Joel Thorne

{{Infobox racing driver

| name = Joel Thorne

| image = Joel Thorne 1938.jpg

| caption = Thorne, circa 1938

| birth_name = Joel Wolfe Thorne Jr.

| birth_date = {{Birth date|1914|10|16}}

| birth_place = New York, New York, U.S.

| death_date = {{Death date and age|1955|10|17|1914|10|16}}

| death_place = North Hollywood, California, U.S.

| module1 =

{{Infobox Champ Car driver|embed=yes

| Total_Champ_Races = 8

| Years_In_Champ = 12

| Best_Champ_Pos = 5th (1940)

| First_Champ_Race = 1936 Vanderbilt Cup (Westbury)

| Last_Champ_Race = 1950 Pikes Peak Hill Climb
(Pikes Peak)

| Champ_Wins = 0

| Champ_Podiums = 0

| Champ_Poles = 0

}}}}

Joel Wolfe Thorne Jr. (October 16, 1914 – October 17, 1955) was an American racing driver,{{Cite web |title=Joel Thorne |url=http://www.champcarstats.com/drivers/ThorneJoel.htm |access-date=2024-03-17 |website=www.champcarstats.com}}{{Cite web |last=Brown |first=Allen |title=Joel Thorne |url=https://www.oldracingcars.com/driver/Joel_Thorne |access-date=2024-03-17 |website=OldRacingCars.com |language=en}} engineer, and playboy. Thorne raced his own cars in the Indianapolis 500, and later went on to attempt to design aircraft. He died after a plane crash in North Hollywood.

Racing career

The 1946 Indianapolis 500 was won by a car owned by Thorne and driven by George Robson.{{Cite web |url=http://www.indy500.com/stats/view/boxscore/year/1946 |title=1946 Indianapolis 500 Official Box Score :: Indianapolis 500 |access-date=2008-06-11 |archive-date=2008-05-14 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080514014834/http://www.indy500.com/stats/view/boxscore/year/1946 |url-status=dead }} One of Thorne's cars also won the pole position and finished second in the 1939 Indianapolis 500 with Jimmy Snyder behind the wheel.{{cite news|title=Prominent Racing Figure Is Injured|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/4844059/joel_w_thorne/|newspaper=The Indianapolis Star|page=14|via=Newspapers.com|date=February 23, 1946|accessdate=April 5, 2016}}{{Open access}}

Death

Thorne died after crashing his private plane, during what witnesses described as "stunting",Big Spring Daily Herald, "Crash Victim made many headlines with escapades", page 16, Oct. 19th, 1955. into an apartment building, killing three residents including a two-month-old baby.Mason City Globe-Gazette, "Plane Hits Apartment, Three Die", October 18th 1955, page 21The Independent (Pasadena, California), "Playboy Plane Crash Ruled Not Fault Of Government". June 7th, 1957, page 22

Motorsports career results

= Indianapolis 500 results =

class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
Year !Car !Start !Qual !Rank !Finish !Laps !Led !Retired
1938 \|22 \|13 \|119.155 \|23 \|9 \|185 \|0 \|Flagged
1939 \|8 \|20 \|122.177 \|23 \|7 \|200 \|0 \|Running
1940 \|8 \|10 \|122.434 \|20 \|5 \|197 \|0 \|Flagged
1941 \|5 \|23 \|121.163 \|24 \|31 \|5 \|0 \|Crash T1
colspan=6\|Totals \|587 \|0 \|

class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"

Year

!Car

!Start

!Qual

!Rank

!Finish

!Laps

!Led

!Retired

1938

|22