DePaolo, Peter
Auto racing
b. April 15, 1898, Roseland, NJ
d. Nov. 26, 1980
DePaolo saw his first auto race in 1919, when his uncle, Ralph DePalma, beat Louis Chevrolet and Barney Oldfield. Less than a year later he was driving mechanic for DePalma in the 1920 Indianapolis 500. Then he turned to driving, wrecking five of the first six cars he drove. Nevertheless, he was invited to join the Duesenberg team in 1924. The following year, he averaged 101.13 mph to win the Indy 500, becoming the first to surpass the 100 mph barrier. He also won the National Championship that year.
In 1927, DePaolo formed his own racing team and qualified second at Indy. He was forced out of the race by mechanical problems, but he won major 250-mile races at Altoona, PA, and Salem, NH, to win his second driving championship.
He raced for seven more years without any major successes and retired after an accident in Spain put him in a coma for 11 days. But he was car owner and team manager for Kelly Petillo's 1935 victory in the Indy 500.
After World War II, DePaolo managed the Ford team effort in factory stock car racing, and he became director of industrial relations for the Michigan International Speedway when it opened in 1969.