A surprising number of the drivers in this video actually survived into old age. As primitive and dangerous as racing was in the 1930s, fatalities among Indy car drivers only really climbed to appalling heights in the late 1940s and 1950s as the cars got much faster but almost nothing was done to improve safety.
Of course, that would include two of the first three 3-time Indianapolis 500 winners, Louis Meyer and Mauri Rose, who went on to play major roles in auto racing well into the future. Meyer and Dale Drake created the Offenhauser dynasty that resulted in 18 consecutive Indy wins for the Offy engine from 1947-'64, with Rose taking the first two of those 18 successive wins for the Offy engine. And Rose, who was an engineer, was one of the top chief mechanics/crew chiefs in the early years of NASCAR, as he teamed with master mechanic Smokey Yunick and driver Herb Thomas to create NASCAR's first dominant team in the 1950s.
WildwoodClaire1; That's a fascinating statistic. I think that most non-racing viewers may not realize just how dangerous open wheel racing was back in the day. I always called the Indianapolis 500 "Life and Death in One Day."
![[INDIANAPOLIS 500, 1946]](/img/1.gif)
Love that the intro is the Buckeye Battle Cry!
I wish they would have told us what kind of tires they used. This early infomercial was about as subtle as a sledge hammer.
A surprising number of the drivers in this video actually survived into old age. As primitive and dangerous as racing was in the 1930s, fatalities among Indy car drivers only really climbed to appalling heights in the late 1940s and 1950s as the cars got much faster but almost nothing was done to improve safety.
Of course, that would include two of the first three 3-time Indianapolis 500 winners, Louis Meyer and Mauri Rose, who went on to play major roles in auto racing well into the future. Meyer and Dale Drake created the Offenhauser dynasty that resulted in 18 consecutive Indy wins for the Offy engine from 1947-'64, with Rose taking the first two of those 18 successive wins for the Offy engine. And Rose, who was an engineer, was one of the top chief mechanics/crew chiefs in the early years of NASCAR, as he teamed with master mechanic Smokey Yunick and driver Herb Thomas to create NASCAR's first dominant team in the 1950s.
WildwoodClaire1; That's a fascinating statistic. I think that most non-racing viewers may not realize just how dangerous open wheel racing was back in the day. I always called the Indianapolis 500 "Life and Death in One Day."
Soooooooo old !