In
auto racing there are many owner-driver combinations where the
mention of one name automatically instills the other. Such is
the case of Mike Caruso and HoF Member, Bill Schindler.
Probably the foremost car owner on the East Coast,
Caruso won many ARDC championships with drivers Henry Banks,
Bill Schindler and Mike Nazaruk.
Caruso began fielding cars in
1935 and won his first owners title in 1938 with Paul Russo
driving. It was ten years later that the Schindler-Caruso team
scored a record 53 victories in a single season.
In 1947 Chet Gibbons and George Rice introduced the
Kurtis Kraft Offy to the East and beat the Caruso team at Deer
Park, LI. The next week saw Mike Caruso and Bill Schindler
headed west where Mike purchased the now famous #2 from Harry
Stevens.
Mike Caruso, like his famous driver was also involved
in the formation of the American Racing Drivers Club.
He is deceased but his two sons and grandson live in
Las Vegas where they have a state-of-the-art machine shop
complete with a midget racing museum.
