Open-wheel Race Car Driver. A young Everett Saylor, a former school teacher in Dayton, Montgomery County, Ohio, began his racing career in 1935, after he had approached "Pop" Dreyer (a noted midget-car master) before a race at Fairborn, Greene County, Ohio, asking for chance to drive. When asked about his experience, he said he had been racing at Walnut Gardens, Camby, Indiana, and without the available statistics we have today, "Pop" Dreyer took the risk. By 1936, as Dryer prepared to enter "big car" racing, he chose Saylor to be his driver. "Pop" was never disappointed with his decision. Saylor placed runner-up in the 1936 CSRA (Central State Racing Association, later renamed as CSTA or Consolidated States Racing Association) Sprint Car points standings; was the 1937 CSRA Sprint Car Champion; 1938 SAST Winner, and 1939 SSA Track Champion; racing mostly for car owners Pop Dreyer and Lucky Teter. At this point in his career, as now widely recognized CSRA Star and as with any open-wheeled driver, Saylor began to feel the urge to "power over the field of bricks" at Indy. In 1941, this dream became a reality when Dr. Mark E. Bowles, a Cincinnati physician and long-time customer of Dreyer, secured Saylor to drive his #47 Red and Silver machine. Saylor, a rookie, placed the car in the 12th starting position at the speed of 119.860 mph. However, his day was over early when in turn 4 of the 155th lap, Saylor lost control and spun the car which dipped to the inside apron. Upon hitting the apron, the car careened out of control striking a parking barrier and while turning toward the infield, struck a parked car. His injuries were massive and severe; however, he was classified 17th at the end race, winning a purse of $650. Recovering from the injuries in time to start the 1942 shortened season and eager to return to former fame, he again enlisted the assistance of "Pop" Dryer. One year and one day following the accident at Indy, he was again involved in an accident at the Cape Girardeau County Fairgrounds in Cape Girardeau, Cape Girardeau County, Missouri, during a 1/2-mile dirt oval track race. With track conditions unacceptable, like at so many fairground oval contests, Saylor came down the backstretch on the first lap of the race and blinded by a the bellowing dust of the other front row driver, missed the turn and crashed against a parked car. He never had a chance. Seven short years after his career began, Everett Saylor died instantly from a compound fracture of the skull. Thirty-two years old at the time of his death, he was considered a gentleman driver and a true champion. Saylor was officially inducted in the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame in 2002, a few days short of the fiftieth anniversary of his death. His headstone shows a driverless race car, from the era, pointing left, with the inscription: Always a Champion.