Rocker Ronnie Haig relays this story from his website:
It's May 1955. I get an idea from a friend of mine it would be neat to
sell newspapers at the 500 mile track. So (after getting permission )
I get up at 4am, go downtown, board a special train, and we modock
toward the track. Upon arriving, we are given a certain number of
papers in exchange for the money I had to pay for them. I watched the
sun come up that morning and as I recall froze to death, as I watched
the cars start their entrance into the track-all racing to get to their
favorite spot to drink - I mean watch the race that would begin at
11:00. I had never been inside there before and to tell the truth, the
whole thing was a little overwhelming. Sixteen years hadn't prepared
me for some of the things I was seeing.
After the lengthy pre-race activity,The race was on. Since I had the
freedom of the track, I was bound and determined to go everywhere I
could. It wasn't too long before I sold almost all my papers. During my
last sale -I was making change for this guy when an announcement came
over the loud speaker. I was right! The firey accident I had just seen
from directly accross the track on the backstretch was in fact Bill
Vukavich, my hero. The flames were terrible,and the smoke drifted
accross the track into my face. I kept wiping my eyes trying to see
what was going on. I could hear everyone yelling, and screaming
including Bill. Someone jumped up on the side of the wall and with a long
pole, reached down into what was left of his Blue Crown spl. They
pulled out a helmet with a hole burnt through on side. The loud speaker
came on again saying we had lost a great race driver today at Indy. It
was then I remembered what Bill had said just before the race. They
were doing an interview with him. No one had hit 150mph as of yet - and
when questioned about it Bill said: "I'll hit 150mph or die trying" He
was clocked on his last lap at 149.728mph. I'll never forget that.
Recently Susie and I were guests of USAC at the track for
qualifications. We went all over the place and had a great day. We
could've gone to the race itself, but didn't. I have never been back to
a race since that day in May.
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