Inductees
Phil Walters
Phil Walters
Stats
Category: Historic
CLASS OF: 2024
BORN: April 20, 1916
DIED: February 6, 2000
BIRTHPLACE: New York, New York
Achievements
  • Began racing as "Ted Tappett" to conceal youthful inexperience
  • Won an astounding 26 of 35 midget races as a 20-year-old
  • A World War II glider pilot who survived risky missions & war wounds
  • Saved by German doctor who recognized him from pre-war race exploits
  • Post-war, returned to racing as a driver for inductee Briggs Cunningham
  • Twice won the Sebring 12 Hours (1953, 1955)
  • Twice won the Watkins Glen Sports Car Grand Prix (1951, 1954)

Official Nomination Bio

Lacking experience at age 22, Walters roamed local midget tracks claiming he was fictitious West Coast star “Ted Tappett.” He got a ride and rocketed to stardom, winning 26 of 35 features in 1940. As a wounded WWII glider pilot, Walters was saved by a German doctor who recognized the now-famous “Tappett” from a prewar trip to Philadelphia. Postwar, Walters helped develop inductee Briggs Cunningham’s cars, which he drove to landmark victories at Sebring (1953, 1955) and the Watkins Glen Sports Car Grand Prix (1951, 1954).

OFFICIAL INDUCTION BIOGRAPHY

By Joe Scalzo

When it came time to enlist in the Second World War, Phil Walters (1916 – 2000) chose one of the most dangerous of all assignments — pilot of an unarmed and unshielded Waco glider. He survived the invasion of Sicily without a wound, but when the gliders went airborne a second time, in the Netherlands, German ground troops were waiting for them and picked them off one by one.

Badly wounded and taken prisoner, Walters had so many holes shot in him that medics from the German field hospital were withholding plasma, which was in short supply anyway, because Walters seemed a dying cause. But Walters’ life was unexpectedly saved because one of his captors was an English-speaking doctor who, it seemed, had never gotten over the excitement of a prewar visit to the Philadelphia, where he had attended his first, and surely only, buzz-bomb midget car match, and been struck spellbound by an amazing driver named Ted Tappett, who had swept every race on the card. It took some time to convince this doctor that Phil Walters, near-death glider pilot, was also Ted Tappett, amazing race driver. But after he was, Walters received the best emergency care available, including the delicate removal of a damaged kidney and half a lung. 

Walters came out of the war well-decorated with the Purple Heart, the Air Medal, seven Bronze Stars, and the rank of Flight Officer. He next went into partnership with Bill Frick inventing a hybrid named the “Fordillac”— a sleeper mating Cadillac’s largest overhead-valve V8s to innocuous 1951 Ford sedans. And this wolf-in-sheep’s-clothing brute became an instant hit not only with the whiskey-runners of the Carolinas but by the fabulous dilettante Briggs Swift Cunningham.

Buzz-bomb racing was almost played out, and amateur sports car racing was just beginning to emanate near New York’s center at Watkins Glen. Having broken out with a resounding case of sports car-racing fever, Cunningham decided that he and Walters must co-drive a Fordillac in the 24 Hours of Le Mans. But after the French said, “No way,” Cunningham was obliged to do the next best thing and enter two Cadillacs just off the showroom. And despite Cunningham going off the road and getting stuck in a sandpit for half an hour, one of the Caddys, the one the French called “the Monster,” finished 11th – not too bad.

Back in the U.S., Cunningham, by now building his own cars, put Walters in charge of the program, including four more visits to Le Mans, with a best third in 1953. Along with all his hundreds of buzz-bomb scores earlier, Walters twice won the 12 Hours of Sebring, twice won the Grand Prix of Watkins Glen; won the Floyd Bennett Cup; plus the perpendicular hillclimb called Giants’ Despair. Under the white-and-blue Cunningham colors he raced Oscas, Porsches, Coopers, Ferraris, Jaguars and, of course, all those Cunninghams. He might well have gone on racing forever, except the scores of spectator fatalities at the 1955 Le Mans turned him against the sport.

He’d changed his name to “Ted Tappett” when he was just starting out, correctly believing that a whiz-bang name would get him into the fastest buzz-bombs.

 

Former motorcycle racer Scalzo has authored definitive biographies of inductees Gary Nixon, Dick Mann, Bart Markel, Clint Brawner and the Unsers. Other titles include City of Speed: Los Angeles and the Rise of American Racing, Indianapolis Roadsters 1952-1964 and The American Dirt Track Racer.



