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running "outlaw" rather than sticking to one sanctioning body. He won dozens of races each year traveling across the country from race track to race track in pursuit of the best paying races. Jan
Opperman would earn the title of one of the “Original Outlaws” in 1968 when Jerry Janssen, a Speedway Motors employee, discovered him in California racing a sprint car powered by a Ranger airplane engine. Janssen brought Opperman to Lincoln, kickstarting his successful career. Opperman was just hitting his stride in the elite United States Auto Club's, sprint, midget and dirt car (called Silver Crown division today) divisions when he suffered critical head injuries while battling for the lead of the Hoosier Hundred at the Indianapolis State Fairgrounds in early September 1976. Opperman missed the 1977 season, but returned to racing on the outlaw circuit in 1978 but never again attained the level of success he achieved before that accident. Opperman suffered severe head inuries again in 1981, in an accident that left him disabled and needing constant medical care for the rest of his life.
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Considered a natural driving talent, Opperman attracted the attention of Indy 500 veterans
Parneli Jones and A.J. Foyt. His first start at Indianapolis came with the team co-owned by Jones, a sprint car veteran and winner of the 1963 Indianapolis 500. Opperman spent his early sprint car racing career
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One of
Opperman's trademarks was a battered western hat that had been worn by his brother, Jay, who died while racing a sprint car at Knoxville Raceway on May 16, 1970.
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he became a dynamic
Christian, and, until his catastrophic accident, was working toward creating a ranch in western Montana for troubled youth.
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Early in his career, Opperman was known as a hippie and part of the drug culture. During the 1960s when living in
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series, racing in the 1974 and 1976 seasons. He had 9 champ car starts, including the 1974 and 1976
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34:(February 9, 1939 – September 4, 1997), was an American racecar driver. He won the 1971
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This biographical article related to United States auto racing is a
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278:, Johnson County Daily Journal, September 13, 1997
622:International Motorsports Hall of Fame inductees
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276:Reflections on Auto Racing's Original Outlaw
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627:National Sprint Car Hall of Fame inductees
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632:Sportspeople from Long Beach, California
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100:International Motor Sports Hall of Fame
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98:Opperman was inducted in 2011 to the
657:American auto racing biography stubs
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240:Eastern Motorsport Press Association
642:People from Seward County, Nebraska
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647:USAC Silver Crown Series drivers
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236:"EMPA Hall of Fame-Jan Opperman"
93:National Sprint Car Hall of Fame
282:Colorful Character Jan Opperman
637:Racing drivers from California
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91:Opperman was inducted in the
57:driver, he also drove in the
560:. You can help Knowledge by
284:- Speed Sport, 25 April 2020
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319:Knoxville Nationals winners
95:in the first class in 1990.
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77:Beaver Crossing, Nebraska
68:with 3 top ten finishes.
51:Jennerstown, Pennsylvania
652:World of Outlaws drivers
617:Indianapolis 500 drivers
216:Museum of American Speed
107:Indianapolis 500 results
53:. Known primarily as a
38:, the premiere event in
25:Williams Grove Speedway
47:Long Beach, California
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16:American racing driver
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23:Opperman driving at
36:Knoxville Nationals
169:Failed To Qualify
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493:Jerry Richert Sr.
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40:sprint car racing
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562:expanding it
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483:Kraig Kinser
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243:. Retrieved
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219:. Retrieved
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32:Jan Opperman
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27:in the 1970s
612:1997 deaths
607:1939 births
508:Tim Shaffer
503:Joe Saldana
498:Roy Robbins
460:Dick Gaines
455:Thad Dosher
450:Dave Blaney
445:Bobby Allen
409:Mark Kinser
349:Eleven-time
333:Twelve-time
601:Categories
518:Brad Sweet
513:Ron Shuman
402:Three-time
393:Kenny Weld
245:2023-12-30
221:2024-09-11
199:References
55:sprint car
528:Greg Weld
475:Ken Gritz
381:Four-time
365:Five-time
438:One-time
418:Two-time
326:Multiple
137:Parnelli
117:Chassis
45:Born in
126:Finish
120:Engine
123:Start
86:Awards
192:16th
189:33rd
180:Eagle
160:Eagle
149:21st
146:32nd
114:Year
558:stub
185:Offy
175:1976
165:Offy
155:1975
142:Offy
132:1974
59:USAC
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Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
