Pole Position – Rex Mays
By Bob Schilling
Rex Mays was a true American racing hero, a two-time AAA Indycar National Champion, a five-time AAA Sprint Car Champion and a four-time pole winner at Indianapolis. Blessed with a hero’s name, he was as good a man as he was a racing driver, with no vices beyond his profession and respected by friend and foe alike.
Beyond chronicling the life of Rex Mays, man and racing driver, this book vividly portrays an era when American life was much less complicated than it is today. It was a time before television and the Internet, when fame spread more slowly, unaided by the instant electronic communication that dominates the modern world. By telling the compelling story that was the life of Rex Mays, Schilling explains how and why the man managed to become a hero to so many.
This book has been an enduring project for its author, who first began researching the subject for his Masters degree thesis at the University of Southern California a quarter century ago. That his dream has now come fully to fruition is good news for all of us. Available for $100 at enthusiast bookstores or direct by mail from Racing Classics, P.O. Box 10561, Glendale, AZ 83518-0561, (623) 566-5578.
