Ryan, thanks for capturing the essence of INDY. I can watch a film/video, radio clip or even talk about the start of the race, I still get goose bumps. Your story of the freshman is perfect evidence that you don't have to eaten up with cars like we are to "get" Indy. Thanks for sharing !
I'm not much of an Indy car kind of racing fan, but a few years ago, the Custom Car Revival had a tour out to the track and the museum. I thought, eh, not my thing, but I'll drive out with the rest of the guys and check it out. Was blown away by the museum and all the older race cars on hand. The 60's and early roadsters....hot rods, every one of them. And then, to tour out onto the track and step out onto the bricks at the start/finish line....I was over whelmed by the history. Totally neat experience and I'm glad I went. Maybe one day I'll even get there when the cars go zooming by....
A great post, Ryan. I really enjoyed it I have never been to "the" 500 and would love to do so. I have kind of soured on the Indy car thing, but your piece puts it all in a different perspective. Thanks.
I don't care for open wheel racing. Did everybody hear that Scott Dixon & his wife were robbed at gun point at the Taco Bell drive thru in Speedway by a 14 & 15 yr old.
My pops went in '69 (Mario) and in 77. (Foyt's fourth). He loved vintage open wheel race cars more than anything. He was restoring a Trostle midget when he died. Like you, the idea of going without my dad is unthinkable, so I've never made plans to go. Heck, I'm a teacher, no way I could afford such a trip. Anyway, you think 32 Fords are expensive, try vintage racing cars/parts, so because of that I've collected some of the GMP 1:18 scale cars.. best I can do. Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
Our Son in law was on an Indy pit crew for many years. He was a fueler and took care of the mechanicals from the bulkhead rearward. It is an exciting and dangerous job! He has many very interesting stories, and even appeared in the coverage a few times, being 6'8'' tall he "stands" out in the pits. After our Granddaughter was born our Daughter asked him to stop working the pits as she didn't want anything to happen to him. Indy is truly an American Icon, it's a shame that they have "homogenized" it like Nascar. The Glory days of innovation and making the rules work for you are pretty much gone, but it will always be the Great American Race! KK
I used to watch it religiously, then they started putting the engines in the rear.....it was all downhill from there.
I have never been to the Indy 500,but I have seen every televised race since 1965. I was 15 years old at the time and was mesmerized and vividly remember Jim Clark won that year,I was hooked. The cars looked more like cars back then instead of jet planes. HRP
I have listened to or watched every 500 since 1962. I got to go to one mid 70s it was the last year of the turbine car. We also went to the sprint car race the night before in Terre Haute What a blast! Sent from my iPhone using H.A.M.B.
Ryan- I loved your Indy post, but after clicking on Team Valvoine's webpage, it only left me with one question... Can you get me a Valvotron? https://team.valvoline.com/get/valvotron
I have watched almost every Indy 500 on T.V. since it has been televised but for some reason it never occurred to me I should go even though I have been to the US Nationals a dozen or more times over the last 50 years. After reading your "from the heart" story I have added it to my bucket list.
Nice read Ryan....yes it's the great race - you were at the 101st....wow.....guys have been trying to prove their skills as a motor builder and as driver....and co-pilot....for a number of years.....the bricks are sooo cool....and the engines - wow - the chassie builders....wow.....and the drivers.....ohhh......and all those laps.....sooo cool....you should come up to Irving Tx in November for Bart's on here as Speedrome "Racer Reunion" think Bobby Unser is the emc....
Something you might be interested in Ryan. In your OP of the museum the blue and red Knoc-Out Hose Clamp Special is the car that won the 1941 Indy 500 with driver Maury Rose. In 1952 Bill France decided to try Speedway cars in NASCAR but only with american engines for power. Penny Mullis from Mint Hill, NC bought that '41 winner, installed a 331 Cadillac engine, and hired an almost unknown driver. Buck Baker WON the Nascar Speedway Championship in that car. The NASCAR Speedway cars went away halfway into 1953 and former Indy Car driver Bob Harkey purchased the engine from Mullis to put in his '33 Essex Terraplane Convertible. My avatar is that car and it still had that same engine in it when I purchased it in 1968. After one year I switched to a supercharged Chevy. I owned it for 41 years when I sold it in 2009. I sold the Cadillac engine to a guy who was restoring a Cad-Allard many years ago. That car in the museum, which was restored back to 1941 condition, has an incredible history with it and is another reason for me to go to the Indy 500.
