Johnny Mantz (September 18, 1918 – October 25, 1972) Accident takes life of first "500" Champ, THE SPARTANBURG HERALD, October 26, 1972, page C4 was an American racecar driver.

Champ car Mantz made 17 starts in the AAA Championship Car series from 1948 to 1952, capturing a victory in his rookie season at the Milwaukee Mile as well as winning the non-championship Indianapolis Sweepstakes at Williams Grove Speedway.

Mantz made two starts in the Indianapolis 500. They were 1948 and 1949. He started eighth in 1948 and finished a black-flagged 13th, completing 185 laps. In 1949, he started ninth and finished seventh, completing all 200 laps. In 1953, he drove relief for Walt Faulkner.

Carrera Panamericana Mantz was a member of the Lincoln team in the first Carrera Panamericana in Mexico in 1950. He and Bill Stroppe were able to lead quite a bit of the multi-day race. With the finish line in sight and no more spare tires to run, Mantz was forced to run on rims and limped across the finish line ending up ninth. Legends of NASCAR.com

Stock car

Mantz was the first USAC Stock Car national champ in 1956. Mantz also made 12 NASCAR Grand National starts from 1950 to 1951 and 1955 to 1956. He won in his third NASCAR race, the first Southern 500 held at Darlington Raceway. This was the first 500-mile race in the history of NASCAR. The newly built Darlington Raceway was also the first "Super Speedway" for NASCAR, even though it was a little under a mile and a half in size. The Southern 500 was also the only paved event for NASCAR in 1950. Mantz and his Plymouth were the race's slowest qualifier, almost 10 MPH slower than the pole winner, Curtis Turner. But because he qualified on the ninth of 15 days of time trials, he started 43rd in the 75 car field. Mantz fitted truck tires that did not wear quickly or blow out, while his competitors had to stop often to pit for new tires. It was his only NASCAR win. He would win by nine laps over the second-place finisher, Fireball Roberts, with an average speed of 75.250MPH. The race took more than six hours to run. Other than the car number, Mantz had one lone sponsorship decal on his car which was placed by the Justice Brothers for the product they were distributing. As of 2010, the speedway presents the Johnny Mantz trophy to the winner of the Southern 500.

Mantz was also the first person to try to bring NASCAR sanctions to the West Coast of the United States. Mantz's last stock car race was in Pomona, California in 1958. He won this race.

Ford Spokesperson Mantz was featured in several magazine advertisements for Ford cars in the early 1960s.

Death Mantz died at 54 years old in a fatal car accident near Ojai, California.

Complete AAA Championship Car results Year 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Pos Points 1948 ARL INDY13 MIL12 LAN13 MIL1 SPR9 MIL13 DUQ ATL PIK SPR9 DUQ16 18th 290 1949 ARL3 INDY7 MIL5 TRE12 SPR8 MIL17 DUQ PIK SYR11 DETDNQ SPR LAN SACDNS DMR8 9th 660 1950 INDYDNS MIL LAN SPR MIL PIK SYR DET SPR SAC PHX BAY DAR - 0 1952 INDY MIL RAL SPR MIL DET DUQ PIK11 SYR DNC SJS PHX 46th 20 1953 INDYDNS MIL SPR DET SPR MIL DUQ PIK SYR ISF SAC PHX - 0

Indianapolis 500 results

YearCarStartQualRankFinishLapsLedRetired1948988122.79127131850Flagged1949989127.7861872000RunningTotals3850

Starts2Poles0Front Row0Wins0Top 50Top 101Retired0

World Championship career summary The Indianapolis 500 was part of the FIA World Championship from 1950 through 1960. Drivers competing at Indy during those years were credited with World Championship points and participation. In the 1953 Indianapolis 500, Mantz drove in relief of Walt Faulkner. As a result of this shared ride, Mantz participated in one World Championship race, but he scored no World Championship points.

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