Surviving Indy (Lap 151-200)

L200: Aftermath; Mon, 5/25
So it was nice to sleep in and not have anywhere important to go... Although originally Danny was gonna try taking me to the Winners interview Media-throng at the track, but told me that rain was definitely on the way and just minutes after hanging up two police sirens whailed by which were immediately followed by a massive crackling of thunder... as soon the entire area was under a deluge of precipitation and a long running thunderstorm... As Danny would later tell me that they’d gotten soaked at the Speedway... See Hulio? It’s NOT nice to fool Mother Nature...

And thus, I sent a large chunk of the day listening to as much of AM1070’s THE FAN race recap as I could stomach... Although amused to here one caller say he was still waiting for Danica to drive harder! While the overlying theme seemed to be that the race was BORING and NO one could pass... But by far the number one complaint was Mrs. Brady’s singing... Something about being put out to pasture.

And as Krabitz ‘N Eddie interviewed “RAFA,” it was the first I’d learned of his accident with Vitor Meira, thus I was surprised to hear Rafael Matos saying he’d gone to visit his friend Meira in the Hospital and that Vitor had broken his L2 vertebrae... As apparently Meira’s broken two vertebras and will be out of action for 4-6 months...

And Bill Martin of Sports Illustrated is blathering on about the race and bashing the Media center... Calling it an Aquarium Fishbowl, while later on in the show its none other then Mr. Dancin’ fool himself, as I’m sure Y’all have heard the sound bites of Hulio informing everybody that he just wants to make it absolutely clear that the $3.2m isn’t all his... Although he’ll now be able to pay his lawyers; Yuk-Yuk-Yuk...

And I’m starting to get a stomach-ache over ALL of the Danicker RASSCAR CRAP!!! I mean would she rather be a big fish in a small pond (IRL) or a small fish in a big pond? (NASCAR) Oh, but the IRL NEEDS her, whah-ahhhhh................ (But nary a peep about Sarah Fisher’s race, eh?)

Dale Coyne Racing Transporter

Returning from dinner with Dave & Danny at the Union Jack Pub, as everyone’s been raving about their Pizzanoes since I arrived... Danny sez; hey look! There’s Justin Wilson’s truck... Huh? As sure enough there were two gleaming white Dale Coyne Racing team transporters parked discretely in the North forty as ironically I was sporting my J. Wilson RuSport T-shirt... So off to get ye ‘Ol camera while Danny softened them up... As I was introduced to DCR’s main truck driver Mike and back-up driver Scott, who’d previously worked full time for DCR for 16yrs before leaving last year, as they’d just spent the entire day at IMS breaking down the garages and getting ready to drive the four Dallara/Honda chassis back to Dale’s shop in Chicago, which was a 3hr drive, which they’ll do tomorrow, have a day off and then probably leave for Milwaukee on Thursday.

And Mike is a bit of a “Handyman,” not ony driving the Semi, but also being a tyre buster and doing the Hospitality suite... And although he offered to let us take a peak inside, he said it’s pretty dark and the cars are up above. Hey, hang on a second; let me see if I’ve got any Hero cards? Better yet, Mike came back with a Justin Wilson Press Kit for Mwah, COOL!


Tues, 5/26
About 8:11AM I hear that low grumble of a Diesel Semi-hauler pulling away as it works its way up thru the gears outside my rooms window; there goes the Dale Coyne Boyz... Before listening to more Hulio fodder on AM1070 while awaiting Danny’s arrival, as today we’re off to one of my favourite Automobile haunt’s; the IMS Hall of Fame museum.

After sauntering about the two gift shops where Danny’s asked two clerks if they have the Jimmy Neighbors blender? You know it’s from 1962 and has all those speeds; dicing, chopping and puree... Whale I could go look for you Sir? Then Danny notices that the esteemed Donald Davidson is sitting on a bench near the museum’s entrance bantering on about yesteryear with a few friends, so we stop and introduce ourselves and I thank him for all of his assistance on my Blue Crown Spark Plug Specials story... And I still cannot believe it’ll only set you back three smackeroos ($3) to get into this most Historic museum!

Will Power (St. Pete, 2009)

Naturally I had to ask the Docent at the entryway if they had Mauri Rose’s 1947-48 INDY 500 winning Blue Crown chassis on display. Yes, its right in there turn left at the first hallway... As Danny took off to blast thru the museum I decided to start at the end of the row after we’d briefly viewed Rose’s mount... Thus as I stood admiring ‘Ol Parnelli Jone’s ’63 winner Danny returned, looked behind me, did a double take and then asked; Do you want to meet Will Power? Uh Duh! As there was a group of three persons standing directly behind me; and as I turned around Danny introduced me to Will and before I knew it I was shaking hands... And then I sheepishly asked him how far he’d gotten up to? I think I heard third over the PA system, to which Power replied; I’ got up to second and was chasing down Helio. Then I mentioned to him how I’d heard something about his insane training regimen? You’re doing a Triathlon shortly aren’t you? NO! All of that was my Trainer’s idea, but I did do the Mini 500 this month. Any chance we’ll see you in anymore races this year? Well hopefully I’ll be doing about six more? And then we said our goodbyes as I overheard Will telling his party that an old friend had told him about the museum...