OFFICIAL INDUCTION PRESENTER(S)

Fred Walters

(Brian Cleary/bcpix.com)

Fred Walters

INDUCTEES

Tony Adamowicz

Bob Akin

Alex Xydias & Dean Batchelor

Tyler Alexander

Jeb Allen

Reverend Richard Anderson

Frank Arciero

Jon Asher

Pat Austin

Roger Bailey

Max Balchowsky

Michael Baldwin

Earl Baltes

Skip Barber

Tom Beatty

Gary Beck

Dick Berggren

Gary Bettenhausen

Tom Bigelow

Thomas W. Binford

Pete Biro

Geoff Bodine

Bruce Boland

John R. Bond

Griffith Borgeson

Sebastien Bourdais

Gina Bovaird

Don Branson

Eric Broadley

Antron Brown

Ron Brown

John Buffum

William. R. "Bill" Burke

The Burklands

Larry Burton

Kurt Busch

Buddy Byers

Kevin Cameron

Paul Candies

Scotty Cannon

Steve Carbone

Russ Catlin

Eddie Cheever

Luigi Chinetti Sr.

Price Cobb

Austin Coil

Austin Coil

Russ Collins

Jessi Combs

John Cooper

Ray Cote

Buster Couch

Dale Coyne

Duff Daily

Robert Daley

Gian Paolo Dallara

Steve David

Donald Davidson

Grady Davis

Jim Deist

David Dewald

Larry Dickson

Scott Dixon

Scott Dixon

Downing & Hubbard

Miguel Duhamel

Jim Dunn

Lee Dykstra

Rob Dyson

Carl Edwards

Bud Ekins

Bud Ekins

Dave Ekins

Ray Elder

Jeff Emig

Richie Evans

Don Fairbanks

Red Farmer

Bud Feldkamp

Sal Fish

Herb Fishel

Ray Fox

Jim France

Frank Costin & Keith Duckworth (Cosworth)

Dave Friedman

Harry Gant

Michael Gaughan

Tom Gentry

Tony George

Joe Gibbs

Steve Gibbs

Hoot Gibson

Earl B. Gilmore

Bill "Maverick" Golden

Robby Gordon

Randy Goss

Granville Brothers

John Greenwood

Dick Guldstrand

Gene Haas

Carl Haas

Ted Halibrand

Rod Hall

Pete Halsmer

Tanis Hammond

Jeff Hammond

Jerry Hansen

Walt Hansgen

Trevor Harris

Brett Hearn

Pat Hemen

George Henley

Fran Hernandez

Bob Higbee

Tom Higgins

Steve Hinton

Takeo "Chickie" Hirashima

Bob Holbert

Tom Hoover

Jay Howell

Ralph Hudson

Jim Hunter

Jim Hurtubise

James Hylton

Jack Ingram

Dale Inman

Ernie Irvan

Bobby Isaac

Ed Iskenderian

Dale Jarrett

Jim Downing & Dr. Bob Hubbard

Alex Job

Jimmie Johnson

Jimmie Johnson

Bubby Jones

Ron Jones Sr.

Mike Joy

Karl Kainhofer

Scott Kalitta

Jim Kaser

Neil Keen

Matt Kenseth

Bill Kerchenfaut

Karl Kinser

Gordon Kirby

Oscar Koveleski

Tom Kristensen

Jim Kropfeld

Eddie Kuzma

Danny LaPorte

Dick Landy

Bruce Larson

Henry Lauterbach

Larry Lauterbach

Jungle Jim Liberman

"Duffy" Livingstone

Walter Lott

Leo Loudenslager

Forrest Lucas

Jim Luikens

Roy Lunn

Pete Lyons

Rob MacCachren

Dave MacDonald

Randy Mamola

Leon Mandel

Peter Manso

Frank Manzo

Mario Illien & Paul Morgan

Marc Marquez

Teddy Mayer

Larry McBride

Roy "Mac" McClain

Jack McCoy

Jim McElreath

Mary McGee

Corky McMillin

Larry McReynolds

Roger Mears

John Mecom Jr.

John Menard Jr.

Jim Miller

Ak Miller

Drino Miller

Bill Milliken

Jack Milne

Milt Minter

Juan Pablo Montoya

John Morton

Danny "Chocolate" Myers

Herb Nab

Paul Newman

PL Newman

Don Nichols

Jim Nicoll

Morris "Mo" Nunn

Kitty Linn O'Neil

Jan Opperman

Mark Oswald

Cotton Owens

Paul Page

Don Panoz

John Parker

Ron Pellegrini

Jack Penton

John Penton

Maurice Petty

Paul Pfanner

Vince Piggins

Art Pillsbury

Randy Pobst

Vasek Polak

Doug Polen

Chris Pook

George R. Poteet

Richie Powers

Dale Pulde

Larry Ragland

Fred Rahmer

Cal Rayborn

Reher-Morrison-Shepherd

Roger Reiman

Lance Reventlow

Steve Reyes

Willy T. Ribbs

Larry Rice

Tim Richmond

Jody Ridley

J.N. Roberts

Kenny Roberts Jr.

