#eli vukovich

[jackbeauregards]

Fun Facts About My Grandpa, Mack McCoy

Was a good friend of Roy Disney

Ran moonshine during prohibition when he was 9/10 years old

Lived in an old farmhouse without running water until his late 20's.

Was classified 4F during the war, so he joined the Forest Service. The Forest Service was used to build roads and fight forest fires. Ever see a movie where fire fighters parachute out of air planes into the middle of burning forests? That's what he did during the first half of the 40's.

While he was in the Forest Service he met and became lifelong friends with a young man named Francis McCown, who would later be known as the actor Rory Calhoun. (My dad tells a story of meeting his dad's friend "Frank" sometime around 1966. Frank was in town to pick up a new car from the Ford dealership and also wanted to take my grandpa out to lunch. My dad tagged along. Boy, was my dad surprised when Frank turned out to be the guy from the western movies.)

He built engines and chassis for Indy cars, Sprint cars and Midgets. His work was said to be very high quality and because of this he became well known in racing circles.

After 2 years of building cars he started racing. They say he was fast, especially in midgets. One quote I've heard about him, "If Mack passes you, that's it. You won't be able to get in front of him."

AJ Foyt had a bad habit of physically fighting anyone who beat him. When he tangled with my grandpa though, he regretted it.

One of the cars that my grandpa built was used in the Clark Gable movie To Please A Lady (1950). It can be seen in the first race sequence around 9 minutes in. It is car #36 with the square grille and "M" insignia. He never knew that his car was used in a movie, but he would have been honored.

Among the racers that have driven his cars are Bill and Eli Vukovich, Parnelli Jones and Bobby Unser.

He retired from racing and became a mechanic for a Ford dealership around 1960 because his wife requested that he change careers. He never really talked about racing ever again after that.

He was also a rodeo rider for a time in the 1930's and 40's.

Also among his well known friends were Henry Hull and Arthur Hunnicut, but I don't know how he met them.

That's all I can really remember at the moment. I'll probably update this later as I learn more. Bonus Facts:

Bill and Eli Vukovich and Parnelli Jones (who went by the name Rufus) used to spend weekends at my family's house when they were racing near town. They used to get drunk on cheap beer, start good natured fist fights and break up my grandmother's furniture. But they never failed to replace the broken coffee tables and chairs.

Bill Vukovich was at my family's house for dinner just two weeks before his fatal crash at Indianapolis on May 30 1955