It was the 1953 Indianapolis 500 and 29-year-old Jimmy Daywalt was “Rookie of the Year” for taking his Sumar Special from the 21st starting position to finish 6th.  He did not know it then, but this was to be the zenith of a career that began in 1947 in the so-called minor leagues of big-car racing.  Jimmy had passed his driver’s test in 1949, but the Sumar car was his first good ride.

The 1954 race was the tragic turning point in a story that started so well.  Jimmy qualified 2nd, but finished in the hospital.  On lap 111, he hit the wall on the northwest turn, demolishing himself and the car; Bill Vukovich went on to win easily.  It was the 1st of 4 serious accidents, 3 of them in the 500.   In 1955 he pushed the Sumar from 17th to 9th place, but in 1956, in his last ride in the Sumar Special, Jimmy hit the wall on the southeast turn at the 134-lap mark, again landing in the hospital.  In 1957 he collided with the northeast wall on the 53rd lap, and that ended that racing year.

Daywalt did not return until 1959, when he secured a ride in the Federal Engineering Special.  It was the first time that he finished 200 laps without improving his position, dropping from 13th to 14th place.  There were 2 other Indy appearances, 27 laps in 1961  before a brake line broke in the Schulz Fueling Equipment car, and 75 laps before transmission failure overtook his Albany, N.Y., Special in 1962.  He died of cancer 3 years later, leaving two young children.

Jimmy Daywalt with Craig Stolze who was a sports writer and editor with the Gannett chain of newspapers. He got to be friendly with Jimmy Daywalt when he covered racing. Photo from Jim Taggart

From Jimmy Daywalt’s brother, John Daywalt:

Jimmy Daywalt was born August 28th, 1924 in Wabash, IN to John W. Daywalt Sr and Carrie (Reed) Daywalt.   He lived at 794 LaFontaine Ave, Wabash (corner Dora Road and old State Road 15 So). He lived there in “choke-town” until he enlisted in the Army Air Force in World WarII.  He lived at several bases during training and then was sent to England where he flew as a turret gunner on B-24s.  After completing his European tour of duty, he was returned to the US and taught Chinese men while training them in B-29s. He returned to Wabash when the War ended.
He resided in Wabash most of the time with brief periods of time at Shaffer Lake where several drivers trained in the summer.  He lived in Indianapolis several years and that was where he died.

Our parents ran a small grocery which was attached to our home.  The house was in the city and the barn and adjacent 9 acres were in the county.  We had the p acres with hills and valleys to play cowboys & Indians.  Lots of fun in winter to slide and skate on the old mill race.

We attended South Side School and he may have attended Linlawn a few years before returning to Wabash City Schools.  He worked at various frams with threshing rings and was masterful with horses harrowing and other duties around farms nearby.  The farm orientation was natural since we had sheep, a couple of cows, a few pigs and chickens & ducks which we fed and took care of and occasionally had a milk fight by trying to squirt one another while milking the two cows.  Our father died in March when Jimmy was 7 years old, Various odd jobs were essential since this was in 1931.

His start in racing was in a field behind the Rock Wool plant where other factories are locate now.  Each man would take a turn to see who could go the fastest in an old car.  Jim seemed to excell by going faster than others.  This led to them buying a race car in Fort Wayne in pieces which in those days was like comparing a Model T to a roadster today.
The old 99 race car was worked on all week ,tested at night on highway and raced on Sundays under Central States racing organization.  They ran at Logansport, Terre Haute, Fort Wayne and other midwest areas.  There was one car that dominated this group and it was owned by Merckler engineering in Fort Wayne.  It had a hisso engine and was numbered 404.  This became Jimmy’s next car to race.  The 500 fever was developing and Merckler’s purchased a 500 car formerly driven by Rex Mays.  Car apparently had problems with fusing pistons and never made the program.
Jim loved to roller skate and was very good and spent many happy hours at the Idyl Wild in Marion.

