1. Samuel Dwight Hanks was an American racing driver who won the 1957 Indianapolis 500.
16 Facts About Sam Hanks
1. 2.
Sam Hanks was a barnstormer, and raced midget and Championship cars.
3.
Sam Hanks won his first championship in 1937 on the West Coast in the American Midget Association.
4.
Sam Hanks barnstormed the country, racing on the board tracks at Soldier Field in Chicago.
5.
Sam Hanks reportedly won the first two board track races at Soldier Field in 1939.
6.
Sam Hanks won the 1940 VFW Motor City Speedway championship in Detroit.
7.
Sam Hanks won the 1947 Night before the 500 midget car race.
8.
Sam Hanks won the 1956 Pacific Coast championship in the USAC Stock cars.
9.
Sam Hanks considered retiring following the 1956 Indianapolis 500, but agreed to return for the 1957 race at the urging of car owner George Salih.
10.
Sam Hanks did not stop racing immediately following his victory but completed his contract to run a stock car for the remainder of the 1957 season.
11.
Sam Hanks participated in eight World Drivers' Championship races at Indianapolis.
12.
Sam Hanks won once, and finished in the top three four times.
13.
Sam Hanks portrayed himself in the episode "The Comedians" of the CBS situation comedy Mr Adams and Eve, starring Ida Lupino and Howard Duff.
14.
Sam Hanks drove the pace car at the Indianapolis 500 from 1958 to 1963.
15.
Sam Hanks is believed to be the only Indianapolis 500 driver to participate in the race before World War II, serve in the war effort, then return to race again after the war.
16.
Sam Hanks has been inducted into the following halls of fame:.