Shaw, Wilbur (Warren Wilbur)
Auto Racing
b. Oct. 13, 1902, Shelbyville, IND
d. Oct. 30, 1954
Shaw became famous in the Midwest by running countless dirt and board track races, winning a lot of them. After suffering a fractured skull in 1923, he began using a crash helmet. Other drivers were scornful but, after Shaw survived when he was thrown from his car and landed squarely on his head, helmets were made mandatory.
In 1936, Shaw was co-owner of his Indy 500 entry, the "Pay Car." He placed seventh that year but won the race in 1937. Then he went to Europe to compete and discovered the Maserati. He brought one back and won the Indy 500 twice more, in 1939 and 1940, becoming the first driver to win the race twice in a row. He was in the lead after five laps in 1941 when the wheel hub broke and he fractured three vertebrae in the crash. That and World War II ended his career as a driver.
After the war, Shaw persuaded Tony Hulman to buy the Indianapolis Speedway to keep it from being demolished for industrial development. Shaw himself became president and general manager and oversaw the track's rejuvenation. He was killed in a private plane crash.