Johnnie Tolan
John " Johnnie " Tolan ( born October 22, 1917 in Victor, Colorado, † June 6, 1986 in Redondo Beach, California ) was an American race car driver.
Career
Tolan was one of the most successful Midget pilots after the Second World War. In 1946, he won 46 races in a season and won superior to the Rocky Mountain Midge Championship. In 1947 he repeated his championship success this time with 47 victories. In 1950 he won the AAA Midwest Championship, and in 1952 celebrated his first national title in this series.
He started in 32 races for AAA (or USAC ) National Series. His third place in Syracuse in 1954 was doing his best result.
In the 500 miles of Indianapolis, he stood 1956-1958 three times at the start, but a better result than 13th place (1958 ) could never be achieved. The three starts this also belonged to the drivers' world championship of Formula 1, are also three Grand Prix starts in its statistics.
Tolan had been willing ritual with which he began his Midget racing. In the warm-up lap, he was smoking a cigarette when driving slowly in the cockpit, he snapped out of his car during the first fast lap at start and finish. He believed in a successful race night when it hit the finish line.