Art Bisch (November 10, 1926 - July 6, 1958) was a United States racing driver who competed at the 1958 Indianapolis 500, where he crashed out on the first lap in an incident which claimed the life of Pat O'Connor.
Outside of F1, Bisch had been a bomber pilot in World War II before venturing into racing in the early 1950s. After dominating in the Arizona Modified Racing Association (AMRA) championship, winning in 1950, 1951 and 1953, he went on to comfortably win the 1956 California Racing Association (CRA) championship. After racing in the USAC championship in 1957, Bisch entered the 1958 Indy 500, qualifying 28th at his first attempt. Unfortunately, his run in this race was short-lived, being caught up in a lap 1 crash. At turn 3, 15 cars, including Bisch and Pat O'Connor were involved in a pile-up. Jerry Unser made contact with the back of Paul Goldsmith and was launched over the top of the banking to the ground below, suffering a dislocated shoulder. O'Connor was killed when his car went airborne and landed upside down, the driver's head striking the ground. Bisch's car was damaged in the ensuing chaos and the débutante was forced to retire.
Six weeks later, following a race win at the Milwaukee Mile, Bisch suffered head injuries when he crashed heavily at the Lakewood Speedway in Georgia. He died from his injuries two days later.
Formula One Statistical Overview[]
Formula One Record[]
| Year | Entrant | Team | WDC Points | WDC Pos. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1958 | Helse/H. H. Johnson | Kuzma-Offenhauser | 0 | NC |
Career Statistics[]
| Entries | 1 |
| Starts | 1 |
| Pole Positions | 0 |
| Sprint Poles | 0 |
| Front Row Starts | 0 |
| Race Wins | 0 |
| Sprint Wins | 0 |
| Podiums | 0 |
| Sprint Podiums | 0 |
| Fastest Laps | 0 |
| Sprint Fastest Laps | 0 |
| Points | 0 |
| Laps Raced | 0 |
| Distance Raced | 0 km (0 mi) |
Career Results[]
| Complete Formula One Results | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | Pts | Pos | ||||||||||||
| 1958 | 
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0 | NC | ||||||||||||
| Ret | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Key | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Symbol | Meaning | Symbol | Meaning | ||
| 1st | Winner | Ret | Retired | ||
| 2nd | Podium finish | DSQ | Disqualified | ||
| 3rd | DNQ | Did not qualify | |||
| 5th | Points finish | DNPQ | Did not pre-qualify | ||
| 14th | Non-points finish | TD | Test driver | ||
| Italics | Scored point(s) for Fastest Lap | DNS | Did not start | ||
| 18th† | Classified finish (retired with >90% race distance) | NC | Non-classified finish (<90% race distance) | ||
| 4thP | Qualified for pole position | [+] More Symbols | |||
Notes[]
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