Joe Boyer

Joseph E. Boyer Jr.
Joseph E. Boyer Jr.
	Boyer at the 1921 French Grand Prix
Born	May 30, 1890; St. Louis, Missouri
Died	September 2, 1924 (aged 34); Tipton, Pennsylvania
Known for	1924 Indianapolis 500

Joseph Boyer Jr. (May 30, 1890 – September 2, 1924) was a co-winner of the 1924 Indianapolis 500.

Biography[]

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.

At the 1924 Indianapolis 500, Boyer participated in two different cars during the race. In his original entry (#9), he qualified 4th. On the 109th lap he was relieved. His relief driver went on to race until lap 176, when the car crashed in turn 1. On lap 111, Boyer climbed into the car of Lora Lawrence Corum (#15), driving relief for 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 Indy 500 history that designation had been assigned. In three previous Indy 500 races (1911, 1912, 1923), the winner had relief help during the race, but in none of those cases did the relief driver finish the race; the original driver got back behind the wheel to finish those races.

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

Indy 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 October 7, 2012. 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 October 7, 2012. 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, ...

External links[]

Joe Boyer at Find a Grave

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 October 7, 2012. 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 October 7, 2012. 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, ...

[1]

[2]

Joseph E. Boyer Jr.
Boyer at the 1921 French Grand Prix
Born	(1890-05-30)May 30, 1890 St. Louis, Missouri
Died	September 2, 1924(1924-09-02) (aged 34) Tipton, Pennsylvania
Known for	1924 Indianapolis 500