Robert Charles Sweikert (May 20, 1926 – June 17, 1956) was an American racing driver, best known as the winner of the 1955 Indianapolis 500 and the 1955 National Championship, as well as the 1955 Midwest Sprint car championship - the only driver in history to sweep all three in a single season. Sweikert was born in Los Angeles, California. His "Indy 500" win was over-shadowed by the fatal crash of two-time winner Bill Vukovich during the race earlier that day. Sweikert finished sixth at Indianapolis the following May, but then died weeks later, at age 30, in 1956 after crashing a Sprint car at Salem Speedway. Personal life Bob Sweikert grew up in pre-war Los Angeles. His mother had married his stepfather, an electrician for the state of California, when Bob was an infant. Bob was raised through his early teen years with his older stepbrother, Ed, who enlisted in the US Navy, and then soon died in 1942, at the onset of World War II. That year the family moved briefly to San Francisco, then across the bay to the rural town of Hayward, California. There in high school Bob met his future wife, Dorie. From age 16 Sweikert worked after school as a mechanic at the local Ford dealership in Hayward. A naturally gifted mechanic, he frequently won street races throughout the East Bay. One of his frequent local competitors on the streets was Ed Elisian, a teenage boy from nearby Oakland, California. A dozen years later, Elisian and Sweikert were engaged in the racing duel that led to Sweikert's fatal crash at Salem Speedway. In late 1944, Sweikert enrolled in the US Army Air Force, but suffered a severe knee injury while training at Lowry Field in Colorado. With months to heal and the war over, he was honorably discharged in September 1945. In 1947, Sweikert met his first wife, Marion Edwards, at a party at UCLA. During 1947 Sweikert began mailing monthly accounts of his life to Veda Orr, through April 1956. Karl & Veda Orr built & operated their own race cars. Veda wrote many racing articles. Sweikert returned to Hayward and opened his own small business, Sweikert Automotive, an automotive repair shop based out of his parents' garage. There over the next couple years, he built his own track roadster. On Memorial Day, May 26, 1947 Sweikert ran his first race for prize