// Workers AI · dad joke modeWho's Len Zengel? Lens focal guy.
| Len Zengel | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Zengel in 1912 | |||||||
| Born | Leonard Joseph Zengel March 15, 1887 Dayton, Ohio, U.S. | ||||||
| Died | September 24, 1963 (aged 76) Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, U.S. | ||||||
| Champ Car career | |||||||
| 4 races run over 3 years | |||||||
| First race | 1909 Founder's Week Trophy (Fairmount Park) | ||||||
| Last race | 1912 Indianapolis 500 (Indianapolis) | ||||||
| First win | 1911 Elgin National Trophy (Elgin) | ||||||
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 | This article needs more citations. (December 2025) |
Leonard Joseph Zengel (March 15, 1887 – September 24, 1963) was an American racing driver.
Biography
[edit]Zengel was born on March 15, 1887, in Dayton, Ohio, to Leonard A. Zengel (1857-1930) and Jennie L. Pomeroy (1862-1936). He had seven siblings.
On October 8, 1910, Zengel won the annual Fairmount Park road race in Philadelphia driving a Chadwick Engineering Works auto.[1][2]
In 1911, Zengel won the Elgin Trophy.[1][3]
Zengel participated in the 1912 Indianapolis 500.[1]
Zengel married Mary L. Howell and had a son, Leonard Joseph Zengel Jr. (1915-1944) who died in a car accident when he fell asleep at the wheel in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.[4] He had a daughter, Betty Jean Zengel.[5]
Zengel operated a Chrysler and Plymouth dealership.
Zengel died on September 24, 1963, in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, at age 76.
Motorsports career results
[edit]Indianapolis 500 results
[edit]
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References
[edit]- 1 2 3 "Sutz Driver Wears Smile While Speeding". Warsaw Daily Times. May 25, 1912. Retrieved October 4, 2012.
Len Zengel, driver of the Stutz entry number two in the second annual 500-mile International Sweepstakes race to be run at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway next Memorial Day. Zengel was a member of the National racing team and won the Elgin National Stock Chassis road race in 1911. In 1910 he won the Fairmount Park race in Philadelphia in a Chadwick "Big Six." Billy Knipper will act as relief driver to Zengel in the 500 mile race.
- ↑ "Zengel Road Race Winner. Contest Closest one in Motor History. Nine Cars Finish". Chicago Tribune. October 9, 1910. Retrieved October 4, 2012.
Watched by a half a million people, Len Zengel, driving a Chadwick six, this afternoon won the third annual Fairmount park road race by the closest margin ever recorded in any motor road race in the world, beating Ralph...
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link) - ↑ "Len Zengel Wins Elgin Trophy. Pilots His National Car Home in the Front Grant, in Alco, Was Second; Hughes, in Mercer, Third. Dave Buck and Sam Jacobs Crew of Pope-Hartford Killed". Atlanta Constitution. August 27, 1911. Retrieved October 4, 2012.
Elgin's 305 mile cup race today, won by Len Zengel, in a National, with Harry Grant second and Hughie Hughes third, was not run without its toll of death and injuries.
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link) - ↑ "Auto Strikes Pole, Sailor is Killed". United Press. October 2, 1944.
Gunner's Mate 2/C, Leonard J. Zengel, 33 ...
- ↑ "Marriages". New York Times. September 13, 1942. Retrieved October 6, 2012.
Miss Betty Jean Zengel, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Leonard Zengel of Rockwood Farm, West Chester, was married yesterday in the Church of the Good Shepherd ...