Next we made a brief sweep down what Danny called “Winner’s Row,” which featured a great selection of INDY 500 winning chassis; from Eddie Cheever’s ’98 mount, Arie Luyendyk’s ’97 Tredway car, Gordie Johncock’s ’73 STP Special, Big Al’s (Al Unser Sr.) ’86 Penske, Mark Donohue’s 1972 Sunoco Special, which Donald Davidson had previously told me is the real one... Mario Andretti’s ’69 Brawner Hawk and Bobby Unser’s ’68 Risoline Special... and I can’t remember if Tom “The Gasman” Sneva’s ’83 Texaco Star was in there or not?

Graham Hill Lotus 56 Turbine chassis

On the opposite side of the room was the magnificent 1968 Lotus 56 Graham Hill Turbine car, which is stunning and thus it only seemed fitting that Herr Schumacher’s (Michael) 1991 Camel liveried Benetton B191 whas holding station alongside. And the rest is a blur, as there was the same Porsche and Peugeot Sports Racing Cars as I once again gravitated to Alberto Ascari’s Ferrari and the awesome Mercedes Benz 196(?) Silver Arrow, not to mention a bunch ‘O pristine turn of the century touring cars, etc; and that doesn’t even include the massive display cabinets filled with all sorts of memorabilia. Then a very brief gander at the Marmon Wasp, AJ Foyt’s ’67 winner and URGH! Danica’s 2005 Rookie RLR Argent car complete with firesuit and helmet as Danny said it’ll cost you plenty for me to take this picture...

Mauri Rose’s Blue Crown Spark Plug Special No. 3

Then that evening it was off to McGilvery’s, as Dave picked me up early for my impending “Big Interview” on Don Kay’s ‘lil Radio Show, of which I’ve already scribble ‘bout in: Tomaso on Autosport Radio. After my 15min ‘O fame “Dr. Who,” a.k.a. Tim Wardrop joined our table and I congratulated him on their two Indy Lights victories at St. Pete, as Tim briefly told us stories about the season, working for Porsche, etc before taking off. When I asked him about the Long Beach fiasco, Tim mentioned that it’s an old car, seven years old to be exact and that new flat crank causes some massive harmonics... And I’m assuming there’s also body flex in the chassis? As Tim said that the electrical system caught on fire as the whole wiring loom let go! On our way out of McGilvery’s Dave briefly introduced me to “Doc,” who’ll be 93 in two weeks and has been alive for every single INDY 500! As Doc is an old Hemelgarn man and a fixture at McGilvery’s for Don’s show.


Wed, 5/27
Wednesday morning was pretty low key as I’d already packed the night before and simply was awaiting Danny’s arrival, who took me out for a late brunch at a local restaurante called “Charlie Brown’s.” NO! I’m not making that up, but it’s a popular joint and has good food... Before we headed off to make our rounds at the IRL’s Administration Buildings of which I’ve previously scribbled about in; Back from Indy. And then alas, it was time to go to the Airport and begin the long process of going home...

And how can one put into perspective the full brunt of the Speedway’s shadows... Or adequately sum up the euphoria, expectations and pageantry of the INDY 500? As it dawned on me whilst standing outside on the fourth floor of the Media center how the 500 made me think of the Rose Bowl... And how they have many similarities, i.e.; Parade, Glitz ‘N Glamour, event Princesses, Marching Bands, a Massive event and are both each other’s respective Super Bowl each and every year... As one must simply go and attend in order to get the Full Monty of the spirited Spectale that Fisher & Co. built a century ago.

Now I’m exhausted and “I’ve got blisters on my fingers!” From typing madly away at le confUZer the past few dazes...

Kudos to Danny, Dave, Jeff and Carl for making my week in INDY so enjoyable!

Surviving Indy (Lap 101-150)

Sun, 5/24 (Con’t)
CHECKERS OR WRECKERS...
Have pestered Danny all morning about being outside for all of the Pre-Race Hoopla and notice the melody of multiple Marching Bands, while standing outside prior to the beginning of the festiva, as we continue to countdown to Drivers introductions before going back inside where JMV, a.k.a. John Michael Vincent; NOT to be cornfused with Jan Michael Vincent of WNDE - AM1260 (Mon-Fri; Noon-4PM ET) was doing a special live broadcast of his show “The Drive” from inside the Media center and was situated directly behind and three seats to the right of my assigned chair and was talking quite loudly... And as he began his interview with 2009 IMS Celebrity Pace Car Driver Josh Duhamel, there were suddenly video cameras next to me along with multiple flashes from Photographers...

As the interview ended, I noticed Crash Gladys tracking down Josh alongside the floor to ceiling windows, as I assume she did an interview for Speed Freaks. Stick around folks JMV blares out, as we’ll be joined by Robin Miller and Jimmy Neighbors shortly...

“Attention in the Media center. Thomas Kinkade, the artist of this year’s INDY 500 program will be available for interviews for a few minutes.”

Balloon Release (Dave O'Brien photo)

Danny & I went to lunch in the Cafeteria where various comments were made about the Turkey’s tenderness..; “Tastes like Chicken!” As the two Gentlemen sitting across from me informed me when I told them the only East Coast Hockey team near their city of St. Louis that I could think (Think Pink!) of was the (Chicago) Blackhawk’s which I knew was wrong; they said those are fighting words, Son!

Walking back upstairs a small throng of people headed towards us as Jeffrey said; you just missed Jimmy Neighbors right behind us... As the Media center was now completely cleared out. But I did manage to catch the majority of JMV’s interview with Miller, John Oreovicz (ESPN) and Chris Hagen of FOX59’s Indy Car Nation.