Ryan......great stuff......you captured very, very well what many of us have been blessed to experience at Indy. Honeymoon in 1976.....on a budget.....got two free tickets from a lawyer friend.....stayed in a motel I wouldn't keep my dog in today. Fast forward to the late 1980's early 1990's.......working for GM......had a good friend who worked for Chevrolet Marketing in the Indianapolis Zone Office previously......knew everybody. I enjoyed those visits on practice and qualifying days almost as much as the race......pulling into the grass infield parking area.....heard a roar behind me.....it was David Letterman in a red Ferrari throwing the rear of the car sideways in order to square up next to my car in the parking lot. Sitting on pit wall in the morning......Roger Penske walks up and shakes hands with my friend and talks with us like we had known each other for years. Smokey Yunick walks past with a really good looking woman. Linda Vaughn walks up and give my friend a really GREAT hug.....and recipricated with me after a proper introduction. Watched Foyt take a swing at a laptop that a GM engineer had sitting on the nose of a Buick powered car and send the laptop almost to the start/finish line.....and then grab the engineer by the neck and push his head down into the cockpit to show that the throttle was not opening all the way. Race morning standing at a rope line outside Hemelgarn garage with the masses only to have old friend and Iowan Lee Kunzman, Team Manager walk over, lift the rope and invite me in to the team strategy session. Sure beat my youth listening to the race on the radio while doing yard work in small town Iowa Again, to your very eloquent points......you just have to try it at least once......thanks again for your "continuation" experiences from youth to present day
I'm a life long Indy fan. Not sure how many times I've been to the race now. Started going in 81. Took some years off during the CART/IRL drama. My kids started bugging me about going. So I took my son two years ago and both kids for the 100th. They're hooked now. I didn't make it this year, but my son did. AJ Foyt has always been my favorite driver. Would have loved to see those cars make a lap. You're right Ryan, NOTHING compares to the first green lap of the 500! Time to start a new tradition with your kids. Sent from my iPad using H.A.M.B.
Not really, some of us are proud of the Indy 500. It is a zoo though. You could have visited Bubbas across the street on Speedways Main street , i would have bought your lunch.
I remember listening to the 500 on radio when Roger Ward won the first time. In the mid 60's I lived on 16th street one block away from the golf course and 500......used to walk down there all the time and watch practice, etc.
Right on, apples and oranges. I like oranges (F/C), but it surely doesn't negate the rush of a 1st lap. Now I call the 1st lap the one right after the flag, all cars at full tilt. NASCAR or Indy, it's a rush. One screams and one is a gang assault. That said, there's nothing else that registers 2.2 on the Richter scale like a pair of nitro F/Cs. There's no words, in fact there's nothing else until they're done. I'm glad you can walk away from an event like this and still take the aesthetics home with you. In the sterile corporate environment that so much racing has become it's not the norm unless you know where to look. You certainly do. I'm a short drive from MIS and it never occurs to me to attend. I'm even closer to little 1/4 and 1/2 mile ovals and don't visit them either. Probably for the reasons you avoided Indy for so long, or similar.
Indiana has a lot rich automotive history. The Indy museum is great...Also everybody should take the time to check out the Auburn Cord Duesenberg museum, and the Early Ford Museum in Auburn. A question for some locals as I've been to Indianapolis but not for the 500. Does the City of Indy really get behind and embrace the track? To me it's a US national historic treasure, but it looks like Indy is marketing and catering to basketball and tradeshows. and yes St. Elmos is great!
On Tuesday I was talking with my neighbor Joe Kerr of Jokerr Fabricating (of nailhead Buick Model A/Chemical City Coupe etc fame) and was amazed that up until this past weekend he had never been to the 500. Joe raced sprint cars and has driven for the legendary Steve "Bopper" Stapp so he is not stranger to oval track open wheel cars at a relatively high level. Last year he was involved with the vintage day at the track and actually drove in the parade but he had never been there on race day. Due to the fact that he is working on the restoration of a 20's vintage Packard Indy car for Dana Mecum he ended up at the race this year and he told me that he was blown away by the entire spectacle, especially that first lap. Roo
The 500 has been a big deal for over 100 years now. Rooman's post and reference to Indy Packard racers encouraged me dig out a couple of diary entries from Jesse Vincent, the chief engineer for Packard who was ultimately responsible for the 1923 6 cylinder DOHC racers. It will be great to see at least one of the 23 racers back in the form that they ran at Indy in 23. There have been a number of people that wanted to build the 23 racers out of the remnants ultimately saved by Brad Skinner, years ago. Brad also saved the 1919 Packard SOHC V 12 engine and radiator (and a few others bits) that led the Indy 500 in 1919 for the first half of the race, driven by Ralph De Palma. That engine sits in my shop and has always kept me interested in the greatest spectacle in racing for sure. In the one picture there are the 3 drivers of the 23 racers and Jesse Vincent in the suit. Ralph De Palma ( 1915 winner in a Mercedes that was prepped by Packard and who led more laps at Indy until Al Unser Sr passed him in the 80s) is behind the wheel. Then Dario Resta alongside Vincent. Resta was a great driver that had raced on the other side of the pond but made his mark here in the teens with mainly his Peugeot and then the other driver was Joe Boyer a very good driver whose dad was a large stockholder with Packard which helped Joe (alongside his talent of course) to secure a ride in one of the 23 racers. The two pages are from Vincent's diary and Macauley was Packard's President at the time. Pretty cool that Vincent wrote this right after the race in my opinion.
If any of you go to the race don't forget the "Little 500" in Anderson, about 40 miles northeast of Indy on Saturday night before the big "500". 33 sprint cars on a high banked 1/4 oval for 500 laps. Tony Stewart and Ken Schrader raced there this year. It was sold out so if you plan on going you might want to get your tickets early.
The Jalopy Journal
