A. J. Watson
Encyclopedia
Indianapolis 500
The Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, also known as the Indianapolis 500, the 500 Miles at Indianapolis, the Indy 500 or The 500, is an American automobile race, held annually, typically on the last weekend in May at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana...
, winning the race seven times, which leaves him tied for the record for most wins by a builder.
A native of southern California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, Watson came to Indianapolis in 1948 but missed the race. He returned the following year with a home-built car that failed to qualify. For the next 11 years, his cars not only qualified but were leaders in many years. From 1955 to 1958 he was associated with the John Zink team, and from 1959 on with Bob Wilke. His cars dominated the race through 1964. Although he continued entering cars for another two decades, he was never able to regain the commanding position of his heyday.
In 1964, with many teams following Lotus's example and moving to rear-engined "funny cars", Watson built a pair of cars based on Rolla Vollstedt's successful car. These worked reasonably well but could not reproduce the success he had with his front-engined "roadsters". He built monocoque rear-engined cars in 1966 and 1967 with ever-decreasing success.
From 1969 until 1977, Watson ran Eagles and then built a small series of highly derivative new 'Watson' cars in 1977, 1978 and again in 1982 based on Lightning and March
March Engineering
March Engineering was a Formula One constructor and manufacturer of customer racing cars from the United Kingdom. Although only moderately successful in Grand Prix competition, March racing cars enjoyed much better achievement in other categories of competition including Formula Two, Formula Three,...
designs before retiring. He is frequently listed on the Indy 500 entry sheet as the "race strategist" for PDM Racing
PDM Racing
PDM Racing is a racing team in the Indy Racing League and USAC Silver Crown series owned by Paul Diatlovich. Almost always a low budget team and affectionately dubbed "Poor Dumb Mechanics" by one of its former owners, it is known to make the most out of mediocre equipment...
, though his role with the team is largely honorary.
Career awards
- He was inducted in the National Sprint Car Hall of FameNational Sprint Car Hall of Fame & MuseumThe National Sprint Car Hall of Fame & Museum is a Hall of Fame and museum for sprint car drivers, owners, mechanics, builders, manufacturers, promoters, sanctioning officials and media members....
in 1993. - He was inducted in the Motorsports Hall of Fame of AmericaMotorsports Hall of Fame of AmericaThe Motorsports Hall of Fame of America is a Hall of Fame and museum for American motorsports legends. It was originally located in Novi, Michigan and it moved to the Detroit Science Center in 2009.-Museum:...
in 1996.