George Amick

George Amick
Born (1924-10-24)October 24, 1924
Vernonia, Oregon
Died April 4, 1959(1959-04-04) (aged 34)
Daytona Beach, Florida
Formula One World Championship career
Nationality United States American
Active years 19571958
Teams Snowberger, Epperly
Entries 2 (1 start)
Championships 0
Wins 0
Podiums 1
Career points 6
Pole positions 0
Fastest laps 0
First entry 1957 Indianapolis 500
Last entry 1958 Indianapolis 500

George R. "Little George" Amick (October 24, 1924, Vernonia, Oregon April 4, 1959, Daytona Beach, Florida) was an American racecar driver, mainly competing in the American National Championship.[1][2] He was killed in a crash in a USAC 100-mile (160 km) race at Daytona International Speedway.[2]

Racing career

Amick served in World War II.[1] He began racing in jalopies in the Northwestern United States before switching to midget car racing.[2] He competed in USAC National midgets for three seasons, finishing in the top ten points each season, and won 16 feature races.[2] He totaled 38 wins including the 1957 Turkey Night Grand Prix.[2]

He moved to Indy cars and won three times in 43 starts.[2] In his rookie appearance at the Indianapolis 500 in 1958, Amick was assigned a "lay-down" roadster commissioned by car owner Norm Demler, designed by Quinn Epperly, and built by master Indianapolis chief mechanic George Salih. Amick found himself running a comfortable second to leader Jimmy Bryan with just 20 laps remaining. Demler and Salih felt Amick was in a position to catch Bryan and perhaps even win, but decided against pushing their rookie driver into a potentially fatal mistake, and Amick came home an easy second.

Death

Amick was competing in the only Indy Car race ever run at the Daytona International Speedway and was killed in an accident on the final lap.[2] He is buried at Crown Hill Cemetery in Indianapolis.[3]

Awards

Amick was inducted into the National Midget Auto Racing Hall of Fame in 2009.[2]

Indianapolis 500 results

Year Car Start Qual Rank Finish Laps Led Retired
1958 99 25 142.710 25 2 200 18 Running
Totals 200 18

Starts 1
Poles 0
Front Row 0
Wins 0
Top 5 1
Top 10 1
Retired 0

Complete Formula One World Championship results

(key)

Year Entrant Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 WDC Points
1957 Federal Engineering Snowberger Offenhauser L4 ARG MON 500
DNQ
FRA GBR GER PES ITA NC 0
1958 Norman Demler Epperly Indy Roadster Offenhauser L4 ARG MON NED 500
2
BEL FRA GBR GER POR ITA MOR 15th 6

References

  1. 1 2 Jim Adams (August 14, 1998). "George "Little George" Amick". Find a Grave. Retrieved December 31, 2012.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Plaque" (Press release). National Midget Auto Racing Hall of Fame. 2009.
  3. "Indianapolis Auto greats" (PDF). Celebrating Automotive Heritage at Crown Hill Cemetery (Crown Hill Cemetery). 2011. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 13, 2012. Retrieved 2012-09-10.
Sporting positions
Preceded by
Don Edmunds
Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year
1958
Succeeded by
Bobby Grim
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Friday, March 11, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.