Bobby Ball

Robert Kay Ball (August 26, 1925 – February 27, 1954) was an American racecar driver.

Ball's parents divorced when he was a year old. He was raised by his grandmother, who enrolled him in a military academy as a teenager in an attempt to take his mind off cars and motorcycles.

Ball began racing with the Arizona Roadster Association, subsequently switching from roadsters to midgets. He won the Arizona State Midget Association (ASMA) championship in 1949 and 1950. He finished fifth in the 1951 Indianapolis 500 and 32nd in the 1952 Indianapolis 500.

Ball won the AAA Championship race at San Jose in November 1952. On January 4, 1953, he was involved in an accident at Carrell Speedway in Los Angeles which left him with terrible head injuries. He remained in a coma, first at the UCLA Medical Center and then at home in Phoenix, but died 14 months later of an infection. For many years one of the two championship races held at Phoenix International Raceway was a memorial race dedicated to Ball.

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