Mauri Rose

Maurice "Mauri" Rose (May 26, 1906 Columbus, Ohio – January 1, 1981 Royal Oak, Michigan) 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.

Indianapolis 500

The Indianapolis 500 presented by PennGrade Motor Oil is an automobile race held annually at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana, an enclave suburb of Indianapolis, Indiana. The event is held over Memorial Day weekend, which is typically the last weekend in May. It is contested as part of the Verizon IndyCar Series, the top level of American Championship Car racing, an open-wheel formula colloquially known as "Indy Car Racing".

The event, billed as The Greatest Spectacle in Racing, is considered part of the Triple Crown of Motorsport, which comprises three of the most prestigious motorsports events in the world. The official attendance is not disclosed by Speedway management, but the permanent seating capacity is upwards of 250,000, and infield patrons raise the race-day attendance to approximately 300,000.

The inaugural running was won by Ray Harroun in 1911. The race celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2011, and the 100th running will be held in 2016. Juan Pablo Montoya is the defending champion. The most successful drivers are A. J. Foyt, Al Unser, and Rick Mears, each of whom have won the race four times. Rick Mears holds the record for most career pole positions with six. The most successful car owner is Roger Penske, owner of Team Penske, which has 16 total wins and 17 poles.

Mauri

Mauri may refer to:

Name

Given name

Floyd Davis

Floyd Eldon Davis (March 5, 1909, in Oakford, Illinois – May 31, 1977, in Indianapolis, Indiana) was the co-winner of the 1941 Indianapolis 500.

Floyd Davis drove the first 72 laps of the 1941 race before being replaced by Mauri Rose, who completed the race in the lead.

He is buried at Crown Hill Cemetery in Indianapolis (Section 53 Lot 320).

In the 1941 Indianapolis 500, Floyd Davis had been driving the Noc-Out Hose Clamp car for sixty laps, moving from 17th to 12th place when team mate Mauri Rose, the pole sitter, began experiencing problems with his car, the Elgin Piston Pin. The films show that he wasn’t too happy when at lap 72, team owner Lou Moore pulled Davis from his car and replaced him with Rose. “I was ready to go into the lead when they called me in,” he later joked.

That is exactly though what Rose did do, winning the first of his three 500 championships, and earning Davis an asterisk in the history books as a co-winner, despite the fact that he never led a single lap in any of his races. And though Davis received a 50-50 split of the prize money, he never drove in another 500, some say because of his disgust in having been relieved. His serving in the U.S. Navy during World War II might also have had something to do with his leaving racing.