The Root Family was actively involved in race cars and the Indianapolis 500 in particular. The car on the left was the first car raced at Indianapolis with an enclosed cockpit and covered wheels and debuted in 1955. It did not fare well in the practice laps and by race day the cockpit enclosure and the wheel covers were gone.

After the race the car came back to Daytona for speed trials. In a spectacular crash, the car was demolished and the driver killed. That ended the family’s direct involvement in racing.