{{Short description|American racing driver (1905–1941)}} {{sources needed|date=December 2025}} {{Infobox racing driver | name = Tony Willman | image = | caption = | birth_name = Anthony Peter Willman | birth_date = {{Birth date|1905|04|28}} | birth_place = South Milwaukee, Wisconsin, U.S. | death_date = {{Death date and age|1941|10|12|1905|04|28}} | death_place = Thompson, Connecticut, U.S. | module1 = {{Infobox Champ Car driver|embed=yes | Total_Champ_Races = 7 | Years_In_Champ = 6 | Best_Champ_Pos = 19th (1941) | First_Champ_Race = 1936 Vanderbilt Cup (Westbury) | Last_Champ_Race = 1941 Syracuse 100 (Syracuse) | Champ_Wins = 0 | Champ_Podiums = 0 | Champ_Poles = 0 }}}}
'''Anthony Peter Willman''' (April 28, 1905 – October 12, 1941) was an American racing driver.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Tony Willman |url=http://www.champcarstats.com/drivers/WillmanTony.htm |access-date=2024-03-17 |website=www.champcarstats.com}}</ref> He was killed in a midget car accident.<ref name=mem>{{Cite web |title=Motorsport Memorial - Tony Willman |url=http://www.motorsportmemorial.org/focus.php?db=ct&n=3317 |access-date=31 March 2023 |website=Motorsport Memorial}}</ref>
== Racing career ==
Willman started racing in 1926.<ref name=sprintcarhof /> Limited racing during the 1930s Great Depression significantly hurt Willman's career; only 31 national events were held in eight years.<ref name=sprintcarhof /> So Willman raced in Midwestern regional and local races.<ref name=sprintcarhof /> Willman won the 1934/35 indoor midget championship circuit of races in Milwaukee, Detroit, St. Louis, and Chicago.<ref name=sprintcarhof /> He toured the Midwest for the 1936 outdoor season and he won 145 races.<ref name=sprintcarhof /> In 1936, Willman won the Hankinson Speedway Circuit championship; the circuit featured races on 30 tracks in 17 states.<ref name=sprintcarhof /> He won the 1939 track championship at the quarter mile track inside the Wisconsin State Fair Park Speedway (now Milwaukee Mile); he repeated the track title in 1941.<ref name=sprintcarhof />
Willman had misfortune at the Indianapolis 500 with his car breaking down during all four of his races while he was doing well.<ref name=sprintcarhof /> In 1941, he was running in fourth place at the 285 mile mark before a connecting rod broke.<ref name=sprintcarhof /> In 1938, Willman drove in relief for Harry McQuinn and finished seventh.<ref name=sprintcarhof />
1941 was Willman's most successful year.<ref name=sprintcarhof /> He won 33 midget car races and the AAA National Short Track championship.<ref name=sprintcarhof /> One week before his death, Willman lapped the entire 32-car field in a 100-lap midget car event.<ref name=sprintcarhof />
Willman died on October 12, 1941. He was racing in a midget car heat race at Thompson International Speedway when he hit the outside wall and he rolled on to the track. The last place car hit and killed him; in the first two laps he had passed 16 cars in the 20 car field.<ref name=sprintcarhof /> In his career, he had won a single 100-mile Speedway race, 44 sprint car main events, and 85 midget car events.<ref name=sprintcarhof />
== Personal life ==
Willman was known to be soft-spoken and rarely talked about his racing accomplishments.<ref name=sprintcarhof /> He was well respected by his competitors; Tommy Hinnershitz said that Willman was the toughest driver that he competed against.<ref name=sprintcarhof /> Willman was married to Lorraine and he left a daughter named Betty and a son named Eugene who ended up becoming a midget car building and owner in the 1960s and 1970s.<ref name=sprintcarhof />
== Awards and honors ==
* Willman was inducted in the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame in 1992.<ref name=sprintcarhof>{{cite web|last=Krause|first=Al|title=Tony Willman Biography|url=https://www.sprintcarhof.com/helper_pages/FileGet.aspx?id=211|publisher=National Sprint Car Hall of Fame and Museum|accessdate=January 23, 2013|format=pdf}}</ref>
== Motorsports career results ==
=== Indianapolis 500 results ===
{{col-begin|width=auto}} {{col-break}} {|class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" |- !Year !Car !Start !Qual !Rank !Finish !Laps !Led !Retired |- !1937 |26 |27 |118.241 |21 |25 |95 |0 |Rod |- !1938 |10 |26 |118.458 |25 |27 |47 |0 |Valve |- !1939 |51 |26 |122.771 |21 |14 |188 |0 |Fuel pump |- !1941 |62 |25 |123.920 |11 |20 |117 |0 |Rod |- |colspan=6|'''Totals'''Reference:<ref>{{cite web|title=Indy 500 Career Stats - Tony Willman|url=http://www.indianapolismotorspeedway.com/indy500/history/stats/drivers/?f=Tony&l=Willman|publisher=Indianapolis Motor Speedway|accessdate=January 23, 2013|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130701134828/http://www.indianapolismotorspeedway.com/indy500/history/stats/drivers/?f=Tony&l=Willman|archivedate=July 1, 2013}}</ref> |447 |0 | |} {{col-break|gap=1em}} {|class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" |- !Starts |4 |- !Poles |0 |- !Front Row |0 |- !Wins |0 |- !Top 5 |0 |- !Top 10 |0 |- !Retired |4 |} {{col-end}}
== References ==
{{Reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Willman, Tony}} Category:1905 births Category:1941 deaths Category:Indianapolis 500 drivers Category:National Sprint Car Hall of Fame inductees Category:Racing drivers from Wisconsin Category:Racing drivers who died while racing Category:Sports deaths in Connecticut Category:AAA Championship Car drivers Category:20th-century American sportsmen