Death arrived early at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Two years before the track hosted its first 500-mile event, five drivers and spectators were killed during inaugural races. Death has lingered around the oval ever since. Over the past century, fatalities have mounted and a total of seventy-three drivers, mechanics, and spectators have perished on the two-and-a-half-mile circuit.
The Last Lap chronicles one of the greatest Indy mysteries, the deaths of driver Pete Kreis and riding mechanic Bob Hahn in 1934. Piloting a front-drive race car in practice, Kreis crashed into the wall of Turn One, rode along the top of the retaining wall for seventy-five feet, and careened down an embankment at the south end of the oval. As the car smashed into a tree in the backyard of a nearby house, both men were killed.
The next year, an impromptu "coroner's jury" of Indy drivers and Speedway experts held an intense review of the accident, and they concluded that Kreis's demise was "the strangest death in all racing history," later implying that the accident may have been a suicide. That informal judgment appeared in a nationwide newspaper story that fueled more controversy and debate among Kreis's relatives, friends, and race fans.
Lifelong racing fan and acclaimed historical author, William Walker's (Betrayal at Little Gibraltar) search to solve the mystery surrounding Kreis's death has spanned three-quarters of a century and too many miles to count. Walker's fascination with the mysterious crash is driven by more than a love of racing-Kreis is a distant cousin.
The dynamic, nonfiction narrative is the result of a decades long quest in search of the truth--the real story of Pete Kreis, his colorful racing career, and his tragic death.
Walker, William: -
A native of Knoxville, Tennessee, William T. Walker Jr. grew up fascinated by automobiles, motor racing, and history. He was introduced to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the Indy 500 by the broadcasts of Sid Collins, grew fascinated by the careers of cousins Pete Kreis and Rex Mays, both Indy drivers, and read American and European history voraciously.
After graduating from the University of Virginia with a BA with High Honors (1966) and an MA in English (1967), Walker worked in higher education for more than forty years. For a decade, he taught composition and literature at Lamar University in Texas and later at the University of New Orleans, while continuing his studies at Tulane University.
Walker joined the administrative ranks of higher education in 1976. As associate vice president for public affairs, he developed and implemented comprehensive communications and marketing programs for Virginia Tech, Gettysburg College, and the College of William and Mary.
Since retiring in 2007, Walker has turned to an enduring love--researching and writing narrative nonfiction. His first book, Betrayal at Little Gibraltar, was published by Scribner in 2016. The history of a pivotal World War I battle, the volume has been cited extensively and led to a revised study of the event published by the US Army Office of Military History. He has also written articles for Military History Quarterly, USA Today, Washington Post, Seattle Times, Richmond Times-Dispatch, Houston Chronicle, Memphis Commercial Appeal, and other newspapers and journals.
Walker's second book, The Last Lap, traces the life and racing career of Pete Kreis, who competed in Indy Car and Formula 1 racing from 1925 until 1934. While conducting extensive research for this work, Walker drove the Formula 1 circuit at Monaco and the road course at Le Mans. He regrets that he has only circled the Indianapolis Speedway in a slow bus and harbors a faint hope that this book will lead to an opportunity to experience a fast lap or two at the Brickyard. He lives with his muse, wife, copyeditor, and proofreader, Jan LLewellyn Walker, in Staunton, Virginia, where he has served as vice-chair of the board of the Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library.
