American racing driver (1918?1955)
Bill Vukovich
|
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![](//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c3/Bill_Vukovich_1951.jpg/160px-Bill_Vukovich_1951.jpg) Vukovich, circa 1951
|
Born
| William John Vukovich
(
1918-12-13
)
December 13, 1918
Oakland, California
, U.S.
|
---|
Died
| May 30, 1955
(1955-05-30)
(aged 36)
Speedway, Indiana
, U.S.
|
---|
|
AAA National
Midget Car
(1950)
Major victories
Indianapolis 500
(
1953
,
1954
)
|
|
|
22 races run over 6 years
|
Best finish
| 3rd (
1953
)
|
---|
First race
| 1951
Indianapolis 500
(
Indianapolis
)
|
---|
Last race
| 1955
Indianapolis 500
(
Indianapolis
)
|
---|
First win
| 1952
Detroit 100
(
Detroit
)
|
---|
Last win
| 1954
Indianapolis 500
(
Indianapolis
)
|
---|
|
|
---|
|
|
Active years
| 1950
?
1955
|
---|
Teams
| Maserati
,
Trevis
,
Kurtis Kraft
|
---|
Entries
| 6 (5 starts)
|
---|
Championships
| 0
|
---|
Wins
| 2
|
---|
Podiums
| 2
|
---|
Career points
| 19
|
---|
Pole positions
| 1
|
---|
Fastest laps
| 3
|
---|
First entry
| 1950 Indianapolis 500
|
---|
First win
| 1953 Indianapolis 500
|
---|
Last win
| 1954 Indianapolis 500
|
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Last entry
| 1955 Indianapolis 500
|
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|
|
William John "Bill" Vukovich
(
; December 13, 1918 ? May 30, 1955) was an American
racing driver
. He won the
1953
and
1954 Indianapolis 500
, plus two more
American Automobile Association
National Championship races, and died while leading the
1955 Indianapolis 500
.
Several drivers of his generation have referred to Vukovich as the greatest ever in American motorsport.
[1]
He is generally considered one of the best racing drivers of his generation, and is the only driver to lead the most laps in three consecutive Indy 500s.
Driving career
[
edit
]
Midget car career
[
edit
]
Before he began Indy racing, Vukovich drove
midget cars
for the
Edelbrock
dirt track racing
team. He raced on the
West Coast of the United States
in the URA, and won the series' 1945 and 1946
midget car
championships. Vukovich won the 1948
Turkey Night Grand Prix
at
Gilmore Stadium
, and six of the last eight races at the stadium track before it was closed for good.
[2]
He won the 1950
AAA
National Midget championship. Vukovich was known for racing midgets powered by Drake engines. The Drake was a Harley V-twin with specially built Drake water cooled heads. His last Drake powered midget was a Kurtis-Kraft that was built by Ed and Zeke Justice, the
Justice Brothers
, in their shop in Glendale from a Kurtis kit. Previous to this car Vukovich drove a "Frame Rail" midget that was also powered by a Drake engine.
Indianapolis 500
[
edit
]
Vukovich's winning car from the 1953 and 1954 Indianapolis 500s
In
1952
, his second year in the
Indianapolis Motor Speedway
's
500-Mile Race
, he quickly moved up from his starting position in the middle of the third row to take the lead, and led 150 laps in dominant fashion before suffering steering failure on the 192nd of the 200 laps. He returned to win the race in consecutive years,
1953
and
1954
. He
led
an astounding 71.7% of laps that he drove in competition at the track, and remains the only driver ever to lead the most laps in the race three consecutive years.
[2]
World Drivers' Championship career
[
edit
]
The
AAA
/
USAC
-sanctioned Indianapolis 500 was included in the
FIA
World Drivers' Championship
from 1950 through 1960. Drivers competing at Indianapolis during those years were credited with World Drivers' Championship points and participation in addition to those which they received towards the
AAA
/
USAC
National Championship
.
Vukovich participated in five World Drivers' Championship races at Indianapolis. He started on
the pole
once, won twice, recorded three fastest laps, and accumulated 19 World Drivers' Championship points.
Death at Indianapolis
[
edit
]
Vukovich was killed in a chain-reaction crash while holding a 17-second lead on the 57th lap of the
1955 Indianapolis 500
. He was exiting the second turn, trailing three slower cars—driven by
Rodger Ward
,
Al Keller
, and
Johnny Boyd
—when Ward's car hit the backstretch outer wall and flipped, resting in the middle of the track as a result of a broken axle. Keller, swerving into the infield to avoid Ward, lost control and slid back onto the track, striking Boyd's car and pushing it into Vukovich's path. After Vukovich's car went over the outside wall and become airborne, it cartwheeled through the air multiple times landing on top of a group of parked cars before coming to rest upside down and bursting into flames. Boyd's car also flipped over and landed upside down as well. As the car burned,
Ed Elisian
stopped his undamaged car and raced towards Vukovich in an attempt to save him. It did not matter; Vukovich had perished instantly. Two spectators were also injured when Vukovich's car landed on their
Jeep
.
