© 1995, 1996,1997, 1998, 1999, 2000 David Dodd
Lyrics omitted. The annotations below are reproduced by permission of David Dodd; the song lyrics themselves are copyrighted and are not reproduced here. Read them at the official source: dead.net/songs.
Recorded on
First performance: Sunday, June 26, 1988, at Pittsburgh Civic Arena, Pittsburgh, PA. The song appeared in the first set, following "Cumberland Blues" and preceding "Big Railroad Blues." It was only performed live one more time, at the Laguna Seca Recreation Area in Monterey, CA, on July 31 of that same year. The version on the box set was recorded as a demo for Built to Last.
Wilbur Shaw’s first Indianapolis 500 win came in 1937, but his second and third wins at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway – in 1939 and 1940 – put him in the history books as the first driver to win back-to-back Indianapolis 500-Mile races. He ranks fifth on the all-time list for laps led, leading the Indianapolis 500 for 508 laps. Shaw became president of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 1945 and would later popularize the tradition of announcing, "Gentlemen, Start Your Engines," in the early 1950s.