Although Indianapolis has been built on the back of showpiece ceremonies and lavish machinery, most of the focus to the casual television viewer is still centred around the brave men and women who put their lives on the line to compete in the race each year, with the greatest of those drivers earning themselves a legendary status surrounding the Brickyard that comes to this day. Of all of these heroes however, it may Hoosier native Wilbur Shaw that remains the speedway’s most important figure, not only for an incredible career on the track but also for the hard work and dedication away from it to save the Brickyard in it’s darkest hours.

Born in Shelbyville, Indiana in 1902, Wilbur Shaw was bitten by the racing bug from a comparatively early age, attending his first Indianapolis 500 whilst he was still in school, and growing up idolizing the drivers who came to his hometown each year for the Memorial Day classic, with aspirations of one day joining them in the field for the upstart event. After competing at a local dirt track level during his teen years, Shaw earned his first break in 1927, when he was approached by car owner Fred Clemons to drive his #29 Miller entry for that year’s race, qualifying in 19th place before driving a careful and intelligent race to finish on the lead lap in a brilliant fourth place, earning him that season’s rookie of the year honours for the event in the process. During the race, Shaw was relieved for portions of the race by fellow 500 debutant Louis Meyer, who would go onto to win at Indianapolis the following year and predate Shaw as the first three-time winner of the classic race.

Following his strong debut showing, Shaw suffered a run of comparatively lean spells at the speedway, suffering mechanical errors in three successive races before claiming a runner-up finish to former team-mate Meyer in 1933. Following a second runner up finish in 1935, =Shaw’s career reached a turning point in 1936 when he decided that ownership of his cars was key to winning the annual classic, and after claiming a seventh placed finish at that year’s 500, Shaw returned to the speedway driving his own machine in 1937, where he held off a hard-charging Ralph Hepburn to claim his first 500 victory by just over two seconds, setting a record for the closest finish at the speedway that would stand for 45 years. After a decade of effort at the speedway, Shaw’s win was greeted in a popular manner from many in the paddock, but for Shaw itself it would only be the catalyst for an era of almost unprecedented success at the Brickyard.

Impressed with the European machinery at the Roosevelt Raceway revivals of the Vanderbilt Cup, Shaw persuaded Chicago industrialist Mike Boyle to sponsor a Maserati for the race, making Indy specific modifications to the machine which included offsetting all of the car’s components to the left of the machine. Using the Italian machine, Shaw ran second for the majority of the race behind former old adversary Meyer, but when the Manhattan native suffered an accident with three laps remaining, allowing Shaw to inherit the lead and claim his second 500 victory, a feat he would repeat in dominant fashion the following year to become the first man ever to claim back to back victories in the 500. Shaw was also in contention for a record fourth win in 1941, leading the race by over five laps before a defective wheel on his Maserati failed, sending Shaw spinning into the turn four outside wall at over 100mph. Although Shaw was able to walk away from the accident, the accululation of heavy hits over his career had started to take it’s toll on the Hoosier native’s body, and this added with the involvement of America in World War II caused Shaw to hang up his helmet on a competitive basis.

During the War, Shaw worked as an aviation sales manager for the Firestone Tyre Company, when he was asked on behalf of the manufacturer to test a new synthetic rubber developed for road cars at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Appalled at the dilapidated state of the Speedway, Shaw began conducting many of the biggest names of the American Automotive industry in an attempt to find investors to save the speedway, but although some companies did express an interest in the facility, most declared that their intention for Indianapolis was as a test facility, rather then as a outright sporting venue, the track surface itself could easily be brought back to the required quality, but the overhauling of the dilapidated grandstands and pit-road facilities was seen as too much of a financial burden for the companies to consider such a venture. Seeking desperate measures, Shaw then began contacting figures from outside the automotive industry, setting him onto the path of Tony Hulman and to his purchase of the facility in 1946 (the story of which can be found in the #46 entry of this project).

As a reward for his efforts, Shaw was named as the President of the Speedway following its takeover, acting as the proverbial face of the Brickyard with Hulman as a quiet but influential figure behind the scenes. Armed with Hollywood good looks, right down to his pencil thin moustache, and his dynamic personality, Shaw was a superb communicator. He became an ambassador to the automobile industry whose allegiance he felt was essential to the future of his sport, and his endearing and persuasive manner, combined with Hulman’s investment, helped to turn the Brickyard from a decrepit afterthought into the multi-million dollar facility that we see to this day. Sadly for Shaw, he would not be able to see his effort come to fruition, when on the 30th of October 1954 his private jet was involved in an accident just outside of Decatur Indiana, killing Shaw and two other passengers just one day of the Hoosier native’s 52nd birthday.

A brilliant and intelligent racer, along with a devoted servant to the Brickyard, Wilbur Shaw remains one of the most important figures in the history of the Indianapolis 500, and one whose Midas touch at the Brickyard on and off the track can still be seen even to this day.

In today’s video we feature something a bit left-field, a radio preview of the 1948 race in which Shaw and two time winner Tommy Milton discuss racing at the Brickyard in the pre-war era.