PHOTO COURTESY OF FRED SHONK Joe Langley looks over the car driven by Bobby Marshman in 1962.
By Fred Shonk
Southsider Voice correspondent
While attending Edgewood Grade School and Southport High, I learned about the Indianapolis 500 and that there were folks living in our neighborhood who were a part of that amazing month of May.
At some point I realized that the father of a couple of girls who attended Edgewood and Southport was a chief mechanic on cars that competed in the Indy 500. Joe Langley and his family lived on Madison Avenue between Epler and Edgewood avenues. He preformed his chief mechanic duties in a small cement block building behind their house.
Joe was also a driver, car owner and builder. He was chief mechanic for Bobby Marshman, who finished fifth in 1962. After Joe retired from racing, he was a sales rep for the D-A Lubricant Co., which returned to the IndyCar Series last year to sponsor Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing.
During that same period my dad operated a Sunoco service station on Madison just north of Epler. I recall Joe stopping in on occasion to visit. I can clearly remember how disconcerting it was to have a former race car owner and chief mechanic looking over my shoulder are I repaired a customer’s vehicle.
Southsider Voice correspondent
While attending Edgewood Grade School and Southport High, I learned about the Indianapolis 500 and that there were folks living in our neighborhood who were a part of that amazing month of May.
At some point I realized that the father of a couple of girls who attended Edgewood and Southport was a chief mechanic on cars that competed in the Indy 500. Joe Langley and his family lived on Madison Avenue between Epler and Edgewood avenues. He preformed his chief mechanic duties in a small cement block building behind their house.
Joe was also a driver, car owner and builder. He was chief mechanic for Bobby Marshman, who finished fifth in 1962. After Joe retired from racing, he was a sales rep for the D-A Lubricant Co., which returned to the IndyCar Series last year to sponsor Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing.
During that same period my dad operated a Sunoco service station on Madison just north of Epler. I recall Joe stopping in on occasion to visit. I can clearly remember how disconcerting it was to have a former race car owner and chief mechanic looking over my shoulder are I repaired a customer’s vehicle.
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