Paul Russo

Paul Russo
Born	April 10, 1914
Died	February 13, 1976 (aged 61)
Formula One World Championship career
Nationality	American
Active years	1950–1959
Teams	Nichels, Kurtis Kraft
Entries	10 (8 starts)
Championships	0
Wins	0
Podiums	1
Career points	8.5
Pole positions	1
Fastest laps	1
First entry	1950 Indianapolis 500
Last entry	1959 Indianapolis 500

Paul Russo (April 10, 1914 in Kenosha, Wisconsin – February 13, 1976 in Clearwater, Florida) was an American racecar driver.

Midget car career

He started racing midget cars in 1934. He went with a contingent of midget-car drivers to Hawaii in the winter of 1934–35.[1] He was the 1938 AAA Eastern Midget Champion. Russo won the first race held at the Nutley Velodrome in New Jersey in 1938.[1]

Russo was part of midget racing's "Chicago Gang" with Emil Andres, Tony Bettenhausen, Duke Nalon, Cowboy O'Rourke, Jimmy Snyder, and Wally Zale.[1]

Championship car career

Russo drove in the AAA and USAC Championship Car series, racing in the 1940–1941, 1946–1954, 1956–1959 and 1962 seasons with 85 starts, including the Indianapolis 500 races in each year but 1951 and 1952. He finished in the top ten 49 times, with 3 victories: at Springfield (1950), Detroit (1951) and Williams Grove (1952). Russo's best finish in the Indy 500 was fourth in 1957 when he was at the wheel of a Novi Special. In 1955, Russo co-drove with Tony Bettenhausen to a second-place finish.[1]

Russo's brother Joe and nephew Eddie also raced in the Indianapolis 500.

On February 13, 1976, Russo died off the coast of Clearwater while in Florida for the Daytona 500.[1] Russo is buried at Crown Hill Cemetery in Indianapolis.[2]

Career award

Russo was inducted in the National Midget Auto Racing Hall of Fame in 1992.[1]

Complete AAA/USAC Championship Car results

Year	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	Pos	Points
1946	INDY 33	LAN	ATL	ISF	MIL	GOS													-	0
1947	INDY 28	MIL 3	LAN 17	ATL 8	BAI 12	MIL 3	GOS	MIL 6	PIK	SPR 14	ARL 2								10th	545
1948	ARL 7	INDY 32	MIL 18	LAN 18	MIL	SPR	MIL 9	DUQ 18	ATL 11	PIK	SPR 15	DUQ 2							17th	300
1949	ARL	INDY 8	MIL 6	TRE 8	SPR 10	MIL 12	DUQ 6	PIK	SYR 2	DET DNQ	SPR 15	LAN 4	SAC 10	DMR 5					7th	920
1950	INDY 9	MIL 2	LAN 12	SPR 1	MIL 5	PIK	SYR 3	DET 18	SPR 6	SAC 13	PHX 16	BAY	DAR						7th	928
1951	INDY DNQ	MIL 4	LAN	DAR 13	SPR 14	MIL 9	DUQ 3	DUQ	PIK	SYR 15	DET 1	DNC 13	SJS 2	PHX DNQ	BAY 16				10th	700
1952	INDY DNQ	MIL 2	RAL 5	SPR DNQ	MIL 6	DET 2	DUQ 4	PIK	SYR 4	DNC 18	SJS 3	PHX 15							7th	1.060
1953	INDY 25	MIL 4	SPR DNQ	DET 13	SPR 6	MIL 3	DUQ 14	PIK	SYR 13	ISF 12	SAC 6	PHX 17							5th	855
1954	INDY 8	MIL	LAN	DAR	SPR	MIL	DUQ	PIK	SYR	ISF	SAC	PHX	LVG						26th	187.5
1955	INDY DNS*	MIL	LAN	SPR	MIL	DUQ	PIK	SYR	ISF	SAC	PHX								16th	300
1956	INDY 33	MIL	LAN	DAR	ATL	SPR	MIL	DUQ	SYR	ISF	SAC	PHX							-	0
1957	INDY 4	LAN	MIL	DET	ATL	SPR	MIL	DUQ	SYR	ISF	TRE	SAC	PHX						13th	600
1958	TRE	INDY 18	MIL	LAN	ATL	SPR	MIL	DUQ	SYR 8	ISF 14	TRE	SAC	PHX						32nd	50
1959	DAY DNQ	TRE	INDY 9	MIL DNQ	LAN	SPR	MIL DNQ	DUQ	SYR	ISF	TRE	SAC	PHX						27th	200
1960	TRE	INDY DNQ	MIL	LAN	SPR DNQ	MIL	DUQ DNQ	SYR	ISF	TRE	SAC	PHX							-	0
1961	TRE	INDY DNQ	MIL	LAN	MIL	SPR	DUQ	SYR	ISF	TRE	SAC	PHX							-	0
1962	TRE	INDY 28	MIL DNQ	LAN	TRE	SPR	MIL	LAN	SYR	ISF	TRE	SAC	PHX						-	0
1963	TRE	INDY DNQ	MIL DNQ	LAN	TRE	SPR	MIL	DUQ	ISF	TRE	SAC	PHX							-	0
1964	PHX	TRE	INDY DNQ	MIL	LAN	TRE	SPR	MIL	DUQ	ISF	TRE	SAC	PHX						-	0
1965	PHX	TRE	INDY DNQ	MIL	LAN	PIP	TRE	IRP	ATL	LAN	MIL	SPR	MIL	DUQ	ISF	TRE	SAC	PHX	-	0

