Art went on to win his first Champ Car race after a wild start (shown above). By the mid-60s, car owners were trying to talk Pollard into driving their cars at Indianapolis. The start was Pollock was employed by the WPA Federal Art Project in the fall of 1935 as an easel painter. We got treated terrible until we qualified. He finished in the top ten 30 times, with two victories, at Milwaukee and Dover, both in 1969. You need a Find a Grave account to continue. He hit the inside wall almost head-on at full speed. Empty.". Please complete the captcha to let us know you are a real person. He was very popular, very quiet, but on the race track, very successful, Carnegie said. Born in Dragon, Utah, and raised in the Portland, Oregon area, Pollard drove in the USAC Championship Car series, racing in the 1965-1973 seasons, with 84 career starts, including the 1967-1971 Indianapolis 500 races. . I had no brows and almost like a burr haircut. As I was driving along I had the radio on, and thats when I heard about Arts crash. He was always racing. google_ad_type = "text_image"; Savage lost control. And I looked like a skeleton walking in them because they didn't come close to fitting. And I saw myself and , honest to God, didn't believe it was me. Photos larger than 8Mb will be reduced. Art Lee Pollard, Jr. (May 5, 1927 - May 12, 1973), was an American racecar driver. The racing thing interested me also.. 'George, he was a great lover of . He studied life drawing, painting, and composition with Benton for the next two and one-half years, leaving the league in the early months of 1933. He unstrapped and pronounced the day "the happiest of my life.". Unfortunately Art slipped in Johnny Rutherford's oil and crashed in turn 1. A TV news report, that included interviews with friends and daughter, Judy Dippell. They shared hamburgers at the Burger Chef restaurant on West 16th Street, just east of the track. Are you sure that you want to delete this photo? What I really admired about Bob Christie was that he was such a gentleman on the track. Then they had two big fellas, two great big fellas, come in and lift me up and hold me up in the air and let me try and move my legs. "By Wednesday, when we showed up at the race track, the place stunk," he said. Pop-off valves cut boost and the horsepower generated by turbochargers. His death hit my family very hard, and to this day we miss him. google_color_text = "000000"; You have to get on the turbine much sooner. By Wednesday, tension and exhaustion infected the track. If I can find it, I will attach a shot of it in another e-mail. Actor Michael J. Pollard, known for his roles in "Bonnie and Clyde" and "Star Trek," has died at the age of 80. He went on to qualify for six races, but broke his leg in a qualifying accident in 1972 and had to sit out that race. Edit a memorial you manage or suggest changes to the memorial manager. Pollard raced a wide variety of both cars and other machinery; this included hydroplanes, micro midgets and super modified stock cars. Ken Glass, a long-time Roseburg resident, sponsored Arts car until Indianapolis came calling and the rates simply got too expensive. This was after I'd begun to walk on my own. I couldn't believe it was that bad. and reduce the possibility of fire. He beat me every time by about six-inches, but we had standing ovations from the crowd, Dick Simon, retired driver and owner, Championship and Indy Racing League, NASCAR, Race driver, Dick Simon: Art was phenomenal, and probably one of the best individuals Ive met in my entire life. one of the corners that was grabable," said Dallenbach, who is now the chief steward "This is what everybody feared," ABC's Jim McKay told the worldwide television audience. READ MORE. As manager of this memorial you can add or update the memorial using the Edit button below. He liked to have fun. When it snapped, Art lost a wheel, spun around and slammed into the third turn concrete." Article, "Hospital Room Looks Like a Greenhouse," Robin Miller, The Indianapolis Star, 1972 Your new password must contain one or more uppercase and lowercase letters, and one or more numbers or special characters. "We flipped it over and I didn't want to see him because I knew I had to race. He died living his dream, doing what he loved; and it was a privilege for him to race at that level., Mike Pollard, was working as a steel fabricator for Fred Gerhardt in Fresno, California. Additionally, he has written for other publications including Speedvision Online, DRIVE! placed in ambulances, driving rain hit again. Survivors were his widow, Patricia; a son Michael; a daughter, Judy Dipple of Speedway; and his mother, Mrs. Artie Pollard of McMinnville. 