Obituary
IndyCar
Jonathan Byrd dies at 57
LONGTIME INDIANAPOLIS 500 CAR OWNER BYRD DIES AT 57 INDIANAPOLIS, Friday, Aug. 21, 2009 -- Jonathan Byrd, co-entrant in 1996 of Arie Luyendyk's all-time Indianapolis 500 record qualifier, passed away Aug. 20 in Greenwood, Ind. He was 57. Byrd, who ...
Published: Oct 2, 2009, 4:21 PM
Copy link
Share on Viber
LONGTIME INDIANAPOLIS 500 CAR OWNER BYRD DIES AT 57
INDIANAPOLIS, Friday, Aug. 21, 2009 -- Jonathan Byrd, co-entrant in 1996 of Arie Luyendyk's all-time Indianapolis 500 record qualifier, passed away Aug. 20 in Greenwood, Ind. He was 57. Byrd, who had been disabled by a stroke since 2004, was a "500" entrant from 1985 until 2001, having aligned himself with a variety of other entrants, including Leader Card, Inc., A.J. Foyt, Ron Hemelgarn, Dick Simon, Alex Morales, the Machinists Union, Clayton Cunningham, Dennis McCormack and Team Xtreme.
Strongly associated for many years with sponsorship of cars at the Indianapolis Speedrome short track, located on the east side of the city, Byrd even sponsored NASCAR champion Darrell Waltrip at one point. He developed a very close friendship and partnership with Rich Vogler, which parlayed into several USAC Midget car titles and numerous wins, eventually taking the pair to the Indianapolis 500.
The charismatic Byrd, with his infectious laugh, never was rewarded with an Indianapolis 500 victory. But he saw several of his drivers land top-10 finishes, including Gordon Johncock (sixth in 1991), Scott Brayton (sixth in '93), Vogler (eighth in '89), Stan Fox (eighth in '91) and John Andretti (10th in '94).
In 1996, Luyendyk's original front-row qualifying run was disallowed when his car failed to meet the minimum weight requirement in a post-qualification technical inspection, but Luyendyk stormed back the following day to obliterate the one- and four-lap qualifying records. This being the final year for turbocharged engines, Luyendyk's marks with the Tim Wardrop-prepared Byrd/Fred Treadway-entered Jonathan Byrd's Cafeteria/Bryant Heating and Cooling Reynard/Cosworth were 236.986 mph for the four-lap run and an amazing 237.498 mph for the fastest single lap.
Those records still stand.
Byrd is fondly remembered by the "500" fraternity for the many months of May in which he would set up a huge marquee near the garage area and permit literally hundreds of race personal and media per day the opportunity to experience his magnificent cafeteria food.
While Byrd never won at Indianapolis, John Paul Jr. drove one of his cars to victory in the IndyCar Series race in September 1998 at Texas Motor Speedway.
Byrd was a successful businessman who operated Kentucky Fried Chicken franchises and then opened his Jonathan Byrd's cafeteria and banquet hall in Greenwood, Ind. He also operated several hotels and operated a business trading in rare books, ancient Bibles and theology books. He also was very active in founding and supporting Christian ministries.
Services are pending.
-credit: ims
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article Sonoma: Team Penske preview
Next article Sonoma: Panther Racing preview
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
John Andretti
The exclusive club Katherine Legge hopes to join with historic 'Double' attempt
IndyCar
IndyCar
Indianapolis Road Course
The exclusive club Katherine Legge hopes to join with historic 'Double' attempt
Justin Haley "turned down one or two" rides for the Indianapolis 500
IndyCar
IndyCar
St. Petersburg
Justin Haley "turned down one or two" rides for the Indianapolis 500
John Andretti loses his battle with cancer
IndyCar
IndyCar
John Andretti loses his battle with cancer
More from
Team Xtreme
IRL: Jaques Lazier press conference
IndyCar
IndyCar
IRL: Jaques Lazier press conference
IRL: Team Xtreme closes doors
IndyCar
IndyCar
IRL: Team Xtreme closes doors
IRL: Giaffone ? oitavo no Kentucky
IndyCar
IndyCar
IRL: Giaffone ? oitavo no Kentucky
Latest news
Spire, Chris Gabehart reject Joe Gibbs Racing premise on deleted texts
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Charlotte II
5 h
Spire, Chris Gabehart reject Joe Gibbs Racing premise on deleted texts
Ricky Stenhouse explains his side of Michael McDowell conflict
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Charlotte II
9 h
Ricky Stenhouse explains his side of Michael McDowell conflict
Barnes: Why IndyCar’s updated licensing system fails its own integrity test
IndyCar
Indy IndyCar 10 h
Barnes: Why IndyCar’s updated licensing system fails its own integrity test
Why NASCAR is not penalizing Stenhouse, McDowell for post-race theatrics
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Charlotte II
11 h
Why NASCAR is not penalizing Stenhouse, McDowell for post-race theatrics
Feature
Discover prime content
Inside AJ Foyt Racing’s transition: Hauger’s arrival, Ferrucci’s future, and the Pierson waiting game
Feature
IndyCar
Feature
IndyCar
By Joey Barnes
Inside AJ Foyt Racing’s transition: Hauger’s arrival, Ferrucci’s future, and the Pierson waiting game
You Ask The Questions: David Malukas
IndyCar
By Joey Barnes
You Ask The Questions: David Malukas
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe