| Sam Hanks | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Hanks, circa 1957 | |||||||
| Born | Samuel Dwight Hanks July 13, 1914 Columbus, Ohio, U.S. | ||||||
| Died | June 27, 1994 (aged 79) | ||||||
| Championship titles | |||||||
| AAA West Coast Midget Car (1946) AAA National Midget Car (1949) AAA Championship Car (1953) Major victories Indianapolis 500 (1957) | |||||||
| Champ Car career | |||||||
| 43 races run over 14 years | |||||||
| Best finish | 1st (1953) | ||||||
| First race | 1940 Indianapolis 500 (Indianapolis) | ||||||
| Last race | 1957 Indianapolis 500 (Indianapolis) | ||||||
| First win | 1953 Springfield 100 (Springfield) | ||||||
| Last win | 1957 Indianapolis 500 (Indianapolis) | ||||||
| |||||||
| Formula One World Championship career | |||||||
| Active years | 1950–1957 | ||||||
| Teams | Kurtis Kraft, Salih | ||||||
| Entries | 8 | ||||||
| Championships | 0 | ||||||
| Wins | 1 | ||||||
| Podiums | 4 | ||||||
| Career points | 20 | ||||||
| Pole positions | 0 | ||||||
| Fastest laps | 0 | ||||||
| First entry | 1950 Indianapolis 500 | ||||||
| First win | 1957 Indianapolis 500 | ||||||
| Last entry | 1957 Indianapolis 500 | ||||||
Samuel Dwight Hanks (July 13, 1914 – June 27, 1994) was an American racing driver who won the 1957 Indianapolis 500.[1][2] He was a barnstormer, and raced midget and Championship cars.
Racing career
[edit]Hanks was born in Columbus, Ohio and lived in Alhambra, California from the age of six.[3] He attended Alhambra High School.[4]
Hanks won his first championship in 1937 on the West Coast in the American Midget Association (AMA). He barnstormed the country, racing on the board tracks at Soldier Field in Chicago. Hanks reportedly won the first two board track races at Soldier Field in 1939.[5] He won the 1940 VFW Motor City Speedway championship in Detroit. During the Second World War, Hanks served in the Army Air Corps.[6]
After World War II, Hanks captured the 1946 United Racing Association (URA) Blue Circuit Championship. He won the 1947 Night before the 500 midget car race. He was the 1949 AAA National Midget champion. He won the 1953 AAA National Championship in the Bardahl Special. He won the 1956 Pacific Coast championship in the USAC Stock cars.
Hanks considered retiring following the 1956 Indianapolis 500, but agreed to return for the 1957 race at the urging of car owner George Salih.[4] 1957 was his 13th appearance in the 500, although in 1941, he merely was credited with finishing 33rd despite not racing, he had been injured in a practice crash the day before the race and withdrew. In his twelfth race where he raced on the track, he finally won, setting a record for the most tries before becoming a winner at Indy and announced his retirement from racing in Victory Circle (Tony Kanaan would win his first Indy in his 12th Indy 500 appearance in 2013).[5] He did not stop racing immediately following his victory, however, but completed his contract to run a stock car for the remainder of the 1957 season.[4][7]
World Drivers' Championship career
[edit]The AAA/USAC-sanctioned Indianapolis 500 was included in the FIA World Drivers' Championship from 1950 through 1960. Drivers competing at Indianapolis during those years were credited with World Drivers' Championship participation, and were eligible to score WDC points alongside those which they may have scored towards the AAA/USAC National Championship.
Hanks participated in eight World Drivers' Championship races at Indianapolis. He won once, and finished in the top three four times.[1] He scored 20 World Drivers' Championship points.
Television appearance
[edit]Hanks portrayed himself in the episode "The Comedians" of the CBS situation comedy Mr. Adams and Eve, starring Ida Lupino and Howard Duff. The episode aired on November 8, 1957.[8]
Later life
[edit]He drove the pace car at the Indianapolis 500 from 1958 to 1963.[5]
Hanks is believed to be the only Indianapolis 500 driver to participate in the race before World War II, serve in the war effort, then return to race again after the war. It has also been conjectured that Hanks may have been a distant relative to Abraham Lincoln.[9]
Having experienced ill health for three years, Hanks died at his home in Pacific Palisades, California on June 27, 1994, aged 79.[4]
Awards and honors
[edit]Hanks has been inducted into the following halls of fame:
- Auto Racing Hall of Fame (1981)[10]
- National Midget Auto Racing Hall of Fame (1984)[5]
- Michigan Motor Sports Hall of Fame (1984)[11]
- National Sprint Car Hall of Fame (1998)[12]
- Motorsports Hall of Fame of America (2000)[13]
