years death_date death_place championships birth_place races nationality points birth_date wins poles article_title name podiums
1954 -- 1958 30 august 1959 milwaukee , wisconsin , u.s. 0 oakland , california , california , u.s. 5 usa american 0 09 december 1926 0 0 ed elisian
 ed elisian 0
ed elisian

ed elisian -lrb- born edward gulbeng eliseian ; december 9 , 1926 oakland , california -- august 30 , 1959 milwaukee , wisconsin -rrb- was an american racing driver , mainly competing in the national championship .
he died in a crash at the milwaukee mile .
in the 1955 indianapolis 500 , he stopped his car in a futile attempt to help bill vukovich when vukovich 's car crashed and burned during the race .
he is one of only two drivers in indy 500 history to stop a non-damaged car to help another driver , the other being gary bettenhausen .
he received a sportsmanship award for his efforts , as well as the wrath of the car owner .
in june 1956 , elisian was engaging in a wheel-to-wheel duel with bob sweikert , who had won the race in which vukovich was killed , in a sprint car race at salem speedway when sweikert made contact with the rail , overleapt it and rolled over outside of the track , suffering fatal skull injuries .
elisian was exonerated as no collision had taken place .
in the 1958 indianapolis 500 , dick rathmann and elisian started the race on the front row , with jimmy reece on the outside of the front row .
elisian spun in turn 3 of the first lap , and collected rathmann , sending them both into the wall , and starting a 15-car pileup .
according to a. j. foyt , pat o'connor 's car hit reece 's car , sailed fifty feet in the air , landed upside down , and burst into flames .
although medical officials said that o'connor was probably killed instantly from a fractured skull , he was incinerated in the accident , in full view of fans and drivers .
widely blamed for the accident , elisian was suspended by usac -lrb- reinstated a few days later -rrb- , and was shunned by the racing community .
rumors spread that elisian tried to lead the first lap in order to pay gambling debts owed to a syndicate .
in june 1958 , elisian collided with jim davis in a sprint car race at new bremen speedway in auglaize county , ohio .
after davis had run over one of the wheels of elisian 's spinning car when trying to pass him at the south turn , both cars flipped over and slid down the track .
elisian sustained minor injuries , but davis , who suffered a skull fracture and chest injuries , died at memorial hospital in st. marys , ohio .
while absolved of blame in the incident , elisian 's unpopularity with drivers deepened .
in september 1958 , elisian was suspended for being charged with passing fraudulent checks among other things , but reinstated as of end of may 1959 .
in august 1959 , elisian entered the usac indy car race at the `` milwaukee mile , '' known in those days as wisconsin state fair park .
driving a metallic green watson-style roadster owned by ernie ruiz , he crashed on lap 29 when he spun in oil from a. j. foyt 's engine .
the car hit the wall , rupturing the fuel cell , and rolled over .
some sixty gallons of fuel caught fire , and took over nine minutes to extinguish .
the crash claimed the life of elisian .
