Against Death and Time: One Fatal Season in Racing's Glory Years (19 page)

Rodger Ward in the car that would trigger the Vukovich crash. A broken front axle and a
gust of wind would send the car out of control. This is the same machine that Troy
Ruttman had driven to victory in 1952-ironically after Vukovich's steering failed while in
a dominant lead a mere eight laps from the finish. Coincidentally, this machine was
involved in two Vukovich crashes at Indianapolis-the second one costing him his life.

Two of northern California's finest
race drivers confer prior to the 1955
Indianapolis 500. Johnny Boyd of
Fresno (in car) would be involved in
the Vukovich crash while his friend,
Bob Sweikert (standing) would
drive on to victory.

Bill Vukovich celebrates after
his incredible rain-soaked
qualifying run prior to the 1953
Indianapolis 500. The windshield
and bodywork of the car are
water-spattered indicating the
severity of the rainstorm that he
somehow managed to navigate
despite the fact that his Firestone
tires were totally unsuited for
running on anything but
dry pavement.

The cocky, brilliant
Bob Sweikert often admitted,
"I'll never live to grow old." He
was right, dying at age 30 in
early 1956 during a sprint car
race at Salem, Indiana.

The end of a champion. The shattered,
burning Hopkins Special that Bill
Vukovich rode to his death is hauled
away from the crash site. The car
would be repainted and run in two
more 500-mile races.

The moment before the disaster. Rodger Ward's car (in a cloud of dust near a pedestrian crossover bridge) smacks
the retaining wall after breaking its front axle. Approaching are Al Keller (on left) and Johnny Boyd (right). Race
leader Bill Vukovich brings up rear, preparing to lap all three down the 4000-foot back straightaway. It appears
that Vukovich is looking down to his left. Some observers believe he was reaching for a rag to clean his goggles. If
this was the case, the split second his vision was away from the incident ahead might have prevented him from
taking evasive action. Vukovich is traveling about 140 MPH, meaning that he was less than a second away from
entering the melee about to unfold in front of him. Vukovich's car ended up outside the track, well beyond the
bridge, after hitting several parked cars and miraculously missing a cluster of spectators. (Dick Wallen Productions)

Jack McGrath buckles up for his last
ride at Phoenix, Arizona 1955. Always
concerned with safety, McGrath wears a
new, aircraft-style plastic helmet in place
of the aged leather units favored by most
drivers and uses four-point seat and
shoulder harness. But the lack of rollover
protection was the cause of death for this
popular driver during a series of violent
flips following a front axle failure.

Phil Waters in the Cunningham
C4R drives to victory in the 1953
Watkins Glen Grand Prix. The crude
4.6-mile network of paved Town of
Dix roads was adapted after a major
spectator crash on the original course
through the Upstate New York
village. Note the lack of guardrails
on a circuit that was the antithesis
of the super-tracks to be designed
and built around the world within
the next half-century. Walters
averaged 83.3 MPH on this
primitive course.