Jackson Pollock was an American painter who was a leading exponent of Abstract Expressionism, an art movement characterized by the free-associative gestures in paint sometimes referred to as action painting.. Among his contemporaries, he was respected for his deeply personal and totally uncompromising commitment to the art of painting. Savage hit was moved. Unfortunately, Indianapolis Motor Speedway was where Pollard lost his life in an accident on May 12, 1973, during a practice run for the Indy 500. It consisted mostly of small landscapes and figurative scenes such as Going West (193435), in which Pollock utilized motifs derived from photographs of his birthplace at Cody. After 1 lap, Art replaced Weld in the #57. Add to your scrapbook. Your access to this service has been limited. I was lucky to have him for a dad, even if I had him less time than I wanted. He made speeches at schools and churches and visited the troops in Vietnam, but his pet project was the LaRueCarter Memorial Hospital for retarded children in Indianapolis. Driver Art Pollard was killed in a horrific pole-day qualifying crash. The race was postponed until Tuesday, when on the second parade lap, the sky opened again and another washout was declared. Second, where was I? Upon his death, Pollard's family established the Art Pollard Fund with a $25,000 bequest. Racing families never think it will be their loved-one. And I think it was a tribute to him and the fact that he cared. All I asked was if theyd give me time to call his family in Oregon, Pat recalls. That's 500 pounds of high explosive. builder who was credited with discovering Savage. "He told me, 'Don't go up there,'" Johncock recalled. He made every race from then on until 1979 with a best finish of 9th in 1976. "I tried to keep an upbeat conversation: 'The seat's here for you, Swede, I'm just The traditional post-race banquet was "We used to average a death a year out here," recalled track announcer Tom Your new password must contain one or more uppercase and lowercase letters, and one or more numbers or special characters. This account already exists, but the email address still needs to be confirmed. This relationship is not possible based on lifespan dates. He never looked back. You can customize the cemeteries you volunteer for by selecting or deselecting below. And I told 'em: "Goddammit, somebody hit me from behind.". This browser does not support getting your location. A crowd estimated at 250,000 swarmed Indianapolis Motor Speedway's grandstands, suites and infield on May 12, 1973. In the fall of 1930 Pollock followed his brother Charles, who left home to study art in 1922, to New York City, where he enrolled at the Art Students League under his brothers teacher, the regionalist painter Thomas Hart Benton. He always made time for the people he knew and for the fans, Judy Pollard enjoying Arts race car in their Medford driveway in 1967. Teran, a mechanic on Graham McRae's car, sprinted down pit lane to see if he could be of help to his injured teammate. for Championship Auto Racing Teams. On the west coast, daughter Judy (then 23-years-old) and son Mike (25-years-old) heard this shocking and unwelcome news on radio and television in the early morning hours. Pollard raced a wide variety of both cars and other machinery; this included hydroplanes, micro midgets and super modified stock cars. Include gps location with grave photos where possible. Try again. One of the top athletes probably in the country. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. Oops, something didn't work. To this day, he google_color_text = "000000"; As they were being Born in Dragon, Utah, and raised in the Portland, Oregon area, Pollard drove in the USAC Championship Car series, racing in the 1965-1973 seasons, with 84 career starts, including the 1967-1971 Indianapolis 500 races. google_page_url = document.location; They wore the same uniform. based on information from your browser. ToDo Schwankovsky gave Pollock some rudimentary training in drawing and painting, introduced him to advanced currents of European modern art, and encouraged his interest in theosophical literature. He did everything so well. Johncock parked his car in the short chute and climbed out, intending to check on Savage, his teammate. google_color_link = "0033FF"; Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). Richards writes for The Indianapolis Star, a Gannett property. Empty.". In 1973, that figure was in excess of 1,000. His racing career started in Roseburg racing hydroplanes on the Umpqua River, and micro-midgets at the fairgrounds. Sorry! The sponsor of a memorial may add an additional. For a moment it was up in the air and then it spun sideways and came down on fire. Learn more about managing a memorial . There is 1 volunteer for this cemetery. (Pollard Family Collection), Innovative Turbines of 1968: Art drove #20, Art commented on what it was like to drive the turbine car for the first time. First published in 2016, this is an expanded version of Art Pollards biography that includes more content and photos. Reality set in quickly when, in a windy practice before pole qualifying, Pollard crashed in the first turn. Death 12 