Indianapolis winner and national champion

Jimmy Bryan was a three time American national champion who won the 1958 Indianapolis 500 while the race counted toward the World Championship.

Jimmy Bryan was born in Phoenix, Arizona, in the United States, on January 28, 1926. He made his name in American championship car racing, competing in the AAA and later USAC series from 1952 to 1960 and starting the Indianapolis 500 in every one of those years. Across that span he took 23 championship car victories.

From 1950 to 1960 the Indianapolis 500 was a round of the Formula 1 World Championship, so each of his Indianapolis starts also counts in our record. His first came at the 1952 Indianapolis 500, where he finished sixth. In 1954 he was second, and that year he also won the AAA national title. He added the USAC national championships of 1956 and 1957, and in 1957 he finished third at Indianapolis.

That same 1957 season he travelled to Italy and won the first Race of Two Worlds on the banked track at Monza, a contest between American oval cars and European entrants. His greatest result followed at the 1958 Indianapolis 500, which he won driving a Salih Offenhauser.

Bryan's final World Championship start was the 1960 Indianapolis 500. In June 1960 he was killed after a crash in a championship car race at Langhorne Speedway. Our record shows 9 starts, 1 win and 3 podiums, all at Indianapolis, across nine seasons. He has since been inducted into several halls of fame, including the International Motorsports Hall of Fame in 2001.

0 world titles, 1 wins, 0 pole positions, 9 starts.

Teams

Victories

• Indianapolis 500 1958