Joel Thorne

Joel Thorne (born 16 October 1914 and died 17 October 1955) was an American racing driver and engineer. He raced his own cars in the Indianapolis 500 from the late 1930s and throughout the 1940s. His final entry into the race was at the 1950 Indianapolis 500, where he failed to qualify for the race.
Thorne originally began racing speedboats before moving to cars. He also occasionally raced motorcycles, being injured twice in his career.
He also built cars for the Indianapolis 500. In 1946, the race was won by George Robson in a car that had been built by Thorne. Prior to that, one of Thorne's cars had also qualified for the pole position and finished second at the 1939 race with Jimmy Snyder behind the wheel.
Thorne himself had finished in the top 5 in his first three Indianapolis 500 starts. His best finish was a 5th place at the 1940 event.
In 1955, Thorne was killed after crashing his private plan into an apartment building, killing three people on the ground. A witness to the accident reported that Thorne had been "stunting" at the time of the accident.
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==Formula One Statistical Overview==
===Formula One Record===
Year	Entrant 	Team	Points	Pos.
 	Thorne Engineering	 	0 	NC
===Career Statistics===
===Career Results===
==Notes==
Category:Drivers
Category:United States Drivers
Category:Indianapolis 500-only Drivers
Category:1914 births
Category:1955 deaths
Category:1950 Début Drivers
Category:Kurtis Kraft Drivers
Category:Deceased Drivers