Johnny McDowell (January 29, 1915 Delavan, Illinois – June 8, 1952 Milwaukee,Wisconsin) Born in Delavan, Illinois, to a farmer father, the McDowell family moved to Altadena, California when Johnny was quite young. Johnny grew up there, attending schools in Altadena and neighboring Pasadena. McDowell began his racing career at age 19 at the famed Legion Ascot Speedway. After the track closed in January 1936, big car racing nearly died out in southern California, sending many drivers elsewhere to do their racing. McDowell joined several of his fellow Ascot drivers in the Pacific Northwest, but also raced in the Midwest and East. He also dabbled in midgets, turning up in results at Gilmore Stadium in late 1936, previewing his future. 1937 saw him serve as riding mechanic at Indianapolis alongside fellow Altadenan Frank Wearne. In 1938, he returned to race at Southern Ascot Speedway in South Gate, but still travelled, winning a feature race at Hammond, Indiana on 24 July. 1939 saw McDowell move full time to the midgets, and it was there that he truly made a name for himself, becoming one of the top midget racers. The handsome driver also earned the nickname The Robert Taylor of the Raceways for his matinee idol looks. Among McDowells more notable midget wins were victories at the Los Angeles Coliseum and Chicagos Soldier Field. He won 13 features at Gilmore Stadium, including the 1947 Thanksgiving Grand Prix (later known as the Turkey Night Grand Prix). McDowell began his AAA Championship career in 1949 in fine fashion, starting second at Arlington, Texas. The next month he made his first start as a driver in the Indianapolis 500. 1951 would be the only season McDowell ran the full AAA Championship series, and he performed well, winning the pole at Darlington and Milwaukee, where he set a track record on the same track he would die at one year later. During qualifying for the Rex Mays Memorial on the one mile Wisconsin State Fair Park oval, Johnny McDowells Kurtis 2000 flipped when entering Turn 3, perhaps due to a rut on the dirt track; the driver was thrown from the car and killed in the accident. Eyewitnesses reported that the McDowells car was sagging during practice, and the chassis frame rails were found broken after the crash - however, it was not determined whether the fracture took place before, during or after the accident. However, it is known that McDowell did many modifications on his Kurtis 2000, including a significant reduction of its weight. One of the most accomplished midget racers in history, Johnny McDowell was inducted into the National Midget Auto Racing Hall of Fame in 2003.
Posted on: Thu, 30 Jan 2014 10:55:49 +0000
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