Les Anderson

17/4/1910 - 11/7/1949

Record updated 17-Apr-07

Les Anderson was NWRA Champion in 1937. He raced at Indy twice, in 1947 and 1948. He was killed the following year in a Sprint car race at the Portland Speedway.

Les Anderson was born in Chicago but raced out of Portland, Oregon.

He raced Midget and Sprint cars and in 1937 he won the NWRA (Northwest Racing Association) Championship

He raced at the Indy 500 twice in 1947 and 1948. In 1947 he drove a Maserati/Offy to 11th place, having qualified in 7th.

On the Saturday the 10th July 1949, Anderson and Art George, from Los Angeles, California, crashed on the sixteenth lap of the thirty-lap feature race for Class A cars at the Portland Speedway. George was taken to hospital in a serious condition with broken arms. Anderson sadly died from his injuries early on Sunday night.

His wife Bessie later married Dave Champeau who also died in a racing accident. She then married another driver, 'Joe Bullet' Garson. Joe died of natural causes in 1984.



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