The
Man Who Saved The Indy 500
Race Track Legends -The name Wilbur Shaw
is often remembered as a driver who in the 1920's
and 1930's raced and won in the Indy car series
that we all enjoy today. In fact, Shaw won the famed
Indianapolis 500 three times and won the overall
season championship three times. His prowess as
a driver is well known. Less known is how in the
dark days of World War II this famed driver saved
one of America's icons of racing from destruction.
Shaw had won his last race at Indy in 1940 in a
Maserati shown here on this page. Racing had stopped
during the war years and the then owner of the track,
famed driver Eddie Rickenbacker, had gone on to
manage Eastern Airline, which he had founded. The
track had been left to ruin. With no races and little
interest in the track, it went downhill fast. On
a visit to the track, Shaw had seen the terrible
condition of it and approached Rickenbacker about
selling. Shaw worried that an auto related industry
would purchase the track and use it to shamefully
promote itself. Shaw set out to find the right buyers
and in the end formed an alliance with Anton Hulman
to buy the track from Rickenbacker. Shaw put the
deal together in 1945 and went on to serve as the
president of the Indianapolis Speedway until his
untimely death in a airplane crash in 1954. Shaw
was the man who brought the Brickyard back from
the brink of destruction. Today, the largest single
day sporting event owes a debt of gratitude to Shaw
the man who saved the Indy 500 for all of us. |
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