| Louis Schneider | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Born | (1901-12-19)December 19, 1901 Indianapolis, Indiana, U.S. | ||||||
| Died | September 22, 1942(1942-09-22) (aged 40) Indianapolis, Indiana, U.S. | ||||||
| Championship titles | |||||||
| AAAChampionship Car (1931) Major victories Indianapolis 500 (1931) | |||||||
| Champ Car career | |||||||
| 17 races run over 7 years | |||||||
| Best finish | 1st (1931) | ||||||
| First race | 1927Indianapolis 500 (Indianapolis) | ||||||
| Last race | 1933Indianapolis 500 (Indianapolis) | ||||||
| First win | 1931Indianapolis 500 (Indianapolis) | ||||||
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Louis Frank Schneider[1] (December 19, 1901 – September 22, 1942) was an Americanracing driver.[2] He won the1931 Indianapolis 500.[3]
Schneider was born inIndianapolis on December 19, 1901. He graduated from School No. 49, and later attendedShortridge High School,Ohio Military Institute, andCulver Military Academy.[2]
Schneider started racing ondirt tracks in the East and Midwest in 1920. He was an Indianapolis motorcycle policeman in the mid-20s, and later participated in many motorcycle races. In the fall of 1926, he enteredAAA-sanctioned competition driving a car owned by racing enthusiast Mike Boyle.[2]
In1928, he entered theIndianapolis 500, having rebuilt aMiller-engined car to meet the 91.5-cubic-inch (1.5 L)piston displacement limit, and qualified at 114.036 miles per hour (183.523 km/h), the fastest average speed made with a rebuilt engine up to that time.[2]
In1930, he drove the "Bowes Seal Fast Special" eight cylinderfront-drive and, after qualifying at 106.107 miles per hour (170.763 km/h), finished the race in third position.[2] (This was the race in whichBilly Arnold took the lead after lap 2 and led the entire remaining 198 laps to win the race, setting an all-time record.)
The following year, 1931, Schneider achieved the greatest success of his racing career when he won the19th running of the Indianapolis 500 as well as that year'sAAA national championship.[2] He is one of only two drivers to win the Indianapolis 500 who were born in Indianapolis (the other wasBill Cummings).
His last race at Indianapolis was in1933, but he continued to compete in dirt track andmidget car racing. In 1934, he was accompanied by Clay Ballinger of Indianapolis andBuddy Rusch and James Triplett ofChicago on a two-month racing trip toBuenos Aires, Argentina.[2]
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During the1937, he was involved in an incident with that year's winnerWilbur Shaw. During Shaw's post-race celebration (his first of three wins), Schneider appeared on the other side of the fence, and, in Shaw's words, "made some sneering remark about me being a lucky so-and-so, and his smart crack touched me off like a skyrocket. I went over the fence like a monkey, landed on the other side, and hit Louis right on the nose faster than I can tell about it."
Schneider suffered a broken arm and facial bruises in a nastymidget crash while qualifying for a program atCity Stadium inSan Diego on April 3, 1938. Newspaper articles from later in the year reported his return to racing, though it isn't known for certain that he took part in those racing programs. He died oftuberculosis on September 22, 1942, at age 40, after a three-month stay at Flower Mission Hospital in Indianapolis. Owing to an erroneous wire report at the time of his death, the cause of his death has been widely misreported as being from racing injuries, but tuberculosis is the sole cause of death listed on his Indiana death certificate.
Schneider is buried atCrown Hill Cemetery in Indianapolis.[4]
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| Preceded by | Indianapolis 500 Winner 1931 | Succeeded by |