Oreovich:
“Luczo Dragon Racing’s Jay Penske is a Hip, Cool, Californian version of Roger Penske and all of the Stars like Shaq wanna be seen with him until they get the bill the month later and say this is how much it costs to go racing?”

And now its almost time for Driver introductions kiddies, as I made my way outside to get situated as there was already a small crowd along the fourth floors railing towards the front straightaway... And everybody’s talking, hooting ‘N hollering as the crowd is massive and there’s a slight buzz of anticipation in the air... And now IT’S SHOWTIME!

Starting 33rd, Alex Tagliani, as there’s a modest amount of applause as the PA announcer slowly works his way forward up the grid... And HOLY SHIT!!! The crowd erupts with electrified intensity as Princess Danicker’s name is announced... With only Dancin’ FOOL Hulio receiving a louder ovation as one spectator turns around to tell me that;

“They’re cheering because he beat the IRS!”

While I guess that Dario Franchitti got the third loudest cheer from the massive audience opposite us...

Then its time for the singing, with three singers doing traditional pieces, including Mrs. Brady, a.k.a. Florence Henderson doing her usual Gospely, harmonically challenged tune before the piece de la resistance... Gomer Pyle singing Back Home Again in Indiana, which I’d wanted to hear live, but strangely it seemed way shorter then when I listen to it on the Telescreen! Perhaps because the crowd drones out the wind-up of the song’s beginning? And where’s the Balloons... Oh CRAP! Cannot see a Bloody thing because the Media center’s roof is in the way (although the shade it provides is greatly appreciated...) and thus I was unable to see the AWESOME fly over by vintage World War II Bombers... Which were simply electrifying as the massive piston powered air cooled radial engines rumbled directly overhead, passing the Pagoda at the very moment the National Anthem finished! As I couldn’t even hear Mrs. Hulman George say those famous words, with the crowd erupting and 33 Honda Lumps suddenly coming to life...

Ryan Briscoe’s Team Penske mount

And the whirring of the overhead camera on a cable mounted above the length of Pit lane was only audible during the 21 gun salute as three volleys of seven shots rang out... Before the camera which annoyingly entered my field of vision the rest of the afternoon made me think of a giant black/grey Teradackle scooting by on a wire while its whirring motor could no longer be heard over the roar of engines and crowd...

As the eleven rows of three cars roll away! And like an old fashioned steam Locomotive the cars continue to pick up speed before there’s a massive crowd eruption as the Green flag’s waived... But I cannot hear a single BLOODY thing over the PA System as suddenly the cars slow down and the people around me say; Caution-Caution-Caution...

Well at least they managed to squeeze in two laps as apparently Mario “The High Line ISN’T the Right Line” Moraes tangles with Marky-Mark (Marco) Andretti... As later I’d be informed that the first lap had been waived off, so a Yellow flag before the conclusion of Lap 1 summed up the whole race to Mwah, as I went into hysterics over the RASSCAR style blunder... As the following day AM1070’s THE FAN’s Krabitz would tell the following joke:

“What do you get when you put Mario, Michael and Marco (Andretti) in a basement? A WHINE Cellar...” (Hee-Hee-Hee... Hey I’m just repeating it!)

But back to the race as we’re Green again and I decide that the massive blur of 33 Indy Car projectiles in close lock-step sound like a high speed Freight Train passing by; Vump- Vump- Vump- Vump- Vump- Vump- Vump- Vump- Vump... Vump- Vump- Vump! Albeit of a higher frequency pitch before the Freight Train begins to get strung out... And I find it hilarious how everybody gets up and runs over to the windows inside the Media center anytime there’s a Pit Stop or Caution... As Crikeys! Graham Rahal has crashed again, SHEISA! In what Robin Miller would later describe as a Lucky Milka! Instead of a Lucky Dog pass where you get your lap back ala RASSCAR... The IRL sticks you behind Milka for two laps and sees if you can keep from crashing... Oh Robin, you’re such a Heathen... And although the Media center is very pleasurable temperature wise; yet as Meesh sez: it’s become Morgue-like as its totally silent, except for the tapping of keyboards only overcrowded by the blaringly loud live ABC feed on all of the TV’s and the air conditioning... But Hey! At least there’s NO COMMERCIALS!!! And hence I’ve been deprived of the plethora ‘O Princess “Whose your Daddy?” Danicker adverts as I simply haven’t watched my race tape yet...

Justin Wilson-Dale Coyne Racing card

And then like a claxon bell a voice rings out over the room’s loudspeakers... Graham Rahal has been checked-out, released and cleared to drive.

OH SHEISA! Davey Hamilton’s just slid up the track into the marbles and hit the wall...

TK (Tony Kanaan) has a massive crash as everybody says OOH! As they watch Hulio’s in-car replay, showing sparks trailing before impact with the Safer Barrier at 190mph... They play Danica’s radio transmission; “I hope he’s Ok?” To which Mikey (M. Andretti) calmly replies; “Yeah, he’s alright, Pit-Pit-Pit.”

Attention: Davey Hamilton’s been released and cleared to drive. And then I break into silent laughter when the same monotone voice informs us that Tony Kanaan has been released and cleared to drive... As is it just me? Uhm, excuse me Mister Announcer-man, while I’m happy that TK’s been cleared to drive... I DON’T think his car’s going anywhere...

