IndyCar: Robin Miller on Bill Finley

Bill Finley was one of the last, great chief mechanics at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway because he could do it all -- weld, fabricate, build engines, assemble gearboxes and repair anything.
The L.A. native came to IMS in the early '60s with Jimmy Daywalt before starting his own team in 1966 with Greek shipper Tassi Vatis.
Finley gave Gary Congdon, Sammy Sessions, Wally Dallenbach, Bentley Warren, Sam Posey, John Hubbard and Johnny Parsons their starts at Indy but his defining moment came in 1974.
That's when Parsons qualified a car Finley built from the ground-up in his little garage on the westside of Indianapolis. It was part Finley design and part Dan Gurney Eagle so it was called the Fleagle and it was a great example of American ingenuity and hard work since Bill and two helpers did all the work.
Finley's last Indy 500 was in 1979 and then as big money took over the Speedway he and son Tom were content to build components until Bill's death in 1998.

Subscribe to The Racer Channel here:
http://www.youtube.com/theracerchanne...
Visit The RACER Channel for more video:
   / theracerchannel  

Connect with RACER Online:
Visit RACER.com for daily racing news: http://www.racer.com
RACER on Facebook:   / racermagazine  
RACER on Twitter:   / racermag