About Sigur

I grew up in Indianapolis, close enough to hear the race cars from my home about five miles away. My first memory of the Indy 500 is from 1955. My parents took my older brother to the race, and being younger, I stayed home with my grandparents and listened on the radio. When my parents returned, I was in tears. My favorite driver, Billy Vukovich, had died in the race that day.

My first book was about my great-great uncle, Jim Allison, cofounder of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. I'd known about him for as long as I could remember. Whenever we drove past the old Allison Engineering building, or Allison Transmission's General Motors plant, my mother would remind me that Uncle Jim built it.

Since then, I've written five books on the Speedway and the Indianapolis automobile industry: James Allison, Tony Hulman: The Man Who Saved the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Indy Car Wars, The Indianapolis Automobile Industry: A History, 1893-1939, and Racing with Roger Penske. A new book, Tales of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, drawn from my weekly blog, is coming soon, with a companion volume already taking shape.

I write a new post nearly every week, delivered by email each Wednesday morning, exploring the history, characters, and stories that continue to surprise me even after five books.