Walt Brown (racing driver)
{{Short description|American racing driver (1910–1951)}}
{{Infobox racing driver
| name = Walt Brown
| image =
| caption =
| birth_name = Walter Charles Brown
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1910|12|30}}
| birth_place = Springfield, New York, U.S.
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1951|07|29|1910|12|30}}
| death_place = Carlisle, Pennsylvania, U.S.
| module1 =
{{Infobox Champ Car driver|embed=yes
| Total_Champ_Races = 43+
| Years_In_Champ = 9
| Best_Champ_Pos = 4th (1949)
| First_Champ_Race = 1941 Syracuse 100 (Syracuse)
| Last_Champ_Race = 1951 Darlington 250 (Darlington)
| First_Champ_Win = 1948 National Convention Sweepstakes (Langhorne)
| Champ_Wins = 1
| Champ_Podiums = 7
| Champ_Poles = 1
| module2 =
{{Infobox F1 driver|embed=yes
| Years = {{F1|1950}}–{{F1|1951}}
| Team(s) = Kurtis Kraft
| Races = 2
| Championships = 0
| Wins = 0
| Podiums = 0
| Points = 0
| Poles = 0
| Fastest laps = 0
| First race = 1950 Indianapolis 500
| Last race = 1951 Indianapolis 500
}}}}}}
Walter Charles Brown (December 30, 1910 – July 29, 1951) was an American racing driver.{{Cite web |title=Walt Brown |url=http://www.champcarstats.com/drivers/BrownWalt.htm |access-date=2023-06-10 |website=www.champcarstats.com}}{{Cite web |title=Motorsport Memorial - Walt Brown |url=http://www.motorsportmemorial.org/focus.php?db=ct&n=89 |access-date=31 March 2023 |website=Motorsport Memorial}} An Indy car specialist, his career in the big cars began in 1941, and he recorded one win, in 1948 at Langhorne Speedway.
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 participation, and were eligible to score WDC points alongside those which they may have scored towards the AAA/USAC National Championship.
Brown participated in two World Drivers' Championship races at Indianapolis. His best finish was 19th place, and he scored no World Drivers' Championship points.
Death
Brown died in a low speed accident at Williams Grove Speedway on 29 July 1951,{{cite news|title=Walt Brown killed at Williams Grove|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/3430913/|newspaper=Pottstown Mercury|agency=Associated Press|date=July 30, 1951|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20180731200919/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/3430913/death_of_race_car_driver_walt_brown/|archivedate=July 31, 2018|url-status=live}} the day widely known as "Black Sunday" because two other drivers also died (in consecutive qualifying runs at Funk's Speedway in Winchester, Indiana) on the same day.{{cite news|title=Three Indianapolis race drivers killed|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=k1ItAAAAIBAJ&pg=3264%2C4144114|newspaper=Reading Eagle|date=July 30, 1951}}
Motorsports career results
= Indianapolis 500 results =
| ---- valign="top"
| {|class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" | |||
| Year
!Car !Start !Qual !Rank !Finish !Laps !Led !Retired | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1947
|33 ||14 ||118.355 ||25 ||7 ||200 ||0 ||Running | |||
| 1950
|4 ||20 ||130.454 ||22 ||19 ||127 ||0 ||Flagged | |||
| 1951
|44 ||13 ||131.907 ||31 ||26 ||55 ||0 ||Magneto | |||
| colspan="6"|Totals | 382 | 0 |
|
| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" |
| Starts
|3 |
|---|
| Poles
|0 |
| Front Row
|0 |
| Wins
|0 |
| Top 5
|0 |
| Top 10
|1 |
| Retired
|1 |
|}
= AAA Championship Car results =
| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; font-size:90%"
