Born this day in 1905 he won the 1930 Indianapolis 500 after leading all but the first 2 laps. A record that still stands. He was 24 at the time of his victory he got in his 3rd of 5 starts and he did it from the pole. All together Billy had 3 top ten finishes and led 410 laps!
When WWII broke out, he served with Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower as Chief of Maintenance for the U.S. 8th Air Force and left the service in 1945 as a one-star general.