Umbrella Mike: The True Story of the Chicago Gangster Behind the Indy 500 by Brock Yates
Incorrectly Named and a Rather Disjointed Effort Published by Thunder's Mouth Press in 2006 Full disclosure: I am a huge fan of the Indy 500. I have been to every 500 since 1986 and I live within earshot of the track. I have whiled away many a day at the track watching qualifications, practice or just going through the gift shop during the winter when the track is silent. I was dimly aware that a Chicago gangster had fielded an entry in the Indy 500 in the 1930's so I hoped that this book would tell that story. And it does, but the title of the book makes it sound like Umbrella Mike (Mike Boyle, the crooked boss of Chicago's International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers) somehow saved the race or even financed the construction of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. He did not. What he did was use his race teams to launder some of his illegally obtained cash and financed several race teams at the Indy 500, eventually winning it three times, including the back-to-bac