Major General James G. Blunt

Joseph Boyer Jr. (May 30, 1890 – September 2, 1924) was an American racing driver, and a winner of the 1924 Indianapolis 500.

Early life

Boyer was born on May 30, 1890, in St. Louis, Missouri and grew up in Detroit, Michigan, the son of Joe Boyer Senior and Clara Libby. He became wealthy due to his father owning Burroughs Adding Machine Company and Chicago Numatic.

Racing career

At the 1924 Indianapolis 500, Boyer participated in two different cars during the race. In his original entry (#9), he qualified 4th. Boyer experienced mechanical troubles, and on the 109th lap he was given relief. His relief driver went on to race that car until lap 176, when he crashed in Turn 1. On lap 111, Boyer took over car #15 from L. L. Corum. Boyer charged to the front of the field, and led the last 24 laps in Corum's car.

Corum and Boyer were scored as "co-winners," the first time in Indianapolis 500 history such a designation had been assigned. In three previous Indianapolis 500s (1911, 1912, 1923), a winning driver had been given relief help during the race, qualifying, starting, and finishing in the same car. 1924 was the first time one driver relieved another entirely, and had gone on to win.

Death

Boyer died on September 2, 1924, from injuries sustained in a crash at Altoona Speedway in Tyrone, Pennsylvania the day before.^[1]^[2]

Awards and honors

Boyer has been inducted into the following halls of fame:

Auto Racing Hall of Fame (1985)^[3]
Michigan Motor Sports Hall of Fame (2021)^[4]

Motorsports career results

Indianapolis 500 results

Year	Car	Start	Qual	Rank	Finish	Laps	Led	Retired
1919	39	14	100.900	4	31	30	0	Rear axle
1920	6	2	96.900	2	12	192	93	Crash T3
1921	7	3	96.650	4	17	74	1	Rear axle
1923	3	13	98.800	7	18	59	0	Differential
1924	9	4	104.840	4	18	176	0	Accident
1924	15	21	93.330	16	1	91	25	Running - relief driver
Totals						622	119

Starts	5
Poles	0
Front Row	2
Wins	1
Top 5	1
Top 10	1
Retired	4

References

^ "Boyer Fatally Hurt As 70,000 See Race. Detroit Driver, Trying to Overtake Murphy, the Winner, Crashes Through Rail". New York Times. Associated Press. September 3, 1924. Retrieved 2012-10-07. Joe Boyer of Detroit, injured yesterday in the 250-mile automobile classic at the Altoona Speedway, died at a local hospital at 12:23 this morning.
^ "Boyer Died To Avoid Crowd At Auto Race. Glad I Saved Them, Were Last Words of Driver at Altoona. Blow-Out Caused Crash". New York Times. September 3, 1924. Retrieved 2012-10-07. Joe Boyer, speed king of the automobile world, went to his death on the ... and veteran racing men said it was a little short of miraculous that the car, ...
^ "Joe Boyer". IMS Museum. Retrieved 2023-10-16.
^ "Michigan Motor Sports Hall of Fame - Boyer Jr, Joe 2021 *". www.mmshof.org. Retrieved 2023-10-16.

External links

Joe Boyer - ChampCarStats.com
Joe Boyer at Find a Grave
Joe Boyer - Motorsport Memorial
Joe Boyer driver statistics at Racing-Reference

Preceded by Tommy Milton	Indianapolis 500 Winner 1924	Succeeded by Peter DePaolo

[1] "Boyer Fatally Hurt As 70,000 See Race. Detroit Driver, Trying to Overtake Murphy, the Winner, Crashes Through Rail". New York Times. Associated Press. September 3, 1924. Retrieved 2012-10-07. Joe Boyer of Detroit, injured yesterday in the 250-mile automobile classic at the Altoona Speedway, died at a local hospital at 12:23 this morning.

[2] "Boyer Died To Avoid Crowd At Auto Race. Glad I Saved Them, Were Last Words of Driver at Altoona. Blow-Out Caused Crash". New York Times. September 3, 1924. Retrieved 2012-10-07. Joe Boyer, speed king of the automobile world, went to his death on the ... and veteran racing men said it was a little short of miraculous that the car, ...

[3] "Joe Boyer". IMS Museum. Retrieved 2023-10-16.

[4] "Michigan Motor Sports Hall of Fame - Boyer Jr, Joe 2021 *". www.mmshof.org. Retrieved 2023-10-16.

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