Died when his private plane crashed into a field in Kentucky, killing Tony, his wife Shirley - who was the daughter of Jim McElreath - and two others. After driving, he became a successful team-owner and was still involved in CART at the time of his death. The youngest son of Tony Bettenhausen Sr., Tony raced in stock cars as early as 1969 and initially went down the NASCAR career route before switching to open wheel racing in 1979, carrying on for another fourteen years. Tony took up team ownership in 1986, but neither he or his team ever did win a race despite the team being very competitive for most of the mid-to-late 1990's.

Biography last updated 18 Sep 2015