Tommy Milton

Tommy Milton
File:Tommy Milton.jpg Milton circa 1919
Born	(1893-11-14)November 14, 1893 St. Paul, Minnesota
Died	Mount Clemens, Michigan
Cause of death	Suicide
Nationality	American

Tommy Milton in his race car at the Daytona Beach Road Course in 1920, courtesy of the Florida Photographic Collection

Thomas "Tommy" Milton (November 14, 1893 – July 10, 1962) was an American race car driver best known as the first two-time winner of the Indianapolis 500. He was notable for having only one functional eye, a disability that would have disqualified him from competing in modern motorsports.

Biography

Milton was born in St. Paul, Minnesota, on November 14, 1893. He began his career in racing in 1914, competing on dirt tracks in the Midwestern United States. By 1917, he was competing nationwide, and earned his first major win at a track in Providence, Rhode Island. In 1919, he was one of the dominant figures in American racing, winning five of the nine championship races including the International Sweepstakes at Sheepshead Bay, New York, and making his debut at the Indianapolis 500. Later that year he suffered severe burns when his car burst into flames during a race at Uniontown, Pennsylvania. He returned to the track the following year to win the Universal Trophy on June 19 before winning the 1920 United States National Driving Championship.

Record at the Indianapolis 500

Tommy Milton with Barney Oldfield and Louis Chevrolet before the 1921 Indianapolis 500

Milton was a starter in the Indianapolis 500 eight times, earning the pole position once, and finishing in the top five on four occasions. He drove for Duesenberg his first time in 1919 and again the following year when he finished third. In 1921, the twenty-seven-year-old Milton won the celebrated race driving a straight-eight Frontenac built by Louis Chevrolet. In 1922 fuel tank problems forced Milton out of the race after only forty-four laps, but he came back in 1923 driving for the H.C.S. Motor Co. with a Miller 122 and won the race for the second time. His last was the 1927 Indianapolis 500 where he finished eighth.

At the 1936 race, Milton returned to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway to drive the Packard 120 Pace Car. At his suggestion, the tradition of giving the race winner the Pace Car began that year. In 1949 Milton was appointed chief steward for the Indianapolis 500. Health problems forced him to retire in 1957.

Death

Milton died in 1962 in Mount Clemens, Michigan, at the age of 68 of self-inflicted gunshot wounds.

Indy 500 results

Year	Car	Start	Qual	Rank	Finish	Laps	Led	Retired
1919	9	31	89.900	31	25	50	0	Rod
1920	10	11	90.200	11	3	200	0	Running
1921	2	20	93.050	11	1	200	90	Running
1922	8	24	94.400	15	24	44	0	Gas tank
1923	1	1	108.170	1	1	200	128	Running
1924	5	3	105.200	3	21	110	0	Gas tank
1925	4	11	104.366	13	5	200	0	Running
1927	6	25	108.758	20	8	200	0	Running
Totals						1204	218

Starts	8
Poles	1
Front Row	2
Wins	2
Top 5	4
Top 10	5
Retired	3

Awards

• He was inducted in the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame in 1992.
• He was inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in 1998.

External links

• Tommy Milton – Website of the Ramsey County Historical Society, St Paul MN, with an online exhibit sharing photos of Milton based on an article in the Ramsey County History Quarterly.
• The Greatest 33

Further reading

• Trimble, Steven C., Tommy Milton "St. Paul's Speed King", Ramsey County History Quarterly V42 #4, Ramsey County Historical Society, St Paul, MN, 2008.

Preceded by Gaston Chevrolet	Indianapolis 500 Winner 1921	Succeeded by Jimmy Murphy
Preceded by Jimmy Murphy	Indianapolis 500 Winner 1923	Succeeded by Joe Boyer Lora L. Corum