Ronnie Duman
Ronald B. Duman (February 12, 1929 – June 9, 1968), was an American racecar driver.
Born in Dearborn, Michigan, Duman died in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, during a fatal crash in the Rex Mays 150 at the Milwaukee Mile. He drove in the USAC Championship Car series from 1961 to 1968. He had 63 career starts, including the Indianapolis 500 from 1964 to 1968. Dunman had 27 top-ten finishes in Champ Car competition, with a best finish of third in 1965 at Phoenix.
In the 1964 Indianapolis 500 he was involved in the fiery crash that took the lives of Dave MacDonald and Eddie Sachs. Duman ducked to the inside to miss both Sachs and MacDonald. However the Novi of Bobby Unser knocked Ronnie around and he hit the inside wall erupting the tail tank in fire. Duman was hospitalized and missed over two month of racing while he recovered.[1]
Duman was the only USAC Champ Car driver to driver a front-engine upright 'dirt-style' car on a road course (1965) and a rear-engine car in a USAC championship dirt car race (1966).
He was inducted into the Michigan Motor Sports Hall of Fame in 1985.[2] He is buried at Crown Hill Cemetery in Indianapolis.[3]
Indianapolis 500 results
| Year | Chassis | Engine | Start | Finish |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1961 | Kurtis Kraft | Offy | Failed to Qualify | |
| 1962 | Elder | Offy | Failed to Qualify | |
| 1963 | Trevis | Offy | Practice Crash | |
| 1964 | Trevis | Offy | 16th | 31st |
| 1965 | Gerhardt | Offy | 25th | 22nd |
| 1966 | Eisert | Ford | 33rd | 33rd |
| 1967 | Shrike | Offy | 17th | 23rd |
| 1968 | Brabham | Offy | 26th | 6th |
References
- ↑ https://www.facebook.com/pages/Ronnie-Duman-Tribute-Page/361130545199
- ↑ http://www.mmshof.org/inductees/Duman_Ronnie.html
- ↑ "Indianapolis Auto greats" (PDF). Celebrating Automotive Heritage at Crown Hill Cemetery. Crown Hill Cemetery. 2011. Retrieved 2012-09-10.
External links
- Ronnie Duman driver statistics at Racing-Reference
- Ronnie Duman at Find a Grave
- Entry at Michigan Motor Sports Hall of Fame