ut he came back in the same car to win back-to-back Indy 500s in 1953-54, and was leading the '55 race handily and by a large margin when he was caught up in some other drivers' horrific accident on the back straight. His car went tumbling over the outside wall, cartwheeled wildly through a parking area for official cars, crashed heavily and burst into flames.

He did not survive.

Racing is a LOT safer these days, thank goodness, but Indy is still a wonderful and iconic but also daunting and occasionally terrifying racetrack. It's just SO damn fast! And unforgiving. My very best wishes, and even a quiet prayer or two, go out to all the drivers and teams that will be lining up, three abreast and eleven rows deep, when they once again play "Back Home Again in Indiana" this coming Sunday. Special crossed fingers and a wink and elbow-nudge for my friend Billy Vincent and his brother (I used to race against their dad, Bill Sr., and have known them since they were coming to the races in diapers!). Billy served his apprenticeship and subsequently advanced to the position(s) of tech whiz, crew chief & trackside tactician for Roger Penske Racing, and he now serves as Competition Director for front-running Arrow McLaren SP Racing with comingman drivers Pato O'Ward (already a race winner!) and Felix Rosenqvist, plus bull-tough veteran/2-time Indy 500 winner Juan-Pablo Montoya in the team's third car. And a special, You've-Impressed-The-Living-Shit-Out-Of-Me "ATTABOY" to Zak Brown, the fairly new American head man at McLaren Racing. What the MacLaren teams have done and accomplished since he took the reins and how they've improved and impressed, in every respect imaginable, both here in The States and on the international F1 circuit, has been nothing less than amazing. My hat is off to you, sir. But, like Billy Jr. told me when I asked about Zak: "He's a RACER, Burt. That's what drives him."

Also wish good fortune and well-deserved breaks to Simona DiSilvestro, the likeable and impressive distaff driver who is gridded up in the somewhat unenviable 33rd (and last!) starting position for this year's 500. I by happenstance wound up sitting next to her at a media dinner at famous drag racer John Force's fantastic race shop in Brownsburg, IN, and Simona really impressed me with her quiet confidence and thoughtful, honest and determined approach. Her career has its ups and downs, but her talent and skill are undeniable, and I still believe she is (or, at the very least, is among) the best female racing drivers I have ever seen. I also believe she is thoroughly capable, in the right equipment and with the right technical support and sponsorship, of mixing it up with the very best of the menfolk. Not so wild about the "all-female race crew" supporting her at this year's 500 (although I surely see & understand the publicity and marketing angle) but, hey, a lot of folks thought Bobby Riggs was going to clean Billie Jean King's clock in that famous tennis match...

As long as we're talking about The 500, there's a large, semi-flashback section on its history and tradition in the new book. Even brought in a brand-new character (Frankie Floyd, a boozy and cantankerous but nonetheless talented, knowledable and incisive sportswriter for the local Indianapolis newspaper) to help paint the picture. I truly lament how everybody's running the same basic car these days (and one of two highly similar engine choices), while Indy used to be a crucible for innovative ideas and technical experimentation. Like the Hilborn fuel injection setup on Vukovich's new-look Kurtis "roadster" chassis mentioned above. But it was just one of several interesting and innovative technical novelties and notables in the 1952 500. Like the polesitter--with a brand new track record, no less!--was the Cummins Diesel (that's right, a DIESEL-powered racecar!) of Freddie Agabashian. And that was also the year Ferrari (yes, THAT Ferrari) sent a special 375 V12 "Indianapolis" car to The Speedway along with the Scuderia's team leader and about-to-become-back-to-back-World F1 Champ Alberto Ascari to wheel it. But Indy is a tough nut to crack from the outside, and the Ferrari could do no better than 19th on the grid and was the third car out with a busted wire wheel after just 25 laps. Or, in other words, one-eighth of the 500 miles.

Ferrari never came back (although Enzo sure wanted to, and even built a special car for the race in 1986, but it never made it to The Speedway). A return to Indy was also one of the sticking points in the failed partnership/buyout negotiations with Ford in 1963, since Ford already had a damn good Indycar in the radical, mid-engined Lotus Ford that finished second (and maybe shoulda won?) that year.

Anyhow, there are more than a few stories, legends and maybe even outright lies about the Indy 500 in the new book. Speaking of which (brace yourself for an onslaught of outrageous commercialism):