He beat a works Auto Union and was offered a factory drive by Alfa. But Rex Mays preferred the intense buzz of American speedway.Joe Scalzo describes the short life of…

Jan Opperman sprint car rebel, flower child and holy roller Christian minister with magic roaring out of his ears — was a trendsetter. This was in the 1970s. Emulating their…

'Aggression,' Parnelli Jones has said, stating his guiding maxim, 'is something you can't teach a race driver. You either have it - or you don't Parnelli Jones, one of the…

Ray Harroun spent seven hours on the three million bricks of Indianapolis getting his bones beaten to powder winning the inaugural 500-mile sweepstakes. Called upon to say a few words…

As slender and frail as his beautiful record car, Frank Lockhart had an innate, mysterious engineering sense. He was convinced fate was on his side, but, as Joe Scalzo relates,…

Mauri Rose was diminutive in stature but possessed huge gobbets of talent and determination. Joe Scalzo chronicles the career of the.. Little Big Man This will take a moment or…

Ex-biker Swede Savage divided opinion: the Next Big Thing or an accident waiting to happen. He was killed at Indy in 1973. Joe Scalzo tells his story -- and reveals…

Pat Flaherty, winner of the chaotic and exciting 1956 Indianapolis 500, and a champion of many crashes, died recently. He was 76. With his shamrock-covered crash hat and hot rod-derived…

In 1993, Michael Andretti and Nigel Mansell exchanged addresses: Michael, then near the peak of his career in CART, crossed the salt pond for Europe and a season of rumbling…

Was it blind faith or curmudgeonly stubbornness that sparked Mickey Thompson's desperate attempts to conquer the brickyard? Joe Scalzo tells a tale of false hopes, mad cars and fatal consequences…

He won the world's biggest race when he was 22. But the combined effects of high living and a huge accident were blows from which his career never recovered. For…