Jimmy Bryan
The 33-year-old driver from Phoenix,
Ariz., was dead on arrival at Lower Bucks County Hospital. His car started to
skid sideways just after the race started and then rolled over. There was no fire.
His Leader Card Special was wrecked.
Bryan had qualified in the car, which
Roger Ward usually drives, with the second fastest time, 110:321 miles per
hour.
The feature race was restarted
after the accident. The winner was Jim Hurtubise, of Lennox, Calif., in a field
of 17 cars. His time was 59 minutes and 31.92 seconds and his speed 100.78 miles per hour on the one-mile
track.
Bryan raced in the Indianapolis 500
mile classic nine times, winning it in 1958. He also won the 500-miler at
Monza, Italy, in 1957.
The cigar-chewing Bryan was known
in racing circles as "the earth mover" for his uncanny ability at
winning on dirt tracks. He won the national big car driving championship three
times - in 1954, 1956 and 1957.
Bryan began racing in 1948 and
had won 19 championship auto races. He leaves his widow, Luella, and a
3-year-old daughter Stephanie Lou.
Bryan was the fourth Indianapolis
race winner killed in a race since World War II. George Robson, winner in 1946,
was killed later the same year in a race at Atlanta. Bill Vukovich,
Indianapolis winner in 1953 and 1954, died in a smashup during the 1955 500-mile
race
The 1955 champion, Bob Sweikert
was killed later that year in a race at Salem, Indiana.
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