[SUPERDUKE]

Former cra sprint car champion Hal Minyard passed away today at 1:AM a great driver and nice guy RIP

[bobO]

godspeed hal RIP

[Dave Argabright]

Very sad news indeed.

Hal was a very interesting guy who was more than just a driver. He played an important role in the development of modern helmets for racers.

RIP, friend.

[Andrew S. Quinn]

We met Hal on the Speedway Tour bus quite a few years ago and had a good time chatting with him.

Hal Helmet named after him so it seems??

RIP

[D.O.]

He drove at the Speedway !

Hal a great racer and great person to all.

Also remember Hal was one of the early helmet builders with McHal helmets.

Always a smile and a nod.

RIP

& Family & Crew.

[SUPERDUKE]

How many remember hal racing in indiana & ohio?

[coxie bowman]

I raced with him at Lawrenceburg in the late sixties or early seventies. Not to many cars had power steering nor were gloves mandated either. One night after the races we were talking in the payoff line and I saw on the palms of his hands where several chunks of hide was tore off from the race. We ran two fifty lappers that night.

R.I.P.

[nonwing]

Hal drove for my Dad from 1970 - late '69 to 1978 or so. Later I'll post more info on Hal. He was a two time CRA champ, won the 1971 Eldora track championship driving my Dad's car. This was back when you ran Eldora every Saturday night for a grand to win. I'll post more later. My chemo is trying to get me to sleep right now.

George Wilkins
Posted via Mobile Device

[Seadog]

Originally Posted by SUPERDUKE How many remember hal racing in indiana & ohio?

I recall seeing Hal racing at L'burg way back when I was a young man.

RIP Hal

[nonwing]

I finally found what I was looking for... When Hal found out that he was going to be inducted into the Sprint Car Hall of Fame at Knoxville he called me and asked that I go with him and possibly video tape his induction. None of his family could attend so I was grateful he called. I did record the induction and got to spend time with one of my true heroes. There is so much to tell about Hal and how he affected me as a young kid growing up and driving for my first hero - my Dad. I could write about him for many paragraphs, but for now...


He was born January 8th, 1925 in Anaheim, Ca
He passed away at the age of 85.

1944 Hal's first ride was in a midget following WWII and he drove for Doug Caruthers. (My good buddy Roy Caruthers should enjoy that)

1948 Hal won the SCMRA Midget Championship (Southern California Midget Racing Association) BTW, he was driving for someone other than Doug

1960 He won the Cowley Bowl Speedway Track Championship. It was located in Cowley County near Los Angeles. This was the first year that it was paved.

1964 CRA Sprint Car Champion

1965 CRA Sprint Car Champion – First driver to ever win back to back CRA titles

1966 Hal went to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and tried to pass his rookie test, but it was rained out. That was why he moved to Indianapolis, but never got another shot at Indy. He decided to stay so he could race more.

1971 Eldora Track Champion driving for my Dad, George E. Wilkins. BTW, Hal drove for my Dad from I think 1970 – 1976.

2005 Was inducted into the “Legends of Ascot” hall of fame

2007 He was inducted into the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame in Knoxville, IA.

Very Interesting story…
*** Along about 1950 – 51 a lot of drivers were getting killed and a great percentage of them were dying of head injuries that were basil and temple fractures. Hal was working at Northrop Engineering and had schooling as a pattern maker. Well he decided that he wanted a better helmet. He and a friend by the name of Johnny McMurray started looking around and at one point Hal tried an Air Force pilot helmet, but it was too heavy and big. It had room for radios, etc. So he and McMurray decided to build their own. At the time Anderson was the helmet of choice so they took their design and the Anderson helmet to I think Southern California University and had somebody there find a way to test the Anderson and their design. Well the end result was Hal and Johnny’s design was 300% better than the Anderson. So, they built the helmet and in 1952 Hal wore the helmet at Phoenix. Many of the guys made fun of it, but he also got 11 orders for it! He didn’t really want to start a business, but wanted to have a better helmet. So after a time they began to build what was called “McHal” helmets. In fact, in a previous Indianapolis Star if find “50 years of Foyt” the picture with AJ – AJ is wearing a McHal helmet.

Eventually, Hal moved to Fontana and sold his part of the business, which by now had an investor by the name of Fred Welch. Fred and Johnny had it for a number of years and then they sold it to the Bardahl company, which was at one time the sponsor of Bobby Unser in the 500. Many Indianapolis drivers wore McHal helmets.

In fact, Hal told me that AJ called him years ago and said that Bell helmet offered him a ton of money to wear their helmets. AJ said to Hal “why should I wear you helmet?” Hal said, “well AJ the guys at bell don’t race and I do. If I thought their helmet was better I’d either build a better one or buy a Bell.” AJ said, “that’s enough for me” and wore his McHal for many years to follow.

I even had a McHal helmet for a young person's head and Hal gave it to me in a large grey leather bag with draw strings. From my first day in a race car, I always had my helmet in that same grey leather bag with "McHal Helmets" graphic on the side.

George Wilkins