hoses battling the garage fire apparently washed off the markings and the wheel was put on during the last pit stop. Mauri Rose, whose pole-winning Maserati dropped out early, took over teammate Floyd Davis's car on lap 72 and drove up through the pack to win. This was the second and last time to date that there were co-winners. 1942–1945: The Speedway is shut down for the duration of World War II—almost. Sometime in late autumn of 1944, Wilbur Shaw participates in a special tire test for Firestone at the track. He is dismayed by the condition of the facility, and, after talking to track owner Eddie Rickenbacker, sets out single-handedly to find a buyer to rejuvenate the speedway. On November 14, 1945, Tony Hulman purchases the track and begins a six-month crash renovation program to revive the 500-mile race in 1946. 1946: The first post-war '500' is a box-office smash, with massive traffic jams of spectators still entering the gates long after the race starts. Most of the race cars show the effects of sitting unused for almost five years, and mechanical attrition is extremely heavy. George Robson, driving a nine-year-old Thorne Engineering Special Sparks, survives the attrition to win by 44 seconds over rookie Jimmy Jackson. 1947: Mauri Rose and rookie teammate Bill Holland dominate the race in their twin Blue Crown Spark Plug Specials. Holland, who is well ahead in the late stages, obeys a pit signal to slow down and preserve the car for the finish. Rose gets the same signal, but continues to charge ahead and overtakes Holland with seven laps to go. Rose goes on to win, to the dismay of Holland, who thought he had been a lap ahead. A pre-race dispute between track management and a drivers association results in only 30 cars lining up on race day, instead of the usual 33. 1948: Rose and Holland repeat their one-two performance of the previous year, this time without the controversy. Ted Horn finishes fourth in Wilbur Shaw's old Maserati, completing a run of nine consecutive races in which he is fourth or better, although he never wins. 1949: After pole-sitter Duke Nalon crashes out spectacularly in the Novi, the race settles down to a repeat of 1947, only this time Bill Holland won't be caught napping. Mauri Rose tries to catch him anyway, but a broken magneto strap takes him out of