“The One Armed Bandit” Chuck Amati died in a car accident Tuesday morning Nov.18th, presumably from suffering a stroke or heart attack while driving. Chuck was inducted into the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame in 2004 (first picture). The second photo I took of Chuck at Plant Field in Feb. 1974… He was quite a character and one of those guys I looked forward to seeing every Winter down here… Rest In Peace Chuck.
Why was he called the “One armed bandit”?
Here’s a neat story on Chuck that explains it Bony-man, plus another picture of Chuck:
Chuck Amati competed in the first World of Outlaws event at Devil?s Bowl Speedway in Texas in 1978, though he was considered an outlaw long before that. For over 40 years he raced from coast-to-coast chasing wins, and when he took the helmet off for the final time in 2002, he had hundreds of victories in his career.
Amati, who called Carbondale, Illinois home, was inducted into the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame in Knoxville, Iowa in 2004.
Amati earned the nickname ?The One Armed Bandit? on a night, when he sustained an injury to his right arm and devised a harness to hold the arm in place in his lap, driving using his left arm. The arm would eventually heal, though the nickname stuck with him for the rest of his career and contributed to him being one of the most colorful drivers to ever climb into a sprint car.
He won a in a variety of machines in his career including: winged sprint cars, non-winged, supermodifieds and even midgets. From 1969-1986, he won at least one sprint car race every year during that span. Among the tracks that he won at are a number of stops that are on the 2008 World of Outlaws schedule including: Tri-City Speedway in Illinois, Eagle Raceway in Nebraska, Tri-State Speedway in Indiana, Lernerville Speedway in Pennsylvania, and I-55 Speedway.
Amati competed in a number of events during the World of Outlaws inaugural season of 1978, including the series first race at Devil?s Bowl Speedway. He earned three Top-Five finishes that season with the series, including a runner-up performance at Paragon Speedway in Indiana, in an event which was won by a young driver named Steve Kinser.
Over the next three seasons, Amati would compete in a handful of World of Outlaws events, earning Top-10 finishes in all but one of them.
Thoughts on the inaugural World of Outlaws event: ?The thing I remember most about Devil?s Bowl, is that it was a flat-foot, flat-out track. It was tacky as glue and you could run it as hard as you wanted to run it. The competition was just as tough then as it is now and you were lucky to make the show.?
Biggest Challenge of the inaugural World of Outlaws season: ?The idea of traveling all over was probably the biggest challenge, though for me I was used to it. Most of the races I ran were all over, so it didn?t really affect me. I was thrilled to death to be able to run with the organization when they formed the World of Outlaws.?
Biggest Difference between sprint car racing in 1978 and sprint car racing now: ?The sport in my opinion has gotten a lot safer. They make things a lot more safe, which is terrific for the drivers. Things have also gotten a lot lighter and faster.?
Thoughts on the early days of his career: ?As far as I was concerned, the three original ?Outlaws? were: myself, Rick Ferkel and Bobby Allen. The reason I truly say that is because before the World of Outlaws existed, we three were always racing all over the place. We may be in Mississippi tonight, tomorrow night we may be in Missouri and the following night we may be in Ohio. We would just show up whenever we wanted to and wherever we wanted to.?
Thoughts on the drivers were when he started his career: ?You had guys like Hooker Hood and all he knew how to do was run wide open. He was one of the most colorful guys there ever was. When he would qualify a race car, you didn?t think he had a gas pedal, because it was wide open. We did have a lot of characters back then.?
Thoughts on visiting I-55 Raceway on April 5 for the World of Outlaws event: ?It?s such a great honor. I used to race at Pevely back in the 1970?s and 1980?s. At one time I held the track record. I don?t know how long it stood and I really don?t even remember what it was. I remember even in those days running flat-footed and wide-open at Pevely. I remember racing there one night and knocking the radiator out of the car and still won, that?s how rough the track was back then. The track has changed a lot since then. They are doing a tremendous job over there. Ken Schrader and Ray Marlar have the track in great shape.?
A legend gone…Rest In Peace
I’ve been fortunate to have seen a lot of Sprint car legends over the years, but until about 5 years or so ago, Chuck Amati was never at the same shows I was at. I was tickled when I heard them announce his name for his qualification run. It was a white #66, and Chuck was near the end of his career and didn’t run like the legend that I knew he was.
I knew then that his best days were probably gone, but nevertheless, I got to SEE Chuck Amati race once!
He’s probably bangin’ wheels with Opp and Kenny Weld right about now!
Thanks for sharing… This was personally sad for me to read.
As a boy, I had the pleasure of watching Chuck run many times. I have several memories of him running at the old Springfield, IL short track (they usually ran on Sunday Nights). He was ALWAYS hard-charging, and exciting to watch.
Rest in peace Chuck. :engel016:
