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{{Short description|American racing driver (1902–1954)}}
{{Inappropriate tone|date=June 2008}}
{{Infobox racing driver
'''Warren Wilbur Shaw''' ([[October 31]], [[1902]] - [[October 30]], [[1954]]) was a noted [[United States|American]] [[racing driver]] and president of the [[Indianapolis Motor Speedway]] from 1945 until his death.
| name = Wilbur Shaw
| image = Wilbur Shaw (Estados Unidos). - El Gráfico 1092.jpg
| caption = Shaw on the cover of ''[[El Gráfico (Argentina)|El Gráfico]]'' magazine, 1940
| birth_name = Warren Wilbur Shaw
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1902|10|31}}
| birth_place = [[Shelbyville, Indiana]], U.S.
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1954|10|30|1902|10|31}}
| death_place = [[Decatur, Indiana]], U.S.
| titles = [[AAA Contest Board|AAA]] [[Championship Car]] ([[1937 AAA Championship Car season|1937]], [[1939 AAA Championship Car season|1939]]) <br/> '''Major victories''' <br/> [[Indianapolis 500]] ([[1937 Indianapolis 500|1937]], [[1939 Indianapolis 500|1939]], [[1940 Indianapolis 500|1940]])
| module1 =
{{Infobox Champ Car driver|embed=yes
| Total_Champ_Races = 38
| Years_In_Champ = 15
| Best_Champ_Pos = 1st ([[1937 AAA Championship Car season|1937]], [[1939 AAA Championship Car season|1939]])
| First_Champ_Race = [[1927 AAA Championship Car season|1927]] [[1927 Indianapolis 500|Indianapolis 500]] ([[Indianapolis Motor Speedway|Indianapolis]])
| Last_Champ_Race = [[1941 AAA Championship Car season|1941]] [[1941 Indianapolis 500|Indianapolis 500]] ([[Indianapolis Motor Speedway|Indianapolis]])
| First_Champ_Win = [[1929 AAA Championship Car season|1929]] Syracuse 100 ([[Syracuse Mile|Syracuse]])
| Last_Champ_Win = [[1940 AAA Championship Car season|1940]] [[1940 Indianapolis 500|Indianapolis 500]] ([[Indianapolis Motor Speedway|Indianapolis]])
| Champ_Wins = 6
| Champ_Podiums = 12
| Champ_Poles = 1
}}}}


'''Warren Wilbur Shaw''' (October 31, 1902 – October 30, 1954) was an American [[racing driver]]. The second three-time winner of the [[Indianapolis 500]] (1937, 1939 and 1940), he is also remembered for serving as president of the [[Indianapolis Motor Speedway]] from 1945 until his death in 1954.
==Indianapolis==
Born in [[Shelbyville, Indiana]], Wilbur Shaw won the [[Indianapolis 500]] race three times, in 1937, 1939 and 1940. In the 1941 race, Shaw was injured when his car crashed; it was later discovered that a defective wheel had been placed on his car.


== Early life ==
During [[World War II]], Shaw was hired by the tire manufacturer [[Firestone Tire and Rubber Company|Firestone]] to test a synthetic rubber automobile tire at the [[Indianapolis Motor Speedway]], which had been closed due to the war. He was dismayed at the dilapidated condition of the already-historic racetrack. Then-owner [[Eddie Rickenbacker]], the famed [[World War I]] flying ace and president of [[Eastern Air Lines]], was not exactly sentimental about the track, of course. When the United States entered [[World War II]], ending racing at Indianapolis and elsewhere for the duration, Rickenbacker essentially padlocked the gates and let the great race course slowly begin to disintegrate.


Shaw was born in [[Shelbyville, Indiana]] on October 31, 1902.<ref name=obit/>
During a meeting soon after the tire test, Rickenbacker informed Shaw that what was left of the track would be demolished and the land turned into a housing [[Subdivision (land)|subdivision]] ... unless Shaw could find someone else who might have other ideas. Little did Rickenbacker know that he had presented a challenge to a man who relished challenges.


== Racing career ==
Shaw immediately began looking for a "savior" for his beloved Speedway, and in short order was introduced to a man who lived not too far from Indianapolis; a man who had the resources to do virtually anything. In [[Terre Haute, Indiana]], [[Tony Hulman]] had inherited his family's business, [[Hulman & Company]], a wholesale grocer and producer of coffee and baking powder, and he made a fortune by raising the country's level of consciousness about the company's mainstay baking powder -- Clabber Girl.


