Swede Savage was an American race car driver, auto racing champion, and two-time Indianapolis 500 participant whose racing career began innocently at age 5, in a soap-box derby. Quarter midget racing followed at age 11. By the time he was 12, he'd participated in over 300 races and won 142 trophies, before moving into motorcycle racing. By age 15, he'd turned pro and would ultimately win 34 professional races. He then moved up to Can-Am auto racing, the Trans-Am series, NASCAR (then called Grand National), then the Indy car series.

Swede Savage was the youngest USAC victor ever, when he won the 1970 Phoenix Bobby Ball 150.

He suffered severe burns, broken bones and other internal injuries in a fiery crash at the 1973 Indy 500 and would later die as a result of his race injuries.

Full or original name at birth: David Earl Savage, Jr.

Date and place of birth: August 26, 1946, San Bernardino, California, U.S.A.

Date, time, place and cause of death: July 2, 1973, at 9:40 a.m., Methodist Hospital, Indianapolis, Indiana, U.S.A. (Kidney failure and pneumonia, as a result of injuries sustained in a crash at the Indy 500)

Parents
Father: David Earl Savage, Sr.
Mother: Joetta Savage

Burial site: Mt. View Cemetery, San Bernardino, California