RACER: Robin Miller's Tough Guys Series on Steve Chassey

Steve Chassey knew what he wanted to do if he got out of Vietnam alive -- drive race cars.
Following two years on the front lines in the infantry, Chas' was discharged with honors and headed for Ascot Park to start running his dad's sprinter.
He got the reputation of being brave but always laughed when comparing racing to staying alive in the jungle. "Race cars don't shoot at you," he'd always say. And for the better part of the next 20 years he was able to make a living behind the wheel as he went from a winner in USAC to a three-time starter in the Indianapolis 500.
His last Indy start was the most special because he was his own chief mechanic in 1988. After he retired, Steve worked at ESPN on Thursday Night Thunder, managed Lola Cars and sold insurance for racers.
But getting from Saigon to Ascot to Indianapolis was a trip few could imagine.