(This story was written by Nathan Evans, 15, one of the Junior Journalists at ClassicCars.com.)
As all of my friends and relatives know, I am a huge motorsports fan. So when my father was gifted a box of Indianapolis 500 photos from various years, I couldn’t help but search through them, trying to find drivers and cars that I would recognize.
While wading through the pictures, I stumbled across a name that was familiar. There were two photographs of Wally Dallenbach, whom I knew as the father of the somewhat-renowned former NASCAR television presenter Wally Dallenbach Jr.
Turns out that Wally Sr. won five Indycar races between 1965 and 1970, though he couldn’t manage to win the famous Indianapolis 500, which he started 13 times and finished fourth in 1976 and 1977.
Unfortunately, he didn’t have much success with these two cars pictured, the No. 22 Kuzma-Kenyon or the No. 62 Eagle 72. Dallenbach drove No.22 at Indy on three occasions (1969, 1970 and 1971) but retired from all three races with mechanical issues. In 1970, he started 23rd and moved up to the 17th position before retiring with a spring failure.
Wally drove the No.62 car at Indianapolis in 1973, but he only completed 43 laps before a broken rod ended his day. At least he had his sponsor’s motorhome in which to enjoy the rest of the race.
Editor’s note: Do you know or are you a potential ClassicCars.com Junior Journalist? We’re looking for people ages 13 to 18 who attend classic car events with a parent, grandparent or guardian and can write about their experiences and provide a few photographs. For more information, contact [email protected].
