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Sam Hanks

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Template:Short description Template:Infobox racing driver

Samuel Dwight Hanks (July 13, 1914 – June 27, 1994) was an American racing driver who won the 1957 Indianapolis 500.<ref name=":0">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> He was a barnstormer, and raced midget and Championship cars.

Racing careerEdit

Hanks was born in Columbus, Ohio and lived in Alhambra, California from the age of six.<ref name=NSCHoF>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> He attended Alhambra High School.<ref name=LAT>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

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.<ref name=NMARHoF>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> He won the 1940 VFW Motor City Speedway championship in Detroit. During the Second World War, Hanks served in the Army Air Corps.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

File:Indy500winningcar1957-1958.JPG
Hanks' winning car from the 1957 Indianapolis 500

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.<ref name=LAT /> 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).<ref name=NMARHoF /> 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.<ref name=LAT /><ref>Indianapolis 500 win worth $2.35 million to Tony Kanaan, Autoweek, May 27, 2013, retrieved May 24, 2024</ref>

World Drivers' Championship careerEdit

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.<ref name=":0" /> He scored 20 World Drivers' Championship points.

Television appearanceEdit

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.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Later lifeEdit

He drove the pace car at the Indianapolis 500 from 1958 to 1963.<ref name=NMARHoF />

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.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Having experienced ill health for three years, Hanks died at his home in Pacific Palisades, California on June 27, 1994, aged 79.<ref name=LAT />

Awards and honorsEdit

Hanks has been inducted into the following halls of fame:

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Hanks has been awarded the following honors:

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Motorsports career resultsEdit

AAA/USAC Championship Car resultsEdit

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.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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Indianapolis 500 resultsEdit

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Year Car Start Qual Rank Finish Laps Led Retired
1940 28 14 123.064 13 13 192 0 Flagged
1941 28 33 118.211 32 33 0 0 DNS
1946 32 3 124.762 7 31 18 0 Oil line
1948 76 15 124.266 19 26 34 0 Clutch
1949 18 23 127.809 17 30 20 0 Oil leak
1950 23 25 131.593 13 30 42 0 Oil pressure
1951 25 12 132.998 21 12 135 0 SpunT3
1952 18 5 135.736 14 3rd 200 0 Running
1953 3 9 137.531 5 3rd* 200 3 Running
1954 1 10 137.994 25 20 191 1 Spun FS
1955 8 6 140.187 6 19 134 0 Transmission
1956 4 13 142.051 21 2nd 200 0 Running
1957 9 13 142.812 6 1st 200 136 Running
Totals<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation CitationClass=web

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1566 140

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Starts 13
Poles 0
Front Row 1
Wins 1
Top 5 4
Top 10 4
Retired 8

Template:Col-end * Shared drive with Duane Carter

ReferencesEdit

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External linksEdit

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