Eddie Sachs

This attached article is so prophetic it is almost tragic. It was written by Larry Merchant and published by the Saturday Evening Post in 1962. The grim irony is it focuses on the risks of Eddie Sachs and the race against death and time he was involved with. Sachs was killed on the second lap of the 1964 Indianapolis 500. As for the article, the word "haunted" in its title is uncanny given that Eddie would lose his life almost exactly two years later. Regardless, it does a good job of summarizing the career of a truly passionate man who got where he did - the top tier of Indianapolis 500 drivers - through determination and perseverance, certainly not with an excessive amount of talent or financial backing. What success he enjoyed was hard earned and one of the saddest realities is that he is best know for dying in the greatest conflagration in the storied history of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. But for a just a few laps-worth more of rubber coating on a single tire he could have been an Indianapolis 500 Mile Race winner instead of the runner-up in 1961. A two-time Indy pole winner he, like Scott Brayton years later was a classic Brickyard driver.
 
The article also gives the reader a sense of the romance of what the Indianapolis 500 was in those wonderful days prior to out-of-control aero, wind tunnels, computer aided design and "spec" cars. It chronicles the intense preparation throughout the month of May and alludes to the battle that was waged to simply make the race. It was an era where as many cars failed to qualify as the 33 who "made the show." The entertainment value was delicious and rich - and so much of it was because of characters like Eddie Sachs.