- West Coast Stock Car/Motorsports Hall of Fame (2005)[14][15]
- Alhambra High School Hall of Fame[16]
Hanks has been awarded the following honors:
- Automotive Hall of Fame Distinguished Service Citation (1971)[17]
Motorsports career results
[edit]AAA/USAC Championship Car results
[edit]| Year | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | Pos | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1946 | INDY 31 |
LAN | ATL | ISF | MIL | GOS | - | 0 | |||||||||
| 1947 | INDY DNQ |
MIL | LAN | ATL | BAI | MIL | GOS | MIL | PIK | SPR | ARL | - | 0 | ||||
| 1948 | ARL | INDY 26 |
MIL | LAN | MIL | SPR | MIL | DUQ | ATL | PIK | SPR | DUQ | - | 0 | |||
| 1949 | ARL | INDY 30 |
MIL DNQ |
TRE | SPR | MIL DNQ |
DUQ DNQ |
PIK | SYR | DET | SPR | LAN | SAC DNQ |
DMR DNP |
- | 0 | |
| 1950 | INDY 30 |
MIL DNQ |
LAN | SPR | MIL | PIK | SYR | DET | SPR | SAC | PHX | BAY 2 |
DAR | 23rd | 240 | ||
| 1951 | INDY 12 |
MIL | LAN | DAR | SPR | MIL | DUQ 5 |
DUQ 3 |
PIK | SYR DNQ |
DET 5 |
DNC 10 |
SJS DNQ |
PHX | BAY | 16th | 421.4 |
| 1952 | INDY 3 |
MIL DNQ |
RAL 18 |
SPR 3 |
MIL 14 |
DET DNQ |
DUQ 2 |
PIK | SYR 12 |
DNC 4 |
SJS 5 |
PHX 2 |
3rd | 1,390 | |||
| 1953 | INDY 3 |
MIL 10 |
SPR 2 |
DET 4 |
SPR 1 |
MIL 22 |
DUQ 1 |
PIK | SYR 4 |
ISF 5 |
SAC 3 |
PHX 3 |
1st | 1,659.5 | |||
| 1954 | INDY 20 |
MIL DNQ |
LAN 3 |
DAR 8 |
SPR 7 |
MIL 6 |
DUQ 1 |
PIK | SYR | ISF 3 |
SAC 15 |
PHX 5 |
LVG DNQ |
8th | 858.5 | ||
| 1955 | INDY 19 |
MIL | LAN | SPR | MIL | DUQ | PIK | SYR | ISF | SAC | PHX DNQ |
- | 0 | ||||
| 1956 | INDY 2 |
MIL | LAN | DAR | ATL | SPR | MIL | DUQ | SYR | ISF | SAC | PHX | 9th | 800 | |||
| 1957 | INDY 1 |
LAN | MIL | DET | ATL | SPR | MIL | DUQ | SYR | ISF | TRE | SAC | PHX | 9th | 1,000 | ||
- 1946 table only includes results of the six races run to "championship car" specifications. Points total includes the 71 races run to "big car" specifications.[18][19]
Indianapolis 500 results
[edit]
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* Shared drive with Duane Carter
References
[edit]- ^ a b "Sam Hanks". www.champcarstats.com. Retrieved 2024-03-17.
- ^ Brown, Allen. "Sam Hanks". OldRacingCars.com. Retrieved 2024-03-17.
- ^ "Sam Hanks". National Sprint Car Hall of Fame & Museum. Archived from the original on 2019-06-19.
- ^ a b c d Glick, Shav (June 29, 1994). "Hanks, 79, winner of '57 Indy 500, dies". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 2019-12-22.
- ^ a b c d "Sam Hanks". National Midget Auto Racing Hall of Fame. Archived from the original on 2012-02-05.
- ^ "RetroIndy: Indy 500 drivers who served in the military". The Indianapolis Star. Retrieved 2023-06-13.
- ^ Indianapolis 500 win worth $2.35 million to Tony Kanaan, Autoweek, May 27, 2013, retrieved May 24, 2024
- ^ "Mr Adams and Eve (1957–58)". The Classic TV Archive. Archived from the original on 2021-08-18. Retrieved 2021-06-12.
- ^ Davidson, Donald (May 23, 1999). "Indy 500 winner Hanks linked (maybe) to a presidential past". SpeedNet. Indianapolis Star/News. Retrieved 2014-04-09.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link) - ^ "Sam Hanks". IMS Museum. Retrieved 2023-10-07.
- ^ "Michigan Motor Sports Hall of Fame - Hanks, Sam 1984 *". mmshof.org. Retrieved 2023-10-07.
- ^ "Sam Hanks". www.sprintcarhof.com. Retrieved 2023-10-07.
- ^ "Sam Hanks". www.mshf.com. Retrieved 2023-10-07.
- ^ "Hall of Fame – West Coast Stock Car Hall of Fame". Retrieved 2023-10-07.
- ^ "StockcarReunion.com". www.stockcarreunion.com. Retrieved 2023-10-07.
- ^ "Alhambra High School Hall of Fame - Sam Hanks - 1931". ahshalloffame.com. Retrieved 2023-10-07.
- ^ "» Sam Hanks | Automotive Hall of Fame". www.automotivehalloffame.org. Retrieved 2023-10-07.
- ^ "1946 AAA National Championship Trail". www.champcarstats.com. Retrieved 2023-10-02.
- ^ Capps, Capps (October 2009). "The Curious Case of the 1946 Season: An Inconvenient Championship" (PDF). Rear View Mirror. 7 (2): 1–16.
- ^ "Sam Hanks Indianapolis 500 stats". IndianapolisMotorSpeedway.com. Archived from the original on 2019-08-01.
External links
[edit]- Sam Hanks - ChampCarStats.com
- Sam Hanks driver statistics at Racing-Reference
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
- 1914 births
- 1994 deaths
- Racing drivers from Columbus, Ohio
- Racing drivers from Los Angeles
- Champ Car champions
- Indianapolis 500 drivers
- Indianapolis 500 winners
- AAA Championship Car drivers
- 20th-century American sportsmen
- Formula One race winners
- National Sprint Car Hall of Fame inductees
- USAC Championship Car drivers
- USAC Stock Car drivers
- Alhambra High School (Alhambra, California) alumni
- Racing drivers from Alhambra, California
