Pioneer, off-road driver, course creator, organizer

He is both the Ray Harroun and Walt Disney of off-road racing. Just as the 2000 inductee won the first Indianapolis 500, Wilson captured the first Baja 1000, off-road racing’s signature event, in 27 hours in a Meyers Manx dune buggy. Three years later, the Glendale, CA native became the first two-time winner in Drino Miller's single-seat tube-frame buggy — in 16 hours. “The biggest thing I remember from that second Baja win,” said Wilson, “was despite the fact the car wasn't really that sophisticated — it still had a Volkswagen engine and suspension — was how fast things had become. The (Baja) 1000 had gone from an adventure to a race.” Wilson also won the Mint 400 and National Four-Wheel Drive Grand Prix twice. In 1967, Wilson opened 700-acre Saddleback Park near Irvine, CA, the first specialized off-road park in the U.S. and one of the first motocross tracks. Later he organized the VW “Bug-In” (1969-89), which attracted 1,000+ participants. Wilson was a first-year inductee into the Off-Road Motorsports Hall of Fame (1978).