Gary Bettenhausen (November 18, 1941 - March 16, 2014) was an American auto racing driver. He was born in Blue Island, Illinois, raised in Tinley Park, Illinois, graduated in the class of 1962 from Bremen High School (Midlothian, Illinois) in Midlothian, Illinois and at the time of his death resided in Monrovia, Indiana.

Bettenhausen's father was Indianapolis 500 and sprint car legend Tony Bettenhausen. His brother was former CART driver and team owner Tony. Another brother, Merle, was injured in a fiery crash.

Bettenhausen died on March 16, 2014 in Monrovia, Indiana.

Racing career

Midgets

Bettenhausen began as a midget car driver. He finished third in the midget car national points in 1967. He won the first leg of the Astro Grand Prix in 1969, which was held in the Astrodome. He won the 1967 and 1970 Turkey Night Grand Prix, the 1972 Astro Grand Prix, and the 1976 Hut Hundred, on his way to a total of 27 career wins in USAC midget car competition.

Sprint cars

Bettenhausen won the 1969 and 1971 sprint car championships.

He won the 1980 and 1983 USAC Dirt Track champions in a Silver Crown car.

A crash at a Championship Dirt Car race (AKA Silver Crown Car) in Syracuse, New York on July 2, 1974 crushed his left arm and left it paralyzed. He regained enough mobility to drive but never fully recovered from the injury.

Indy/Championship Cars & Indianapolis 500

Bettenhausen competed in Champ/Indy style cars from the mid-1960s until 1996. During this time he won six USAC Indy Car races. He made 21 starts in the Indianapolis 500, contesting each event from 1968 until 1982 (with the exception of 1979 when he failed to qualify), and again from 1986 to 1993. His best finish came in 1980 when he finished third after starting 32nd in the 33-car field.

In the 1972 Indianapolis 500, Bettenhausen led 138 laps (of 200), and appeared on his way to victory. But he suffered a blown engine with only 24 laps remaining, and dropped out to finish 14th.

NASCAR

Bettenhsusen competed in eight career NASCAR Winston Cup events. He had four Top 10 finishes. His highest career finish was a fourth-place finish at the 1974 Motor State 360 at the Michigan International Speedway.

Awards

• He was inducted in the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame in 1993.
• He was a 1998 inductee in the National Midget Auto Racing Hall of Fame.

Motorsports career results

Complete USAC Mini-Indy Series results

Year	Entrant	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Pos	Points
1977		TRE	MIL	MOS	PIR							26th	20
1978		PIR1	TRE1	MOS	MIL1	TEX	MIL2	OMS1	OMS2	TRE2	PIR2	8th	453
1979		TEX1	IRP	MIL1	POC	TEX2	MIL2	MIN1	MIN2			7th	330

Indianapolis 500

Year	Chassis	Engine	Start	Finish
1968	Gerhardt	Offy	22nd	24th
1969	Gerhardt	Offy	9th	26th
1970	Gerhardt	Offy	20th	26th
1971	Gerhardt	Offy	13th	10th
1972	McLaren	Offy	4th	14th
1973	McLaren	Offy	5th	5th
1974	McLaren	Offy	11th	32nd
1975	Eagle	Offy	19th	15th
1976	Eagle	Offy	8th	28th
1977	King	Offy	21st	16th
1978	King	Offy	31st	16th
1979	King	Chevrolet	Failed to Qualify
1980	Wildcat	DGS (Offy)	32nd	3rd
1981	Lightning	Cosworth	11th	26th
1982	Lightning	Cosworth	30th	12th
1983	Lightning	Chevrolet	Failed to Qualify
1984	March	Cosworth	Failed to Qualify
1986	March	Cosworth	29th	11th
1987	March	Cosworth	15th	5th
1988	March	Cosworth	Failed to Qualify
1989	Lola	Buick	14th	33rd
1990	Lola	Buick	18th	31st
1991	Lola	Buick	12th	22nd
1992	Lola	Buick	5th	17th
1993	Lola	Menard-Buick	18th	17th
1994	Penske	Ilmor	Failed to Qualify

NASCAR

(key) (Bold - Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics - Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * - Most laps led.)

Winston Cup Series

NASCAR Winston Cup Series results
Year	Team	No.	Make	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	NGNC	Pts
				32	33	34	35	36	37	38	39	40	41	42	43	44	45	46	47	48	49	50	51	52	53	54	55	56	57	58	59	60	61	62
1967	Ranier Racing	68	Ford	AUG	RSD	DAY	DAY	DAY	AWS	BRI	GPS	BGS	ATL	CLB	HCY	NWS	MAR	SVH	RCH	DAR	BLV	LGY	CLT	ASH	MGR	SMR	BIR	CAR	GPS	MGY	DAY	TRN	OXF	FDA	n/a	n/a
				ISP	BRI	SMR	NSV	ATL	BGS	CLB	SVH	DAR	HCY	RCH	BLV	HBO	MAR	NWS	CLT	CAR	AWS
Year	Team	No.	Make	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	NWCC	Pts
1974	Penske Racing	16	Matador	RSD	DAY	RCH	CAR	BRI	ATL	DAR	NWS	MAR	TAL	NSV	DOV	CLT	RSD	MCH	DAY	BRI	NSV	ATL	POC	TAL	MCH	DAR	RCH	DOV	NWS	MAR	CLT	CAR	ONT		43rd	49
1994	Barkdoll Racing	60	Chevy	DAY	CAR	RCH	ATL	DAR	BRI	NWS	MAR	TAL	SON	CLT	DOV	POC	MCH	DAY	NHA	POC	TAL	IND	GLN	MCH	BRI	DAR	RCH	DOV	MAR	NWS	CLT	CAR	PHO	ATL	NA	0

[ Source: Wikipedia ]