The Grim Death of Rex Mays

I was compelled to scan this article from Life Magazine, the November 21, 1949 issue, photo-documenting the tragic racing death of skilled and beloved driver Rex Mays. We often forget how very common fatalities were in auto racing all the way up till the 1960s when more comprehensive safety standards were enforced. Rex was a legend at Indy  from 1934 – 1949 (taking pole position 4 times, finishing in 2nd place twice, but never won it). The Southern California local was entered in the final AAA championship race of 1949, a 100 miler at Del Mar’s horse track. It was to be the first Indy car race in Southern California since 1934, when Cavino Michele “Kelly” Petillo won a 200-mile race at Mines Field, which is now the site of Los Angeles International Airport.

Mays started in the front row at Del Mar with a qualifying lap of 95.54 m.p.h, right along side Jimmy Davies. Tony Bettenhausen and Johnnie Parsons (who had already locked the national championship for that year), were in the second row, and one more row back was Troy Ruttman and Johnny Mantz. A crowd of 14,000 watched as Davies immediately jumped into the lead that he would hold throughout the entire 100 miles, with Mays right behind, running in Davies’ trail of dust. On the 13th lap, Mays’ “Wolfe Special” caught a rut and flipped, throwing him from the car. Rex, who adamantly refused to wear a seat belt, had been thrown out onto the middle of the track. Eyewitnesses watched as several cars nearly missed and hit Mays while he was lying prone on the ground, but physicians attributed his death to a broken neck, likely caused when he hit the ground head first. His tragic death, just over a year after that of fellow Hall of Fame driver, Ted Horn, convinced their fellow racers that seatbelts were indeed a vital safety item.