Last week, for the first time since it aired live, the 1953 Indianapolis 500 was heard by race fans. Bill Vukovich won that race, as he did again in 1954. He had a 17-second lead when killed in 1955 at the age of 36.
Vukovich might have been the only three-peat champion in the history of the race if not for the crash that claimed him.
Donald Davidson is the Historian of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and know more about the men who make this the Greatest Spectacle in Racing since the first 500 mile race in 1911.
There will be a video memory from Donald every day through the 97th running of the Indy 500 one week from today.
I attended the Indy 500 the year 1954 that Bill Vukovich won for the 2nd time. I believe Bill Vukovich led more consecutive Indy 500 races than any other Indy 500 race winner. He led the 1952 race up to lap 191 when a steering pin broke and let him hit the wall in the north short chute. He won the 1953 and 1954 races and was leading the 1955 race when, on lap 56, he encountered a multi-car wreck on the back-strech, fliped over several times, ending the life of the BEST Indianapolis Race Winner in the history of open-wheel racing.