Francis McNamara

Francis Eugene McNamara (born August 17, 1938 in Galesburg , Illinois ) was an American racing car maker and founder of the McNamara Racing company .

Life

McNamara grew up with his grandparents after the parents passed away. He taught himself how to repair cars and weld. He enrolled in the US Army in 1954 and served in Okinawa, Thailand and Vietnam . In 1966 he was promoted to lieutenant with the Green Berets and then transferred to Germany, where he served in the Flint barracks in Bad Tölz .

In his then home town of Lenggries he founded the company McNamara Racing , which built brand formula cars ( Formula V and Formula Ford ), Formula 3 cars and several Indy cars , and prepared and looked after touring cars . After being in the US own racing experience in Midget cars , in sprint races and NASCAR - stock cars had collected, he practiced the motor racing in Germany and only came on third-party products, and later on his own products in mountain and circuit races on.

family

His future wife Bonnie Kiplinger from Washington DC (born July 21, 1939 ) met Francis McNamara in 1966 when he abseiled from the 100 m high roof of the main grandstand of the Trenton Raceway (today: Trenton Speedway). She performed as an aerialist at the New Jersey State Fair. She was the wealthy daughter of the American newspaper publisher LaVerne Kiplinger. Mother and daughter were financially involved in McNamara Racing .

Bonnie McNamara's sudden death on June 21, 1971, allegedly from self-induced sleeping pills, marked the end of McNamara Racing. After the death of his wife and the economic collapse of his company, he moved to the United States.

Honors

• Combat Infantryman Badge
• American and Vietnamese paratrooper badges

Individual evidence

1. ^ Peter Schroeder: McNamara Racing The way from Lenggries to Indianapolis 1968 - 1971. VIEW GmbH, 1st edition 2015, ISBN 978-3-945397-03-9