[8][page needed] After World War II, the Novi was used again in 1946 in the Indianapolis 500, developed with 510 horsepower and fitted in a more advanced Kurtis Kraft front-drive chassis.

It performed well in a car driven by Ralph Hepburn, who set the track record and led the field for 44 laps.

[9] Drivers such as Paul Russo and Duke Nalon later drove cars powered by the engine at notable speeds, but did not win.

The engine's crowd-pleasing sound was caused by its gear-driven centrifugal supercharger, which turned at more than five (5.35) times the crankshaft speed, giving it a scream at full power.

The second Novi car, driven by Jimmy Davies, failed to qualify due to technical complications on the last day.

During practice, Juan Manuel Fangio, a Grand Prix world champion driver, drove the Novi while he was classified as a "rookie" at the Brickyard.

I did several laps at 135mph as an average, and I enjoyed them a lot, especially when I noticed Paul Russo was also in the track at the same time, with a similar car.

Welch's failure to land Fangio as his driver meant the Novi lost what could have been its best chance for an outright win at Indianapolis that year.

Granatelli's team put the Novi's distinctive shriek back into action from 1961 to 1965, developing a four-wheel-drive version in 1964 in an attempt to effectively harness the extreme power of the notorious engine.