Joel Thorne

Joel Thorne
Joel Thorne
	Thorne, circa 1938
Born	Joel Wolfe Thorne Jr.; October 16, 1914; New York, New York, U.S.
Died	October 17, 1955 (aged 41); North Hollywood, California, U.S.
Champ Car career
	8 races run over 12 years
Best finish	5th (1940)
First race	1936 Vanderbilt Cup (Westbury)
Last race	1950 Pikes Peak Hill Climb ; (Pikes Peak)

Joel Wolfe Thorne Jr. (October 16, 1914 – October 17, 1955) was an American racing driver,^[1]^[2] engineer, and playboy. Thorne raced his own cars in the Indianapolis 500, and later went on to attempt to design aircraft. He died after a plane crash in North Hollywood.

Racing career

The 1946 Indianapolis 500 was won by a car owned by Thorne and driven by George Robson.^[3] One of Thorne's cars also won the pole position and finished second in the 1939 Indianapolis 500 with Jimmy Snyder behind the wheel.^[4]

Death

Thorne died after crashing his private plane, during what witnesses described as "stunting",^[5] into an apartment building, killing three residents including a two-month-old baby.^[6]^[7]

Motorsports career results

Indianapolis 500 results

Year	Car	Start	Qual	Rank	Finish	Laps	Retired
1938	22	13	119.155	23	9	185	Flagged
1939	8	20	122.177	23	7	200	Running
1940	8	10	122.434	20	5	197	Flagged
1941	5	23	121.163	24	31	5	Crash T1
Totals						587

Starts	4
Poles	0
Front Row	0
Wins	0
Top 5	1
Top 10	3
Retired	1

References

^ "Joel Thorne". www.champcarstats.com. Retrieved 2024-03-17.
^ Brown, Allen. "Joel Thorne". OldRacingCars.com. Retrieved 2024-03-17.
^ "1946 Indianapolis 500 Official Box Score :: Indianapolis 500". Archived from the original on 2008-05-14. Retrieved 2008-06-11.
^ "Prominent Racing Figure Is Injured". The Indianapolis Star. February 23, 1946. p. 14. Retrieved April 5, 2016 – via Newspapers.com.
^ Big Spring Daily Herald, "Crash Victim made many headlines with escapades", page 16, Oct. 19th, 1955.
^ Mason City Globe-Gazette, "Plane Hits Apartment, Three Die", October 18th 1955, page 21
^ The Independent (Pasadena, California), "Playboy Plane Crash Ruled Not Fault Of Government". June 7th, 1957, page 22

External links

Joel Thorne at IMDb

[1] "Joel Thorne". www.champcarstats.com. Retrieved 2024-03-17.

[2] Brown, Allen. "Joel Thorne". OldRacingCars.com. Retrieved 2024-03-17.

[3] "1946 Indianapolis 500 Official Box Score :: Indianapolis 500". Archived from the original on 2008-05-14. Retrieved 2008-06-11.

[Star02-23-1946-4] "Prominent Racing Figure Is Injured". The Indianapolis Star. February 23, 1946. p. 14. Retrieved April 5, 2016 – via Newspapers.com.

[5] Big Spring Daily Herald, "Crash Victim made many headlines with escapades", page 16, Oct. 19th, 1955.

[6] Mason City Globe-Gazette, "Plane Hits Apartment, Three Die", October 18th 1955, page 21

[7] The Independent (Pasadena, California), "Playboy Plane Crash Ruled Not Fault Of Government". June 7th, 1957, page 22

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