The Jimmy Daywalt Tribute Site

Racing Fans Honor Jimmy Daywalt with Hugh Banquet in Center; Rookie of the Year Trophy Presented?

Five hundred and four persons gather in the Honeywell Memorial Center Thursday night to mingle with the many racing celebrities and to collect autographs, but mostly they were there to honor Wabash’s Jimmy Daywalt, Speedway Rookie of the Year and driver of the sixth-place Sumar Special.

Wilbur Shaw, president of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, was there along with Drivers Duane Carter and Art Cross. Daywalt’s pit crew stood by to answer questions about the Sumar car that was trucked in from Terre Haute by Owner Chapman Root.

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Ticket sales for the Jimmy Daywalt banquet moved into the last day Wednesday with a crowd of at least 300 assured for the event scheduled for 6:30 p. m. Thursday in the Honeywell Memorial Center.

Highlight of the banquet honoring the Wabash race driver who finished sixth in the 500-mie race at Indianapolis Memorial Day will be the formal presentation of the Stark & Wetzel Rookie-of-the-Year award. Daywalt was voted winner of the trophy by representatives of Indianapolis newspapers and radio stations, wire services, and Speedway officials.

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Jimmy Daywalt and his 1953 Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year trophy from the 1954 '500' program

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Jimmy Daywalt, with his arm around Wilbur Shaw, after recieving his 1953 Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year trophy at the Honeywell Center in Wabash, IN. Photo from the Wabash Plain Dealer

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