1955 was a savage year. 
Larry Crockett and Mike Nazaruk perished in sprint cars in the early spring. At Indianapolis in May, Manny Ayulo died practicing, while the iconic Bill Vukovich was killed on race day.
Only days before Vuky’s high-profile accident, the great Alberto Ascari died in Italy, and days after, more than 80 died at Le Mans when a Mercedes exploded and scythed through a spectator area.
Those gathered at the season-ending AAA Championship Car race at Phoenix on Nov. 6, still stunned from the latest death, Jerry Hoyt in Bob Sweikert’s sprinter, wanted little more than to put this last race behind them and move on to 1956. 
Jack McGrath, especially, looked forward to a new season. Though an era super-star, he had fallen short of the goal he most longed for, a win at Indianapolis. However, he had come to an agreement with Vuky’s extraordinary mechanics, the “Whiz Kids,” Jim Travers and Frank Coon, to take his best friend’s place at Indianapolis. 
“We believed,” stated Jim Travers, “that with McGrath’s talent and our expertise, we would be a formidable team.”
Others agreed, many, even then, predicting an Indy victory for McGrath in 1956. 
McGrath served as his own mechanic on the lemon yellow, Jack Hinkle Special. Buoyed by a sense of optimism, he worked beneath the warm Arizona sun, letting his labor serve as a soothing balm for a year of dying.  
He qualified third for the 100-mile race, and was leading by lap 16. For the next 60 miles McGrath dueled hard with Jimmy Bryan and Johnny Thompson, the trio continually swapping the top three spots. 
McGrath, though, was obviously struggling. Wrestling the car. Bouncing its tail off the fence. Suddenly, on lap 80, the car’s front end dug into the track and flipped violently. McGrath, a staunch safety advocate, was wearing one of the new jet-fighter style helmets. It was hurled off on the first bounce, and the 38 year-old Californian died instantly.
Later it was determined the front axle had snapped. Ironically, McGrath had considered making a routine change of the axle prior to the race, but learning Hinkle had sold the car, decided against it.
American racing lost one of its best that day, and nearly didn’t recover from the deadly season.
The AAA, American racing’s sanctioning body nearly from the beginning, had announced that they were pulling out of racing because of the adverse publicity. McGrath’s death confirmed the wisdom of their decision.
Only quick action by Tony Hulman, who initiated the formation of USAC, enabled Indy-car racing to continue on into 1956, and to this day.