And then finally, I’d had enough of being inside, trying to see my chicken scratching and told Danny I was going back outside for the duration of the event and would meet Dave & Rob after the victory lane celebrations... While Jeff came out and joined me briefly... Having asked me earlier if I could disconcert the sickly sweet smell of Popcorn, which was his description of the cars Ethanol... But I couldn’t seem to pick up this scent over the proliferation of cigar and cigarette smoke.

AH FUCK! HOLY SHEISA!!! The WRONG three Drivers finished on the Podium... Podium? WE DON’T NEED NO STINKIN’ PODIUMS!!! Do we Eddie “The Goose” Gossage, eh? As the crowd simply erupted over Hulio climbing the fence... As I particularly enjoyed Jimmy vasser’s outtake on the whole Hulio-mania hysteria, saying” Helio’s my favourite ACTOR!

I mean C’mon, why couldn’t it have been Will Power, Townsend Bell, Paul Tracy, Tomas Scheckter, TAG, Justin Wilson or Graham Rahal instead? As now I’ve gotta listen forever to Hulio being referred to as a Three Time INDY 500 Winner... SHEISA!!!


Danica Patrick’s 2005 RLR chassis at IMS Museum

And it was amazing to see how many people were now making a mass exitous, as the Gordon Pipers began playing their victory song prior to the celebrations before the entire Speedway was filled with the booming sounds of the three precocious whiners, Err winners interviews over the PA system... Oh Danicker, put a sock in it will yuh!

And then Dave helped me navigate our way towards the exit, having left Rob at the Hall of Fame Museum in order to do a bit of last minute shopping... And yet although packed, seemingly the large population of pedestrians seemed to be flowing fairly well as we were outside of the Speedway grounds in a matter of minutes... Walking on 16th Street before the “Coppers” told us to get on the sidewalk as they’d opened up all four lanes to traffic, as the floodgates seemed to open for cars, trucks, vans, busses, etc while waiting for the Police to let us cross the intersection. Yet Dave’s shop O’Brien Carpets is just a half mile away from the Speedway and we were quickly there, before Dave whisked us away to his house for a most excellante barbeque dinner upon Rob’s arrival, as we’d stay up until 12:15AM discussing the race, albeit overshadowed once again by Rob an my never ending Formula 1 conversation...

To continue reading, see; Surviving Indy L151-200

Gasoline Alley

As Y’all know... My ‘Ol School film was a Dollar short and a Week late! But alas, they did finally get developed and hence here are a few more shots from the Speedway...

Photos:
Target/Chip Ganassi Racing Garage; The “DAF-TA Mannalicia,” a.k.a. Oriel Servia’s RLR mount; Vitor Miera’s AJ Foyt Enterprises chassis and “TK’s” (Tony Kanaan) Andretti Green Racing chassis, both Pre-accident!

Surviving Indy (Lap 51-100)

Fri, 5/22 (Con’t)
Back at the Hotel I listened to the majority of the Krabitz ‘N Eddie Radio program that was being broadcasted “live” from the IMS Pagoda Pavilion on AM1070 THE FAN; later in the program they interviewed “Whale Goll-leeeeeee” Jimmy Neighbors. They also chatted with Robbie Floyd on “Hangin’ out” with Graham Rahal... Playing Golf and he was most impressed by how some Drivers know they’ve got it. (Talent) And Graham’s DEFINITELY GOT IT!

Originally before arriving, my plan was to meet Jeff at Kurt Cavin’s Hamburgers ‘N Hotdogs, Err Milkshakes event Friday evening, before I pondered attending the Last Row Ball hosted by Bob Jenkins, but instead Carl “Fuller Brush” took me to Broad ripple instead to listen to the harmonious blowing ‘O Bagpipes at the Gordon Pipers Tartan Ball... As unbeknownst to Mwah, the Gordon Pipers have participated in over half of all INDY 500’s and these are the majestic Bagpipers you heard on race day if you were at the track. I also was unaware that four Gordon Pipers are situated in Victory Lane and play to the races winner upon victory, as the four Bagpipers represent good luck and there’s four for four wheels coming home...

Rahal Letterman Racing Boyz

Sitting inside the large banquet hall, my eardrums were soon pierced by the high pitched tones of several bagpipes, most notably the one standing about five feet away from me, as there were three bands on hand that night. The first from Ohio was started by an ex-Gordon Piper, with the second band being from Ingersoll, BC and the third band was the Gordon Pipers, which I’m told are referred to as the Gordon 500 Pipers during the Month ‘O May. And thus they formed the nucleus of a mass band including the first two plus the 500 Pipers...

And the master of ceremonies was an absolute hoot, as Wallace Gordon Diel (an ex-Vet nary Doctor from Ingersoll, BC) would call out; Pipe Major present yourself! Aye, and take your whiskey... Before saying; “Schlog, Schlog, Scaliwog... Drink! As apparently Bag piping includes generous doses of whiskey, before Dr. Diel would say you may now retire and tune up the rest of the Band!

Dr. Diel also explained that the two final tunes of the night were of significance as the first; Scottish Way? Was for the Drivers and the second Mary Hill? Was in honour of Mary Hulman George, but she didn’t know that...

Upon my return around 10:30PM, I called the Night Desk clerk to reserve me another Taxi for Saturday morning at 7:30AM; BUTT! I had my doubts upon his responses to my inquiry, telling me I’ll see what I can do?


