Joe Russo
This endeavor is as unusual and worthy as the book that inspired it. The book is entitled Racers at Rest, a history assembled by National Sprint Car Hall of Fame inductee Buzz Rose, a well-traveled driver enshrined for his tireless effort to document the sport’s past. Racers at Rest documents the 1,500 drivers and riding mechanics who were killed in American open-wheel racing from 1905 through 2008. Rose also included photos of headstones at the racers’ gravesites in his book.
Very surprisingly, 35 of those resting places lacked any marking whatsoever. This photo illustrates perhaps the strangest case of all. Joe Russo was thrown from his car and killed in 1934 at the deadly dirt mile in Langhorne, Pennsylvania. His widow then married the accomplished Billy Winn, who died in 1938 after being hurled into the treetops when his car flipped on the mile at Springfield, Illinois. Winn and Russo (his brother, Paul, was a hall of fame driver in Midget cars) are interred side by side at Mount Olivet Cemetery in Detroit, neither grave being marked. We learned that from Don Tash, one of four volunteers organizing a non-profit foundation, called Racers at Rest, to fund markers for these racers’ graves through donations. A PDF newsletter with full information is available by sending an e-mail to racersatrest@gmail.com with “subscribe” in the subject line. You can also send a check to the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame, P.O. Box 542, Knoxville, Iowa 50138 and note “Racers at Rest” on the check memo line.
Billy Winn