BOB WENTE - USAC HALL OF FAME CLASS OF 2014

Bob Wente won USAC’s National Midget Championship in 1963 after scoring runner-up point finishes for three consecutive seasons. A member of the inaugural group inducted into the National Midget Auto Racing Hall of Fame in 1984, he scored 78 USAC National Midget wins, third to Mel Kenyon’s all-time record 111 and Rich Vogler’s 95. Wente made his Midget racing debut in 1954 and was the 1960 USAC Midwest Midget Champ, losing the National title by just 9.75 points to Jimmy Davies. He won the 1961 USAC Indoor title and in 1969 and 1976 won the “Night Before the 500” classic. In 1963 he won the “Hut Hundred.” He posted a USAC Sprint win at Winchester, Ind. In his only Indianapolis 500 start he came from 32nd starting position to finish 9th in a car prepared by his Midget mechanic Bob Higman. Bob, who passed away on August 12, 2000, had three sons, all of whom competed in USAC Midget competition.