William John Vukovich III (August 31, 1963, Fresno, California

Fresno, California

Fresno is a city in central California, United States, the county seat of Fresno County. As of the 2010 census, the city's population was 510,365, making it the fifth largest city in California, the largest inland city in California, and the 34th largest in the nation...

, United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 - November 25, 1990 Bakersfield, California

Bakersfield, California

Bakersfield is a city near the southern end of the San Joaquin Valley in Kern County, California. It is roughly equidistant between Fresno and Los Angeles, to the north and south respectively....

, United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

), better known as Billy Vukovich III or Bill Vukovich III was an American race car driver. He was a three time starter of the Indianapolis 500

Indianapolis 500

The Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, also known as the Indianapolis 500, the 500 Miles at Indianapolis, the Indy 500 or The 500, is an American automobile race, held annually, typically on the last weekend in May at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana...

. The grandson of two-time Indianapolis 500 winner Bill Vukovich

Bill Vukovich

Bill Vukovich was a Serbian American automobile racing driver. He won the 1953 and 1954 Indianapolis 500 plus two more American Automobile Association National Championship races...

 and the son of Bill Vukovich II

Bill Vukovich II

William John Vukovich, Jr. , better known as Bill Vukovich II is a former driver in the championship car division of USAC and CART series....

, Vukovich III was the 1988 Indianapolis 500

1988 Indianapolis 500

The 72nd Indianapolis 500 was held Sunday May 29, 1988 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Team Penske dominated the month, sweeping the top three starting positions with Rick Mears winning the pole position, Danny Sullivan on the inside of the front row, and Al Unser, Sr. on the outside...

 Rookie of the Year. Billy was killed in a sprint car

Sprint car racing

Sprint cars are high-powered race cars designed primarily for the purpose of running on short oval or circular dirt or paved tracks. Sprint car racing is popular in the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa....

 race at Mesa Marin Raceway

Mesa Marin Raceway

Mesa Marin Raceway was a NASCAR affiliated oval racetrack located in Bakersfield, California from 1977 until 2005. It was leveled in the fall of 2005 after being sold to developers....

 in Bakersfield, California

Bakersfield, California

Bakersfield is a city near the southern end of the San Joaquin Valley in Kern County, California. It is roughly equidistant between Fresno and Los Angeles, to the north and south respectively....

, in 1990.

His grandfather was killed while leading the 1955 Indianapolis 500

1955 Indianapolis 500

The 1955 Indianapolis 500 was an automobile race held on Monday, May 30, 1955 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The event was the third round of the 1955 World Drivers' Championship...

.

He got his start in racing driving for the John Runjavac racing team.

American open–wheel results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position)

CART/Indy Car

Year	Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	Rank	Points
1988	Gohr Racing	PHX 11	LBH	IND 14	MIL	POR	CLE	TOR	MEA	MIS 17	POC 9	MDO	ROA	NAZ	LAG	MIA		30th	6
1989	Hemelgarn Racing Hemelgarn Racing Hemelgarn Racing was a racing team in the Indy Racing League owned by Ron Hemelgarn. The team won the 1996 Indianapolis 500 and 2000 Series Championship with driver Buddy Lazier. Along with A.J...	PHX	LBH	IND 12	MIL	DET	POR	CLE	MEA	TOR	MIS	POC	MDO	ROA	NAZ	LAG		34th	1
1990	Hemelgarn Racing Hemelgarn Racing Hemelgarn Racing was a racing team in the Indy Racing League owned by Ron Hemelgarn. The team won the 1996 Indianapolis 500 and 2000 Series Championship with driver Buddy Lazier. Along with A.J...	PHX	LBH	IND 24	MIL	DET	POR	CLE	MEA	TOR	MIS 13	DEN	VAN	MDO	ROA	NAZ	LAG	34th	0

Indy 500 results

EWLINE Year Car Start Qual Rank Finish Laps Led Retired 1988 1988 Indianapolis 500 The 72nd Indianapolis 500 was held Sunday May 29, 1988 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Team Penske dominated the month, sweeping the top three starting positions with Rick Mears winning the pole position, Danny Sullivan on the inside of the front row, and Al Unser, Sr. on the outside... 56 23 208.545 20 14 179 0 Flagged 1989 1989 Indianapolis 500 The 73rd Indianapolis 500 was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Sunday, May 28, 1989. Emerson Fittipaldi became the first foreign winner of the race since 1966. Though Fittipaldi dominated most of the race, he dropped to second in the waning laps. On the 199th lap, Al Unser, Jr. was... 81 30 216.698 13 12 186 0 Flagged 1990 1990 Indianapolis 500 The 74th Indianapolis 500 was held at Indianapolis on Sunday, May 27, 1990. Arie Luyendyk took the lead with 32 laps to go, and earned his first-ever victory in championship-level competition... 81 31 211.389 32 24 102 0 Engine Totals 467 0

EWLINE Starts 3 Poles 0 Front Row 0 Wins 0 Top 5 0 Top 10 0 Retired 1

External links