Joel Thorne (16 October 1914 New York City – 17 October 1955 North Hollywood, California) was an Americanracecar driver, engineer, and playboy. He died when he crashed his private plane, after what witnesses described as "stunting", [1] into an apartment building, killing eight residents including a two month old baby.[2][3] Thorne raced his own cars is the Indianapolis 500, and later went on to attempt to design aircraft. The 1946 Indianapolis 500 was won by a car built by Thorne and driven by George Robson.[1]
