5 replies to this topic

[brickyard]

As a previous thread, this time is to finish 1989...

I need the teams for which this drivers drove: (but didn't qualify)

At the Indy 500:

#84 - Stan Fox
#79 - John Paul Jr.
#97 - Steve Chassey
#77 - Phil Krueger
#66 - Tom Bigelow
#63 - Michael Greenfield
#44 - Scott Harrington
#35 - Buddy Lazier
#17 - Tony Bettenhausen

At Laguna Seca:

#23 - Buddy Lazier
#17 - Joe Sposato

And that concludes this week "difficult" ones.
Thank you all

[ensign14]

Not got my books in front of me, but I think 84 was A J Foyt and 77 George Walther. 63 was Tony Bettenhausen's second entry.

[Gert]

An old (photo-)copy of a French magazine (Sport-Auto presumably) has an entry list (without starting numbers unfortunatly, so maybe it's only a tentative entrylist??

Greenfield -> Bettenhausen (this would confirm what Ensign14 is saying)
Chassey -> R. Kent Baker
Krueger -> Walther Motorsports
Harrington -> H&H Racing (whatever that might be)
Lazier -> Lazier

can't find anything on the other ones...

Concerning Lazier: Didn't Bob Lazier enter a car in the IRL for his youngest son Jacques with the same number 35?

[ensign14]

Home from work! Hungness yearbook has the following:

#84 - Stan Fox - A J Foyt Enterprises Inc
#79 - John Paul Jr. - no-one! JPJ drove the no 97 for R Kent Baker - but as spare cars had separate ID numbers, which were very small and usually near the roll bar as well as their race numbers, could 79 have been 97's spare?
#97 - Steve Chassey - R Kent Baker
#77 - Phil Krueger - Walther Motorsports (George Walther allegedly swapped the 979 winning car for a Penske PC17)
#66 - Tom Bigelow - Milligan/Burns Racing Team
#63 - Michael Greenfield - Bettenhausen Racing & Associates
#44 - Scott Harrington - H&H Motorsports
#35 - Buddy Lazier - Lazier Racing (Bob made the 500 in 1981 in no 35)
#17 - actually the Bernstein-King Buick spare for Jim Crawford who drove no 15 - Tony B had his usual no 16

[brickyard]

#77 - Phil Krueger - Walther Motorsports (George Walther allegedly swapped the 979 winning car for a Penske PC17)

Krueger drove a #44 car at Michigan for a team called Todd Walther Racing, owned by Todd & Lynne Walther, (married), respectively President and Chairman of that Team. Walther Associates Limited, was the parent company, which served the automotive, office furniture and appliance industries with a variety of specialty services and machinery. Both had a B.S. degree from Wright State University of Dayton, Ohio. (would this ring a bell?).
Yes, Dayton, Ohio, is the hometown of George and Salt Walther, which competed at Indy, mainly with the #77.

My question is, if there are a conection between all those Walthers, and if the Indy entry was from George or Todd Walther?

I have other references to Todd Walther Racing in 1988 and 1990.

[ensign14]

The Indy entry must have been at least instigated by George Walther as he got the car from Roger Penske in exchange for the 1979 winner he'd previously bought. Not a good swap, really.

Didn't know about Todd Walther...funny they all used double numbers - George had 33 or 77 in the 50s-70s, Todd with 44?