The Short Chute

Newsletter #78 - Spring 2002

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1956 Winner Pat Flaherty Dies


by Greg Littleton

Another era has passed. Pat Flaherty, the last winner of the Indianapolis 500 to drive in a T -shirt, died April 9th at the age of 76. We'll always remember the Shamrock on the Cromwell, the pictures with the left-front off the ground, the dirty, gritty scenes of Victory Lane and the way he cranked that Roadster on a cool day in May 1956.

Pat's nephew is club member Mike Flaherty. Mike sent me the following to re-write for this article. I like Mike's words. It appears as I received it from him.

"A funny story that comes to mind is one my Aunt Marilyn (Pat's wife) told me: After Pat's big crash at Springfield in August of '56 he was hospitalized for quite some time. Besides the mangled arm, he also had a busted up jaw that the doctors had wired up. While in the hospital, he received a letter from Jim Rathmann. When he opened it, all it contained was..... a stick of chewing gum! My Aunt Marilyn chewed it for him and then mailed it back to Rathmann. Now here's an update to that story: When I called Jim down in Florida the morning after Pat died (to break the news to him), I told this story to him. He said: "You only heard half of it.... When I was in the hospital with a broken back, your uncle sent me a jump rope." Pat received many telephone calls in his final days that he was unable to answer. Andy Granatelli, Jack Zink, and Denny Moore among them. If you get a chance, pass along a "thank you" from the family to all the kind people who called or wrote!"
Sincerely,
Mike Flaherty

A few years ago at the big collectors show at the Convention Center, I turned around and there stood a guy that looked just like Pat Flaherty. He was wearing a Champion 100 Mile-An-Hour Club leather jacket. It turned to be Pat's only son, Jim, wearing his Dad's jacket. Jim, of Fresno, CA, and Mike were in town for The 500. They were very cordial and it seems everyone was as amazed as I was how much Jim reminded them of Pat. Jim said that his Dad didn't want to attend The 500 because he thought nobody really cared about an old guy like him. Man oh man, Pat would have been treated like royalty if he came to Indy one more time.

Pat is survived by his wife Marilyn (Oxnard. CA). his son Jim (Fresno. CA). a daughter Colleen (Oxnard. CA). and a brother John (La Crescenta, CA). Pat, Marilyn. and Colleen recently moved to Oxnard from Chicago. Mike. thanks for the article. Pat. thanks for the times we won't forget.

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