Rickenbacker, "Eddie" (Edward)
Auto Racing
b. Oct. 8, 1890, Columbus, OH
d. July 23, 1973
Rickenbacker achieved his greatest fame as the Ace of Aces during World War I, shooting down twenty-six German planes in seven months. But he was an outstanding racer before that. As a salesman for the Columbus Buggy Company, he began racing in 1910 to publicize the cars he sold. He won nine of ten races in a two-day meet in Omaha, and suddenly he was an auto racer instead of a salesman.
Rickenbacker finished eleventh in the first Indy 500 in 1911 and was in fourth place the following year when a burned bearing forced him out. After winning $10,000 in a 100-mile race in 1913, Rickenbacker formed his own four-car racing team. The team won seven of thirteen major races in 1916.
His last race was in 1917; then he went into the service and became an ace fighter pilot. After the war, he formed the Rickenbacker Motor Company, which went bankrupt in 1927. Rickenbacker then raised $700,000 to buy the Indianapolis Speedway. He turned it into a modern track and managed to keep it operating through the Great Depression, then sold it to Tony Hulman for $750,000 in 1945.