Bill Vukovich
William "Bill" Vukovich ( /ˈvjuːkəvɪtʃ/; Serbian Cyrillic: Бил Вуковић; December 13, 1918 in Fresno, California – May 30, 1955 in Indianapolis, Indiana) was a Yugoslavian American automobile racing driver. He won the 1953 and 1954 Indianapolis 500 plus two more American Automobile Association National Championship races. Several drivers of his generation have referred to Vukovich as the greatest ever encountered in American motorsport.
He was known variously as "Vuky" (/ˈvuːki/ VOO-kee) and "The Mad Russian" (though he detested that name, his ancestry being Yugoslavian) for his intense driving style, as well as the "Silent Serb" for his cool demeanor. He was also referred to as the "Fresno Flash" in Floyd Clymer's Indy yearbooks, and in an interview (available at the Vukovich Accident link below) his former mechanic Jim Travers calls him "Vuke" as in "cuke".
Read more about Bill Vukovich: Death At Indy, Lifetime Achievement Awards, Family, Complete Formula One World Championship Results, Indy 500 Results, F1 World Championship Career Summary
Famous quotes containing the word bill:
“The first year was critical to my assessment of myself as a person. It forced me to realize that, like being married, having children is not an end in itself. You don’t at last arrive at being a parent and suddenly feel satisfied and joyful. It is a constantly reopening adventure.”
—Anonymous Mother. From the Boston Women’s Health Book Collection. Quoted in The Joys of Having a Child, by Bill and Gloria Adler (1993)