When I was a kid, May was my favorite month. Every year around this time, my pops and I would pack up and head for Indianapolis in time to catch the last of qualifying and, of course, the greatest spectacle in racing. I remember it being more grand t... <BR><BR>To read the rest of this blog entry from The Jalopy Journal, click here.
In my mind, nothing in sports... nothing... can touch sitting in the bleachers on the outside of turn 1 for the first lap of the Indy 500. Even today. Breath taking...
I have never been but would love to go someday. And as far as these cars go I look forward to Indy entries because I can look early indy cars all day! Love the details.
Great post. I loved the old Indy cars too. I never got to go in person but I can still remember listening to Sid Collins call the race on my little transistor radio. Today I have to relive those days through my modeling:
That place will always be special. Ryan: When are you going to come to Indy? There are a few of us here that can get you full access at the Speedway...just say the word.
GREAT video Ryan,. Was lucky enough to get a USAC garage pass for opening day yesterday. It was Wonderfull!! It's just one of those places that you can "Feel" the history in the air. It vibrates. Even when cars are not there, If you get the chance.. just stand and look at the track and listen.. You'll see! JD
Ryan, do you have the Kurtis Kraft book? I bought it and immediately thought that you could do a year's worth of blogs on it. It's amazing how intertwined Frank Kurtis was in the custom and racing circles. Even built an Indy winner (or two). It was Kurtis that built the frame under Dean Lowe's '29 RPU, complete with sprint-car style torsion bars. He chopped and built the top on the Southern California Plating Company car. It's a great read.. lots of information and color photos of beautiful race cars. Of all scales. http://www.amazon.com/Kurtis-Kraft-Masterworks-Speed-Gordon-White/dp/0760309108 (look at the "also bought" titles along the bottom of the page )
I posted this link on the sprint car thread a while back, a bunch of documentry vids narrated by Jenkins/Page of the history of Indy including interviews with oldtimers like Meyer, Ruttman, Ward etc. http://www.joost.com/03600eq/t/Wilbur-Shaw#id=03600eq
As the video implies, Shorty was killed in the crash on lap 40 after swerving into the outside retaining wall to avoid the spinning car of Bill Holland, who recovered from the spin to finish second. In looking at the video, the crash does not look that bad by today's standards. Just goes to show how far they have come on safety.
Sadly, it was a broken neck that killed Shorty. If you watch closely, you can see how that might be the case.
Thanks again Ryan! I too love Indy (old) cars: and I agree with Smokey: Indy would have been reserved to american cars, engines, mechanics and drivers!
Thanks Ryan, I love looking looking at the old "films." I wish we had Mr. Peabody's WABAC "wayback" machine and you could pick a year and place, and just go back and be there, see it, hear it, smell it etc. Sorry about Shorty. Bill Vukovich was the local home town hero out here. Their deaths saddened a lot of people, but they were where they wanted to be, "liv'in free."
I've been to Indy twice.It beats any other sports "Holy Grail" event all to hell.Open wheel racing is the best.
Man what a race. What sucks is that TV doesn't cover the month long practices and Gasoline Alley b.s'ing.
Best you can do is go here http://www.indycar.com/ for live Timing and Scoring and also the live video feed. I open each in a separate window and keep it on at work.
Someone mentioned BSing at Indy, well here ya go. I happened to be at the right place at the right time Saturday, 5-9-09 when Richard Petty came into AJ Foyts garage to BS a few minutes.....it was way cool to overhear the things they talked about..... HG
I grew up in Greenwood, Indiana (just south of Indianapolis). My dad worked for Indiana Bell Telephone as a teletype repairman. Every year from 1948 (the year I was born) through 1965, he worked in the press booth at the Indy 500. He used to bring home souveniers, programs, etc. Unfortunately, since he was working he was not able to take me to the race. I did spend many qualification days at the track with him, though. I finally got to attend my first race in 1968. I attended every year after that through 1980, except 1973, until I moved to Florida... All through the month of May in central Indiana, there used to be daily updates about the happenings at the speedway. I remember a half-hour show TV called "Today at the Track". Also, there were radio programs in the evenings, one featuring track historian Donald Davidson. Those were the good old days. Looking back on it now, it was the advent of rear-engine cars that has ruined Indy. I still enjoy the race, but the cars just aren't as interesting. Back when George Salih, Frank Kurtis, A.J.Watson, Quinn Epperly and others were designing and building cars from scratch, the cars themselves seemed to have personalities. Now all the cars are the same with the same engine; the only difference is the paint job. All you can see of the drivers is the top of their helmets. Back in the "roadster era", you could see the drivers and watch them work the steering wheels through the corners. Yes, it's safer now, but it was more fun to watch back then...
When I was a young lad, My family did a couple of "vacations" to the time trials, three times I believe, one year was the whoosh-mobile debut... Drove from Western NY State. I remember people saying "You drove all that way for this???".... Every race day, my Dad would crank up a radio and wax the car under the tree in the back yard.. This was before even the same day TV coverage, only way to know the outcome would be to be lucky enough to have a radio station available that broadcasted "The Greatest Spectacle In Racing"....
How many of the great drivers would still be here if they had had a Haans device or similar? I love those old roadsters. This makes me want to go visit Steve Miller up in Oswego, NY. He restores old Indy cars in between Super Modified Builds.