Joe Boyer wins the Indianapolis 500, 1924

[@BSNFabricating]

Joe Boyer died in a racing accident later that year. I don't know what it is, but that happened with a lot of Indy winners. Along with Boyer, there was Gaston Chevrolet in 1920, Ray Keech in 1929, George Robson in 1946, and of course Dan Wheldon in 2011. A number of others lost their lives in accidents a year or two after winning the 500, like Jimmy Murphy, Frank Lockhart, Floyd Roberts, Bill Vukovich (both of them defending a 500 win), Bob Sweikert, and Jimmy Bryan. Racing will never be completely safe, but thank God (and engineers) that it's a lot safer than it used to be.

[@cjs83172]

In fact, that was to be a particularly tragic year, as from September 2-15, three Indy winners, Joe Boyer, Dario Resta, and Jimmy Murphy were all killed in racing crashes. And another former Indy champion, Howdy Wilcox, had been killed at Altoona, PA in September of 1923, the same board track where Boyer and 1929 Indy winner Ray Keech also lost their lives. That meant that four of the first 12 Indy champions (Resta, Wilcox, Murphy, and Boyer) were killed in racing crashes in about a 12 month span (Sept. 1923-Sept. 1924), Wilcox and Boyer at the Altoona board track, Murphy at the Syracuse Mile, and Resta in England the day after Boyer's fatal crash.

[@healthyone100]

The Indianapolis 500 the traditions started way back then, my father was 4 years old when Boyer won so many great memories for me starting back in the early 60's, the greatest of all sports events God Speed!

[@joeboyer7180]

Joe Boyer was my Great Uncle. I was named after him.

[@DAquingil]

My great great aunt Lou was a nanny to Joe Boyer's children, and she took lots of pictures of them. Years ago when my grandmother was getting rid of things, she let me have her photo albums. When I asked who the kids were in the racing car, she said "Those were little millionaires","They were the Boyer Children.""Their father died in a racing accident". When the internet came along, I did a search for the name Boyer and racing, and I found out the whole story. I've got pics of his two boys and a little girl sitting on the running board of an open cab limousine, and the boys sitting in one of Joe's race cars. I've also got a couple of shots of them sitting in their own pedal race cars all decked out in backwards caps and racing goggles. It must have been an exciting life back in the twenties with a young millionaire dad. Sadly Joe Boyer died just four months after winning the Indy 500 when a tire burst as he was racing at Altoona. He was just 34.

[@BSNFabricating]

That's an interesting story. I'd like to see some of those old pictures. I've always been into racing history, but you very rarely hear anything about the early racers' lives away from the track, other than a little anecdote here and there.

[@BSNFabricating]

A number of drivers died in racing accidents the same year they won the 500. Along with Boyer, there was Gaston Chevrolet (1920), George Robson (1946), and of course Dan Wheldon (2011). There might be more, but they are the ones I came up with off the top of my head. Also Floyd Roberts (1938) and Bill Vukovich (1953 and 54) died in crashes at Indy as the defending 500 winner. Thankfully racing is a lot safer than it used to be, but it'll never be completely safe.

[@stilichobias]

Ray Keech died at Altoona soon after winning Indy.

[@Dailydoseofmemes02]

Fun Fact Lora L. Corum is my great great great etc. cousin

[@cjs83172]

Here's a fascinating fact about the winning car. Believe it or not, this race will almost certainly mark the only time in any major automobile race, much less one as big as the Indianapolis 500, that a winning car's average speed for the race be FASTER than what it qualified at (not counting races where a qualifying time is disallowed due to rules infractions). The average speed for that car for the 500 miles was 98.234 MPH, which was almost 4.5 MPH FASTER than it was qualified at. Lora. L. Corum qualified that car for the race at only 93.833 MPH.

[@leechjim8023]

It also happened in 1926.

[@MrChristopherHaas]

WOW! I would love to see any racing pics and if you have more video, hey, this is HISTORY post it! THANK YaoU SO MUCH

[@subzero92MK]

it is so strange to watch this video and think that all those people are now dead

[@asd36f]

2:55 - I wonder what was in the mug that Boyer was drinking - milk, water or something a little stronger :-)

[@douglasdavis8395]

Prohibition was in effect.

[@lonewolf2513]

Indy has for sure come a long way since

[@annonnymous-z8t]

Who just played transport fever and came here?

[@BrentTnerb2217]

That is Clint's great grandpa by the way.

[@don312000]

Do you have any documentation on that? I did a google search and couldn't find anything.

[@smokeynewton]

The hardest part was going 5 hours without a cigarette.

[@healthyone100]

or a beer!

[@ALLEYOOP77]

To go over a 100 miles an hour on that ancient Indy 500 technology is amazing! I believe he died while board track racing, Google Board track racing and you will wonder why we allowed such a dangerous and deadly (to the drivers and fans) so called sport to exist? James Boyer, not related to Joe that I am aware of.

[@rochte]

Send me your email and I will forward the MP4 file. Thanks!

[@melaniewright7748]

COOL3RR