Tony Bettenhausen, Jr.
Nationality	American
Born	Tony Lee Bettenhausen (1951-10-30)October 30, 1951 Joliet, Illinois, U.S.
Died	February 14, 2000(2000-02-14) (aged 48) Harrison County, Kentucky, U.S.
Champ Car career
103 races run over 15 years
Years active	1979–1993
Best finish	6th –1981
First race	1979Lubrilon Grand Prix (College Station)
Last race	1993Indianapolis 500 (Indianapolis)
Wins Podiums Poles 0 1 0
NASCAR driver
NASCARCup Series career
33 races run over 3 years
Best finish	20th (1974)
First race	1973Atlanta 500 (Atlanta)
Last race	1982Champion Spark Plug 400 (Michigan)
Wins Top tens Poles 0 1 0

Tony Lee Bettenhausen Jr.^[1][2] (October 30, 1951 – February 14, 2000) was an AmericanChamp Car team owner and driver who died in a 2000 plane crash. He was the son of former 14-timeIndianapolis 500 competitorTony Bettenhausen and the brother of 21-time Indy 500 racerGary Bettenhausen. Another brother,Merle Bettenhausen, was critically injured in his only Indy Car start.

As a driver, he started 11Indianapolis 500 races, scoring a best finish of 7th his rookie year in the1981 race. He took his trademark No. 16 into team ownership in 1985, initially using March and Lola chassis, then purchasing year-oldPenske chassis and then entering and qualifying two new Penskes for the 1993race. One, number 76, was driven by himself, the other by former Formula One driver Stefan Johansson. A number of successful drivers passed through Bettenhausen's Alumax car, including Johansson for the first few years as well as four-time Indianapolis 500 winnerHélio Castroneves and former IndyCar rookie of the yearPatrick Carpentier.

Bettenhausen also competed in 33NASCARWinston Cup Series events in his career, most coming in 1974 when he scored a career best 7th-place effort atRichmond International Raceway.

A difficult 1999 plagued by a lack of sponsorship and a series of pay-drivers saw the team take on a new look in 2000 with the hiring ofMichel Jourdain Jr. and hisHerdez sponsorship.

The family holds the dubious distinction of the most combined starts in the famous race without a victory.

Bettenhausen died in a light plane crash en route fromHomestead, Florida to Indianapolis, Indiana that went down inHarrison County, Kentucky. Bettenhausen's wife Shirley, the daughter of former Indianapolis racing starJim McElreath, as well as business associates Russ Roberts and Larry Rangel were also killed. His legacy of the team lived on under the ownership of formerPacific Racing F1 team ownerKeith Wiggins and was renamed Herdez Competition in 2001, with the No. 16 replaced by Herdez's preference for the No. 55 early in 2002. The team has subsequently gone through further changes in ownership, was oncePaul Stoddart'sMinardi Team USA, and became Wiggins'HVM Racing competing in theIndyCar Series until the end of the2012 season. On 11 November, 2015 the team was listed as up for auction officially listing the team as defunct.^[3]

He is buried atCrown Hill Cemetery inIndianapolis.^[4]

(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time.Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

(key) (Races inbold indicate pole position)

• Tony Bettenhausen Jr. driver statistics at Racing-Reference

• 1951 births
• 2000 deaths
• Accidental deaths in Kentucky
• Aviators killed in aviation accidents or incidents in the United States
• Champ Car drivers
• Indianapolis 500 drivers
• NASCAR drivers
• People from Joliet, Illinois
• People from Tinley Park, Illinois
• Racing drivers from Illinois
• Burials at Crown Hill Cemetery
• Bettenhausen family
• Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 2000
• IndyCar Series team owners
• Bettenhausen Racing drivers
• Dale Coyne Racing drivers
• Sportspeople from Joliet, Illinois
• Daytona 500 drivers
• Coca-Cola 600 drivers

• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata