cars. Veda wrote many racing articles.
Sweikert returned to Hayward and opened his own small business, Sweikert Automotive, an automotive repair shop based out of his parents' garage. There over the next couple years he built his own track roadster. On Memorial Day
Memorial Day
Memorial Day is a United States federal holiday observed on the last Monday of May. Formerly known as Decoration Day, it originated after the American Civil War to commemorate the fallen Union soldiers of the Civil War...
, May 26, 1947 Sweikert ran his first race for prize money at the Oakland Speedway
Oakland Speedway
The Oakland Speedway was the first motor racing track near Oakland, California, a one-mile, banked dirt oval track built in 1931, which operated throughout the Great Depression and postwar years. The track featured AAA National Championship races with Indy cars and drivers from 1931 until 1936,...
, and finished second.
Sweikert then quit automotive repair, and became a full time driver. He gained his first racing sponsorship in July 1947, when he became a track roadster race driver for Hubbard Auto Parts of Oakland.
In early 1948, he married divorcee Marion Edwards. They had a large family wedding in West L.A. The same year, Sweikert moved up to midget cars, and won his first training race with the Bay Cities Racing Association. He ran seventy two races that first BCRA season, finishing 14th out of 130 active members in the annual point standings.
On February 12, 1949 Sweikert won the first BCRA Indoor Midget Race Track championship, in Oakland, on the new 1/12 mile oval track.
Sweikert's first chance at driving a Sprint car came next in 1949. He drove in northern California that year and later in Los Angeles.
After 1949 Sweikert became close friends with Johnny Boyd
Johnny Boyd
Johnny Boyd was an American racecar driver.Born in Fresno, California, Boyd drove in the AAA and USAC Championship Car series from 1954 to 1966 with 56 starts...
of Fresno, California
Fresno, California
Fresno is a city in central California, United States, the county seat of Fresno County. As of the 2010 census, the city's population was 510,365, making it the fifth largest city in California, the largest inland city in California, and the 34th largest in the nation...
when he met him on the California racing circuit. The two often raced together, and Boyd qualified for entry in the 1955 Indianapolis 500 when Sweikert helped him overcome mechanical handling problems in Boyd's car.
In May 1952, Sweikert ran his first "Indy 500" race. He entered at the 32nd starting position and ran for 77 laps in the McNamara Special car.
In late 1952 his first wife, divorcee Marion, started divorce proceedings so she could marry trackhand and twice divorced 'Buck' Allen, their marriage would later fail in the 1950s. Sweikert fought for custody of their young daughter. Sweikert's mother, Grace, often visited Bob's first-born until Grace passed away. Grace had all of the letters & phonograph records that Bob made for his first-born protected until she received her dad's inheritance and racing collectables at age 21.
In January 1953, Sweikert married his high school sweetheart, divorcee Dorie with her two children, with whom he had recently become reacquainted. They settled in Indiana, to be close to the Speedway where Sweikert hoped to race and win.
On September 12, 1953 Sweikert became the first driver ever to break 100 mi/h on a one-mile (1.6 km) oval track, at the Eastern Speed Dome, Syracuse, New York
Syracuse, New York
Syracuse is a city in and the county seat of Onondaga County, New York, United States, the largest U.S. city with the name "Syracuse", and the fifth most populous city in the state. At the 2010 census, the city population was 145,170, and its metropolitan area had a population of 742,603...
.
On September 26, 1953 Sweikert won the Hoosier Hundred, at the Indiana State Fairgrounds, a race which is chronicled by many as "the greatest race ever" run.
On September 11, 1954 Sweikert became the first driver ever to average 90 mi/h in a 100 miles (160.9 km) race, with his win in the Lutes Truck Parts Special #17 car at the Eastern Speed Dome in Syracuse.
On May 30, 1955 Sweikert finally won the Indianapolis 500 race, from the 14th starting position in the Zink Kurtis roadster #6. That car now reside in the Museum at the Indianapolis racetrack. In the winner's circle, Sweikert and Dorie celebrated with singer-actress Dinah Shore
Dinah Shore
Dinah Shore was an American singer, actress, and television personality...
.
In September 1955 Sweikert became the only driver in history to win the original American motor sports Triple Crown
Triple Crown of Motorsport
The Triple Crown of Motorsport is an unofficial motorsport achievement, often regarded as winning three of the most prestigious races in the world in one's career:* the Monaco Grand Prix* the 24 Hours of Le Mans* the Indianapolis 500...
, by sweeping the Indianapolis 500, 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,...
big car National Championship
American Championship Car Racing
Since 1916 there has been a recognized United States national automobile racing National Championship for drivers of professional-level, single-seat open wheel race cars. The championship has been under the auspices of several different sanctioning bodies since 1909. Since 1911, the Indianapolis...
, and the Midwest sprint car championship
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....
.
In May 1956, at his final return to the Indianapolis 500, Sweikert began in the 10th starting position and came in for a 6th place finish, with the team's D-A Lubricant roadster.
Weeks later, Sweikert's fatal sprint car crash occurred on June 17, 1956, at Salem Speedway. While completing the third lap, Sweikert was running near the outside wall in 4th place, side by side with his past teenage East Bay streets rival, Ed Elisian, in 5th. Coming out of the 4th turn, the two cars started down the straightaway in front of the grandstand. Running close to the wall, Sweikert's right rear wheel clipped a steel beam sticking out onto the track from the wall at the end of the stands. The sprint car flew over the edge of the track, down the embankment, and landed a hundred feet below, where it briefly burst into flames. Sweikert was pronounced dead upon arrival at Washington County Hospital. He is buried at Lone Tree Cemetery
Lone Tree Cemetery
Lone Tree Cemetery is a cemetery and funeral home in Fairview, California, near Hayward. The site was first established in 1868.-People interred:*William Dutton Hayward, namesake of the city of Hayward*Pete Knight, 1950s rodeo champion...
in Fairview, California
Fairview, California
Fairview is a census-designated place in Alameda County, California, United States. It borders on the city of Hayward. The population was 10,003 at the 2010 census.-Geography:...
.
Awards
- January 1956 - inducted into Hoosier Auto Racing Fan Club Hall of Fame
- May 28, 1956 - cover photo on Sports IllustratedSports IllustratedSports Illustrated is an American sports media company owned by media conglomerate Time Warner. Its self titled magazine has over 3.5 million subscribers and is read by 23 million adults each week, including over 18 million men. It was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the...
- 1993 - inducted into Motoring Press Association Hall of Fame in San Francisco
- May 1994 - inducted into Indianapolis Motor SpeedwayIndianapolis Motor SpeedwayThe Indianapolis Motor Speedway, located in Speedway, Indiana in the United States, is the home of the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race and the Brickyard 400....
Hall of Fame
- 1995 - inducted in the National Sprint Car Hall of FameNational Sprint Car Hall of Fame & MuseumThe 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....
, Knoxville, IowaKnoxville, IowaKnoxville is a city in Marion County, Iowa, United States. The population was 7,731 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Marion County. Knoxville is home of the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame & Museum located next to the famous dirt track known as Knoxville Raceway.-History:The site for...