Bill Holland

Willard Holland (December 18, 1907 – May 19, 1984[1]) was an American race car driver from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, who won the Indianapolis 500 in 1949 and finished second in 1947, 1948 and 1950. He also was runner up in the 1947 American Automobile Association (AAA) National Championship.

Bill Holland
Nationality	American
Born	December 18, 1907
Died	May 19, 1984 (aged 76)
Related to	Willard Holland (father)
American Automobile Association (AAA)
Best finish	2nd in 1947
Previous series
1940, 1941	AAA Eastern Series
Championship titles
1941	AAA Eastern Series
Formula One World Championship career
Active years	1950, 1953–1954
Teams	Deidt, Kurtis Kraft
Entries	3 (2 starts)
Championships	0
Wins	0
Podiums	1
Career points	6
Pole positions	0
Fastest laps	0
First entry	1950 Indianapolis 500
Last entry	1954 Indianapolis 500

Background

Holland was born on December 18, 1907, the son of major league baseball player Willard Holland.[2] He was excellent at skating and tried out for the 1932 Olympics.[2]

Racing career

Holland was getting better results in big car (now sprint car) in 1937.[2] He recorded his first win on July 30, 1938 at Mineola, New York.[2] He won three times in 1939 and nine times in 1940.[2] Holland finished second to Joie Chitwood in the 1940 AAA Eastern championship and he won the championship in 1941.[2] No racing happened in the United States between 1942 and 1945 due to World War II.[2]

In 1946, Holland won 15 Eastern and 1 Midwestern "big car" (now sprint car) races to finish fourth in the AAA national championship.[2] On July 20, 1946, Holland won the first race at Selinsgrove Speedway in an American Automobile Association-sanctioned event.[3] He nearly won the 1947 Indianapolis 500 as a rookie, but slowed and allowed teammate Mauri Rose to pass him seven laps from the end, mistakenly believing that Rose was a lap down. In 1949 Holland led late in the race when Rose (still teammate to Holland on Lou Moore's Blue Crown Spark Plug team) began to slowly close on Holland. Moore saw what was happening out on the track and hung out a pit board ordering both drivers to hold their respective positions to the finish. Rose picked up the pace, closing on Holland. But with 8 laps to go, Rose suffered a magneto failure and Holland cruised to the victory. When Rose returned to the pits, Moore fired Rose on the spot.

On November 14, 1951, Holland was suspended from AAA Indy Car racing for one year after competing in a three-lap Lion's Charity race at Opa-locka, Florida which was a NASCAR event. The American Automobile Association, at the time the sanctioning body for Indycar races, had a strict rule forbidding its drivers from participating in any races other than their own, and would blacklist violators. He returned to Indycar racing in 1953.[4]

Holland raced until 1965.[4] He is believed to have got over 40 sprint car feature wins and 150 podiums.[2]

Life after racing and death

Holland and his wife Myra ran skating rinks in Bridgeport, Connecticut.[4] They lived briefly in Colorado Springs, Colorado before moving to Tucson, Arizona in the early 1970s.[4]

Holland was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease in November 1983 and died from complications of the disease on May 19, 1984.[4] He had remained active throughout his life and would regularly ride a bicycle for 50 miles per day until a year before his death.[4]

Legacy

He was inducted in the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame in 2005. When Selinsgrove Speedway held its first United States Auto Club (USAC) Silver Crown race in 2020, it was named the Bill Holland Classic.[3] The race was 74 laps long as it was the 74th year after Holland's win to open the track.[3]

Complete AAA Championship Car results

Year	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	Pos	Points
1947	INDY 2	MIL 1	LAN 1	ATL 2	BAI 2	MIL 18	GOS 14	MIL 8	PIK	SPR 9	ARL DNQ				2nd	1,610
1948	ARL DNS	INDY 2	MIL 9	LAN 11	MIL DNQ	SPR	MIL	DUQ	ATL	PIK	SPR	DUQ			7th	840
1949	ARL	INDY 1	MIL 9	TRE 16	SPR 4	MIL	DUQ 2	PIK	SYR DNP	DET 7	SPR 12	LAN 9	SAC 13	DMR	3rd	1,420
1950	INDY 2	MIL	LAN	SPR	MIL	PIK	SYR	DET	SPR	SAC	PHX	BAY	DAR		13th	552
1953	INDY 15	MIL	SPR	DET	SPR DNQ	MIL 18	DUQ	PIK	SYR 5	ISF	SAC	PHX			34th	100
1954	INDY DNQ	MIL	LAN	DAR	SPR	MIL	DUQ	PIK	SYR	ISF	SAC	PHX	LVG		-	0

Indianapolis 500 results

Year[5] Car Start Qual Rank Finish Laps Led Retired 1947 16 8 128.755 1 2 200 143 Running 1948 2 2 129.515 3 2 200 0 Running 1949 7 4 128.673 9 1 200 146 Running 1950 3 10 130.482 21 2 137 8 Running 1953 49 28 137.868 2 15 177 0 Cam gear Totals 914 297

Starts 5 Poles 0 Front Row 1 Wins 1 Top 5 4 Top 10 4 Retired 1

• Although Holland started the 1947 race from the middle of the third row, he posted the fastest qualifying time.

World Championship career summary

The Indianapolis 500 was part of the FIA World Championship from 1950 through 1960. Drivers competing at Indy during those years were credited with World Championship points and participation. Bill Holland participated in 2 World Championship races, finishing on the podium once and scoring 6 World Championship points.

Complete Formula One World Championship results

(key)

Year	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	WDC	Pts
1950	Deidt	Offenhauser	GBR	MON	500 2	SUI	BEL	FRA	ITA			7th	6
1953	Kurtis Kraft	Offenhauser	ARG	500 15	NED	BEL	FRA	GBR	GER	SUI	ITA	NC	0

References

1. "oldracingcars.com Where Are They Now?". Retrieved 2007-12-03.)
2. Bill Holland at the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame
3. "2020 Bill Holland Classic". USAC Silvercrown. August 9, 2020. Event occurs at 21:08. FloRacing.
4. "Ex-Indy Winner Bill Holland dies". The Madison Courier. May 21, 1984. Retrieved August 10, 2020.
5. Bill Holland Indy 500 Race Stats Archived May 8, 2006, at the Wayback Machine