Edward Leon Russo (November 19, 1923 – October 14, 2012) was an American

racing driver Auto racing (also known as car racing, motor racing, or automobile racing) is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles for competition. In North America, the term is commonly used to describe all forms of automobile sport including non ...

. Russo won the

midget car Midget cars, also Speedcars in Australia, is a class of racing cars. The cars are very small, with a very high power-to-weight ratio, and typically use four-cylinder engines. They originated in the United States in the 1930s and are raced on most ...

track championship at Raceway Park in Chicago in 1950. He competed in the

AAA AAA, Triple A, or Triple-A is a three-letter initialism or abbreviation which may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Gaming * AAA (video game industry) - a category of high budget video games *'' TripleA'', an open source wargame Mu ...

and USAC

Championship Car American open-wheel car racing, generally and commonly known as Indy car racing, is a category of professional automobile racing in the United States. As of 2025, the top-level American open-wheel racing championship is sanctioned by IndyCar a ...

series in the 1952-1957 and 1960 seasons, with 21 career starts, including three times in the

Indianapolis 500 The Indianapolis 500, formally known as the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, and commonly shortened to Indy 500, is an annual automobile race held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana, United States, an enclave suburb of Indian ...

. Russo finished in the top 10 five times, with his best finish in 1955 at Langhorne.

World Drivers' Championship career

The

/ USAC-sanctioned Indianapolis 500 was included in the FIA

World Drivers' Championship Formula One, abbreviated to F1, is the highest class of open-wheeled auto racing defined by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA), motorsport's world governing body. The "formula" in the name refers to a set of rules to which a ...

from 1950 through 1960. Drivers competing at Indianapolis during those years were credited with World Drivers' Championship participation, and were eligible to score WDC points alongside those which they may have scored towards the

/ USAC

National Championship A national championship(s) is the top achievement for any sport or competition, contest within a league of a particular nation or nation state. The title is usually awarded by contests, ranking systems, stature, ability, etc. This determines the be ...

. Russo participated in four World Drivers' Championship races at Indianapolis. His best finish was 22nd place, and he scored no World Drivers' Championship points.

Personal life

Russo's father, Joe, and his uncle,

Paul Paul may refer to: People * Paul (given name), a given name, including a list of people * Paul (surname), a list of people * Paul the Apostle, an apostle who wrote many of the books of the New Testament * Ray Hildebrand, half of the singing duo ...

, also raced

Indy car IndyCar, LLC (stylized as INDYCAR), is an auto racing sanctioning body for American open-wheel car racing headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana. The organization sanctions two racing series: the premier IndyCar Series with the Indianapolis 5 ...

s. Russo served in the

U.S. Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines or simply the Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is responsible for conducting expeditionary ...

during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, the

Korean War The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was s ...

, and the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

. Raised in

Kenosha Kenosha () is a city in Kenosha County, Wisconsin, United States, and its county seat. It is the fourth-most populous city in Wisconsin, with a population of 99,986 at the 2020 census. Situated on the southwestern shore of Lake Michigan, Ke ...

, he was a long-time resident of Racine. He died at the

Wisconsin Veterans Home The Wisconsin Veterans' Home, in King Wisconsin, is an old soldiers' home in Waupaca County, Wisconsin on the scenic Chain O' Lakes, Wisconsin. The American Civil War saw significant advances in battlefield medicine. The lower mortality rate of i ...

, where he had lived since 2005.Three-time Indianapolis 500 racer Eddie Russo dies at 86 http://www.autoweek.com/article/20121023/INDYCAR/121029933

Motorsports career results

Indianapolis 500 results

* shared drive with

Ed Elisian Edward Gulbeng Eliseian (December9, 1926August30, 1959), commonly known as Ed Elisian, was an American racecar driver, mainly competing in the National Championship. He died in a crash at the Milwaukee Mile. In the 1955 Indianapolis 500, he sto ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Russo, Eddie 1923 births 2012 deaths AAA Championship Car drivers 20th-century American sportsmen Indianapolis 500 drivers Racing drivers from Chicago Racing drivers from Wisconsin