RACER: Robin Miller on Mike Mosley

Mike Mosley may have been the least known, most respected IndyCar driver of the 1970s – partly by choice and partly by circumstances.

Shy, humble and slight of build, Mose didn't look formidable until he was at speed and few were better on ovals. He won three times at Milwaukee, once at Phoenix and once at Trenton during his 16-year career but was more or less cursed at Indianapolis. After charging from 16th to first in a four-year-old car in 1972, the right rear tire came off and sent him into the fourth turn wall. It was the second straight May a car failure had caused a nasty accident and it took away some of his zest for driving.

But it impressed his competition and Gary Bettenhausen said: "If Mosley ever gets in a McLaren we'll all be running for second place."

Twice, once at Phoenix and once at Milwaukee, the California native stormed from last to first – the latter in 1981 to score Dan Gurney's final IndyCar triumph.

He lost his life in a highway accident in 1984 at the age of 38.​