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April 26, 2018 | By Paul Kelly, Indianapolis Motor Speedway
If a Mount Rushmore of the greatest drivers in Indianapolis 500 history was carved from a granite mountainside, four-time winners A.J. Foyt, Al Unser and Rick Mears would be guaranteed a place. But it wouldn’t be a stretch to put a two-time winner of “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing” in the fourth spot – Bill Vukovich.
Few drivers dominated a short era of the Indianapolis 500 more than Vukovich, who won consecutive Indianapolis 500’s in 1953 and 1954 and could have become the first four-time winner and the only driver to win three and even four consecutive editions of the race.
Vukovich ruled the 1953 race, which eased the pain of losing the “500” lead in 1952 to Troy Ruttman with eight laps remaining and dropping out of the race due to steering mechanism failure. Vukovich led a race-high 150 laps before his car broke. In 1953, Vuky won the pole and led 195 of 200 laps in an imperious drive that reflected his famous intensity behind the wheel and in Gasoline Alley. His toughness also was on display in the No. 14 Kurtis Kraft/Offy roadster, as he waved off relief drivers despite the race being the second-hottest “500” in history, with a high temperature of 91 degrees and track temperatures in the 130s.
After the race, California native Vukovich needled his rivals who needed relief help. “You think this is hot?” Vuky said. “You ought to try driving a tractor in Fresno in July.” Vukovich’s Indy hot streak continued in 1954. He qualified a disappointing 19th but took the lead by Lap 61 and led 90 laps overall – nearly twice that of any other driver – to cruise to victory by one minute, 9.99 seconds over Jimmy Bryan. Vuky became just the third driver to win consecutive Indianapolis 500s, behind Wilbur Shaw in 1939-40 and Mauri Rose in 1947-48. And when the Indianapolis Motor Speedway opened for practice in May 1955, Vukovich was the odds-on favorite to become the second three-time winner, joining Shaw, and the first to win the race three straight years.
But that quest -- and one of the great Indianapolis 500 careers of all time – ended when Vukovich suffered fatal injuries in a crash while leading on Lap 57. Vukovich’s career stats were astonishing in just five Indianapolis 500 starts. He won twice, won one pole and led the most laps in three consecutive starts (1952-54).