Editor’s Note: Each month in recognition of SPEED SPORT’s 90th anniversary, the SPEED SPORT Insider will use the National Speed Sport News archives to look back at what happened in the racing world 25 years ago.
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Flying Farmer Hinnershitz Dies In Sleep
Tommy Hinnershitz, one of this country’s foremost racing drivers in the years surrounding World War II, died in his sleep at his Pennsylvania home on Aug. 1. He was 71.
The veteran campaigner, who won seven Eastern sprint car titles, posted 103 feature victories,
was second 92 times and third in 57 feature races sanctioned by the AAA and USAC in his 30 year career.
Known first as “The Oley Dirt Farmer,” that later became “The Flying Farmer” as he
threw dirt at fairground tracks the country over. In addition to his dirt track exploits he took
part in the 1940 and 1941 Indianapolis 500-mile race, finishing 10th in his last start there.
From the outset, unlike other drivers, Hinnershitz preferred driving his own cars as opposed
to wheeling machinery owned by others. He was an excellent mechanic and did all the work on his cars, including engine rebuilds on his Offenhauser engines.
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