He finished in 15th place in 1961 source: irl.racing-live.com Wayne Weiler, a lifelong cotton farmer from Phoenix who competed in the Indianapolis 500 in 1960 and 1961, passed away October 13 due to an apparent heart attack near his home. He was 70. Weiler started racing as a teen-ager on Arizona dirt tracks in 1951 and went on to compete in 19 USAC National Championship events before suffering serious head injuries in a USAC Sprint Car race June 11, 1961 at Terre Haute, Ind. While he made a brief comeback on the West Coast in the late 1960s, he never again competed with USAC. Weiler had 10 finishes of 10th or higher in Championship competition, the best a third place at the Arizona State Fairgrounds 1-mile dirt track in Phoenix in 1960. He also had one fifth-place and three seventh place finishes that year, placing 13th in the point standings. An excellent dirt track driver, he ranked sixth in the East Coast Sprint car standings the same season. He drove several races for current Indianapolis Motor Speedway Chairman of the Board Mari George and won his lone career Championship pole position, in 1959 at Sacramento, Calif., with her famous HOW Special. He also drove for Mari George in his Indianapolis 500 debut in 1960 but was eliminated by an accident after 103 laps with the Ansted-Rotary Special she fielded in partnership with Bill Ansted. In 1961, Weiler completed 147 laps for car owner Lindsey Hopkins and finished 15th.
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