Van Johnson (racing driver), Date of Birth, Place of Birth, Date of Death

    

Van Johnson (racing driver)

American racing driver

Date of Birth: 04-Feb-1927

Place of Birth: Greeley, Colorado, United States

Date of Death: 19-Jul-1959

Profession: engineer, Formula One driver

Nationality: United States

Zodiac Sign: Aquarius


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About Van Johnson (racing driver)

  • Dale Van Johnson (February 4, 1927 – July 19, 1959) was an American racing driver from Greeley, Colorado. Johnson competed in the United States Auto Club National Championship from 1956 to 1959, making six starts.
  • He also failed to qualify or crashed in practice in eleven more race attempts, including the Indianapolis 500 in 1958 and 1959.
  • He captured his first and only race win in his sixth race start in June 1959 at the famed Langhorne Speedway. A month later in his next race, Johnson was killed in a third-lap crash in a Non-Championship race at Williams Grove Speedway where his car was either rammed from the side by that of Joe Barzda or the wheels of their cars became entangled.
  • Barzda's car had suffered a reported stuck throttle when entering the third turn and, after making contact, flipped over just as Johnson's.
  • While Barzda escaped with minor injuries, Johnson died of a skull fracture and other injuries or a broken neck.Johnson's Vargo Special was the same racer in which Dick Linder had perished a few months earlier and in which Hugh Randall would be killed three years later.At the time of his death Johnson was reported to be a resident of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and a former resident of Anaheim, California, Bally, Pennsylvania, where he had moved about three years before his death, and Norristown, Pennsylvania.

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