Bill Vukovich Jr. connects with his father's legend

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It was one of those cool moments where the past and present intersect, as Bill Vukovich Jr. finally sat in his father's 1953-winning car at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum.

"I always found a reason not to do it because I get pretty emotional," said the 69-year-son of the two-time Indianapolis 500 winner who lost his life in 1955 going for three in a row. "But I'm glad I finally did it. My dad was the best that ever ran this joint and it felt special to sit in his car after all these years."

The Kurtis-Kraft roadster, owned by Howard Keck and maintained by Jim Travers and Frank Koon, was called the Fuel Injection Special. In Vuky's talented hands, it was out in front for 435 laps in 1952-'53-'54. A broken steering arm robbed him of victory in '52 with eight laps left before he won back to back.

"Can you imagine winning Indy four years in a row?" said Vukovich, who finished second (1973) and third (1974) during his dozen starts at Indianapolis from 1968 to 1980. "I'm not sure what it was but my dad and this place just clicked."

Vuky's misfortune in '52 opened the door for Troy Ruttman to win and his daughter, Toddy (below, with yours truly), climbed in her father's car (which sits right alongside Vuky's) for the first time on Tuesday.

"It's hard to imagine how my dad fit in this car, he was so big," she exclaimed. "I've got a lot of pictures of this car and my dad waving after taking the checkered flag. This is very cool."

As well as historic, if not cathartic.

"For Bill, there were so many emotional connections with this track and that car," said Bob Gates, the author of "Vukovich" and "California Gold" (Ruttman's biography). "For a long time he'd tear up going down the backstretch where his dad died and even the last time he was on the track for an exhibition lap.

"But, when he finally got in the car, he lit up and had a big smile. It was a special moment."