How the death of the most dominant driver of the Indy 500 threatened the existence of the race

Josef Newgarden will try to become the first driver to win three consecutive Indianapolis 500s this Sunday. The two consecutive winners have a difficult task in front of him after he had relegated to the lag of the field due to the recent fraud scandal from Penske. Five other drivers tried to make the Indy 500 Drei-Torf, and this year is the 70th anniversary of the only fatal attempt. Bill Vukovich, the Indy 500 winner from 1953 and 1954, died in an accident when he headed the edition of The Memorial Day Classic from 1955. His death would catalyze a movement to ban races in the United States.

Vukovich was the greatest driver of his time and probably the most dominant in the history of Indy 500. He was born in Alameda, California in 1918, the son of the Serbian immigrants and was famous after the Second World War in the productive midget car scene in California. Vukovich would be the harbinger of the Roadster era of the 500, a lovingly recalled time in which the race was dominated by machines that were built for the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in South California.

The roadsters showed engines and drive shafts that were mounted on the left of the center line of the chassis at round corners at higher speeds. The driver's seating position was also on the right and lower than conventional Speedway cars, which lowered the focus. According to the Speedway, Vukovich herself shaped the Roadster misconduct when he saw the Kurtis power machine, which he debut 500 in Indianapolis in 1952, for the first time.

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Until his death, Vukovich could not be stopped at the Indy 500

The roadster's debut in 1952 was a dominant excursion, but Vukovich would not drink milk in the Victory Lane. The Kurtis broke open with nine laps before the steering link. He had run 150 rounds of the 200-round race. Vukovich returned to win his first Indy 500 in 1953 after led 195 laps in Sengter 90-degree heat. While other competitors had auxiliary drivers to take a break and cool down, he drove the entire distance solo. In 1954 Vukovich won the Indy 500 again with the same car and led 90 laps.

In the Indianapolis 500 from 1955, Vukovich took the lead in the fourth round of Pole winner Jack McGrath and steadily pulled away from the field. However, he had to take care of the ringed traffic in front of him. In round 56, Vukovich was collected in a multi-car crash. His car turned several times and started over the outer wall. Vukovich was killed immediately after he was partially beheaded when his car hit the bridge over the route after round 2 during the wagons. The race continued after a precaution of 27 minutes, with the thousands of fans in the stands of the tragedy that developed.

A US Senator wanted to ban the race

Vukovich's death did not happen in a vacuum, and in 1955 the cruelest racing season was ever. The two-time F1 champion Alberto Ascari died just a few days before the Indy 500 on testing a Ferrari. A month later, 84 people were killed by Le Mans in the 24 hours when a Mercedes-Benz fell 300 SLR into a spectator area. Understandably, the public was quickly disgusted with the tragedies on race tracks.

After all, this feeling would make the way to Capitol Hill. Senator Richard Neuberger, a Democrat from Oregon, would be in charge of his colleagues in the US Senate, to impose a nationwide ban on racing. In a speech on July 12th, he explained:

“Mr. President, I think the time is forbidden in the United States to ban automotive races and a similar slaughter. I doubt whether it is so much bloodshed in Spanish Bullenringen, which take place on automobile racetracks in this country today. Now women racing drivers are also killed in fiery and described wrecks.”

It is not surprising that the rest of Neuberger's comments was as poorly informed and not touched as today's senators. He used ongoing discussions about the comic censorship to justify the proposed ban because children take part in races. The senator also shot the ideas that car manufacturers use motorsport to develop production cars by saying: “If automotive races are required to perfect motor vehicles, as a supporter of the race, we will hear the next time we will hear that we have to run stallions from Cliffs to improve Pferdeflesh.”

Racing saved from extinction

The ban would not happen, but this threat was very real. In August, the American Automobile Association gave up its role as a national management committee for races to save the organization's reputation. The interests of sport decided to save yourself. Tony Hulman, the owner of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, headed the creation of a new sanction authority, the United States Auto Club. Although Indycar no longer rules, Usac still exists today.

After the catastrophe of Le Mans, it would be different in Europe. Most Europe banned for months before the safety improvements on race tracks have been carried out. Switzerland made its ban permanently, which was finally lifted in 2022.

While Bill Vukovich is no longer a well -known name, the effects of his life and death on racing are immeasurable. The roadsters would remain unbeaten at the Indy 500 until the European car became medium -sized. In 1964, Vukovich took over over 71% of the rounds he ever drove on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, a record that will probably never be broken. You can only imagine what he could have achieved if he had survived in 1955.

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