A Report On The Accident That Killed Bill
Vukovich In The 1955 Indianapolis 500-Mile-Race
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A Report On The Accident That Killed Bill Vukovich In The 1955 Indianapolis 500-Mile-Race
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Vukovich Book Is Now Available
This is a book on famous two-time Indianapolis 500 winner Bill Vukovich who rose from obscurity to worldwide fame and then died in a horrific crash going for his third Indy win in a row. Entitled "Vukovich" -- an inspiring story of American achievement, it is being called the racing story of the century. The author, Bob Gates, dug deeply into Vukovich’s past and put together an amazing and detailed account of Vukovich’s life. By obtaining partial manuscripts of writers who attempted but failed to complete books, interviews with the Vukovich family and surviving drivers, mechanics and people connected with that era and studying racing records, documents, the Clymer Yearbooks and magazines such as Speed Age, Motor Trend, Hot Rod and Motor Life and newspapers, Gates pieced the story together. In addition, Gates also documents the racing careers of Bill Vukovich II and Bill Vukovich III, both of whom followed the Senior Vuky to Indianapolis The book is filled with hundreds of rare photos from Vukovich’s life and racing career – some never before seen publicly and some using special photographic techniques to restore as well as photos from deep within the files of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Official Trackside Photo Shop. While the career and death of Dale Earnhardt inspired and shocked a generation, from the time that Speedway Announcer Tom Carnegie made the announcement of Vukovich’s death to now, no race driver has ever had the long term impact of Vukovich’s career and fans still go over all the details 50 years later. For years, fans and historians did not have this wealth of information on the mysterious driver from Fresno, California. From the time Vuky saw a race car, to the time he first took laps at Indianapolis in a car once driven by Wilbur Shaw to the fatal accident involving Johnny Boyd, Al Keller, Roger Ward, his career is chronicled in extreme detail – showing Vukovich as a person who not only had decided it was better to do something with your life rather than just sit around -- but also to be the best and what you did. In some ways, it is a sad book – the story of a person who came from a depressed background, but glorious as well as he somehow managed to put it all aside and strive to be the best in one of the most difficult occupations of all time – a race driver in the 1950s – but then lose his life in a blaze of glory. The book is a combined contribution of many noted racing historians in the country, including Indianapolis Motor Speedway Historian Donald Davidson. Gates has managed to recreate the atmosphere from that historical time at Indianapolis. Back when race cars could be tuned by something less than a team of mechanical engineers and computer experts, before Roger Penske, Tony George, before the IRL and CART wars when racing was united and Tony Hulman ruled the speedway with an iron hand, it details the mind games, the camaraderie, the families, the wives, the emotions of losing their racing colleagues one after the other – all that went on between the teams in preparing and racing the Indy Roadsters when racing was a sport and every other sport was a game. The book also paints a clear picture of the historical nature of the times by bringing to life drivers like Jack McGrath, Bob Sweikert, Jimmy Bryan and Tony Bettenhausen. Gates also covers in great detail the style and skill of Vuky’s co-chief mechanics Jim Travers and Frank Coon who so aptly prepared the Fuel Injection Special that Vukovich drove to victory twice and the Hopkins Special that he ultimately drove to his death. There is also a detailed account of the accident that took Vuky’s life by an independent researcher. There has always been speculation and misunderstanding of the details of the acccident and the report is meant to clarify in great detail exactly what happened with nothing left to speculation There is a forward written by Dick Berggren, Executive Editor of Speedway Illustrated Magazine and pit road reporter for NASCAR on FOX-TV who described the book as a "monumental project." The book is also inspirational by showing how Vukovich, already hit hard by the death of his parents and faced with taking care of his younger sisters, somehow clawed his way to the top. Vukovich II, after a successful career of his own, groomed his own son to follow in both of their footsteps. But tragically, Billy III’s promising career was cut short by death -- but not before Billy III’s final gift to his family by leading them to God when they accepted Christ at a Billy Graham Crusade in Indianapolis that he had talked them into going to. The cost is $30.00 post paid for soft cover and $40.00 pp for hard cover and can be ordered by phone at (765) 597-2487 or mail at Witness Productions, Box 34, Marshall, IN 47859. If you wish to correspond with the author or use PayPal, email Bob Gates at rgates1@msn.com |
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