Sat, 5/23
HALF DISTANCE
So incase you didn’t guess... The Taxi Cab never arrived and hence my best laid plan of seeking Princess Danicker’s (PSYCH!) NOT! As I’d been hopeful of getting Row 5, (Tracy and Wilson) Row 8 (Hamilton) Row 10 (John Andretti) and Row 11 (Tagliani) autographs in a “Perfect World!” (Order) Instead I took a nap and then awoke to turn on the Telescreen in order to catch some I500 Festival Parade action, perhaps? And by total accident I lucked into the Monaco Grand Prix qualifying replay with about 5min remaining in Q2, witnessing “Fishy-Fella” shortcut the chicane. OOPS! Sorry Fisichella, your times disallowed... After The REAL Iceman *K. Raikkonen) sets the fastest lap in Q2, ‘JENSE (Button) steals Pole in Q3 by mere tenths of a second ahead of The Kimster; who although had an extra qualifying lap in hand apparently ran wide into Turn 1 and decided it was wisest to back off and not damage the car!

Birthday Boy Rubino (R. Barrichello) was third on his 37th B-Day and shirkingly said that he wished to be two spots better tomorrow if he couldn’t have P1 on his birthday... While Jenson claimed that the final Q3 session/Pole lap had been MANIC!

Afterwards, I caught some pre-parade coverage including a great interview by Dave Calabro (The voice of the 500; PA Announcer) on Gomer Pyle, along with a short piece about whether or not Sponsorships were effective on Indy Cars in today’s economy? Claiming that a primary sponsorship, i.e.; Verizon Wireless on Will Power’s Penske would cost $2-5 million, while an Associative sponsorship, i.e.; Mobil 1, also on the Penske’s but less prominent would run you only $500,000 instead. Yet RASSCAR would cost you four times as much; $20m and the pinnacle ‘O Motorsports, Formula 1 would cost you $30-50m as a Title sponsor.

Justin Wilson’s Dale Coyne Racing mount

There also was a brief piece upon my Numero Uno Indy Car Driver Justin “BIG UNIT” Wilson, noting how he’s the tallest Driver in the field at six feet, three and a half inches vs. Danica’s diminutive five foot two stature. At eight years old in Go Karts (in England) he felt about twice as tall as rival competitors Dan Wheldon and Jenson Button. NO! I’m NO Good at Basketball, I can’t jump... And none other then Sir Jackie Stewart told him he was simply too tall for Motor Racing when driving for Jackie’s son at Paul Stewart Racing. Proclaiming that Justin would simply never fit into the car! And although I made my goal of getting into F1, I NEVER enjoyed it! Then there was a great example of Justin showing how his knees are virtually touching the top of the underside monocoque and when he turns the steering wheel his elbows have to go somewhere...

And speaking of “The Wee Scot” *Sir Jackie) “JENSE’s Pole and subsequent victory at Monte Carlo was the first by a British Driver since Stewart accomplished the feat in 1973 aboard a Tyrrell/Ford...

As I caught all of this while awaiting Dave & Rob’s arrival for a leisurely lunch at the Union Jack Pub just down the street... It’s a pretty cool place with lots of racing memorabilia plastered on the walls, as I was particularly intrigued by a photo of Jimmy Clark in a Cooper... And the place was packed! As you’d never have guessed there was a parade going on as I could swear I heard Ralph sheheen’s voice as we walked towards our table, where I had a good time talking Rob’s ear off ‘bout Formula 1. (OOPS Dave!)

Also, I failed to mention that prior to Graham Rahal’s Friday press conference; I was saddened to hear over the rooms loudspeaker’s a moving tribute by Bob Jenkins regarding Larry Rice’s death after his bout with lung cancer... As you can catch a recent interview by Don Kay including Rice’s pal Gary Lee on Autosport Radio.

Along with failing to discuss Lloyd Ruby’s passing, to which Dave “CARPETS” O’Brien told a great story about one day Lloyd being in the Flag Room and was unafraid to finish off the beer can pyramid that nobody was willing to attempt... In his trademark Cowboy hat and drawl; what’s goin’ on feller’s? Apprised of the situation he simply picked up a beer bottle, stepped forward, stuck it on top, said ‘dare uze go boyz and simply walked out while the Bartender looked on nervously towards the impending mess...

Nelson Philippe’s HVM Racing mount

On the way home from Dave’s family outing, he showed me The Circle in Downtown Indianapolis, which I’d never been to before and a few blocks prior there was an Verizon Wireless shin-dig going on. As we circumnavigated the Circle for the first lap, there were a few Police cruisers with roof lights strobing in front of an Indy Car set-up as Dave said it was a Show car with a Show girl in front of it as we completed a second lap around the circle before heading back to my Speedway Hotel, where I caught some of the tape delayed I500 Festival Parade coverage and was amused to hear Derrick Daily pulling Parade duty, while it was claimed earlier in the day that some 300,000+ spectators were on hand...