* shared drive with Tony Bettenhausen

Indianapolis 500 results

Year	Car	Start	Qual	Rank	Finish	Laps	Led	Retired
1940	38	29	120.809	29	28	48	0	Oil leak
1941	45	18	125.217	5	9	200	0	Running
1946	10	2	126.183	4	33	16	0	Crash T3
1947	15	21	123.967	8	28	24	0	Crash FS
1948	25	25	122.595	29	32	7	0	Oil leak
1949	19	19	129.487	5	8	200	0	Running
1950	7	19	130.790	18	9	135	0	Running
1953	7	17	136.219	16	25	89	0	Magneto
1954	5	32	137.678	32	8	200	0	Running
1955*	10	-	-	-	2	?	?	Running
1956	29	8	143.546	10	33	21	11	Crash T1
1957	54	10	144.817	1st	4	200	24	Running
1958	15	14	142.959	18	18	122	0	Radiator
1959	45	27	142.383	22	9	200	0	Running
1962	62	14	146.687	20	28	20	0	Piston
Totals						1482	35

Starts	14
Poles	0
Front Row	1
Wins	0
Top 5	1
Top 10	6
Retired	8

* shared drive with Tony Bettenhausen

World Championship career summary

The Indianapolis 500 was part of the FIA World Championship from 1950 through 1960. Drivers competing at Indy during those years were credited with World Championship points and participation. Paul Russo participated in 8 World Championship races. He set 1 fastest lead lap, finished on the podium once and accumulated a total of 8.5 World Championship points.

gollark: One you missed is that the variable the keycode will be saved in is `k`, but the conditional checks `key`.

gollark: Fun exercise: See how many problems you can spot.

gollark: There is nothing sensible about this code.

gollark: Wow, thanks.

gollark: ```lua print "Press any key to reboot. Press u to update." local timer = os.startTimer(10) local _, k = os.pullEvent "key" if key == keys.q or key == keys.u then os.reboot() else install() end```

References

Biography Archived 2012-02-06 at the Wayback Machine at the National Midget Auto Racing Hall of Fame
"Indianapolis Auto greats" (PDF). Celebrating Automotive Heritage at Crown Hill Cemetery. Crown Hill Cemetery. 2011. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-09-13. Retrieved 2012-09-10.

Paul Russo Dies, Ex-Racing Driver, February 18, 1976, The New York Times.

External links

Paul Russo at Find a Grave

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[NMARHoF-1] Biography Archived 2012-02-06 at the Wayback Machine at the National Midget Auto Racing Hall of Fame

[Crown_Hill_Autos-2] "Indianapolis Auto greats" (PDF). Celebrating Automotive Heritage at Crown Hill Cemetery. Crown Hill Cemetery. 2011. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-09-13. Retrieved 2012-09-10.