1965: 3 races;0 wins; 0 Podiums; 0 Pole Positions, 1966: 7 races;0 wins; 0 Podiums; 0 Pole Positions, 1967: 10 races; 0 wins; 0 Podiums; 1 Pole Position, 1968: 20 races; 0 wins; 0 Podiums; 1 Pole Position, 1969: 18 races; 2 wins; 3 Podiums; 0 Pole Positions, 1970: 10 races; 0 wins; 1 Podium;0 Pole Positions, 1971: 10 races; 0 wins; 1 Podium;0 Pole Positions, 1972: 4 races;0 wins; 0 Podiums; 0 Pole Positions, 1967: Car #16; Thermo-King; Laps completed: 195; Start 13; Finished 8, 1968: Car #20; STP; Laps completed: 188; fuel shaft failure; Start 11; Finished 13, 1969: Car #40; STP; Laps completed: 7; driveline failure; Start 12; Finished 31, 1970: Car #10; Car Wash Systems; Laps completed: 28; Piston failure; Start 6; Finished 30, 1971: Car #64; Gilmore; Laps completed: 45; Valve failure; Start 31; Finished 26. canceled and he and many others on the team went instead to Methodist Hospital to check on IndySpeedway.com You may not upload any more photos to this memorial, This photo was not uploaded because this memorial already has 20 photos, This photo was not uploaded because you have already uploaded 5 photos to this memorial, This photo was not uploaded because this memorial already has 30 photos, This photo was not uploaded because you have already uploaded 15 photos to this memorial. We just dont!, It was hard, and I still miss having him in my life, adds Judy. In 1948, Green and Caskey traveled with Pollard to race tracks all over the West Coast and Canada to compete in micro-midget and hard-top events. google_color_link = "0033FF"; Once I got the news I called the hospital, but by then he had passed away. In 1943, after the liquidation of the Federal Art Project, Pollock was given a contract by Peggy Guggenheim at her Art of This Century gallery in New York, and his first one-man show was held there in November. First published in 2016, this is an expanded version of Art Pollards biography that includes more content and photos. Auto Racer. But for a while I was very depressed. The race was postponed until Tuesday, when on the second parade lap, the sky opened again and another washout was declared. "People don't realize how the driver gets himself geared up for battle," said Bobby Unser, who would lead 39 laps before retiring with a blown engine. Pollard raced at Indy seven times, finishing eighth in the 1967 race. And I looked in it. Still, his professionalism and upbeat demeanor had impressed his peers. 1927) Artle Lee Pollard, Jr. (May 5, 1927 - May 12, 1973), was an American racecar driver. Get a Britannica Premium subscription and gain access to exclusive content. After these experiences, his work became semiabstract and showed the assimilation of motifs from the modern Spanish artists Pablo Picasso and Joan Mir, as well as the Mexican muralist Jos Clemente Orozco. Mike lives in Reno, Nev., and works at a jewelry shop. Artle Lee Pollard, Jr. (May 5, 1927 May 12, 1973), was an American racecar driver. they take serious or drastic measures, somebody always has to get hurt or killed," I discovered an interesting fact the other day while following some of your links. Johnny Rutherford won the pole position. All three major accidents resulted in fireballs. "That's all you can say.". All photos appear on this tab and here you can update the sort order of photos on memorials you manage. Driver Art Pollard was killed in an accident during pole day practice. The. . That same year, 1968, he won the pole position at the Milwaukee 200 and led the race for the first 135 miles, when his brakes failed. It consisted mostly of small landscapes and figurative scenes such as Going West (193435), in which Pollock utilized motifs derived from photographs of his birthplace at Cody. "I had the gloves on, so I grabbed the hottest thing, the turbocharger, which was Parking Art had little practice time in the car, but late in the afternoon, Art pulled onto the track in his #20 turbine, and his average speed of 166.297 was good enough to earn the 11thstarting spot in the middle of the fourth row. Dallenbach said. The Art Pollard Day in May continued for decades after dads death. At Milwaukee, on August 22, 1965 - Art Pollard made his USAC Champ Car debut, driving a rear-engine Rolla Vollstedt designed car owned by Jim Robbins. They saw, instead, the fatal first day of the old track's deadliest May since 1937. "See, that's where I was so fortunate. "Back then, about the only way to get a better ride, move up the ladder, was when somebody got hurt or killed," Kunzman said. Updates? Patrick owned Patrick Racing, which fielded the winning car, driven by Gordon Johncock. "They had everybody stopped there in Turn 4," Johncock said. Try again later. But the luck and success ran out preparing for the 1973 Indy 500, a race remembered for deadly accidents. Are you sure that you want to report this flower to administrators as offensive or abusive? Johncock's victory gave owner Pat Patrick the first of his three triumphs at Indy, and People came to see the storied track's first 200-mph laps. Andy Granatelli gave me the film of the race. or don't show this againI am good at figuring things out. At the Brickyard, back in Indianapolis, they always knew him as the kinda guy that looked out for the other drivers. The traditional post-race banquet was another driver," Johncock said. I do not immediately recall the year, but one of our local motorcycle shops hosted him and his Indy car for a promotion. Forty years later, children cavort on the hospital's "Art Pollard Playground" and the picnic survives in his honor, financed by his fund, the original $25,000 still untouched. Invalid memorial. Were it not for the lessons taught by tragedy, the race would be better forgotten. Continuing with this request will add an alert to the cemetery page and any new volunteers will have the opportunity to fulfill your request. I've been lifting weights since I was sixteen years old. //-->,