Johnnie Tolan made his mark in midget racing in the Denver,
Colorado area with the Rocky Mountain Midget Racing
Association. He won the RMMRA Midget Championship in 1946 and
1947.
In 1946 he won 45 feature races, then scored 47 wins
the next year and won 27 features in 1948.
In 1950 he captured the AAA Midwest Midget title. In 1952 he
won the National Midget Championship and his second Midwest
crown.
He won the “Night Before the 500” midget race in 1953
and three years later drove in his first Indianapolis 500 Mile
Race. He competed at Indy in 1956,’57 and ’58 with a 13th
place finish as his best.
In 1964 Tolan traveled to Australia with Bob Tattersall
and Jimmy Davies. He crashed during a race at the Sydney
Showgrounds and suffered back injuries which ended his career.
Johnnie was a colorful driver who practiced a ritual at
each midget event. During the warm-ups he would smoke a
cigarette and on his first high speed lap would flip the
smoking projectile towards the starting line. He believed that
if it hit the mark he would have a good night.
He died on June 2, 1986.