Sun, 5/24; RACE DAY!
Caution-Caution-Caution...
So it’s finally hear, what countless, untold thousands clamour for each year, as Danny picked me up at 6:45AM in order to beat the traffic... And it’s sure nice having infield Media parking, eh? As another Yellow Shirt held the door open for me after checking our Badge’s and said; don’t you feel like one of the Drivers, Sir? While holding the door open... Before Danny introduced me to JMV upon arriving at the fourth floor of the Media center, with JMV retorting; we need to get you out to the races more!” After I benevolently decreed with a wry smile that I was picking Milkalicious to win... Then it was time for the unthinkable, as Danny introduced me to Open wheel Curmudgeon Extraordinaire, drum roll please... Tuh-Duh! Yeah, that’s right kiddies, you guessed it; Robin Miller in the flesh... Albeit a very brief introduction as Miller was being sought for an interview as he told the Handler that NO! He wasn’t Gordon Kirby; he’s right over there before making some jokes with us and then dashing off...

Back downstairs to the Cafeteria for a low key breakfast and while sitting alone Walt from New Jersey said out loud; No Fenders must be a Formula 1 site? As I was sporting one of my limited second edition No Fenders T-Shirts on race day... (Shameless promotion, eh?) Then Walt said he’d noticed the white cane and told me about a previous Blind Reporter who wrote a Colum called Thru Borrowed Eyes? Too bad Chris Economaki isn’t here... He’d know exactly who the person was and his name as we kibitzed about the relatively new New Jersey Motorsports Park before Walt told me to ask him for help if I needed anything upstairs. I’m in the back of the room...

As Danny returned and we shared a table with a fellow Journalist, he replied to my announcement of picking Milka to win; that’s a bold pick... To which Danny retorted; did you mean bold or BULL?

And speaking of the Media center, what an interesting room, as there’s an old style typewriter affixed to one of the 30+ rows of tables to permanently honour Mr. Economaki, as the room is fairly Spartan, reminding me of a High School classroom (minus the chalkboards...) with low grey tables and blue chairs and dim lighting conducive to the hoards of “Vurd Botchere’s,” err Word Butchers, Journalists or Hacks feverishly poondin’ away on their laptop kee-boards, as every few rows has banks of large close circuit TV’s overhead and the only noise that can be heard over their loud droning of the live ABC feed is the constant warble of the air conditioning between the howl of Indy Cars screaming by. As all of the chatter and pre-race banter seemingly turned to silence during the actual race. Of which Meesh described as being Morgue-like whilst sitting next to me while silently tapping away at her Live Blog...


Paul Tracy’s KV Racing Technology ride

Yet during the early morning hours prior to all of the race festivities, the Media center is awash with lively banter, chatter and typing noises while preparing race reports, etc. As I ponder how difficult it would be to use “Lucy” my screen reader in here while noting how HARD it is to try taking notes in the dark... While I think I can hear the very muted scream of the F1 cars over the room’s din, as Jeffrey of My Name is IRL is chatting’ with Crash Gladys of Speed Freaks... Before Danny introduces me to the ‘DAWG! As Press Dog, a.k.a. Bill Zahren is in the house... As I AIN’T sure if Tony G. would take kindly to it being called the “Hizzy, ‘DAWG!”

Next, Danny tells me that they finally fixed the channel as he’s convinced them to turn the sole TV monitor with the Versus fishing show on it over to the Monaco Grand Prix like the rest of the room... As I inquire to Danny whether or not they caught the fish? Then I hear some Brazilian’s a few rows ahead of us discussing the F1 race, while some Brit’s in front of us make a smarmy comment about Jenson waxing the field again... “Where’s Bourdais? Is that Kimi? Where’s my Vodka!” Yuck-yuck-yuck, as it seems universal to hear; oh you mean the BRAWN’s are running 1-2 again? As I sit idly listening while resplendent with Ferrari cap affixed. This is going to be entertaining as HELL! Or may be not?

And what are the odds that Crash Gladys of Speed Freaks TV would be assigned the seat directly behind Mwah! As she was chit-chating with some one (Chris “Throttle” Jacobs?) over some recent BRAWN GP scuttlebutt; what? Richard Branson was hitting on Jenson Button’s girlfriend? Hey can you launch this Tweet for me? Blah-blah-blah... So I interrupted Jeffrey and Crashes chit chat and introduced myself... (Pregnant pause!) So Danny and I decided to go outside and I manage to knock over one of the small waste paper baskets hidden underneath every few aisles...

To continue reading, see; Surviving Indy L101-150

Surviving Indy (Lap 1-50)

Otay, so here goes the LONG winded rant upon my most enjoyable trek to the Hoosier state... And I won’t even tell Y’all any Hoosier jokes like who’s your Daddy... Not to be cornfused with Danicker’s Go Daddy!

Thurs, 5/21
GREEN FLAG; GO-GO-GO!
Departing from SeaTac Int’l Airport early morning, I was assisted from check-in onto my connecting flight by six Airport/Airline employees who were all very nice to me, as I was given my third ride in a wheelchair to my first gate and as we passed one of the countless cart Drivers, my assistant started laughing and informed me that he’d just been called “Peanut” in Indian...

Then I pondered on the first leg of my journey if this is what Motorsports Journalists, Reporters, etc were forced to endure every time they sped off to cover an event for us?

Transferring onto the Embrarer 140, I was seated next to Bill on the “Puddle-jumper” to Indianapolis, where we disembarked into the brand new Indianapolis Int’l Airport which is a welcome upgrade from the old, worn out Airport... As Bill offered to assist me to Baggage and then give me a ride to my Hotel in Speedway, IN, as this was to be my first hint of what Dave would later describe as “Hoosier Hospitality!”

