He was born on October 31, 1902 in Shelbyville, Indiana, United States, the son of James Oliver Shaw, a policeman in Shelbyville and later an insurance salesman in a nearby town, and Mary King Shaw. After his parents divorced, Shaw and his elder sister lived in Indianapolis with their mother, who married Charles Morgan, a plumber, in 1914. The family moved to Alabama; but in 1916 they returned to Indianapolis
Shaw left the Arsenal Technical High School to become an apprentice to Morgan.
During a visit with his father in Detroit, Shaw worked for a company that made storage batteries. He returned to Indianapolis when his sister died suddenly in 1918, and while there he was introduced to Bill Hunt, a racing-car builder and driver who also owned the Speedway Engineering Company.
Shaw began working for Hunt, who taught him to be an automobile mechanic and inspired his desire to race. Shaw worked for Hunt by day and bartered with other mechanics at night, offering his automotive skills in exchange for spare parts with which he built his own racing car, the "Imperial Special. " When the flimsy car was barred from the Hoosier Motor Speedway as a safety hazard, Shaw turned to competition at small-time dirt tracks and soon became a popular racer in the Midwest. In 1924 he won the National Light Car Championship.
Two years later, as a member of the Automobile Association of America (AAA), which sanctioned major races and certified drivers, he began participating in important races at major tracks. In 1927, when Shaw was only twenty-five years old, he finished fourth in the most prestigious American automobile race, the Indianapolis 500. He won $3, 500 and established his credentials as a racing star.
Shortly thereafter, however, he retired temporarily after the death of his wife in childbirth. When he resumed his career in 1928 bad luck haunted him - his car caught fire in a race at Daytona Beach, Fla. , and he had to drive into the ocean to save himself, and later that year engine trouble forced him to leave the Indianapolis 500. Financial pressure compelled Shaw to compete at tracks not sanctioned by the AAA, and as a result the association declared him ineligible to race at Indianapolis in 1929. He began winning other major races, however, and finished third that year in the point standing that determined the national driving championship.
The AAA restored Shaw's eligibility in 1930, but he failed to win at Indianapolis. Mechanical breakdowns handicapped him at the speedway, although he repeatedly escaped serious injury. In the 1931 Indianapolis 500 his car jumped a retaining wall and a horrified crowd believed that it had witnessed Shaw's death, but miraculously he survived.
Shaw won his first Indianapolis 500 in 1937. Driving a car he built himself, the "Gilmore Special, " he averaged 113. 5 miles per hour. He also won the national championship that year. In 1938 he finished second, but a year later he won his second national championship and another Indianapolis 500, in a Maserati that averaged 115. 0 miles per hour. Shaw's third Indianapolis win came in 1940, when he drove his Maserati an average of 114. 2 miles per hour. He almost won a fourth time in 1941, but a rear wheel broke and his car hurtled into a wall. Shaw received minor back injuries. Automobile racing was suspended during World War II, and the 1941 race was Shaw's last. At Indianapolis he had driven 5, 160 miles in competition, winning three races and finishing second in 1933, 1935, and 1938, fourth in 1927, and seventh in 1936.
During the war Shaw worked for the Firestone Tire and Rubber Company as an aviation manager and liaison to the United States Air Force. In 1945 he persuaded Anton Hulman, Jr. , to buy and restore the Indianapolis Speedway, which had fallen into disrepair during the war. Shaw was appointed president and general manager of the renovated facility.
After testing a new Chrysler Corporation car in Detroit, Shaw was killed when the small plane in which he was flying crashed in a cornfield near Peterson, Indiana.
Wilbur Shaw won three national championships and three Indianapolis 500. His winnings, totaling $91, 300, set a track record at the time. He introduced the crash helmet to American racing, an innovation that the AAA soon made mandatory. He was president of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and his prestige helped to revive the Indianapolis 500 as a major national sports event after the war. He was named to the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame in 1990. He was inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame in 1991. Shaw was inducted in the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in 1991.
Never known for his modesty, Shaw always admitted to being the best racing driver and reveled in his reputation as an all-around sportsman. Now acknowledged as "Mr. Auto-Racing, " he enjoyed publicizing his favorite sport by writing and speaking about his exploits. He was an articulate, attractive speaker, still handsome and sporting the thin moustache that was his trademark during his long racing career.
In 1926 Shaw married Beatrice Patrick, whom he called his "blonde Irish Madonna. " She died in childbirth, Later he married Cathleen Stearns in 1929; they had one son.
