Gary Bettenhausen

Bettenhausen was born in Blue Island, Illinois, raised in Tinley Park, Illinois, he graduated in 1962 from Bremen High School in Midlothian, Illinois. Bettenhausen's father was Indianapolis 500 and sprint car legend Tony Bettenhausen. His brother was former CART driver and team owner Tony. Another brother, Merle, lost his arm in a fiery crash. Bettenhausen married his wife Wavelyn on January 4, 1964, and the family had three children, Gary Jr., and twin sons Cary and Todd. They had two grandchildren. Bettenhausen died on March 16, 2014, in Monrovia, Indiana. ==Racing career==

Midgets Bettenhausen began as a midget car driver. He finished third in the midget car national points in 1967. He won the first leg of the Astro Grand Prix in 1969, which was held in the Astrodome. He won the 1967 and 1970 Turkey Night Grand Prix, the 1972 Astro Grand Prix, and the 1976 Hut Hundred, on his way to a total of 27 career wins in USAC midget car competition. Sprint cars Bettenhausen won the 1969 and 1971 sprint car championships. He had four top-ten finishes. His highest career finish was a fourth-place finish at the 1974 Motor State 360 at the Michigan International Speedway. Awards • Bettenhausen was inducted in the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame in 1993. • Bettenhausen was a 1998 inductee in the National Midget Auto Racing Hall of Fame. ==Motorsports career results==

American open-wheel racing (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) USAC Championship Car PPG Indy Car World Series Indianapolis 500 NASCAR (key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.) Grand National Series Winston Cup Series Daytona 500 == Notes ==