Heading towards Baggage Claim, Bill pointed out the 1936 Cummins Special on static display, as the Indy 500 Diesel race car was obviously on loan from the IMS Hall of Fame museum to promote that weekend’s upcoming Speedfest at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, eh?

Checking into my luxurious Hotel in Speedway, IN, which I won’t say its name, except that its former owner (the late Jim Trueman) once owned a CART race Team that “Stash Senior” (Bobby Rahal) drove for early in his Indy Car career, enroute to capturing his first two CART Championships along with the Indy 500...

While the evening Desk Clerk made my Taxi Cab reservation for the following morning. When I inquired on nearby eating establishments in walking distance, he told me I’d probably wanna wait awhile for traffic to die down before trying to cross the exceedingly busy four lane uncontrolled intersection on a curve coming off of the I-465 Freeway... Uh, NO F%%KING WAY! (Welcome to Speedway, home of NO sidewalks...)

Fri, 5/22: “CARB DAY!”
My Taxi arrived and whisked me over to the IMS Administration Building at the corner of 16th and Georgetown, )Hmm? I’ve heard that address somewhere before, eh?) shortly before 8AM, where I was issued my Media credential... Uhm, I’m now like the rest of those “BIG DAWGS” struttin’ their stuff around the Media center; Aye Karumba!

After having my picture taken for my Photo I.D., Scott walked me outside to an awaiting Golf Cart which whisked me over to the Media Center building, as the first of multiple overly courteous “Yellow Shirts” enquired where are you going? Ok, and what are you doing there? Whale I don’t exactly know as I’m brand new to all of this... As the Yellow Shirt lady instructed me to stay off of the road as we scooted underneath the track thru the underground causeway.

After being dropped off and having the door opened for me, another Yellow Shirt took me up to the fourth floor and the Check-in area where I introduced myself. Standing there with my white cane in hand, the lady behind the desk said;

“HI, I’M DANICA!”

(Which totally cracked me up!) Yes, I’m, how old am I Tim? 29, yeah that’s the ticket... As the very nice lady got up and said let’s go find your seat and showed me around the starkly empty Media center, she said I’m not really Danica... My name’s Kay Totten and I’m 76yrs old. Later I’d find out that Kay has been working there for 50yrs and she’s truly a great person to have working there... And thus I sat in my seat at 8:09AM all alone...

While awaiting Danny’s arrival, I was able to listen to two Disk Jockey’s in the back of the cavernous room doing a live broadcast as they teased the audience for an interview just moments away with four time INDY 500 winner Rick Mears. Unfortunately it was a one way conversation as I could only here the DJ’s questions as Rocket Rick was calling-in from his Motor coach somewhere on the confines of the Speedway’s expansive grounds.

“So Rick does it seem possible that it was 30 years ago that you scored your first Indy 500 victory?” (Silence)

I’ve gotta ask you what all of the fans are wondering? Do you have your own key to the Penske Hospitality suite so when you get hungry for a midnight snack you can let yourself in?” (Silence) And then Danny walked up to me...

Oh-Oh! As Danny Bridges sauntered into the Media center at 8:14AM, he proclaimed; “Hey Tomaso your cell phone will work much better if you TURN IT ON!”

(And Thanxs to Jeff Iannucci of My Name is IRL for letting me get away with being Cell Phone challenged!)

Shall we go check out the Garages Danny asks? So I’m off to Gasoline Alley for the very first time and as we stride towards the gate Danny says; there goes Milka, (Duno) as a Driver whizzes by on a motor scooter. Milkalicious is followed next by EJ “What, Me Worry?” Viso and “Rafa” *Rafael Matos) both on Scooters followed by Hulio (Castroneves) in a Golf Cart, as we’d later discover they were off to a Driver’s briefing.

Then I asked Danny to take the first of many pictures for Mwah... (Hey, uze guys do want the car in the picture, right?) As the first Garage we approached was the Target/Chip Ganassi Boyz, with a few snaps on my ‘Ol School film camera taken of Dario Franchitti’s mount before continuing on past Alex “Pink” Lloyd’s car, Oriel Servia’s ride and then a bunch ‘O Dallara/Honda’s in the Tech line awaiting inspection on the Tech pad.

Then back to the Media center and as we exited the elevator there was the “Son ‘O Stash” (Graham Rahal) himself in the flesh standing in the breezeway with a few others, of which I quickly surmised was his esteemed PR lady; Cathy as Graham was set to hold a press conference very shortly... (9:45AM) Hey Danny, let’s stick around for this as I mused to myself silently how DARN LONG his legs were. As it appeared the stool he was sitting on was set for some of the shorter drivers URGH! Like Danica... (5’ 2”) As he sat there with his legs bowed out in an inverted “V” (Nah, I wasn’t checkin’ him out...) position. Graham was on hand to announce the formation of his own Foundation to honour the late, great Paul Newman and his Hole in the Wall Gang camps, as the young Rahal felt that they were no longer being adequately represented... I tell you, this guy is just so amazing at the tender age of 20yrs old! It’s a 503C Corporation and Kathy chimed in that teammate Robert Doornbos’s car would be featuring a special motif in conjunction but she just hadn’t been able to get the press release published yet...
Any questions? So Graham will the Ferrari be used for your Charity? NO! The Ferrari’s already been sold, but we did raffle off my commemorative helmet last year and I’m pledging $10 for every lap I lead... And Cathy’s doing likewise. *Graham said Jokingly!) I think I’m up to a grand total of 30 Bucks so far, so hopefully I can lead a whole bunch of laps on Sunday.

