Gary Bettenhausen (born November 18, 1941) is a retired American auto racing driver. He was born in Monrovia, Indiana.
Racing family
His father was Indianapolis 500 and sprint car legend Tony Bettenhausen, and his brother was former Champ Car team owner Tony Bettenhausen Jr.
Racing career
Midgets
He began as a midget car driver. He finished third in the midget car national points in 1967. <ref name="midgetHoF">http://www.worthyofhonor.com/Inductees/Gary_Bettenhausen.htm Biography at the National Midget Auto Racing Hall of Fame</ref> He won the first leg of the Astro Grand Prix in 1969, which was held in the Astrodome. He won the 1967 and 1970 Turkey Night Grand Prix, the 1972 Astro Grand Prix, and the 1976 Hut Hundred. He has 27 career USAC midget wins.
Sprint cars
He won the 1969 and 1971 sprint car championships. <ref name="midgetHoF" />
He won the 1980 and 1983 USAC Dirt Track champions in Silver Crown car. <ref name="midgetHoF" />
Indy style cars/Indianapolis 500
He competed in Indy style cars from the mid-'1960s until 1996. Gary made 21 starts in the Indy '500, contesting each event from 1968 until 1982 (with the exception of 1979 when he failed to qualify), and again from 1986 to 1993. <ref name="midgetHoF" /> His best finish came in 1980 when he finished third after starting 32nd in the 33-car field.
His final start came at the lone U.S. 500 in 1996, when he borrowed a two-year-old Penske chassis from his brother and qualified on the second weekend of time trials. The eventsaw a massive multi-car pileup at the start. By qualifying last he avoided the chaos and was one of few drivers not to switch to a backup car (he couldn't have as he didn't have one available), but was off the pace early in the race at the Michigan International Speedway and retired early with mechanical problems.
NASCAR
He competed in eight career NASCAR Winston Cup events. <ref name="NASCAR">http://racing-reference.info/driver?id=bettega01 Biography at racing-reference.info</ref> He had four Top 10 finishes. His highest career finish was a fourth place finish at the 1974 Motor State 360 at the Michigan International Speedway in 1974. <ref name="NASCAR" />
Awards
Reference
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