Fred Frame

Car Owner, Competitor
CLASS OF 2004
Veterans Committee Selection

Fred Frame was born a New Englander, but moved to Los Angeles, CA in 1914, where he was employed as a gardener and motorcycle mechanic for a wealthy Los Angeles family. He ran his first race in Ascot in 1919. He began his winning ways in 1926 at Santa Maria, California. He scored his first major AAA win that same year, in Kalamazoo, Michigan. Shortly after that, he returned to the northeast, competing in the AAA Fair circuit from Maine to Pennsylvania.

In 1927, Fred competed in his first Indianapolis 500. In 1931, driving a Duesenberg, he finished second. In 1932, he brought a Wetteroth chassis with a Miller engine, and, starting 28th, Frame won the Indy 500. His final Indy 500 was run in 1938. In 8 career starts (1927-1936), he had 1 win, 4 Top 10’s (plus to 11th place finishes) and led over 100 laps.

In 1938, Frame switched to the IMCA circuit and won throughout New England, until the war broke out. He returned to racing after the war as a car owner. Fred’s son, Bob, lost his life in a sprint car at Owatonna, Minnesota in 1947, and Fred retired from racing