Frank Lockhart

Frank Stallworth Lockhart (born April 8, 1903 at Dayton, Ohio - April 25, 1928 at Daytona Beach, Florida) was an American automobile racing driver active in the 1920s, considered by many historians to be a legend in the sport on par with 1960s British World Driving Champion Jim Clark. During a "remarkable if all too short" career, Lockhart won numerous races on dirt, board tracks, the 1926 Indianapolis 500, and set a world land speed record for a distance average. In all, he had nine AAA wins and two vice-championships in two years of competition.

Lockhart was raised in Southern California. He became a famous West Coast dirt track racer. Lockhart had a strong engineering and motor building ability that he used to build custom cars throughout his career.

Lockhart began his career in Frontenac-prepared Fords (Fronty Fords) at board track racing events, where he showed remarkable speed against the dominating Duesenbergs and Millers for two seasons. His big break came when he was signed as a relief driver for Peter Kreis's eight-cylinder supercharged Miller at the 1926 Indianapolis 500. He convinced Kreis to allow him to take some "warm up" laps, and he clocked quicker times than Kreis (120.919 mph {194.59 km/h}). He set a new unofficial track record on his first official qualifying lap (a three lap average was used to set a track record). He cut down a tire and crashed on the second qualifying lap. He also had mechanical problems on his second attempt. He slowed down on his third and final attempt, and qualified 20th overall with a speed of 95.780 mph (154.113 km/h). On race day, he moved from 20th to fifth by Lap 5, having had passed 14 cars on that lap alone. He moved up to second on Lap 16. Lockhart took the lead from Dave Lewis shortly after a rain delay on Lap 72. Lewis and Lockhart battled for the lead for the next 20 laps, until Lewis dropped out. Lockhart nearly stretched out a two lap lead before rain ended the race on Lap 160, becoming the fourth rookie to win the Indianapolis 500.

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