'Duane "Pancho" Carter, Jr.' (born
June 11 1950 in
Racine, Wisconsin) is a retired American race car driver. He is most famous for his participation in
CART races.
Background
He is the son of Indycar racer
Duane Carter. He was born while his parents were on the way to a race at the
Milwaukee Mile. His father's nickname was "Pappy". Pappy referred to his wife's pregnancy as "little paunch," so they nicknamed the child Pancho.
[His biography at the National Midget Auto Racing Hall of Fame] Carter is the half-brother of
Johnny Parsons.
[1]
Racing career
Midget cars
His national career began while racing in a
midget car. He won the 1972
USAC midget car championship. He won the 1972 and 1975
Hut Hundred. He had 23 midget car feature wins by the time that he left the series in 1978.
Sprint cars
He won the 1974 and 1976 national USAC
sprint car championships. He was the first driver to win the two USAC championships. He has wins in three USAC divisions.
Indycars
He drove his first
Indianapolis 500 in
1974. He finished seventh, and was awarded the
Rookie of the Year. He finished third in the
1982 Indianapolis 500 behind the now-famous duel between
Gordon Johncock and
Rick Mears. In 1985, Carter drove the brand new Buick V6 engine to the pole position of the
1985 Indianapolis 500. He retired with mechanical problems after completing just six laps, becoming the first pole-sitter since
Cliff Woodbury to finish dead-last. In more recent years, Carter has served as a spotter for
Sam Hornish, Jr..
NASCAR
From
1985-
1995 Pancho ran 14
NASCAR Winston Cup races for multiple owners including
Elmo Langley. Pancho's best finish in NASCAR was a seventeenth place finish at the
Michigan International Speedway. In 1995, Pancho also raced two
Craftsman Truck Series races.
[2]
Career awards
★ He was inducted in the
National Midget Auto Racing Hall of Fame in 1990.
★ Carter was inducted in the
National Sprint Car Hall of Fame in 1991.
Indy 500 results
References
1. Biography of Johnny Parsons at the National Midget Auto Racing Hall of Fame
2. NASCAR biography at racing-reference.info