VIDEO: Robin Miller's Tough Guys - 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. 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. Afterward, as big money took over the Speedway he and son Tom were content to build components until Bill's death in 1998.