[[File:Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum in 2017 - Racecars 31.jpg|thumb|left|Shaw's winning car from the 1939 and 1940 Indianapolis 500s]]
A lifelong fan of automobile racing in general and the "500" in particular, Hulman listened with great interest to what Shaw had to say. Despite what Hulman saw amongst the weeds and deterioration when Shaw took him to Indianapolis, he purchased the Speedway from Rickenbacker in November 1945 for the sum of $750,000.


Shaw first participated in the [[1927 Indianapolis 500]]. He eventually won the [[Indianapolis 500]] race three times, in 1937, 1939, and 1940.<ref name=":0" /> Shaw was the second person to win the 500 three times, and the first to win it twice in a row.<ref name=obit/> In 1939 and 1940, he won driving a [[Maserati 8CTF]] named the 'Boyle Special.'<ref>{{Cite web |date=2012-03-22 |title=Greatest 33 Profile: Wilbur Shaw - Indianapolis Motor Speedway |url=http://www.indianapolismotorspeedway.com/history/44289/ |access-date=2023-10-09 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120322131721/http://www.indianapolismotorspeedway.com/history/44289/ |archive-date=2012-03-22 }}</ref> In the 1941 race, Shaw was injured when his car crashed; it was later discovered that a defective wheel had been placed on his car.
As a reward for his efforts to revive the Speedway, Shaw was anointed as its president, where he would have complete day-to-day control over the track. To this job, Shaw brought his extensive knowledge of the business of auto racing, something Hulman would admit that he himself didn't have, and Shaw's hard work only cemented the reputation of the "500" as the "Greatest Spectacle in Racing."


== Indianapolis Motor Speedway President ==
It seemed as though Shaw and Hulman had a "Midas touch" at the Speedway. Hulman poured money into improvements, and Shaw delivered the world's greatest automobile race to enthusiastic crowds, which grew in number by the year. The Indianapolis "500" of the late Forties and early Fifties was a very special event through the work of Hulman and Shaw, although Hulman was always sure to point out that it was Wilbur putting it all together.


During [[World War II]], Shaw was hired by the tire manufacturer [[Firestone Tire and Rubber Company]] to test a [[synthetic rubber]] automobile tire at the [[Indianapolis Motor Speedway]] (IMS), which had been closed due to the war. He was dismayed at the dilapidated condition of the racetrack and quickly contacted then-owner [[Eddie Rickenbacker]], the [[World War I]] flying ace and president and founder of [[Eastern Air Lines]]. When the United States entered [[World War II]], ending racing at Indianapolis and elsewhere for the duration, Rickenbacker padlocked the gates, and the race course slowly begin to disintegrate.
==Death==
Sadly, at the height of his power in the racing world, Shaw was killed in an airplane crash near [[Decatur, Indiana]] on October 30, 1954, one day before his fifty-second birthday. The pilot, Ray Grimes, and artist Ernest Roose were also killed.


During a meeting soon after the test, Rickenbacker informed Shaw that what was left of the track would be demolished and the land turned into a housing [[Subdivision (land)|subdivision]]. Shaw sent out letters to the major car manufacturers trying to find a backer to buy the speedway. However, all indicated that should they buy the IMS they would turn it into a private testing facility for their own cars only.
==Indy 500 results==

<table><tr valign=top>
Shaw then met [[Terre Haute, Indiana|Terre Haute]] businessman [[Tony Hulman]] who had inherited his family's business, [[Hulman & Company]], a wholesale grocer and producer of coffee and baking powder, [[Clabber Girl]].
<td>

A lifelong fan of automobile racing in general and the "500" in particular, Hulman listened with great interest to what Shaw had to say. Despite what Hulman saw amongst the weeds and deterioration when Shaw took him to Indianapolis, he purchased the Speedway from Rickenbacker in November 1945 for the sum of $750,000.<ref name=":0" />

As a reward for his efforts to revive the Speedway, Shaw was appointed as its president, where he would have complete day-to-day control over the track. To this job, Shaw brought his extensive knowledge of the business of auto racing, something Hulman would admit that he himself didn't have, and Shaw's hard work only cemented the reputation of the "500" as the "Greatest Spectacle in Racing."

It seemed as though Shaw and Hulman had a "Midas touch" at the Speedway. Hulman poured money into improvements, and Shaw delivered the world's greatest automobile race to enthusiastic crowds, which grew in number by the year. The Indianapolis "500" of the late Forties and early Fifties was a very special event through the work of Hulman and Shaw, although Hulman was always sure to point out that it was Wilbur putting it all together.

