This year, it killed Bill Vukovich.

One of eventually eight children, Bill was only two years old when John’s dream of becoming a land owner saw the Vukovich clan move 150 miles south to Kerman, a little farm town in Fresno County. Keller, swerving into the infield to avoid Ward, lost control and slid back onto the track, striking Boyd's car and pushing it into Vukovich's path. He gave me a list of eight "hot dogs"—drivers with enough impassioned stamina to go flat out for as long as the race—or their cars-would last.

His life ended as it had been lived -- going for it all.

Fire and ice -- Bill Vukovich shunned adoring crowds, yet had an unquenchable desire to excel for them.

Bill's son and grandson would go on to compete in future Indy 500's.

He was exiting the second turn, trailing three slower cars—driven by Rodger Ward, Al Keller, and Johnny Boyd—when Ward's car hit the backstretch outer wall and flipped, resting in the middle of the track as a result of a broken axle.

Bill Vukovich would have turned 100 on December 13 – here’s what made the ‘Mad Russian’ so great.

Vukovich was killed in a chain-reaction crash while holding a 17-second lead on the 57th lap of the 1955 Indianapolis 500. Images courtesy of Indianapolis Motor Speedway “He was madder than a wet hen. On an electric fence.” Bill Vukovich rarely seemed in a good mood in truth. * Regarding the Indy jinx, After winning two races in a row, Wilbur Shaw wrecked while leading and was injured in a career ending accident in 1941.

His grandfather, Bill, won the 1953 and 1954 Indy 500s and was leading in 1955 when he was killed in a multi-car accident.

After his car went over t… But from barely treading water financially, the family started sinking when another move to a less fertile ranch a few miles east proved disastrous at the height of the Great Depression. The evening before the race I was sitting in Vukie's garage with Owner Lindsey Hopkins.