Swede Savage
| Born |
August 26, 1946 San Bernardino, California |
|---|---|
| Died | July 2, 1973 (aged 26) Indianapolis, Indiana |
| Formula One World Championship career | |
| Nationality |
 American |
| Active years | 1972–1973 |
| Teams | Michner, March |
| Entries | 2 |
| Championships | 0 |
| Wins | 0 |
| Podiums | 0 |
| Career points | 0 |
| Pole positions | 0 |
| Fastest laps | 0 |
| First entry | 1972 Indianapolis 500 |
| Last entry | 1973 Indianapolis 500 |
David Earl Savage, Jr. (August 26, 1946 – July 2, 1973), nicknamed "Swede", was an American race car driver.
David Earl Savage, Sr. and Joetta Taylor Savage were the parents of David Earl Savage, Jr., better known as “Swede” Savage, who was born August 26, 1946 and Bruce Savage, who was born on May 18, 1948. Swede Savage was a professional race car driver who died on July 2, 1973 from injuries suffered in a crash in the 1973 Indianapolis 500.
Born in San Bernardino, California, Savage began Soap Box Derby racing at the age of five. He moved up to racing quarter midget cars then at age twelve to Go-Kart racing. By his mid-teens he was racing motorcycles competitively. An exceptional natural athlete, he was honored as an all-state high school football player at San Bernardino's Pacific High School as a junior, but was ruled ineligible for his senior year because he had accepted prize money racing motorcycles and was therefore ruled a professional athlete.
In January 1967, Savage made a point of showing up at a Ford Motor Company test session at Riverside International Raceway attended by, among others, racing legend Dan Gurney. Also in attendance was a Ford public relations executive named Monte Roberts, who watched Savage calmly wheelie a motorcycle for the better part of a mile and, struck by Savage's "racy" name and obvious talent, encouraged Ford officials to take Savage under their wing. After a partial season driving NASCAR stock cars in the South for the Ford factory-backed racing team Holman-Moody, Savage received a telephone call from Gurney inviting him back to Southern California to try his hand at sports car racing.
Savage debuted in the old SCCA United States Road Racing Championship (USRRC) series in April 1968, driving a Lola T70 Mk III (the car campaigned by Gurney in the 1967 Can-Am racing series; a condition of employment Gurney imposed on the young driver was that he rebuild and prepare the car for competition with very little assistance from other AAR staff.) He finished fifth at Riverside in his one appearance in the car. In 1968 and 1969, he also raced in NASCAR events. Competing in the 1969 Daytona 500, he crashed after a wheel fell off on lap 124. With AAR's racing program cut back due to budget troubles, Savage resumed semi-pro motorcycle racing in the Southern California area. In 1970, Savage and Gurney drove identical factory-sponsored Plymouth Barracudas in the Trans-Am Series. Early in the season, Chrysler cut back support for the AAR effort and Gurney stepped out of the car to let Savage drive the entire season.
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