Indy restoration ace Bill Spoerle passes away

Bill Spoerle, longtime head of restoration for the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Foundation, died Nov. 4 at age 80. German-born Spoerle restored many of the cars in the speedway's Hall of Fame Museum, including the Miller that Louis Meyer drove to the first of his groundbreaking trio of Indy 500 wins in 1928.

After moving to the U.S., Spoerle became a race mechanic for Elmer George, son-in-law of IMS owner Tony Hulman. He became a restoration expert at the speedway in 1963.

"Bill's been keeping vintage and winning cars running at IMS since I've been coming to the track," said Parnelli Jones (LEFT, with Spoerle, far left). "I remember in 1961, my rookie year, Ray Harroun driving his 1911 "500" winning Wasp in the pre-race ceremonies. Fifty years later, in 2011 the Wasp was still running and I was lucky enough to drive it.

"Bill's done a good job keeping all those winning cars running, I can't tell you how many times I've driven my 1963 winner – it still runs and sounds like it did years ago. Bill was a master with vintage cars – he kept then running and looking good."

Added Bobby Unser: "Bill was the very first person I met at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in the late 1950s. I was in my 1957 Ford station wagon and drove up to the track, off of 16th Street, where the old tire building used to be, and I was just lost trying to find my way into the track. It was the very first time I'd ever been there. First person I saw was Bill and I told him I was Bobby Unser and Bill took time to tell me where things were and how to get to the garage area. I asked Bill if I could park my station wagon back by the building where he was working. Bill was kind enough to say yes.

"I slept in my car every night that May because back then I sure didn't have money for a room! I had an Army surplus blanket I'd sleep under and rolled up my clothes for a pillow and slept like a baby in the back of that station wagon. In the morning Bill would let me go into the little shop and clean up and brush my teeth.

"That was how I met Bill. A very kind man. He was always a pleasure to speak with and spend time with at the track. I'd look forward to seeing Bill each year and I'd drive my golf cart over to visit him. We always had a good time catching up. Bill loved racing, he loved working on cars and he sure loved Indianapolis Motor Speedway."