Charles Szekendy

I am looking for info Cherlie Szekendy who was a midget/big car driver in Midwest area in 30s and 40s years.

Thanks

http://www.champcars...endyCharles.htm

http://www.findagrav...r&GRid=66244655

He is said to be one smiling in the background of this photo:

http://www.jalopyjou...ed-jpg.1473588/

Edited by ReWind, 08 June 2014 - 08:10.

Was he entered 1949 Illinois State Fair event or Mike Salay with a Szalai Offy?(The Karban's book-"Dirt"-thinks Salay was entered) 

Good question! Could've been a mistake due to both names beginning with "Sz", but since both men lived in South Bend it's entirely possible Salay let Szekendy take a ride.

Szekendy was hungarian descendant,but he was born in  Hungary and I think same county like Szalai family.Do you know Szekendy's records?I saw for him in 1946 AAA list but,don't know where he raced in this year....

I think Szekendy mainly raced Midgets after WW2, where he's listed in several AAA races 1948 - '51. As for Big Cars, he may have finished 4th at the first Winchester race in 1946, but by June he was competing in IMCA events so he probably lost all his AAA points in any case. A year later, he was 3rd at Winchester early in the year, but was later listed as an entrant in MDTRA events. He was still listed 27th in AAA Midwestern points by the end of the year, so those entries may have been wishful thinking on part of the promoters. By the early fifties, he was (chief) mechanic for the Lee Elkins team.

From South Bend Speedway site:

CHARLES SZEKENDY BEGAN HIS RACING CAREER IN 1931 ON DIRT TRACKS IN THE MIDWEST AS DRIVER AND MECHANIC. IN 1947 HE HEADED TO THE BRICKYARD AS CHIEF MACHANIC FOR CHARLIE VAN ACKER .

You may know something about his  pre-war racing career ?

On Floyd Trevis’ recommendation, Gilbert Morcroft hired Charlie Szekendy, the 55-year old former midget driver from Hammond Indiana as the chief mechanic for the 1962 Morcroft ‘500’ entry. Charlie worked on Lee Elkins’ ‘McNamara Motor Express’ big cars after his retirement from driving, worked with Trevis at Indianapolis and had debuted as an Indianapolis chief mechanic for Lee Elkins in the Templeman KK500D in 1958.  

http://triplettraceh...ster-owner.html