== Death ==

Shaw was killed in an airplane crash near [[Decatur, Indiana]], on October 30, 1954, one day before his fifty-second birthday. The pilot, Ray Grimes, and artist Ernest Roose were also killed.<ref name=obit>{{cite news |agency=Associated Press |title=Wilbur Shaw Is Killed In Indiana Plane Crash |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=p7RhAAAAIBAJ&pg=3376,5189763&dq=wilbur+shaw&hl=en |quote=Shaw began racing on dirt tracks in his teens and made his first appearance at the Indianapolis track in 1927 He came in fourth in that first race. ... |newspaper=[[Palm Beach Post]] |date=October 31, 1954 |access-date=2012-10-08 }}{{Dead link|date=March 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

== Other work and legacy ==

Shaw was the automotive test evaluator for ''[[Popular Science]]'' magazine. As the automotive test evaluator, Shaw's articles were superior to those of his contemporaries in that they gave consistently accurate reports without relying on ''Popular Science'''s lead in the marketplace over competitors such as ''[[Mechanix Illustrated]]''.

Shaw's highly regarded autobiography, "Gentlemen, Start your Engines," was published in 1955, and covers events through 1953.

As of 2023, he is the last Indiana native to win the Indianapolis 500.

== Awards and honors ==

Shaw has been inducted into the following halls of fame:
* [[Auto Racing Hall of Fame]] (1963)<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Wilbur Shaw |url=https://imsmuseum.org/fame_inductee/wilbur-shaw/ |access-date=2023-10-09 |website=IMS Museum |language=en-US}}</ref>
* [[Automotive Hall of Fame]] (1987)<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |title=» Wilbur Shaw {{!}} Automotive Hall of Fame |url=https://www.automotivehalloffame.org/honoree/wilbur-shaw/ |access-date=2023-10-09 |website=www.automotivehalloffame.org}}</ref>
* [[National Sprint Car Hall of Fame]] (1990)<ref>{{Cite web |title=Wilbur Shaw |url=https://www.sprintcarhof.com/helper_pages/FileGet.aspx?id=255 |access-date=2023-10-09 |website=www.sprintcarhof.com}}</ref>
* [[International Motorsports Hall of Fame]] (1991)<ref>{{Cite web |title=Wilbur Shaw |url=https://www.motorsportshalloffame.com/inductees/wilbur-shaw/ |access-date=2023-10-09 |website=International Motorsports Hall of Fame |language=en-US}}</ref>
* [[Motorsports Hall of Fame of America]] (1991)<ref>{{Cite web |title=Wilbur Shaw |url=https://www.mshf.com/hall-of-fame/inductees/wilbur-shaw.html |access-date=2023-10-09 |website=www.mshf.com}}</ref>

Shaw has been awarded the following honors:

* [[Automotive Hall of Fame]] Distinguished Service Citation (1951)<ref name=":1" />

== Motorsports career results ==

=== Indianapolis 500 results ===

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==Trivia==
== References ==
The first [[Champ Car]] event was held at the [[Milwaukee Mile]] on July 17, 1933. The show was rained out. Wilbur Shaw and the other drivers convinced the track promoters to run the race the following day and the term '''"Rain Date"''' was born. Shaw was the automotive road test evaluator for Popular Science Magazine in the early fifties.


{{Reflist}}
Shaw was the first driver to win back-to back Indianapolis 500 races only [[Mauri Rose]] in 1947 Indianapolis 500|1947]] and [[1948 Indianapolis 500|1948]], and [[Al Unser Sr.]] in [[1969 Indianapolis 500|1969]], and [[1970 Indianapolis 500|1970]] have accomplished the same feat.


== Further reading ==
==Awards==
*He was inducted into the [[International Motorsports Hall of Fame]] in 1991.
*He was named to the [[National Sprint Car Hall of Fame & Museum|National Sprint Car Hall of Fame]] in 1990.
*Shaw was inducted in the [[Motorsports Hall of Fame of America]] in 1991.


* Mittman, Dick (2004). [http://www.indy500.com/news/story.php?story_id=3734 Shaw's Blend Of Skill, Charisma Looms Large In Speedway History] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051016113930/http://www.indy500.com/news/story.php?story_id=3734 |date=2005-10-16 }}. Retrieved September 17, 2005.
==Sources==
* Mittman, Dick (2004). [http://www.indy500.com/news/story.php?story_id=3734 Shaw's Blend Of Skill, Charisma Looms Large In Speedway History]. Retrieved September 17, 2005.


