Duane Carter

For the American rapper, see Lil Wayne.

Duane Claude Carter (May 5, 1913 – March 7, 1993) was an American racecar driver. He raced midget cars, sprint cars, and IndyCars.^[1] Carter was born in Fresno, California, and he died in Indianapolis, Indiana. His son Pancho raced in Indy cars, along with Johnny Parsons (whom he helped raise^[2]).

Duane Carter
Carter at Chicago's Soldier Field racetrack, circa 1946
Born	Duane Claude Carter (1913-05-05)May 5, 1913 Fresno, California, U.S.
Died	March 7, 1993(1993-03-07) (aged 79) Indianapolis, Indiana, U.S.
Awards
Indianapolis Motor Speedway Hall of Fame (2005)
Champ Car career
45 races run over 15 years
Years active	1947-1955, 1959-1964
Best finish	4th – 1952
First race	1948 Indianapolis 500 (Indianapolis)
Last race	1963 Indianapolis 500 (Indianapolis)
Wins Podiums Poles 0 4 1
Formula One World Championship career
Active years	1950 – 1955, 1959 – 1960
Teams	Kurtis Kraft, Kuzma, Lesovsky, Stevens, Diedt
Entries	8
Championships	0
Wins	0
Podiums	1
Career points	6.5
Pole positions	0
Fastest laps	0
First entry	1950 Indianapolis 500
Last entry	1960 Indianapolis 500

Racing career

Midget cars

Carter started racing midgets at the 1/5 mile dirt track in the west side of Fresno while attending Fresno State University. He was one of six drivers who went to Western Springs Stadium in Auckland, New Zealand in 1937. He won the first ever midget car race at that track. The car he drove still exists in a museum in Auckland. He was a consistent winner on the Nutley board track in 1939 while future journalist Chris Economaki was his unofficial crew chief. He won the 1940 Detroit VFW Motor Speedway title, the 1942 championship at Sportsman Park in Cleveland. He captured a 500 lap victory in his midget car at the 1947 Los Angeles Coliseum Motordome after Danny Oakes was initially declared the winner.^[1]

Sprint cars

He moved up to the sprint cars, and won the 1950 Midwest division.^[1]

Indy Cars

He drove in the AAA and USAC Championship Car series, racing in the 1948–1955, 1959–1960, and 1963 seasons with 47 starts, including the Indianapolis 500 races in each season. He finished in the top ten 23 times, with his best finish in 2nd position in 1953 at Phoenix. In his last race, at the Indy 500, he drove the innovative John Crosthwaite designed Harvey Aluminium Special ‘roller skate car’ with the then pioneering low profile, wide racing tyres and a stock Chevrolet engine. ^{[3] [4] [5] [6] [7]}

USAC director

He retired from competition in 1956 to take the Competition Director position for USAC. He returned to competition in 1959 after Henry Banks took over the position.^[1]

Career awards

• Carter was inducted into the Fresno County Athletic Hall of Fame in 1967.^[8]
• He was inducted in the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame in 1991.
• He was inducted in the National Midget Auto Racing Hall of Fame in 1989.^[1]

Indianapolis 500 results

Year Car Start Qual Rank Finish Laps Led Retired Chassis Engine 1948 16 29 126.015 11 22 59 0 Lost wheel Wetteroth Offy 1949 17 5 128.233 12 14 182 0 Spun T3 Stevens Offy 1950 18 13 131.666 12 12 133 0 Flagged Stevens Offy 1951 27 4 133.749 15 8 180 0 Flagged Diedt Offy 1952 1 6 135.522 16 4 200 0 Running Lesovsky Offy 1953 4 27 135.267 31 24 94 0 Ignition Lesovsky Offy 3 - - - 3rd* 200 0 Running Kurtis Kraft Offy 1954 16 8 138.238 20 15 196 0 Flagged Kurtis Kraft Offy 34 - - - 4** 200 0 Running Kurtis Kraft Offy 1955 98 18 139.330 19 11 197 0 Flagged Kuzma Offy 1959 37 12 142.795 17 7 200 0 Running Kurtis Kraft Offy 1960 17 27 142.631 28 12 200 0 Running Kuzma Offy 1963 83 15 148.002 30 23 100 0 Rod Mickey Thompson Chevrolet Totals 1741 0

Starts 11 Poles 0 Front Row 0 Wins 0 Top 5 3 Top 10 5 Retired 4

* shared drive with Sam Hanks

** shared drive with Troy Ruttman

• Carter drove 1,741 laps or 4,352.5 miles (7,004.7 km) at Indianapolis without leading a lap. This currently ranks 5th on the all-time list.

Complete Formula One World Championship results

(key)

Year	Entrant	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	WDC	Points
1950	Murrell Belanger	Stevens	Offenhauser L4	GBR	MON	500 12	SUI	BEL	FRA	ITA				NC	0
1951	Mobiloil / Rotary Engineering	Diedt Tuffanelli Derrico	Offenhauser L4	SUI	500 8	BEL	FRA	GBR	GER	ITA	ESP			NC	0
1952	Belanger Motors	Lesovsky	Offenhauser L4	SUI	500 4	BEL	FRA	GBR	GER	NED	ITA			15th	3
1953	Bardahl / Ed Walsh	Kurtis Kraft 4000	Offenhauser L4	ARG	500 3 †	NED	BEL	FRA	GBR	GER	SUI	ITA		13th=	2
1954	Automobile Shippers / Casaroll	Kurtis Kraft 500A	Offenhauser L4	ARG	500 4 *	BEL	FRA	GBR	GER	SUI	ITA	ESP		23rd=	1.5
1955	J.C. Agajanian	Kuzma Indy Roadster	Offenhauser L4	ARG	MON	500 11	BEL	NED	GBR	ITA				NC	0
1959	Smokey Yunick	Kurtis Kraft 500H	Offenhauser L4	MON	500 7	NED	FRA	GBR	GER	POR	ITA	USA		NC	0
1960	Thompson / Ensley & Murphy	Kuzma Indy Roadster	Offenhauser L4	ARG	MON	500 12	NED	BEL	FRA	GBR	POR	ITA	USA	NC	0

† Indicates shared drive with Sam Hanks after retiring his own car.

* Indicates shared drive with Troy Ruttman. Carter's own car finished 15th after being taken over by Marshall Teague, Jimmy Jackson and Tony Bettenhausen.

24 Hours of Le Mans results

Year	Team	Co-Driver	Car	Class	Laps	Pos.	Class Pos.
1952	Briggs Cunningham	Phil Walters	Cunningham C-4RK	S 8.0		DNF (engine, 8hr)

References

1. Biography at the National Midget Auto Racing Hall of Fame Archived September 27, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
2. Biography for Johnny Parsons at the National Midget Auto Racing Hall of Fame Archived September 29, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
3. Road & Track magazine June 1963
4. Motor Trend magazine June 1963
5. Car & Driver magazine June 1963
6. Car and Driver magazine August 1963
7. Indianapolis 500 Mile Race USAC Yearbook 1963. Floyd Clymer
8. "Fresno County Athletic Hall of Fame | Home". Fresno County Athletic Hall of Fame | Home. Archived from the original on 2017-07-31. Retrieved 2017-02-02.