May 1973 (aged 46) Indianapolis, Marion County, Indiana, USA. Born in Dragon, Utah, and raised in the Portland, Oregon area, Pollard drove in the USAC Championship Car series, racing in the 19651973 seasons, with 84 career starts, including the 19671971 Indianapolis 500 races. Savage lost control. He turned the car over to its owner, Foyt, who had gone out on Lap 37 with a failed bolt. the blue McLaren-Offy of rookie David "Salt" Walther drifted to the right, To use this feature, use a newer browser. Pollard was known as a giving man who did things like visit troops in Vietnam and give speeches at churches and high schools all over the nation. Thanks for using Find a Grave, if you have any feedback we would love to hear from you. Johncock said. Art Lee Pollard, Jr. (May 5, 1927 - May 12, 1973), was an American racecar driver. There wouldn't be another on-track fatality at IMS until Gordon Smiley in 1982. garbage, and half the 350,000 fans went home. Which memorial do you think is a duplicate of Art Pollard (7232111)? . Bob Kehoes book, Art Pollard: The Life and Legacy of a Gentleman Racer, Chapter 30 May 12, 1973, Lifelong friends respond to Arts fatal accident, May 12, 1973. "Terrible. It wasnt big money, but enough to do what we needed to, Judy Dippell said. May 1973 arrived at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway with even more hype than usual, Instead, he survived with multiple burns, particularly to his hands. Milwaukee-area auto dealer. "It really tries on a driver hard. Although the tragic '73 race left the whole sport in a sour mood, nobody recalls having doubts about going back in '74. He studied life drawing, painting, and composition with Benton for the next two and one-half years, leaving the league in the early months of 1933. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. You are only allowed to leave one flower per day for any given memorial. I went out in qualifying later and set a new track record. By the mid-60s, car owners were trying to talk Pollard into driving their cars at Indianapolis. This biographical article related to United States auto racing is a stub. "When somebody's hurt, he goes through a helluva rehabilitation process. There was a mirror over the sink in the bathroom. Art was born November 13, 1957, in Denver, CO, to Arthur L. and Philomena "Minnie" (Schenfeld) Pollard. I told 'em I was at the Indy 500. Pollock was employed by the WPA Federal Art Project in the fall of 1935 as an easel painter. My car hit another and then spun down the track with the wheels off it. He graduated from Roseburg High School in 1945. Again on Wednesday, after another rain delay, the teams tried again. canceled and he and many others on the team went instead to Methodist Hospital to check on I think I cried for about two minutes. Colin Chapman had returned to Indianapolis and Parnelli Jones was lending his expertise to the Granatelli team. In 1961, Art won one of his favorite races, The Western States Championship in Fresno Ca. Art Pollard - driver When a race driver is killed on the track the first thing everybody says is,"That's too bad, he was a hell of a guy." In the obituary the next day, his past performances are listed and any other worthy achievements are mentioned. Then they had two big fellas, two great big fellas, come in and lift me up and hold me up in the air and let me try and move my legs. Mud and sodden trash was everywhere. they take serious or drastic measures, somebody always has to get hurt or killed," Art L. Pollard. The message was stressed in the costliest of terms "Back then, about the only way to get a better ride, move up the ladder, was when somebody got hurt or killed," Kunzman said. He was a true sportsman, a very strong competitor, and wouldnt hurt a fly. He had suffered internal lung lesion due to flame inhalation, a broken leg, a fractured right arm, third-degree burns and a severe spinal injury. 1927) Artle Lee Pollard, Jr. (May 5, 1927 - May 12, 1973), was an American racecar driver. He was killed during practice on Pole Day for the 1973 Indianapolis 500 when his car hit the wall and caught fire. The grandstand was showered in debris and burning fuel. It was then Joe Leonards turn in his #60 STP turbine. |, Copyright 1999-2006 Can You Match These Lesser-Known Paintings to Their Artists? Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. Despite his hard luck with cars, Pollard quickly gained a strong fan base, not just from Southern Oregon, but at Indy as well. Updates? Turbochargers and bolt-on wings introduced in 1972 resulted in an unprecedented spike in speeds that year. | Pollard's wreck (when he broke his leg in 1972) was a direct result of a broken right rear hub on his STP-Lola. Share this memorial using social media sites or email. English Savage, 26, suffered critical burns but survived 33 days. Teran and Vince Granatelli were the same height and build. It was the Golden Era of IndyCar racing. In time trials, with a car with the new air wing design, and running in high winds, the car went out of control and flipped several times at speeds over 190 miles an hour. But the luck and success ran out preparing for the 1973 Indy 500, a race remembered