[3]
Vukovich was the second defending Indy 500 champion to die during the race, following
Floyd Roberts
in
1939
, and the only former winner to have been killed while leading. Roberts' car was also thrown over the backstretch fence after exiting the second turn in his fatal accident. Since the 1955 race was counted as part of the
Formula One World Championship
, Vukovich is also the first driver to be killed during a World Championship race.
[4]
Family
[
edit
]
His son,
Bill Vukovich II
, and his grandson,
Bill Vukovich III
, also competed in the Indianapolis 500, with Vukovich II taking second in
1973
, and Vukovich III being named
Rookie of the Year
in
1988
. Vukovich III died on November 25, 1990, in a crash during practice for a CRA race at
Mesa Marin Raceway
,
[5]
in
Bakersfield, California
.
Awards and honors
[
edit
]
Vukovich has been inducted into the following halls of fame:
Motorsports career results
[
edit
]
AAA Championship Car results
[
edit
]
Indianapolis 500 results
[
edit
]
Year
[12]
|
Car
|
Start
|
Qual
|
Rank
|
Finish
|
Laps
|
Led
|
Retired
|
1950
|
10
|
?
|
?
|
?
|
?
|
?
|
?
|
Did not qualify
|
1951
|
81
|
20
|
133.725
|
16
|
29
|
29
|
|
Oil tank
|
1952
|
26
|
8
|
138.212
|
2
|
17
|
191
|
150
|
Steering
|
1953
|
14
|
1
|
138.392
|
1
|
1st
|
200
|
195
|
Running
|
1954
|
14
|
19
|
138.478
|
15
|
1st
|
200
|
90
|
Running
|
1955
|
4
|
5
|
141.071
|
3
|
25
|
56
|
50
|
Fatal accident
|
Totals
|
676
|
485
|
|
|
Starts
|
5
|
Poles
|
1
|
Front Row
|
1
|
Wins
|
2
|
Top 5
|
2
|
Top 10
|
2
|
Retired
|
3
|
|
FIA World Drivers' Championship results
[
edit
]
(
key
) (Races in
bold
indicate pole position; races in
italics
indicate fastest lap)
References
[
edit
]
- ^
"ESPN Classic - Vukovich was a fearless racing legend"
.
www.espn.com
. Retrieved
30 April
2019
.
- ^
a
b
Biography
Archived
September 27, 2007, at the
Wayback Machine
at the
National Midget Auto Racing Hall of Fame
, Retrieved January 4, 2007
- ^
"Sarasota Journal - Google News Archive Search"
.
news.google.com
. Retrieved
30 April
2019
.
- ^
Williamson, Martin.
"Deaths in Formula One"
.
ESPN UK
. Archived from
the original
on April 7, 2015
. Retrieved
September 14,
2016
.
- ^
Glick, Shav
(26 November 1990).
"Vukovich, 27, Is Killed in Crash at Bakersfield : Motor racing: Three-time Indy 500 starter and the only third-generation Indy 500 driver dies while warming up car before CRA event"
.
Los Angeles Times
. Retrieved
27 December
2018
.
- ^
"Fresno Athletic Hall of Fame"
.
www.fresnoahof.org
. Retrieved
2023-10-07
.
- ^
"Bill Vukovich"
.
IMS Museum
. Retrieved
2023-10-07
.
- ^
"Bill Vukovich"
. 2012-02-05. Archived from the original on 2012-02-05
. Retrieved
2023-10-07
.
{{
cite web
}}
: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (
link
)
- ^
"Bill Vukovich"
.
International Motorsports Hall of Fame
. Retrieved
2023-10-07
.
- ^
"Bill Vukovich"
.
www.mshf.com
. Retrieved
2023-10-07
.
- ^
"Hall of Fame ? West Coast Stock Car Hall of Fame"
. Retrieved
2023-10-07
.
- ^
Bill Vukovich Indy 500 Race Stats
Archived
May 8, 2006, at the
Wayback Machine
- ^
"Bill Vukovich ? Involvement"
.
StatsF1
. Retrieved
April 20,
2019
.
External links
[
edit
]
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Drivers
| Four-time
| |
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Three-time
| |
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Two-time
| |
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One-time
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Owners
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Teams
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