'Teddy Tetzlaff' (
February 5 1883 Los Angeles, California –
December 8 1929 Artesia, California) was an
American racecar driver active in the formative years of auto racing. He competed in the first four
Indianapolis 500s, with a highest finish of second in
1912. He earned the nickname "Terrible" Teddy Tetzlaff due to his rough treatment of his vehicles. His wide-open throttle racing style would variously win a race, blow up his engine or cause him to crash. As auto racing strategies evolved from the early "go as fast as you can and see if you can stay on the track," his early dominance of the sport waned. He later became an assistant to actor
Wallace Reid on Reid's car racing movies. His son
Ted Tetzlaff was a noted cinematographer.
External Link
★
Teddy Tetzlaff at IMDB
Indy 500 results
| Year | Car | Start | Qual | Rank | Finish | Laps | Led | Retired |
|---|
| 1911 | 34 | 30 | — | — | 39 | 20 | 0 | Crash FS |
|---|
| 1912 | 3 | 3 | 84.240 | 6 | 2 | 200 | 2 | Running |
|---|
| 1913 | 27 | 8 | 81.300 | 16 | 17 | 118 | 0 | Drive chain |
|---|
| 1914 | 8 | 2 | 96.360 | 3 | 28 | 33 | 0 | Rocker arm |
|---|
| 'Totals' | 371 | 2 | |
|
| Starts | 4 |
|---|
| Poles | 0 |
|---|
| Front Row | 2 |
|---|
| Wins | 0 |
|---|
| Top 5 | 1 |
|---|
| Top 10 | 1 |
|---|
| Retired | 3 |
|---|
|