The Big Wheel is a 1949 American drama sport film directed by Edward Ludwig starring Mickey Rooney, Thomas Mitchell, Mary Hatcher and Michael O'Shea.

[3] Billy Coy (Mickey Rooney) arrives in the town of Carrell, California and offers himself as a mechanic for Arthur "Red" Stanley (Thomas Mitchell) at his garage.

Red was Cannonball's mechanic, riding with him the day he died in the north turn of the Indianapolis motor speedway.

Red inquires after "her"; he still carries a torch for Mary (Spring Byington), Cannonball's widow and Billy's mother.

At the garage, Billy befriends a tomboy, Louise Riley (Mary Hatcher), whose father owns the nearest racetrack.

Billy gets a chance to prove his skills as a driver in a qualifying race, but he is too arrogant to follow his employer's advice and is unsuccessful.

Thinking it is a date, Louise does the unheard of for her—she buys a dress and heels (in which she is unskilled at walking), assisted by her family's maid (Hattie McDaniel).

Distracted by the spectacle, another driver injures his hand by absentmindedly placing it on the searing exhaust pipe of his car in which he's sitting; Billy is offered the opportunity to drive in the incapacitated man's stead.

[5] In April 1949 Rooney announced he would make four films in partnership with producer Sam Stiefel of which Big Wheel would be the first, directed by Edward Ludwig based on a story by Robert Smith.

[10] In January 1950 driver Bill Holland sued Rooney, Dempsey, Popkin, Stifel and his brother for $250,000 in damages claiming the film was based on the 1949 Indianapolis 500.