The men who race the cars are generally small, with a tight, nervous look. They range from the early 20s to the middle 40s, and it is usually their nerves that go first.
Fear is the drivers constant companion, and tragedy can be just a step behind. Scarcely
a man in the 500 does not carry the scars of ancient crashes. The mark of the plastic surgeon is everywhere, and burned skin is common. Sometimes a drivers scars are invisible, part of his heritage. Two young drivers, Billy Vukovich and Gary Bettenhausen, raced in their first 500 in 1968. Less than 20 years before, their fathers also competed against one another on the Indy trackand died there.
All this the drivers accept. Over the years, they have learned to trust their own techniques, reflexes, and courage. They depend, too, on a trusted servantscientific engineering. Though they may not have had a great deal of schooling (an exception is New Zealands Bruce McLaren, who has an engineering
degree), many drivers are gifted mechanics, with a feeling for their engines that amount to kinship.
A few top drivers have become extremely wealthy, with six-figure incomes from prize money, endorsements, and jobs with auto-product manufacturers. Some have businesses of their own. McLaren designs racing chassis (底盘). Dan Gurneys California factory manufactured the chassis of three of the first four ears in the 1968 Indy 500, including his own second place car.
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