George Rice (racing driver)
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George J. Viola (February 22, 1914 – February 26, 2003),[1] better known by his racing name George Rice, was a Midget race car driver from Milford, Connecticut.
[edit] Personal life
George fathered two daughters, Sarah and Glorianna, and a son, Edward, with his wife Bess.
George Rice's real name was George J. Viola. When he started racing, he drove sprints, not midgets. When he heard about midgets he wanted to try them but his club at that time would not have permitted it. So he changed his last name to Rice after a friend, Charlie Rice. He loved the midgets and decided to stick with them and continued to use the name George "Georgie" Rice. When his younger brother, John, decided to race midgets also, he took the name Johnny Rice and the pair became known as the "Rice Brothers".
[edit] Auto Racing
In the 1940s in particular he was very successful. In 1947 alone he won the Midget track championship at Danbury (CT) Fair Racearena, Deer Park (NY) Speedway, and won his second consecutive title at West Haven (CT) Speedway. He was the 1947 ARDC Midget champion. In 1948 he won the Bridgeport (CT) Speedway Midget track championship.
George also raced in LeMans, France, with the Briggs Cunningham team 1951.
[edit] References
- ^ "Social Security Death Index". 2009-02-19. http://ssdi.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/ssdi.cgi. Retrieved 2010-02-19.
- ^ Eckert, Kevin (2009-02-19). "The Open Wheel Times". http://www.openwheeltimes.com. Retrieved 2010-02-19.
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- 1948 "Midget Auto Racing Souvenir Program" article by Nat Kleinfeld
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