We walked to school from Union Mills to the South Side School and when I went to Wabash Jr High,  Jim went to Linlawn for a short time before he returned to Wabash City Schools.  He loved being s drummer and was in the band at WHS.  His drum set was a green pearl color.  He never graduated but volunteered for the Air Force when World War II broke out.  He was a turret gunner on B-24′a stationed in England. Crash landed due to being shot up or a take off-can not remember which but he had is teeth knocked out.  He was on nearly 50 missions with the most concentrated gun fire around Hamburg, Germany.

After service, he returned to Wabash and started driving trucks for Brown Trucking Co.  Later on, this helped develop muscles in the arms which were needed in race cars.  After he was in racing, they would go to Shaffer lake and row boats.  Another race driver came in and shook a driver sleeping and got him up.  When the awakened driver got up, the driver crawled into his bed.

He started racing about 1948 or 1949 Central States Racing association. They raced around Iowa, Michigan, Indiana and Ohio.

It was a worry to our mother & as stated before our father died in March of 1931.  He ALWAYS CALLED MOM BEFORE A 500 MILE RACE AND TRIED TO ALLEVIATE FEARS SHE MIGHT HAVE.

He was married several times but the last lady bore him a son and he adopted her little girl. She now lives in Florida near her daughter. I do not know where his son is at this time. The last report I had she divorced a Marvin Taylor and had taken the old name of Daywalt.
Jimmy died April 4,1966 in an Indianapolis hospital with cancer of the gall bladder.  He was 42 years old and unusual to expire at that age of this ailment.  Burial is at Crown Hill Mausoleum.

Daywalt in the Army Air Force

Notes on Jimmy Daywalt from the Clymer yearbooks

Rookie of the Year at Indianapolis “after six years of campaigning in the big cars in the Midwest.” (‘53)

Also noted that he was “dark haired, blue eyed and handsome,” “on the smallish side 5′ 9″ and 160 lbs.” he’s called “the ideal 500 driver.” (‘53)

“Quiet voiced, the young veteran had to come to The 500 through the medium of poor cars and the dusty bull-rings of independent Midwest circles until, in 1949, he passed his driver’s test.” (‘55)

“The following year (‘54), he enjoyed the fruits of leading the race until a crackup put him out of the event.” (‘55)

“Born in Wabash, August 28, 1924, Daywalt and his Mrs., named Carmelita a noted Indiana beauty, now reside in Indianapolis.” (‘55)

“Tough luck in three of his five races at Indianapolis has failed to daunt the winning smile of curly-haired Jimmy Daywalt, veteran of sprint and championship racing.” (‘57)

“In 1955 he came back to cop 9th place but then came another crash in the 1956 race and one that kept him between hospital sheets for several weeks.” (‘57)

“Racing since 1947, Jim’s early activity was on Midwest dirt tracks in sprint cars and midgets.” (‘57)

Noted in the 1957 bio that he was single.

Jack Harrington from www.trackforum.com:

What little I know about Jimmy Daywalt comes from having dated his daughter, Connie in high school. This was in 1971, and Jimmy had been dead for some time. Connie’s mother’s name was Constance(Connie), if I remember correctly. They told me that Jimmy didn’t drive the Sumar car with the enclosed roof and fenders on it because, he was claustrophobic and configured that way, it distracted him. Connie has a younger brother, also named Jimmy Daywalt, and he was a keen race fan. They lived in Steinmaier Farms at 71st. and Dean road here in Indy, and they attended Eastwood and North Central.

Terry Reed:

Daywalt was from Wabash, Indiana from which he ran outlaw big car races with groups like the Midwest Dirt Track racing Association and Central States Racing Association. He was also, I believe, a Teamsters organizer. He drove at Indy eight times between 1953 (his best year when he placed sixth)and 1962. He was for a time particularly close to Duane Carter whose big car he drove on
occasion, and who took him home to recover from a racing accident. He died of cancer on April 4, 1966. That a small part of the story.

He was born August 28, 1924 in Wabash, died April 4, 1966, buried in Crown Hill Cemetery, Indianapolis. Marion County, Indiana in Mausoleum, D-20-BB