Jimmy Bryan
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
January 28, 1926
| Jimmy Bryan | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | |||||||
| Born | James Ernest Bryan January 28, 1926 Phoenix, Arizona, U.S. | ||||||
| Died | June 19, 1960 (aged 34) Langhorne, Pennsylvania, U.S. | ||||||
| Championship titles | |||||||
| AAA / USAC Championship Car (1954, 1956, 1957) Major victories Race of Two Worlds (1957) Indianapolis 500 (1958) | |||||||
| Champ Car career | |||||||
| 62 races run over 10 years | |||||||
| Best finish | 1st (1954, 1956, 1957) | ||||||
| First race | 1952 Indianapolis 500 (Indianapolis) | ||||||
| Last race | 1960 Langhorne 100 (Langhorne) | ||||||
| First win | 1953 Golden State 100 (Sacramento) | ||||||
| Last win | 1958 Indianapolis 500 (Indianapolis) | ||||||
| |||||||
| Formula One World Championship career | |||||||
| Active years | 1951 – 1960 | ||||||
| Teams | Lesovsky, Kurtis Kraft, Schroeder, Kuzma, Salih | ||||||
| Entries | 10 (9 starts) | ||||||
| Championships | 0 | ||||||
| Wins | 1 | ||||||
| Podiums | 3 | ||||||
| Career points | 18 | ||||||
| Pole positions | 0 | ||||||
| Fastest laps | 0 | ||||||
| First entry | 1951 Indianapolis 500 | ||||||
| First win | 1958 Indianapolis 500 | ||||||
| Last entry | 1960 Indianapolis 500 | ||||||
James Ernest Bryan (January 28, 1926 – June 19, 1960) was an American racing driver. Well-known for his habit of racing with an unlit cigar, Bryan was a three-time National Champion, and won the Indianapolis 500 in 1958. In Europe he is well-known for winning the 1957 Race of Two Worlds.
Bryan was born on January 28, 1926, in Phoenix, Arizona, to Reginald Louis, a baker, and Pauline (née Wainwright).
Driving career
Championship car career
Bryan drove in the AAA and USAC Championship Car series, racing in the 1952–1960 seasons with 72 starts, including each year's Indianapolis 500 race. He finished in the top ten 54 times, with 23 victories.
Bryan won the 1958 Indianapolis 500 and the 1954 AAA and 1956 and 1957 USAC National Championship. During his 1957 championship season, Bryan also won the inaugural running of the Race of Two Worlds at Autodromo Nazionale Monza, Italy.[1]
World Drivers' Championship career
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 points and participation in addition to those which they received towards the AAA/USAC National Championship.
Bryan participated in nine World Drivers' Championship races at Indianapolis. He won once, finished in the top three three times, and accumulated 18 World Drivers' Championship points.
Death and legacy
Bryan died after a crash in a Championship car race at Langhorne Speedway in 1960, on the same day that two drivers were killed in the Belgian Grand Prix, making the day one of the most tragic in racing history. For many years one of the two Championship races at the Phoenix International Raceway was traditionally called the Jimmy Bryan Memorial. He was also memorialized in a song by Harry Weger titled "The Ballad of Jimmy Bryan". Bryan is buried in Phoenix's Greenwood/Memory Lawn Mortuary & Cemetery.
Awards and honors
Bryan has been inducted into the following halls of fame: