Larry Dickson
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| Larry Dickson | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Dickson at the 1968 Indianapolis 500 | |||||||
| Born | Larry G. Dickson September 8, 1938 Warren, Ohio, U.S. | ||||||
| Champ Car career | |||||||
| 108 races run over 18 years | |||||||
| Years active | 1965–1973, 1975–1983 | ||||||
| Best finish | 4th – 1979 | ||||||
| First race | 1965 Golden State 100 (Sacramento) | ||||||
| Last race | 1983 Ted Horn 100 (DuQuoin) | ||||||
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Larry Dickson[1] (born September 8, 1938, Warren, Ohio), is a former driver in the USAC and CART Championship Car series. He raced in the 1965-1981 seasons, with 105 combined career starts, including the Indianapolis 500 in 1966-1969, 1971, 1978–1979, and 1981. He finished in the top ten 44 times, with his best finish in 2nd position in 1968 at Springfield.
Dickson was also a 3 time USAC Sprint Car Series Champion in 1968, 1970 and 1975. Larry won 43 USAC Sprint car races and was the all-time leader in the division until Tom Bigelow broke his record. In the years 1968-71 Larry and Gary Bettenhausen raced each other in what was billed as "The Larry and Gary Show" or "Thunder (Bettenhausen) and Lightning (Dickson)" exchanging the USAC Sprint Car title between each other during those years.
Larry also ventured to NASCAR to drive Richie Giachetti's Ford Torino in the Daytona 500, running in the top ten before the engine expired. Larry finished his career in the USAC Silver Crown car owned by his brother, Tommy and Max Brittain. Larry is now semi-retired, living in Indianapolis and tending to his real estate investments.
Awards
[edit]- In 1990, he was inducted into the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame as part of its inaugural class.[2]
Indy 500 results
[edit]| Year | Chassis | Engine | Start | Finish |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1966 | Lola | Ford | 32nd | 32nd |
| 1967 | Lotus | Ford | 21st | 15th |
| 1968 | Brawner | Ford | 33rd | 28th |
| 1969 | Vollstedt | Ford | 31st | 9th |
| 1970 | Gerhardt | Offy | Failed to Qualify | |
| 1971 | King | Offy | 26th | 28th |
| 1972 | King | Offy | Failed to Qualify | |
| 1973 | King | Offy | Failed to Qualify | |
| 1976 | Eagle | Offy | Failed to Qualify | |
| 1977 | McLaren | Offy | Practice Crash | |
| 1978 | Penske | Cosworth | 9th | 22nd |
| 1979 | Penske | Cosworth | 24th | 24th |
| 1981 | Penske | Cosworth | 19th | 18th |
USAC Sprint Cars = Three-time National Champion1968, 1970 and 1975. USAC records, National Speed Sport News and other national racing press. uNITWS RACING CLUB - National Champion and Rookie of the Year 1964[3] Winner of the US Open supermodified race at Williams Grove, PA 1964
References
[edit]- ^ "Larry Dickson". www.champcarstats.com. Retrieved 2023-07-04.
- ^ "National Sprint Car Hall of Fame Inductees list". Archived from the original on 2016-12-26. Retrieved 2010-12-11.
- ^ National Speed Sport News,