For the 1947 Indianapolis 500 race, designer Leo Goosen and builder/owner Lou Moore built a completely new front-engine chassis around a 270 cubic-inch Offy engine for two cars called the Blue Crown Spark Plug Specials. The cars incorporated various unique features that made these cars the dominant racers at Indy for the next few years: Front wheel drive for better traction off the turns, aviation fuel that burned cooler for greater engine life and provided better fuel milage and fewer pit stops, front brakes that were mounted on the differential rather than the wheel hubs, and a separate drag link direct to each of the front wheels for steering control.

Mauri Rose and Bill Holland dominated the Indianapolis 500 for three straight years beginning in 1947. Rose won in 1947 and 1948 with Holland second both times; Holland won in 1949 and finished second again in 1950. The Blue Crown team eventually expanded to four cars in 1950, which was very unusual at that time. Moore was a master strategist who chose to run his cars on aviation fuel (AV-gas) rather than alcohol, giving up speed for better mileage in an attempt to get his drivers through to 500 miles on one pit stop.

Late in the 1947 race, Rose found himself lying second to his rookie teammate, Bill Holland, when both were given a sign reading “EZY” from pit lane. Holland reduced speed, but Rose ignored the sign and continued on. Rose closed on Holland and to his amazement, Holland gave way without a battle and even gave Rose a friendly wave as he went past on his way to victory. But Holland thought he had more than a lap lead on Rose, instead of just a few seconds. Holland was furious afterward.

In ’48 they finished in the same order, with Rose winning on his own accord.

In 1949, with Holland leading and Rose again running second late in the race, Rose set out to overtake his now-veteran teammate. Rose again ignored car owner Lou Moore’s “EZ” signs from the pits and continued to push in pursuit of Holland. This time, Rose’s car broke while Holland cruised home to victory—and Moore fired Rose on the spot after the race for disobeying team orders.