! Year ! 1 ! 2 ! 3 ! 4 ! 5 ! 6 ! 7 ! 8 ! 9 ! 10 ! 11 ! 12 ! 13 ! 14 ! 15 ! Pos ! Points |
| rowspan=1| 1946
| INDY |style="background:#EFCFFF;"| LAN | ATL | ISF | MIL | GOS |colspan=9| !style="background:#CFCFFF;"| 30th !style="background:#CFCFFF;"| 186 |
|---|
| rowspan=1| 1947
|style="background:#CFEAFF;" | INDY |style="background:#CFEAFF;" | MIL |style="background:#FFDF9F;" | LAN |style="background:#EFCFFF;" | ATL |style="background:#EFCFFF;" | BAI |style="background:#EFCFFF;" | MIL |style="background:#CFEAFF;" | GOS |style="background:#EFCFFF;" | MIL | PIK |style="background:#CFEAFF;" | SPR | ARL |colspan=4| !style="background:#CFEAFF;"| 7th !style="background:#CFEAFF;"| 650 |
| rowspan=1| 1948
|style="background:#FFCFCF;" | ARL |style="background:#FFCFCF;" | INDY |style="background:#EFCFFF;" | MIL |style="background:#FFFFBF;" | LAN |style="background:#EFCFFF;" | MIL |style="background:#CFEAFF;" | SPR |style="background:#EFCFFF;" | MIL | DUQ | ATL | PIK |style="background:#CFEAFF;" | SPR | DUQ |colspan=3| !style="background:#CFCFFF;"| 16th !style="background:#CFCFFF;"| 320 |
| rowspan=1| 1949
| ARL | INDY |style="background:#CFEAFF;" | MIL |style="background:#FFDF9F;" | TRE |style="background:#CFEAFF;" | SPR |style="background:#DFDFDF;" | MIL |style="background:#DFFFDF;" | DUQ | PIK |style="background:#DFFFDF;" | SYR |style="background:#CFEAFF;" | DET |style="background:#DFFFDF;" | SPR |style="background:#CFCFFF;" | LAN |style="background:#CFEAFF;" | SAC |style="background:#CFEAFF;" | DMR | !style="background:#DFFFDF;" | 4th !style="background:#DFFFDF;" | 1,281 |
| 1950
|style="background:#CFCFFF;" | INDY |style="background:#EFCFFF;" | MIL | LAN |style="background:#EFCFFF;" | SPR |style="background:#FFCFCF;" | MIL | PIK |style="background:#EFCFFF;" | SYR |style="background:#FFCFCF;" | DET |style="background:#CFEAFF;" | SPR | SAC | PHX | BAY |style="background:#EFCFFF;" | DAR |colspan=2| !style="background:#CFCFFF;"| 42nd !style="background:#CFCFFF;"| 41.5 |
| rowspan=1| 1951
|style="background:#EFCFFF;" | INDY |style="background:#FFCFCF;" | MIL | LAN |style="background:#CFEAFF;" | DAR | SPR | MIL | DUQ | DUQ | PIK | SYR | DET | DNC | SJS | PHX | BAY !style="background:#CFCFFF;"| 51st !style="background:#CFCFFF;"| 17 |
- 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.{{Cite web |title=1946 AAA National Championship Trail |url=http://www.champcarstats.com/year/1946.htm |access-date=2023-10-05 |website=www.champcarstats.com}}{{Cite journal |last=Capps |first=H. Donald |date=October 2009 |title=The Curious Case of the 1946 Season: An Inconvenient Championship |url=http://forix.autosport.com/8w/rvm/rvm-vol07-no02.pdf |journal=Rear View Mirror |volume=7 |issue=2 |pages=1–16}}
= FIA World Drivers' Championship results =
(key)
| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; font-size:95%"
! Year ! Entrant ! Chassis ! Engine ! 1 ! 2 ! 3 ! 4 ! 5 ! 6 ! 7 ! 8 ! WDC ! Points |
| 1950
! Tuffy's Offy | GBR | MON |style="background:#CFCFFF;"| 500 | SUI | BEL | FRA | ITA | ! NC ! 0 |
| 1951
! Federal Engineering | SUI |style="background:#CFCFFF;"| 500 | BEL | FRA | GBR | GER | ITA | ESP ! NC ! 0 |
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{Find a Grave|20011|Walt Brown}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brown, Walt}}
Category:People from Springfield, New York
Category:Racing drivers from New York (state)
Category:Indianapolis 500 drivers
Category:AAA Championship Car drivers
Category:20th-century American sportsmen
Category:Racing drivers who died while racing