T. Wayne Robertson

Chip Robinson

"Sneaky Pete" Robinson

Larry Roeseler

Gene Romero

Dave Roper

Suzanne Royce

Ricky Rudd

Scott Russell

Bob Russo

Angelle Sampey

Joe Scalzo

Gary Scelzi

Billy "The Kid" Schumacher

Tony Schumacher

Gary Scott

Wendell Scott

Ralph Seagraves

Mike Seebold

Tim Seebold

Tricia Kisner Shaffer

Jon Sharp

Hap Sharp

Bob Sharp

Kirk Shelmerdine

Dean Sicking

Bruton Smith

Carroll Smith

Marty Smith

Speedy Bill Smith

Al Speyer

Ben Spies

Lyn St. James

Bob Stange

Jeff Stanton

Les Staudacher

Mike Stefanik

Charles D. Strang

Bill Stroppe

Don Sullivan

Summers Brothers

The Surfers

John Surtees

John Surtees

Sammy Swindell

Sammy Tanner

Mark Tate

Wayne Taylor

Al Teague

Charlie Terry

Richard Tharp

The Ramchargers

Chuck Thompson

Judy Thompson

Valerie Thompson

Danny Thompson

Rahn Tobler

Paul Tracy

Travers & Coon (Traco)

Merv Treichler

Elmer Trett

Jim Trueman

Alec Ulmann

Skip Van Leeuwen

Jimmy Vasser

John Vesco

Frank "Scoop" Vessels

Jacques Villeneuve

Dave Villwock

Judy Wagner

Patty Wagstaff

Ron Watson

Kermit Weeks

Bill Werner

Dan Wheldon

Nolan White

Rex White

John Wiebe

Vic Wilson

Steve Wise

Doug Wolfgang

LeeRoy Yarbrough

Robert Yates

Jeana Yeager

Dave Zeuschel

Gil de Ferran

Josie van Neumann

ALSO IN THIS CLASS

Tony Adamowicz

Bob Akin

Alex Xydias & Dean Batchelor

Tyler Alexander

Jeb Allen

Reverend Richard Anderson

Frank Arciero

Jon Asher

Pat Austin

Roger Bailey

Max Balchowsky

Michael Baldwin

Earl Baltes

Skip Barber

Tom Beatty

Gary Beck

Dick Berggren

Gary Bettenhausen

Tom Bigelow

Thomas W. Binford

Pete Biro

Geoff Bodine

Bruce Boland

John R. Bond

Griffith Borgeson

Sebastien Bourdais

Gina Bovaird

Don Branson

Eric Broadley

Antron Brown

Ron Brown

John Buffum

William. R. "Bill" Burke

The Burklands

Larry Burton

Kurt Busch

Buddy Byers

Kevin Cameron

Paul Candies

Scotty Cannon

Steve Carbone

Russ Catlin

Eddie Cheever

Luigi Chinetti Sr.

Price Cobb

Austin Coil

Austin Coil

Russ Collins

Jessi Combs

John Cooper

Ray Cote

Buster Couch

Dale Coyne

Duff Daily

Robert Daley

Gian Paolo Dallara

Steve David

Donald Davidson

Grady Davis

Jim Deist

David Dewald

Larry Dickson

Scott Dixon

Scott Dixon

Downing & Hubbard

Miguel Duhamel

Jim Dunn

Lee Dykstra

Rob Dyson

Carl Edwards

Bud Ekins

Bud Ekins

Dave Ekins

Ray Elder

Jeff Emig

Richie Evans

Don Fairbanks

Red Farmer

Bud Feldkamp

Sal Fish

Herb Fishel

Ray Fox

Jim France

Frank Costin & Keith Duckworth (Cosworth)

Dave Friedman

Harry Gant

Michael Gaughan

Tom Gentry

Tony George

Joe Gibbs

Steve Gibbs

Hoot Gibson

Earl B. Gilmore

Bill "Maverick" Golden

Robby Gordon

Randy Goss

Granville Brothers

John Greenwood

Dick Guldstrand

Gene Haas

Carl Haas

Ted Halibrand

Rod Hall

Pete Halsmer

Tanis Hammond

Jeff Hammond

Jerry Hansen

Walt Hansgen

Trevor Harris

Brett Hearn

Pat Hemen

George Henley

Fran Hernandez

Bob Higbee

Tom Higgins

Steve Hinton

Takeo "Chickie" Hirashima

Bob Holbert

Tom Hoover

Jay Howell

Ralph Hudson

Jim Hunter

Jim Hurtubise

James Hylton

Jack Ingram

Dale Inman

Ernie Irvan

Bobby Isaac

Ed Iskenderian

Dale Jarrett

Jim Downing & Dr. Bob Hubbard

Alex Job

Jimmie Johnson

Jimmie Johnson

Bubby Jones

Ron Jones Sr.

