Cal Niday is a racing driver from United States who last raced in Formula 1 for Kurtis Kraft. Niday has recorded 0 wins and 0 podiums from 3 starts.[1]
A Racer Rating of 3,834 ranks Niday 1267th of 15,348 indexed drivers, on an Elo scale where the strongest reach the low five figures. It is built from every indexed race in the driver's file, decayed for time since their last race.
| 1955-05-30 | Indianapolis Motor Speedway | DNF | +15 |
| Season | Series | Team | Races | Wins | Podiums | DNFs | Poles | Points | Pos | Gain/Loss | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1955 | ▸Formula 1 | Kurtis Kraft | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | P26 | +14 | 3,834 |
| 1954 | ▸Formula 1 | Stevens | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | P27 | +57 | 3,826 |
| 1953 | ▸Formula 1 | Kurtis Kraft | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | P20 | −148 | 3,791 |
Cal Niday was an American open-wheel driver who raced in Formula 1 during the early 1950s. Between 1953 and 1955, Niday started three Formula 1 races for Kurtis Kraft, finishing on average in tenth position. He failed to score a podium finish in the championship, though his three starts placed him among drivers competing at the highest level of motorsport; on single occasions, he finished ahead of substantially stronger professional drivers including Sam Hanks, Tony Bettenhausen, Jimmy Davies, and Johnnie Parsons, all of whom had significantly higher Racer Ratings than his 3,834.[1]
Niday's most visible recent competitive activity came in his final Formula 1 appearance at the 1955 season, where he completed one round and finished twenty-sixth. His career spanned an era when open-wheel racing in North America encompassed midget cars and Indianapolis 500 entries alongside the world championship, and he competed across those categories, though his Formula 1 record remained winless. By the standards of professional single-seater racing in his period, Niday's record represents a brief stint at the championship level without breakthrough results. He is noted historically as the first driver to wear a Bell Racing helmet at the Indianapolis 500 in 1955, a choice that proved significant when he survived a severe crash during the event.[2]