| Louis Meyer | |||||||
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.jpg) Meyer in 1928 | |||||||
| Born | Louis Meyer (1904-07-21)July 21, 1904 Yonkers, New York, U.S. | ||||||
| Died | October 7, 1995(1995-10-07) (aged 91) Searchlight, Nevada, U.S. | ||||||
| Championship titles | |||||||
| AAAChampionship Car (1928,1929,1933) Major victories Indianapolis 500 (1928,1933,1936) | |||||||
| Champ Car career | |||||||
| 33 races run over 14 years | |||||||
| Best finish | 1st (1928,1929,1933) | ||||||
| First race | 1926 50-mile Semi-Final (Charlotte) | ||||||
| Last race | 1939Indianapolis 500 (Indianapolis) | ||||||
| First win | 1928Indianapolis 500 (Indianapolis) | ||||||
| Last win | 1936Indianapolis 500 (Indianapolis) | ||||||
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Louis Meyer (July 21, 1904 – October 7, 1995) was an Americanracing driver who was the first three-time winner of theIndianapolis 500. He is generally regarded as one of the finest racers of his generation. Meyer is perhaps best known as the driver who started thetradition of drinking milk after winning the Indianapolis 500.
Meyer was born inYonkers, New York on July 21, 1904, the son ofFrench immigrants. Meyer was raised inLos Angeles, where he began automobile racing at variousCalifornia tracks.
Early in his career, Meyer helped prepare theMiller driven byFrank Elliott in 1926,destroking the engine to bring it within the91+1⁄2 cu in (1,499 cc)displacement limit permitted by the rules.[1] Meyer went with the car when it was sold in 1927 toFred Holliday (ofHolliday Steel Company) as theJynx Special (a morbidly ironic name, sinceJimmy Murphy had been killed in it in 1924).[1] He would be mechanic forWilbur Shaw in theIndianapolis 500 that year.[1] Meyer also served as co-driver, taking the car from seventh place up to sixth.[1]
In 1928,Phil Shafer's intended Miller entry went up for sale, andAlden Sampson bought the car for Meyer.[1] Meyer passed the rookie test, qualified thirteenth, and took the lead on Lap 181; he won by a margin of 25 seconds, at an average speed of 99.5 mph (160.1 km/h).[1] The same year, Meyer won a 200 mi (320 km) event at the1+1⁄2 mi (2.4 km)board track atAltoona, Pennsylvania, at an average speed of 117.02 mph (188.33 km/h), in aStutz-Miller.[1] He earned consistent points finishes to make himAAA's National Champion.[2] He would claim the title again in 1929 and 1933.[2]
At the1929 Indianapolis 500,Ray Keech beat Meyer, only to be killed at Altoona two weeks later, the season's second 200 mi (320 km) event there, which Meyer won, averaging 110 mph (180 km/h).[1]
Meyer managed only fourth place at the1930 Indianapolis 500, and theGreat Depression curtailed racing.[1] That, plus the closure of many board tracks as unsafe, led Meyer to concentrate more ondirt track racing.[1]
In1933's 500, at the wheel of theTydol Special Miller, Meyer took the lead on Lap 129. Meyer steadily increased his lead from there, until he was fully four laps up on the field by the checkered flag. Despite lifting later in the race, Meyer's race average, 104.16 mph (167.63 km/h), was still a record.[1] By winning his second 500, he joined a fairly exclusive club. Meyer started the tradition of drinkingmilk (buttermilk at the time) in victory lane that year, when he drank a glass.[3] Following his1936 victory, he drank from a glassmilk bottle instead, as most race winners have done since.[4]
Meyer followed his success in 1935, forming Champion Drivers, Inc., to promote racing, along with nine other top racers.[1]
He had a successful 1936 season, winning at Altoona, placing second at the difficultAscot track, and winning histhird Indianapolis 500 (in theRing Free Special Miller, at an average speed of 109.1 mph (175.6 km/h).[1]
Following the suggestion of former race winner,Tommy Milton, that year he became the first driver to receive thePace Car as part of the race winnings.[citation needed]
Meyer came close to winning a (then-record) fourth 500 in 1939, in theBowes Seal Fast Special Miller. Battling Shaw with just four laps to go, Meyer lost control and spun; while unhurt, Meyer's race was lost.[1][5] He sold the Miller toRex Mays the next year, going back to becoming a mechanic—or, rather an engine builder: he went into partnership withDale Drake, taking overOffenhauser's engine plant.[1] Meyer-Drake Offys would dominate Indianapolis for most of the next two decades, powering every winner until 1968.[1]
Meyer joinedFord in 1964, and through worked on development of the Ford V8, which powered four 500 winners in that time.[1]
Meyer's wife June did not even know he was racing in the1928 Indianapolis 500. Earlier in the day she was inPennsylvania picking up a wrecked car and after that went to see her brother-in-law Eddie Meyer race inReading. She found out about her husband's victory after the track announcer in Reading asked the crowd to give a big hand to Eddie Meyer, the brother of the Indianapolis 500 winner.
Meyer died on October 7, 1995, inSearchlight, Nevada, aged 91, where he had been living in retirement since 1972.[6] He was interred atInglewood Park Cemetery inInglewood, California.
Meyer's son LouisSonny Meyer Jr. assisted him in engine work at his race shops, and worked on the various DOHC Ford engines in USAC racing, including building 15 Indianapolis 500-winning engines. Grandson Louis III "Butch" builtOldsmobile Aurora engines for Team Menard inIndy Racing League IndyCar Series competition, winning the 1996-97 (18-month season) and 1999 championships before becoming theIndy Pro Series (nowIndy Lights) director.[7]
Meyer has been inducted into the following halls of fame:
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| Preceded by | Indianapolis 500 Winner 1928 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Indianapolis 500 Winner 1933 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Indianapolis 500 Winner 1936 | Succeeded by |
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