Joel Thorne

Joel Thorne (16 October 1914 New York City – 17 October 1955 North Hollywood, California) was an American racecar driver, engineer, and playboy. He died when he crashed his private plane, after what witnesses described as "stunting", [Big Spring Daily Herald, "Crash Victim made many headlines with escapades", page 16, Oct. 19th, 1955.] into an apartment building, killing eight residents including a two month old baby. [Mason City Globe-Gazette, "Plane Hits Apartment, Three Die", October 18th 1955, page 21] [The Independent (Pasadena, California), "Playboy Plane Crash Ruled Not Fault Of Government". June 7th, 1957, page 22] Thorne raced his own cars is the Indianapolis 500, and later went on to attempt to design aircraft. The 1946 Indianapolis 500 was won by a car built by Thorne and driven by George Robson. [http://www.indy500.com/stats/view/boxscore/year/1946]

Indy 500 results

References