Mauri Rose was an American racecar driver. He started from the pole position driving a Maserati in the 1941 Indianapolis 500, but spark plug problems put him out of the race after sixty laps. He then took over the Wetteroth/Offenhauser car being driven by Floyd Davis that had started in 17th place. Rose went on to win. In 1947 and 1948, Rose captured back-to-back Indy 500's driving one of the Deidt/Offenhauser Blue Crown Spark Plug Specials, owned and prepared by veteran driver/car owner Lou Moore. Late in the 1947 race, Rose found himself lying second to his rookie teammate, Bill Holland. But Holland, still unfamiliar with how to read the scoring pylon near the front straightaway, thought he had more than a lap lead on Rose, instead of just a few seconds. Rose closed on Holland and to his amazement, Holland gave way without a battle and even gave Rose a friendly wave as he went past on his way to victory. Holland was furious afterward. In 1949, with Holland leading and Rose again running second late in the race, Rose set out to overtake his now-veteran teammate. Rose ignored car owner Lou Moore's "EZ" signs from the pits and continued to push in pursuit of Holland. [More at Wikipedia]

May 26th, 1906 in Columbus  /  Died:   Jan 1st, 1981