Ray Harroun

By 1910, Ray Harroun was probably the most successful race driver in America, though there was not yet a formal championship, and delayed his planned retirement by a year to compete in the first Indianapolis 500.

Harroun's favorite car was the Marmon Wasp, which he helped design and drove to victory in the 1911 race. After retiring from driving, Harroun led the Maxwell racing team and designed Maxwell passenger cars. He started his own car company, Harroun Motors Corp, but it struggled financially and only lasted a few years.

Harroun lived to be nearly 90, and at 82 drove his Marmon around the Indianapolis track one last time before the start of the 1961 race to mark the 50th anniversary of the Indianapolis 500. He died in 1968.