Walt Faulkner

Walt Faulkner

Born	February 16, 1918 Tell, Texas
Died	April 22, 1956 (aged 38) Vallejo, California
Formula One World Championship career
Nationality	American
Active years	1950–1955
Teams	Kurtis Kraft, Kuzma, Pankratz, Lesovsky, Ferrari
Entries	6 (5 starts)
Championships	0
Wins	0
Podiums	0
Career points	1
Pole positions	1
Fastest laps	0
First entry	1950 Indianapolis 500
Last entry	1955 Indianapolis 500

Walt Faulkner (February 16, 1918^[1] – April 22, 1956) was an American racing driver from Tell, Texas, who moved to Milledgeville, Georgia at the age of two-and-a-half, and to Lake Wales, Florida at the age of eight. He then moved to Los Angeles, California in 1936. Faulkner competed mainly in the National Championship and in stock car races. In 1950 Faulkner became the first rookie to win pole position at the Indianapolis 500. He died in 1956 after a qualifying crash at a USAC Stock Car event in Vallejo, California.

Earlier in his career, Faulkner raced motorcycles and then midget cars for the Edelbrock dirt track racing team. He had great success in midget car racing and was inducted into the National Midget Auto Racing Hall of Fame in 2007. Faulkner was also inducted into the West Coast Stock Car Hall of Fame in 2006.^[2]

Indy 500 results

Year Car Start Qual Rank Finish Laps Led Retired 1950 98 1 134.343 1 7 135 0 Running 1951 2 14 136.872 1 15 123 0 Crankshaft 1953 23 14 137.117 10 17 176 0 Flagged 1954 98 - - - 12* 199 ? Flagged 1955 77 7 139.762 16 5** 200 0 Running Totals 634 0

Starts 4 Poles 1 Front Row 1 Wins 0 Top 5 1 Top 10 2 Retired 1

* Shared drive with Chuck Stevenson
** Shared drive with Bill Homeier. Each driver scored 1 World Championship point

World Championship career summary

The Indianapolis 500 was part of the FIA World Championship from 1950 through 1960. Drivers competing at Indy during those years were credited with World Championship points and participation. Walt Faulkner participated in 5 World Championship races. He started on the pole 1 time, and accumulated a total of 1 championship point.

References

1. "California Death Index". Retrieved 23 December 2010.
2. "West Coast Stock Car Hall of Fame". West Coast Stock Car Hall of Fame. Retrieved 16 March 2012.