| Duke Nalon | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Birth Name: | Dennis Clayton Nalon | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Birth Date: | 2 March 1913 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Birth Place: | Chicago, Illinois, U.S. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Death Place: | Indianapolis, Indiana, U.S. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Titles: | AAA Eastern Big Car (1938) AAA Midwest Big Car (1941) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Dennis Clayton "Duke" Nalon (March 2, 1913 – February 26, 2001) was an American racing driver.[1] [2] He competed in midget car, sprint car, and Indy car races. Nicknamed "The Iron Duke," Nalon was part of the "Chicago Gang" along with Tony Bettenhausen and others. These racers toured tracks in the Midwest and East Coast of the United States.
Nalon began as a pit crew member for Wally Zale. Nalon occasionally warmed up the car. When Walter Galven needed a driver, Zale convinced Galven to allow Nalon to race. Nalon won the feature event.[3]
Nalon won races on the United States' East Coast in the 1930s. Nalon competed in midget cars throughout his career. He ran his final career race at the only 100miles midget race ever run at Terre Haute. He raced Johnny Pawl’s famous midget to victory. He ended his career the way he started it: with a win.
Nalon won the 1938 East Coast AAA Sprint car championship;[4] he won the Midwestern championship in 1941.[5]
Nalon started ten Indianapolis 500miles races, finishing only three. He started from the pole twice, and was twice the fastest qualifier. In 1947, he competed in a Mercedes-Benz W154. He also competed in numerous other events on what was them termed the Championship car circuit. In 1949, Nalon was involved in a massive, fiery crash in Turn 3 of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. He backed into the wall and the car burst into flames. He survived only because he held his breath (to prevent asphyxiation), and he jumped out of the car while it was still moving. He had severe burns to his legs which gave him trouble until his death in 2001.
The AAA/USAC-sanctioned Indianapolis 500 was included in the FIA World Drivers' Championship from 1950 through 1960. Drivers competing at Indianapolis during those years were credited with World Drivers' Championship participation, and were eligible to score WDC points alongside those which they may have scored towards the AAA/USAC National Championship.
Nalon participated in three World Drivers' Championship races at Indianapolis. His best finish was tenth place, and he qualified on the pole once. He scored no World Drivers' Championship points.
| Year | Car | Start | Qual | Rank | Finish | Laps | Led | Retired | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1938 | 43 | 33 | 113.828 | 33 | 11 | 178 | 0 | Flagged | |
| 1940 | 21 | 25 | 121.790 | 24 | 22 | 120 | 0 | Rod | |
| 1941 | 17 | 30 | 122.951 | 17 | 15 | 173 | 0 | Flagged | |
| 1946 | 54 | 32 | 119.682 | 29 | 22 | 45 | 0 | Universal joint | |
| 1947 | 46 | 18 | 128.082 | 2 | 16 | 119 | 0 | Piston | |
| 1948 | 54 | 11 | 131.603 | 1 | 3rd | 200 | 9 | Running | |
| 1949 | 54 | 1 | 132.939 | 1 | 29 | 23 | 23 | Crash T3 | |
| 1951 | 18 | 1 | 136.498 | 2 | 10 | 151 | 0 | Stalled BS | |
| 1952 | 36 | 4 | 136.188 | 8 | 25 | 84 | 0 | Supercharger | |
| 1953 | 9 | 26 | 135.461 | 30 | 11 | 191 | 0 | Spun T3 | |
| Totals[7] | 1284 | 32 | |||||||
| Starts | 10 | |
|---|---|---|
| Poles | 2 | |
| Front Row | 2 | |
| Wins | 0 | |
| Top 5 | 1 | |
| Top 10 | 2 | |
| Retired | 7 |
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position)
| Year | Entrant | Chassis | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | WDC | Points | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1950 | Novi Mobil | Kurtis Kraft | Novi L8 | GBR | MON | 500 | SUI | BEL | FRA | ITA | NC | 0 | |||
| 1951 | Novi Purelube | Kurtis Kraft | Novi L8 | SUI | 500 | BEL | FRA | GBR | GER | ITA | ESP | NC | 0 | ||
| 1952 | Novi Pure Oil | Kurtis Kraft | Novi L8 | SUI | 500 | BEL | FRA | GBR | GER | NED | ITA | NC | 0 | ||
| 1953 | Novi Governor | Kurtis Kraft | Novi L8 | ARG | 500 | NED | BEL | FRA | GBR | GER | SUI | ITA | NC | 0 | |
| 1954 | Novi Pure Oil | Kurtis Kraft | Novi L8 | ARG | 500 | BEL | FRA | GBR | GER | SUI | ITA | ESP | NC | 0 |