Andy Granatelli
American racing driver (1923-2013)
Anthony "Andy" Granatelli (March 18, 1923 – December 29, 2013) was an American businessman, most prominent as the CEO of STP as well as a major figure in automobile racing events.
Granatelli was born in Dallas, Texas. Along with his brothers Vince and Joe, he first worked as an auto mechanic and "speed-shop" entrepreneur, modifying engines such as the flathead Ford into racing-quality equipment. During World War II, he became a promoter of automobile racing events, such as the Hurricane Racing Association (which combined racing opportunities for up-and-coming drivers with crowd-pleasing theatrics). Hurricane events, according to Granatelli in his autobiography They Call Me Mister 500, included drivers who were experts at executing—and surviving—roll-over and end-over-end crashes, and also an ambulance that not only got caught up into the race but also ejected a stretcher (with a dummy on it) into the way of the racers.
Professional career
In 1946, the three brothers entered the first of several Indianapolis 500 races, as the Grancor racing team. They did their own mechanical work, and brought innovations like fully independent suspension, yet never made it to "Victory Lane". In 1948, Andy decided to try to qualify as a driver, and nearly did so, but a horrendous crash during his qualifying run ended that part of his career.
In the 1950s, in Chicago, Granatelli served as the promoter of auto races at Soldier Field, as well as at other venues.
Later in the 1950's, Granatelli and his brothers toured across the United States doing stunt shows with a rocket-powered car they built, using JATO rockets built for USAF. These actual events became the root of the Internet JATO Rocket Car non-myth that has persisted since the 1980's.
“Andy Granatelli” enters the record as american racing driver (1923-2013). Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Andy, Granatelli and American can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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This entry incorporates text from “Andy Granatelli” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.