Thursday, May 23, 2019

30 Days In May

Photo credit: Indianapolis Motor Speedway 

No. 23, Floyd Roberts, 1938 Burd Piston Ring Special Wetteroth/Miller. The first Indianapolis 500 program I got was from the 1973 race. I would spend time poring over its contents, absorbing various facts and figures about the race – sort of a 5-year-old Donald Davidson. Of particular interest to me was Wilbur Shaw’s success from 1937-40. (The summary for each of these races was listed on one page.) I noticed that had it not been for Floyd Roberts winning in 1938 that Shaw would’ve won the 500 four times in a row. At this time, A.J. Foyt was trying to become the first four-time winner, a feat he finally achieved in 1977. Anyway, Roberts beat Shaw by a wide margin (more than four minutes), but Shaw, so vital in helping the Speedway survive after World War II, won in 1939 and 1940 to become the first back-to-back winner. #ThisIsMay #Indy500 

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