== External links ==
{{start box}}

{{succession box|before=[[Louis Meyer]]|title=[[List of Indianapolis 500 winners|Indianapolis 500 Winner]]|years=[[1937 Indianapolis 500|1937]]|after=[[Floyd Roberts]]}}
* [http://www.champcarstats.com/drivers/ShawWilbur.htm Wilbur Shaw - ChampCarStats.com]
{{succession box|before=[[Floyd Roberts]]|title=[[List of Indianapolis 500 winners|Indianapolis 500 Winner]]|years=[[1939 Indianapolis 500|1939]]-[[1940 Indianapolis 500|1940]]|after=[[Mauri Rose]]<br>[[Floyd Davis]]}}
{{end box}}
* {{Find a Grave|1999}}
* [http://www.motorsportmemorial.org/LWFWIW/focusLWFWIW.php?db2=LWF&db=ct&n=28 Wilbur Shaw - Motorsport Memorial]
* {{Racing-Reference driver|Wilbur_Shaw}}

{{S-start}}
{{Succession box|before=[[Louis Meyer]]|title=[[List of Indianapolis 500 winners|Indianapolis 500 Winner]]|years=[[1937 Indianapolis 500|1937]]|after=[[Floyd Roberts]]}}
{{Succession box|before=[[Floyd Roberts]]|title=[[List of Indianapolis 500 winners|Indianapolis 500 Winner]]|years=[[1939 Indianapolis 500|1939]]-[[1940 Indianapolis 500|1940]]|after=[[Mauri Rose]]<br>[[Floyd Davis]]}}
{{S-end}}

{{American open-wheel car racing champions}}
{{Indy 500 winners}}
{{Indy 500 winners}}

{{Authority control}}


{{DEFAULTSORT:Shaw, Wilbur}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shaw, Wilbur}}
[[Category:1902 births]]
[[Category:1902 births]]
[[Category:1954 deaths]]
[[Category:1954 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Shelby County, Indiana]]
[[Category:People from Shelbyville, Indiana]]
[[Category:American racecar drivers]]
[[Category:Sportspeople from the Indianapolis metropolitan area]]
[[Category:Indy 500 drivers]]
[[Category:Champ Car champions]]
[[Category:Indy 500 winners]]
[[Category:Indianapolis 500 drivers]]
[[Category:International Motorsports Hall of Fame]]
[[Category:Indianapolis 500 winners]]
[[Category:National Sprint Car Hall of Fame]]
[[Category:International Motorsports Hall of Fame inductees]]
[[Category:People from Indiana]]
[[Category:National Sprint Car Hall of Fame inductees]]
[[Category:American business executives]]
[[Category:Racing drivers from Indianapolis]]
[[Category:AAA Championship Car drivers]]
[[Category:Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 1954]]
[[Category:Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in the United States]]
[[Category:Accidental deaths in Indiana]]
[[Category:20th-century American businesspeople]]
[[Category:Businesspeople from Indianapolis]]

Revision as of 22:25, 25 April 2024

Wilbur Shaw
Shaw on the cover of El Gráfico magazine, 1940
BornWarren Wilbur Shaw
(1902-10-31)October 31, 1902
Shelbyville, Indiana, U.S.
DiedOctober 30, 1954(1954-10-30) (aged 51)
Decatur, Indiana, U.S.
Championship titles
AAA Championship Car (1937, 1939)
Major victories
Indianapolis 500 (1937, 1939, 1940)
Champ Car career
38 races run over 15 years
Best finish1st (1937, 1939)
First race1927 Indianapolis 500 (Indianapolis)
Last race1941 Indianapolis 500 (Indianapolis)
First win1929 Syracuse 100 (Syracuse)
Last win1940 Indianapolis 500 (Indianapolis)
Wins Podiums Poles
6 12 1

Warren Wilbur Shaw (October 31, 1902 – October 30, 1954) was an American racing driver. The second three-time winner of the Indianapolis 500 (1937, 1939 and 1940), he is also remembered for serving as president of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway from 1945 until his death in 1954.

