Leon Sirois

Leon Duray "Jigger" Sirois (born April 16, 1935) is an American former racing driver from the small town of Shelby in northern Indiana.

Moments later, Arnie Knepper went out to qualify, but rain began to fall during his warm up laps, and washed out the remainder of the weekend.

[1] It was quickly noticed by media and fans that had the crew not waved off his final lap on Saturday, Sirois would have been the lone qualifier of the weekend and sat on the coveted provisional pole position for an entire week - and likely would have started on the pole for race day.

[4] Sirois graduated from Lowell High School and did various jobs in between races such as truck driver and construction worker.

[3] In reflection of Sirois' infamous 1969 hard-luck qualifying gaffe, the American Auto Racing Writers & Broadcasters Association (AARWBA) created an annual award for the Indianapolis 500.

[5] The plaque consists of a gold-colored metal whiskey jigger attached to a base, awarded to the year's "hard-luck" driver during qualifying.

In 1991, car owner Roger Penske was voted the winner, after pulling Emerson Fittipaldi from the qualifying line on pole day.