| Bob Burman | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Birth Name: | Robert R. Burman | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Birth Date: | 23 April 1884 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Birth Place: | Imlay City, Michigan, U.S. | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Death Place: | Riverside, California, U.S. | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Robert R. Burman (April 23, 1884 – April 8, 1916) was an American racing driver. He was an open-wheel pioneer, setting numerous speed records in the early 1900s.[1] He participated in many historic races and was one of the drivers to compete in the first edition of the Indianapolis 500 in 1911.
Burman was born in Imlay City, Michigan on April 23, 1884. While working as a road tester for the Jackson Automobile Co. in 1906 he got the opportunity to enter several races, in which he performed well.[2] In 1908 William C. Durant, the founder of General Motors, brought Burman and the Chevrolet brothers on as drivers for the newly formed Buick racing team.[3]
Burman won the Prest-O-Lite Trophy Race, a precursor to the Indianapolis 500, in his Buick in 1909. He finished first in the 1909 Vesper Club Trophy Race driving for the Buick team and fourth in the 1909 Lowell Trophy Race. In 1910 he won the Remy Brassard Trophy 2 on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and in 1911 he won the first four events at the New Orleans Mardi Gras Races with his Buick 60 Special.[4]
Racing for promoter Ernest Moross, Burman set a land speed record at an average of 141.732mph over distance of 0.625 miles (1 kilometer) in his 200-horsepower Blitzen Benz on the sands of Daytona Beach on April 23, 1911; however this record was not officially recognized by the AIACR in Paris. He competed at the first ever 1911 Indianapolis 500 in a Benz, before the race he made exhibition runs in the Blitzen Benz on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and set speed records at the quarter mile, half mile, kilometer and mile distances. He was crowned speed king before the start of the race.[5]
Burman competed in the 1912 Indianapolis 500, crashing his Cutting at the second turn after 157 laps. He started the 1913 Indianapolis 500 as the favorite, and led 41 laps early, but his car caught fire on lap 55; he was able to repair his Keeton and continued for a while, but eventually did not finish the race. In 1914 he won the Kalamazoo Race, and in 1915 he won both the Oklahoma Southern Sweepstakes Road Race and the Burlington Race in his Peugeot L76. He finished sixth in the 1915 Indianapolis 500.
On April 8, 1916, Burman was killed during a non-championship Corona road race when one of his rear tires exploded, causing his open-cockpit Peugeot car to roll over, along with his riding mechanic Erick Schrader and a policeman on duty.[6] Three spectators were also killed, and five others were seriously injured.[7] His death caused his friends Barney Oldfield and Harry Arminius Miller to join forces to build a race car that incorporated a roll cage inside a streamlined driver's compartment that completely enclosed the driver. It was called the Golden Submarine.
Burman was inducted into the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame in 2011.[8]
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