Tommy Milton

Template:Infobox person

Tommy Milton in his race car at the Daytona Beach Road Course in 1920, courtesy of the Florida Photographic Collection

Thomas "Tommy" Milton (November 14, 1893 – July 10, 1962) was an American race car driver best known as the first two-time winner of the Indianapolis 500. He was notable for having only one functional eye, a disability that would have disqualified him from competing in modern motorsports.

Biography

Milton was born in St. Paul, Minnesota, on November 14, 1893. He began his career in racing in 1914, competing on dirt tracks in the midwestern United States. By 1917, he was competing nationwide, and earned his first major win at a track in Providence, Rhode Island. In 1919, he was one of the dominant figures in American racing, winning five of the nine championship races including the International Sweepstakes at Sheepshead Bay, New York, and making his debut at the Indianapolis 500. Later that year he suffered severe burns when his car burst into flames during a race at Uniontown, Pennsylvania. He returned to the track the following year to win the Universal Trophy on June 19 before winning the 1920 United States National Driving Championship.

Record at the Indianapolis 500

Tommy Milton with Barney Oldfield and Louis Chevrolet before the 1921 Indianapolis 500

Milton was a starter in the Indianapolis 500 eight times, earning the pole position once, and finishing in the top five on four occasions. He drove for Duesenberg his first time in 1919 and again the following year when he finished third. In 1921, the twenty-seven-year-old Milton won the celebrated race driving a straight-eight Frontenac built by Louis Chevrolet. In 1922 fuel tank problems forced Milton out of the race after only forty-four laps, but he came back in 1923 driving for the H.C.S. Motor Co. with a Miller 122 and won the race for the second time. His last was the 1927 Indianapolis 500 where he finished eighth.

At the 1936 race, Milton returned to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway to drive the Packard 120 Pace Car. At his suggestion, the tradition of giving the race winner the Pace Car began that year. In 1949 Milton was appointed chief steward for the Indianapolis 500. Health problems forced him to retire in 1957.

Death

Milton died in 1962 in Mount Clemens, Michigan, at the age of 68 of self-inflicted gunshot wounds.

Indy 500 results

Year Car Start Qual Rank Finish Laps Led Retired 1919 9 31 89.900 31 25 50 0 Rod 1920 10 11 90.200 11 3 200 0 Running 1921 2 20 93.050 11 1 200 90 Running 1922 8 24 94.400 15 24 44 0 Gas tank 1923 1 1 108.170 1 1 200 128 Running 1924 5 3 105.200 3 21 110 0 Gas tank 1925 4 11 104.366 13 5 200 0 Running 1927 6 25 108.758 20 8 200 0 Running Totals 1204 218

Starts 8 Poles 1 Front Row 2 Wins 2 Top 5 4 Top 10 5 Retired 3

Awards

• He was inducted in the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame in 1992.
• He was inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in 1998.

External links

• Tommy Milton – Website of the Ramsey County Historical Society, St Paul MN, with an online exhibit sharing photos of Milton based on an article in the Ramsey County History Quarterly.
• The Greatest 33

Further reading

• Trimble, Steven C., Tommy Milton "St. Paul's Speed King", Ramsey County History Quarterly V42 #4, Ramsey County Historical Society, St Paul, MN, 2008.

Preceded by: Gaston Chevrolet

Indianapolis 500 Winner 1921

Succeeded by: Jimmy Murphy

Preceded by: Jimmy Murphy

Indianapolis 500 Winner 1923

Succeeded by: Joe Boyer Lora L. Corum

This page uses some content from Wikipedia. The original article was at Tommy Milton. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with Autopedia, the text of Wikipedia is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.