Cal Niday

Calvin Lee Niday was an American racing driver who competed in open-wheel events from the late 1930s through the 1950s. Born in Turlock, California, Niday overcame the amputation of his left leg — suffered in a motorcycle accident during his youth — to build a career that spanned midget car racing in the United States and Australia, three starts at the Indianapolis 500, and decades of vintage racing. He is recognized as the first driver to wear a Bell Racing helmet at the Indianapolis 500, doing so in 1955, and credited the helmet with limiting the severity of head injuries he sustained in a fiery crash that nearly ended his life. Niday is one of three drivers known to have competed in the Indianapolis 500 with a prosthetic leg, along with Al Miller and Bill Schindler. He died on February 14, 1988, from injuries sustained when he was thrown from his car during a vintage midget car event at Willow Springs International Raceway.