for deadly accidents. "I thought, my goodness, we're never going to recover from this," said the speedway's Carnegie. We were listening to the radio broadcast of the activity at Indy when they announced that Art had crashed and later passed away in the hospital. Growing up in the small. In the Saturday morning practice session on May 12th, Pollard was running 191.4 mph when he lost control of his Dan Gurney Eagle car and smashed into the outside retaining wall at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. On-board fuel capacity was cut from 75 gallons to 40, turbocharger boost pressure He died of liver failure, attending physician Steve Olvey wrote in his book, "Rapid Response," due to a transfusion of contaminated plasma. recalled pole-sitter Johnny Rutherford. Remove advertising from a memorial by sponsoring it for just $5. It was a quick input on the wheel to the right, and it came right backit only happened that one time. Characteristic paintings from this period include Bird (c. 1941), Male and Female (c. 1942), and Guardians of the Secret (1943). Unser led early, then Savage went to the front. Art and his crew started 28 main events and won an astonishing 22 of them., Perhaps his most admirable quality (off the track) was his ability to take a moment of his time and make everybody he talked with feel important. Art died inIndianapolis,Indianaas a result of injuries sustained in practice for the 1973Indianapolis500. And I looked in it. Judy is an author, speaker and publishing consultant. Afterward, Patrick and Johncock held the most muted of victory banquets. google_color_link = "0033FF"; Bob Green remembers that windy Saturday morning, too; cant forget it really. //-->, . Christie was born in Grants Pass in 1924 and helped his family raise hops. | Its different to drive, too. His best finish was tenth in 1960, and he finished 13th in three other races. Pollocks evolution from this point throughout the 1940s shows a struggle to find a process by which he could translate his entire personality into painting. In 1968, all three of Andy Granatelli/Colin Chapman designed turbines made the field on the first day of qualifications. Once I got the news I called the hospital, but by then he had passed away. He hit the inside wall almost head-on at full speed. Your Scrapbook is currently empty. Patrick owned Patrick Racing, which fielded the winning car, driven by Gordon Johncock. A race in his name has been held in the Rogue Valley and in Roseburg, where he lived for several years prior to moving to Medford. "When I first got out, I remember I put on my nice-looking crepe slacks and my good-looking shirts. Just didn't go that way.". Fast forward 36 years. Failed to remove flower. Maybe not to dad, because I think he took the relationships he had for granted, because he was that way though his whole life. He was a real nice guy and we got along very well, Green said. "That's what people saw. We just got on the plane and came home.". announcer, 'We're supposed to have 33 of the best drivers in the world and they can't even Walther, 25, suffered a crushed kneecap and severe burns over most of his body. He unstrapped and pronounced the day "the happiest of my life.". He was an engaging speaker and frequent spokesman. google_color_border = "DDAAAA"; But it was his love of adventure that got him into racing stock cars and midgets in the 40s and 50s. Art was a good human being; a drivers driver. The rear of the car slipped out in Turn 4, and when Savage caught the car it was There he came under the influence of Frederick John de St. Vrain Schwankovsky, a painter and illustrator who was also a member of the Theosophical Society, a sect that promoted metaphysical and occult spirituality. "See, that's where I was so fortunate. It was as if a message were being sent with the relentless rain that delayed, Jackson Pollock lived in New York after moving there in 1930 to study art. Fuel capacity was reduced from 75 to 40 gallons. The flames melted it and crinkled it all up.". At Milwaukee, on August 22, 1965 - Art Pollard made his USAC Champ Car debut, driving a rear-engine Rolla Vollstedt designed car owned by Jim Robbins. Art's Parents - Artle Lee Pollard Sr. (1903-1964) & Bobbie Marie (Jaynes) Pollard (1907-2000). He explored themes including surrealist navigation of the unconscious and Jungian symbolism. READ MORE. Please select which sections you would like to print: Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. Art Pollard book touches on racecar drivers kindness, humor | (Douglas County Oregon) News-Review | TOM EGGERS News-Review Sports Editor | Nov 25, 2016. "People don't realize how the driver gets himself geared up for battle," said Bobby Unser, who would lead 39 laps before retiring with a blown engine. Oops, some error occurred while uploading your photo(s). He served time in jail. Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students. "By then, I could laugh about it. 2. The back end jumped out and I caught it. It all up. ``, when on the wheel to the Art Pollard was killed practice... Wonder how they did here on the first day of qualifications ; Let us if! 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