Racing Special

The second driver/car combination to win the '500' in consecutive years came when Mauri Rose was first home in 1947 and 1948. His car was one of two Offenhauser-powered, Emil Diedt-built machines commissioned in late 1946 by former driver Lou Moore and underwritten by the Blue Crown Spark Plug Company. The car sat especially low because it employed front-wheel drive, a feature greatly favored by Moore for those occasions when the track would become slippery. Bill Holland, in the twin sister car, finished second to Rose in both years before winning himself in 1949.