Mike Joy

Karl Kainhofer

Scott Kalitta

Jim Kaser

Neil Keen

Matt Kenseth

Bill Kerchenfaut

Karl Kinser

Gordon Kirby

Oscar Koveleski

Tom Kristensen

Jim Kropfeld

Eddie Kuzma

Danny LaPorte

Dick Landy

Bruce Larson

Henry Lauterbach

Larry Lauterbach

Jungle Jim Liberman

"Duffy" Livingstone

Walter Lott

Leo Loudenslager

Forrest Lucas

Jim Luikens

Roy Lunn

Pete Lyons

Rob MacCachren

Dave MacDonald

Randy Mamola

Leon Mandel

Peter Manso

Frank Manzo

Mario Illien & Paul Morgan

Marc Marquez

Teddy Mayer

Larry McBride

Roy "Mac" McClain

Jack McCoy

Jim McElreath

Mary McGee

Corky McMillin

Larry McReynolds

Roger Mears

John Mecom Jr.

John Menard Jr.

Jim Miller

Ak Miller

Drino Miller

Bill Milliken

Jack Milne

Milt Minter

Juan Pablo Montoya

John Morton

Danny "Chocolate" Myers

Herb Nab

Paul Newman

PL Newman

Don Nichols

Jim Nicoll

Morris "Mo" Nunn

Kitty Linn O'Neil

Jan Opperman

Mark Oswald

Cotton Owens

Paul Page

Don Panoz

John Parker

Ron Pellegrini

Jack Penton

John Penton

Maurice Petty

Paul Pfanner

Vince Piggins

Art Pillsbury

Randy Pobst

Vasek Polak

Doug Polen

Chris Pook

George R. Poteet

Richie Powers

Dale Pulde

Larry Ragland

Fred Rahmer

Cal Rayborn

Reher-Morrison-Shepherd

Roger Reiman

Lance Reventlow

Steve Reyes

Willy T. Ribbs

Larry Rice

Tim Richmond

Jody Ridley

J.N. Roberts

Kenny Roberts Jr.

T. Wayne Robertson

Chip Robinson

"Sneaky Pete" Robinson

Larry Roeseler

Gene Romero

Dave Roper

Suzanne Royce

Ricky Rudd

Scott Russell

Bob Russo

Angelle Sampey

Joe Scalzo

Gary Scelzi

Billy "The Kid" Schumacher

Tony Schumacher

Gary Scott

Wendell Scott

Ralph Seagraves

Mike Seebold

Tim Seebold

Tricia Kisner Shaffer

Jon Sharp

Hap Sharp

Bob Sharp

Kirk Shelmerdine

Dean Sicking

Bruton Smith

Carroll Smith

Marty Smith

Speedy Bill Smith

Al Speyer

Ben Spies

Lyn St. James

Bob Stange

Jeff Stanton

Les Staudacher

Mike Stefanik

Charles D. Strang

Bill Stroppe

Don Sullivan

Summers Brothers

The Surfers

John Surtees

John Surtees

Sammy Swindell

Sammy Tanner

Mark Tate

Wayne Taylor

Al Teague

Charlie Terry

Richard Tharp

The Ramchargers

Chuck Thompson

Judy Thompson

Valerie Thompson

Danny Thompson

Rahn Tobler

Paul Tracy

Travers & Coon (Traco)

Merv Treichler

Elmer Trett

Jim Trueman

Alec Ulmann

Skip Van Leeuwen

Jimmy Vasser

John Vesco

Frank "Scoop" Vessels

Jacques Villeneuve

Dave Villwock

Judy Wagner

Patty Wagstaff

Ron Watson

Kermit Weeks

Bill Werner

Dan Wheldon

Nolan White

Rex White

John Wiebe

Vic Wilson

Steve Wise

Doug Wolfgang

LeeRoy Yarbrough

Robert Yates

Jeana Yeager

Dave Zeuschel

Gil de Ferran

Josie van Neumann

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