Early life

Shaw was born in Shelbyville, Indiana on October 31, 1902.[1]

Racing career

Shaw's winning car from the 1939 and 1940 Indianapolis 500s

Shaw first participated in the 1927 Indianapolis 500. He eventually won the Indianapolis 500 race three times, in 1937, 1939, and 1940.[2] Shaw was the second person to win the 500 three times, and the first to win it twice in a row.[1] In 1939 and 1940, he won driving a Maserati 8CTF named the 'Boyle Special.'[3] In the 1941 race, Shaw was injured when his car crashed; it was later discovered that a defective wheel had been placed on his car.

Indianapolis Motor Speedway President

During World War II, Shaw was hired by the tire manufacturer Firestone Tire and Rubber Company to test a synthetic rubber automobile tire at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS), which had been closed due to the war. He was dismayed at the dilapidated condition of the racetrack and quickly contacted then-owner Eddie Rickenbacker, the World War I flying ace and president and founder of Eastern Air Lines. When the United States entered World War II, ending racing at Indianapolis and elsewhere for the duration, Rickenbacker padlocked the gates, and the race course slowly begin to disintegrate.

During a meeting soon after the test, Rickenbacker informed Shaw that what was left of the track would be demolished and the land turned into a housing subdivision. Shaw sent out letters to the major car manufacturers trying to find a backer to buy the speedway. However, all indicated that should they buy the IMS they would turn it into a private testing facility for their own cars only.

Shaw then met Terre Haute businessman Tony Hulman who had inherited his family's business, Hulman & Company, a wholesale grocer and producer of coffee and baking powder, Clabber Girl.

A lifelong fan of automobile racing in general and the "500" in particular, Hulman listened with great interest to what Shaw had to say. Despite what Hulman saw amongst the weeds and deterioration when Shaw took him to Indianapolis, he purchased the Speedway from Rickenbacker in November 1945 for the sum of $750,000.[2]

As a reward for his efforts to revive the Speedway, Shaw was appointed as its president, where he would have complete day-to-day control over the track. To this job, Shaw brought his extensive knowledge of the business of auto racing, something Hulman would admit that he himself didn't have, and Shaw's hard work only cemented the reputation of the "500" as the "Greatest Spectacle in Racing."

It seemed as though Shaw and Hulman had a "Midas touch" at the Speedway. Hulman poured money into improvements, and Shaw delivered the world's greatest automobile race to enthusiastic crowds, which grew in number by the year. The Indianapolis "500" of the late Forties and early Fifties was a very special event through the work of Hulman and Shaw, although Hulman was always sure to point out that it was Wilbur putting it all together.

Death

Shaw was killed in an airplane crash near Decatur, Indiana, on October 30, 1954, one day before his fifty-second birthday. The pilot, Ray Grimes, and artist Ernest Roose were also killed.[1]

Other work and legacy

Shaw was the automotive test evaluator for Popular Science magazine. As the automotive test evaluator, Shaw's articles were superior to those of his contemporaries in that they gave consistently accurate reports without relying on Popular Science's lead in the marketplace over competitors such as Mechanix Illustrated.

Shaw's highly regarded autobiography, "Gentlemen, Start your Engines," was published in 1955, and covers events through 1953.

As of 2023, he is the last Indiana native to win the Indianapolis 500.

Awards and honors

Shaw has been inducted into the following halls of fame:

Shaw has been awarded the following honors:

Motorsports career results

Indianapolis 500 results

References

  1. ^ a b c "Wilbur Shaw Is Killed In Indiana Plane Crash". Palm Beach Post. Associated Press. October 31, 1954. Retrieved 2012-10-08. Shaw began racing on dirt tracks in his teens and made his first appearance at the Indianapolis track in 1927 He came in fourth in that first race. ...[permanent dead link]
  2. ^ a b c "Wilbur Shaw". IMS Museum. Retrieved 2023-10-09.
  3. ^ "Greatest 33 Profile: Wilbur Shaw - Indianapolis Motor Speedway". 2012-03-22. Archived from the original on 2012-03-22. Retrieved 2023-10-09.
  4. ^ a b "» Wilbur Shaw | Automotive Hall of Fame". www.automotivehalloffame.org. Retrieved 2023-10-09.
  5. ^ "Wilbur Shaw". www.sprintcarhof.com. Retrieved 2023-10-09.
  6. ^ "Wilbur Shaw". International Motorsports Hall of Fame. Retrieved 2023-10-09.
  7. ^ "Wilbur Shaw". www.mshf.com. Retrieved 2023-10-09.

Further reading

External links

Preceded by Indianapolis 500 Winner
1937 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Indianapolis 500 Winner
1939-1940 		Succeeded by
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