Stan Fox

7/6/1952 - 18/12/2000

Record updated 06-Jun-06

Fox raced in the Indy 500 eight times from 1987 to 1995 when he suffered a horrific career ending crash. He died in 2000 in a traffic accident in New Zealand.

Stan Fox
Stan Fox was from Janesville, Wisconsin and raced eight times from 1987 to 1995 in the Indy 500. His best finish was in the 1987 race when he finished seventh, driving for A.J. Foyt. He was a member of the Fox family, which owns the giant motorcycle parts and accessory company, LeMans Corp, better known as Parts Unlimited, which for years sponsored the Vance and Hines Superbike team, and sponsored Tom Kipp's privateer Yamaha effort in the early 1990s. He was a huge motorcycle racing fan and made his yearly appearance at Daytona in the Spring, and the races at Road America and Mid-Ohio as well. Fox was well known to many of the insiders in AMA Superbike racing.

He suffered a huge crash during the Indy 500 in 1995 the photos of which are quite infamous as Fox's legs can be seen dangling from his smashed car as it slid down the track. Fox suffered major head injuries in that crash and retired from racing. 

Only seconds after the start Stan Fox lost control, triggering a five-car accident in the first turn. Stan's car sandwiched Eddie Cheever's against the concrete retailing wall. Fox then bounced off Cheever and hit the wall head-on with such force that force that the bodywork of his Reynard 915 literally disintegrated. He might never have survived if Cheever's car hadn't been where it was. Cheever later said "If my job was to help make Stan's impact a little softer, then I was glad to be there."

Though critically injured after many months of hospital care and rehabilitation, he made a full recovery from his near-fatal accident and was at Daytona two years later, joking with friends in the garages. He worked tirelessly with head injury victims and was an active member of the Indy Car comunity, often visiting the track, and keeping a working relationship with team owner Ron Hemelgarn. He was in the pits celebrating with the crew when Hemelgarn Racing won the Indy Northernlight Cup in October 2000.

After his crash the 'Friends of the Fox' foundation was created by Stan Fox and Jack Kerwin, the executive director of the foundation, who is also a survivor of a severe head injury. The foundation is an outreach and support group to help head-injury victims return to society.

Stan Fox was killed in a traffic accident while visiting New Zealand on December 19, 2000. He was visiting friends and attending races down under when his van and a car collided head-on on a desert road south of Auckland.



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