Jimmy Bryan
James Ernest Bryan (
January 28,
1926 -
June 19,
1960) was an American
racecar driver.
Born in
Phoenix, Arizona, Bryan died in
Langhorne, Pennsylvania as a result of injuries sustained in a champ car race. He drove in the
AAA and
USAC Championship Car series, racing in the 1952-1960 seasons with 72 starts, including each year's
Indianapolis 500 race. He finished in the top ten 54 times, with 23 victories.
Bryan won the
1958 Indianapolis 500 and the 1954(AAA), 1956 and 1957(USAC)
National Championship.
As the Indianapolis 500 counted as a round of the
Formula One World championship from
1950 to
1960 his career is credited with participation in 9 grands prix, with 1 win, 3 podiums and 18 championship points scored. (Note that drivers who won the Indy 500 only are often not listed in totals of Grand Prix winners, as the race's inclusion in the World Championship was largely symbolic, with very few F1 drivers taking part.)
He died after a crash in a Champ car race at
Langhorne Speedway in 1960, on the same day that two drivers were killed in the
Belgian Grand Prix, making the day one of the most tragic in racing history.
*He was inducted in the
National Sprint Car Hall of Fame in 1994.
*He was inducted in the
Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in 1999.
*He was inducted in the
International Motorsports Hall of Fame in 2001.
Formula One Indy 500 results
*
Grand Prix History, Jimmy Bryan
