Sunday 23rd April 1978
Open-wheel racing suffered a tragedy from which it never fully recovered when a chartered plane carrying eight United States Auto Club officials slammed into a ploughed field near the small community of Arlington, Indiana, US. The group was returning to Indianapolis from the Gabriel 200 USAC/Citicorp National Championship race in Trenton, New Jersey., when the 10-seat Piper Navajo Chieftain went down during a severe thunderstorm shortly before 10 p.m. The victims were: Frank DelRoy, chairman of the USAC technical committee; Ray Marquette, USAC’s vice president of public affairs; Stan Worley, chief registrar for USAC; Shim Malone, starter for various USAC races and the midget division supervisor; Don Peabody, supervisor of the USAC sprint-car division; Judy Phillips, a graphic artist who supervised production of USAC’s newsletter; Ross Teeguarden, assistant USAC technical chairman; Dr. Bruce White, assistant USAC staff doctor; and the pilot, Don Mullendore.
