1952 Indy 500 winner Troy Ruttman "Catching some big air" as he crosses over the hill…
Connected history
This memory belongs to a chapter that returns elsewhere in the archive.
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1952 Indy 500 winner Troy Ruttman "Catching some big air" as he crosses over the hill on the Culver City Speedway road course in 1949, check out the beautiful Kurtis Kraft Offy midget that Troy is flying in. Started by Frank Kurtis in the late 1930's when he built his own race car after his family moved to Southern California. Kurtis got a job with Don Lee Cadillac after lying about his age and by the 1930's frank was building and designing race cars in his garage behind his house. In 1941 he had created a car to be entered in the Indianapolis 500 which was driven by Sam Hanks. All total Kurtis Kraft made over 550 ready-to-run midget cars, and 600 kits. The Kurtis Kraft chassis midget car featured a smaller version of the Offenhauser motor. The National Midget Auto Racing Hall of Fame describes the combination as "virtually unbeatable for over twenty years." Kurtis Kraft created 120 Indianapolis 500 cars, including five winners. Frank Kurtis was a true innovator and a very important part of dirt track and indy car history. #VintagePhotoOfTheDay