Mel Hansen

{{Short description|American racing driver (1911–1963)}} {{sources needed|date=December 2025}} {{Infobox racing driver | name = Mel Hansen | image = Mel Hansen 1950.jpg | image_size = 160px | caption = Hansen, circa 1950 | birth_name = Melvin Loyd Hansen | birth_date = {{Birth date|1911|07|07}} | birth_place = Redfield, South Dakota, U.S. | death_date = {{Death date and age|1963|06|05|1911|07|07}} | death_place = Bloomington, California, U.S. | module1 = {{Infobox Champ Car driver|embed=yes | Total_Champ_Races = 21 | Years_In_Champ = 7 | Best_Champ_Pos = 9th (tie) (1940) | First_Champ_Race = 1939 Indianapolis 500 (Indianapolis) | Last_Champ_Race = 1949 DuQuoin 100 (DuQuoin) | First_Champ_Win = 1948 Atlanta 100 (Lakewood) | Last_Champ_Win = 1949 Springfield 100 #1 (Springfield) | Champ_Wins = 2 | Champ_Podiums = 3 | Champ_Poles = 2 }}}}

'''Melvin Lloyd Hansen''' (born July 7, 1911 – June 5, 1963) was an American racing driver.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Mel Hansen |url=http://www.champcarstats.com/drivers/HansenMel.htm |access-date=2024-03-17 |website=www.champcarstats.com}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Brown |first=Allen |title=Mel Hansen |url=https://www.oldracingcars.com/driver/Mel_Hansen |access-date=2024-03-17 |website=OldRacingCars.com |language=en}}</ref> Hansen was nicknamed the "Firecracker Kid" because he loved to throw the explosive devices under chairs and behind people who were gathered in groups.<ref name=NMARHoF>[http://www.worthyofhonor.com/Inductees/Mel_Hansen.htm Biography] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927033042/http://www.worthyofhonor.com/Inductees/Mel_Hansen.htm |date=2007-09-27 }} at the National Midget Auto Racing Hall of Fame</ref>

== Racing career ==

Hansen grew up in Bloomington, California, and began racing in stock cars in 1931 at the Riverside Fairgrounds. He continued to race these cars at other Inland Empire tracks in Riverside and Colton in the early 1930s. As this early version of track roadsters waned, he switched to midget car racing, where he achieved great success.

=== Midget car career ===

Hansen's first big win was the 1939 Turkey Night Grand Prix at Gilmore Stadium in Rex Mays' Offenhauser. Hansen raced his midget car throughout the nation in 1940, and won 53 features that season.<ref name=NMARHoF /> He also claimed the track championship at Fort Miami Speedway in Toledo, Ohio, that season. He won the 1942 track championship at VFW Motor Speedway in Detroit. Hansen raced in the United Racing Association in California, and won the 1945 URA Blue Circuit championship.

=== Championship car career ===

Hansen competed in six Indianapolis 500s. He best finish was an eighth-place finish in the 1940 Indianapolis 500. He won the 100-mile AAA Championship race at Atlanta, Georgia, in 1948, and won a 100-mile AAA Championship race at Springfield, Illinois, in 1949.

== Accident ==

Hansen was paralyzed after a midget racing crash on September 8, 1949, at Detroit, and he died on June 5, 1963, after being a paraplegic for fifteen years.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=NMARHoF />

== Awards and honors ==

* Hansen was inducted in the National Midget Auto Racing Hall of Fame in 1993.<ref name=NMARHoF />

== Motorsports career results ==

=== Complete AAA Championship Car results ===

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; font-size:90%" ! Year ! 1 ! 2 ! 3 ! 4 ! 5 ! 6 ! 7 ! 8 ! 9 ! 10 ! 11 ! 12 ! 13 ! 14 ! Pos ! Points |- ! rowspan=1| 1946 |style="background:#EFCFFF;"| INDY 11 | LAN DNP | ATL | ISF | MIL | GOS |colspan=8| ! - ! 0 |- ! 1947 |style="background:#000000; color:white;" | INDY {{small|27}} | MIL {{small| }} | LAN {{small|DNS}} | ATL {{small| }} | BAI {{small| }} |style="background:#DFFFDF;" | MIL {{small|4}} | GOS {{small| }} |style="background:#EFCFFF;" | MIL {{small|13}} |PIK {{small| }} |style="background:#EFCFFF;" | SPR {{small|13}} | ARL |colspan=3| !style="background:#CFCFFF;"| 25th !style="background:#CFCFFF;"| 169.5 |- ! rowspan=1| 1948 | ARL |style="background:#000000; color:white;" | INDY {{small|25}} |style="background:#EFCFFF;" | MIL {{small|14}} | LAN {{small|DNS}} |style="background:#EFCFFF;" | MIL {{small|18}} |style="background:#EFCFFF;" | SPR {{small|16}} |style="background:#EFCFFF;" | MIL {{small|15}} |style="background:#EFCFFF;" | DUQ {{small|16}} |style="background:#FFFFBF;" | ATL {{small|1}} | PIK {{small| }} |style="background:#EFCFFF;" | SPR {{small|11}} |style="background:#EFCFFF;" | DUQ {{small|11}} |colspan=2| ! style="background:#CFCFFF;"| 22nd ! style="background:#CFCFFF;"| 220 |- ! rowspan=1| 1949 | ARL | INDY DNS | MIL DNS |style="background:#DFDFDF;" | TRE 2 |style="background:#FFFFBF;" | SPR 1 |style="background:#EFCFFF;" | MIL 16 |style="background:#EFCFFF;" | DUQ 14 | PIK |style="background:#FFCFCF;" | SYR DNQ | DET | SPR | LAN | SAC | DMR !style="background:#CFCFFF;"| 15th !style="background:#CFCFFF;"| 376 |} * 1946 table only includes results of the six races run to "championship car" specifications. Points total includes the 71 races run to "big car" specifications.<ref>{{Cite web |title=1946 AAA National Championship Trail |url=http://www.champcarstats.com/year/1946.htm |access-date=2023-10-05 |website=www.champcarstats.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Capps |first=H. Donald |date=October 2009 |title=The Curious Case of the 1946 Season: An Inconvenient Championship |url=http://forix.autosport.com/8w/rvm/rvm-vol07-no02.pdf |journal=Rear View Mirror |volume=7 |issue=2 |pages=1–16}}</ref>

=== Indianapolis 500 results ===

{{col-begin|width=auto}} {{col-break}} {|class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" |- !Year !Car !Start !Qual !Rank !Finish !Laps !Led !Retired |- !1939 |49 |14 |121.683 |25 |19 |113 |0 |Crash Pits |- !1940 |31 |5 |124.753 |7 |8 |194 |0 |Flagged |- !1941 |9 |21 |124.599 |6 |29 |11 |0 |Rod |- !1946 |4 |27 |121.431 |17 |11 |143 |0 |Crankshaft |- !1947 |38 |29 |117.298 |27 |27 |32 |0 |Pushed |- !1948 |17 |33 |122.117 |32 |25 |42 |0 |Too slow |- |colspan=6|'''Totals''' |535 |0 | |} {{col-break|gap=1em}} {|class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" |- !Starts |6 |- !Poles |0 |- !Front Row |0 |- !Wins |0 |- !Top 5 |0 |- !Top 10 |1 |- !Retired |5 |} {{col-end}}

== References ==

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hansen, Mel}} Category:1911 births Category:1963 deaths Category:Indianapolis 500 drivers Category:Racing drivers from South Dakota Category:People from Hamlin County, South Dakota Category:AAA Championship Car drivers Category:20th-century American sportsmen