{{Short description|American racing driver (1893–1979)}} {{sources needed|date=December 2025}} {{Infobox racing driver | name = Ira Vail | image = | caption = | birth_name = Ira Malcolm Gardner Vail | birth_date = {{Birth date|1893|11|22}} | birth_place = Montréal, Québec, Canada | death_date = {{Death date and age|1979|04|21|1893|11|22}} | death_place = Daytona Beach, Florida, U.S. | module1 = {{Infobox Champ Car driver|embed=yes | Total_Champ_Races = 46 | Years_In_Champ = 12 | Best_Champ_Pos = 11th (1920) | First_Champ_Race = 1915 Providence 100 <br/> (Narragansett Park) | Last_Champ_Race = 1925 Indianapolis 500 (Indianapolis) | First_Champ_Win = 1917 Minneapolis 100 (Twin City) | Champ_Wins = 1 | Champ_Podiums = 12 | Champ_Poles = 1 }}}}
'''Ira Malcolm Gardner Vail''' (November 22, 1893 – April 21, 1979) was an American racing driver and auto racing promoter.
== Early life ==
Vail was born in Montréal, Québec. When he was three months old, Vail's mother emigrated with him to Syracuse, New York, where he was raised.<ref>{{Cite web |last=McDonald |first=Norris |date=2020-06-10 |title=Why I changed my mind about Billy Foster |url=https://norrismcdonald.ca/why-i-changed-my-mind-about-billy-foster/ |access-date=2023-12-16 |website=Norris McDonald |language=en-US}}</ref>
== Racing career ==
Vail raced sprint and championship cars in the AAA-sanctioned racing series. He competed in five Indianapolis 500s, with a best finish of 7th in 1921, before retiring in 1925.
In a quote about his career for a book, Vail stated:
"The car I drove, I bought it from Harry Miller for $10,000. That's what they all cost, a Miller or a Duesenberg, from $8,000-$10,000, which was a lot of money at a time when a good passenger car cost only $1,000. But you could win $30,000 or more at Indianapolis and as much as $5,000 at a cement track in Minneapolis or tracks in Hartford, Boston, everywhere. You'd be guaranteed (cash) even if you didn't win, depending on the deal you made with the promoter. It depended on how many people you could draw. I got guarantees at most tracks and I'd drive at 15 or 20 tracks a year."<ref>Book "The Indianapolis 500: A Complete Pictorial History" p. 70</ref>
After his retirement from driving, Vail promoted AAA and USAC sanctioned auto racing in the Northeastern United States. From 1925 until 1971, Vail promoted the New York State Fair Championship race at the Syracuse Mile.<ref>{{cite web|title=Fourth National Sprint Car Hall of Fame Inductions|url =https://www.sprintcarhof.com/helper_pages/FileGet.aspx?id=189|publisher=National Sprint Car Hall of Fame & Museum|accessdate=November 1, 2017}}</ref> He nicknamed the race track "The Moody Mile" after driver Wes Moody turned a 100-mile per hour lap in 1970.<ref>{{cite web|title =Farewell to the 'Moody Mile'|url=https://www.thestar.com/autos/2015/10/09/farewell-to-the-moody-mile-and-was-he-really-going-100-miles-an-hour.html|work=TheStar.com|date=9 October 2015 |accessdate=November 1, 2017}}</ref>
Vail died in Daytona Beach, Florida.
== Award ==
* Vail was inducted in the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame in the United States in 1993.
== Motorsports career results ==
=== Indianapolis 500 results ===
{{col-begin|width=auto}} {{col-break}} {|class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" |- !Year<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.indianapolismotorspeedway.com/events/indy500/history/historical-stats/driver-stats/drivers/ira-vail |title=Driver Stats |website=IndianapolisMotorSpeedway.com |access-date=2016-07-30 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160529045133/http://www.indianapolismotorspeedway.com/events/indy500/history/historical-stats/driver-stats/drivers/ira-vail |archivedate=2016-05-29 }}</ref> !Car !Start !Qual !Rank !Finish !Laps !Led !Retired |- !1919 |27 |10 |94.100 |22 |8 |200 |0 |Running |- !1921 |3 |10 |82.350 |22 |7 |200 |0 |Running |- !1922 |1 |9 |96.750 |10 |8 |200 |0 |Running |- !1924 |6 |15 |96.400 |15 |8 |200 |0 |Running |- !1925 |19 |19 |104.785 |12 |20 |63 |0 |Rod |- |colspan=6|'''Totals''' |863 |0 | |} {{col-break|gap=1em}} {|class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" |- !Starts |5 |- !Poles |0 |- !Front Row |0 |- !Wins |0 |- !Top 5 |0 |- !Top 10 |4 |- !Retired |1 |} {{col-end}}
== References ==
{{Reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vail, Ira}} Category:Indianapolis 500 drivers Category:National Sprint Car Hall of Fame inductees Category:Racing drivers from Montreal Category:1893 births Category:1979 deaths Category:AAA Championship Car drivers Category:20th-century American sportsmen Category:Canadian emigrants to the United States Category:Racing drivers from New York (state)