May be we’ll have a celebrity golf charity tourney next year since we have a bunch of extra days when we’re not on track anymore... Before Danny asked if his primary sponsor McDonalds would be involved in his Foundation; well that’s probably a bit premature as we’re still finishing all of the paperwork, but we’ll certainly run it by them...

Then as we rode the elevator down to go here “Cheep” Ganassi speak at the Pagoda Plaza, none other then Graham Rahal and his assistant stepped into the elevator with us as Danny said; nice shoes, are those Pumas? Yeah, they’re custom, as we had them incorporate the McDonalds colours into them before we all stepped out of the elevator...

Walking outside once again, Danny said; Hey there goes Chip in his Golf Cart, as we pondered listening to “The Cheepster” next door... Nah, lets go look around Gasoline Alley some more instead.

Then we headed back to the Media center to watch the Indy Car practice from 11AM-12 Noon, which we watched from outside upon the third floor Handicap section, as my notes say that the Indy Racing League cars actually sound good; somewhat in-between the ultra high pitches of the 2.4 liter normally aspirated 19,000 RPM Formula 1 cruise missiles and the old, dearly missed whoosh of the Turbocharged 2.65 liter Cosworth Champ Cars... As this was my very first time witnessing the IRL chassis in the flesh and they sounded much better then those ‘Old Nissan Crap Wagons! Funnier yet, was the fact that they sounded louder when rumbling down pit lane at reduced speed vs. shrieking by at 220mph plus; E-Ow, Yee-Owwwwwwwwwhhhhhhhh!!!! In between the not so kind sounding warbling down pit lane noises of super sized Honda daily drivers with soup can mufflers, minus that music they call RAP...

And then a cackling Brack Brack as the throttle was blipped before dumping the clutch and leaving pit lane with squealing tyres... And a brief wafting of burnt rubber, as there goes a white one and I think that really bright one was may be pink?

Then after a quick lunch in the Cafeteria, I called Jeffrey who said; in about sixty seconds I WON’T be able to hear you! As the Firestone Indy Lights Freedom 100 was about to begin, nevertheless Jeff came downstairs and graciously allowed me to hang out with him for the remainder of the afternoon, as we went outside to watch the FIL race from upon the third floor deck, as Jeff kept me abreast of who was crashing into who via the Jumbotron across the way as I asked Jeff if there were actually people in the Front Straightaway Grandstands? As it was kind of odd seeing them completely empty during the IRL’s final practice session, albeit the top deck still being unoccupied, while unfortunately all of my picks didn’t win the race, as “Bia” *Ana Beatriz) had a nasty crash with her teammate and Jay Howard ran outta time to pass the leaders... As there was a furious amount of passing all race long with many side by side racing down into Turn One... (Unlike the “Big Carz” race) Lot-so CARNAGE! Eleven cars on the lead lap with Sam Schmidt Motorsports four car armada finishing 1-16-17-18...

“Hinge’s” car sounds un-god fully off song and sickly, as James Hinchcliffe would be forced to retire after several laps of running on five cylinders? As I believe they’re still utilizing the modified Q45 Infinity 3.5 liter normally aspirated V-8 “Lumps” producing 420bhp in the long in the tooth Dallara FIL chassis...

Oh Yeah! Earlier that morning Danny & I rode up in the elevator with Mark James of the IMS Radio Network and Danny asked him; so did Paul Tracy win the race back in ’02? NO! Helio definitely won the race; they used Audio to confirm it... (Yet, if my memory serves me correct? This was when I stopped watching the INDY 500 for the next few years, until Sam “I AM” Hornish’s triumph in ’06... )

After the FIL race Jeff introduced me to “Mister Trackside,” a.k.a. Patrick Stephan, as I mused to myself; hold on, where do I know that name from? I’ve heard it somewhere before... Oh yeah, that’s right he’s one of the IMS Radio Network pit reporters. Shall we go check out the Garages, Jeff inquired? And stepping off the elevator and walking outside; “Whoa Nellie! Where did everybody come from? Its FREAKIN’ PACKED! Bodies everywhere, as later media reports would claim that the 70,000 fans was the largest Carb Day attendance ever and while walking towards the Pagoda, Jeff said; wanna say Hi to Paul Page? After introducing us, Mr. Page said that he was at the track doing work as the Official “Essayist.” (Whatever that is, he mused) As I wryly noted; Oh, you mean like Sam Posey? To which there was silence... After Jeff told him we’re Bloggers, (NOT to be cornfused with Buggers...) Page replied; “We’re all doing Blogs and making NO money!” As he was simply waiting for a friend to show up, but it was good to be interrupted by fans stopping to shake his hand and thank him for his years of service while we chatted...

Walking thru the Pits, Jeff noticed Jay Howard and we waited a bit to get a word in while a young kid waited for an autograph, but we trudged off since he was in heavy discussion with somebody. Then past some of the Big Carz pits as Jeff asked if I wanted to say Hi to Oriel Servia who was sitting on his Scooter, but first Jeff stopped to take some action shots of Eric Bachelart overseeing the placement of sponsor “Deckles” on the nose of TAG’s ride, as Jeff commented; he’s a real “Hands On” Owner... And thus when we got nearer Servia he was already cornered by another fan.

Rounding the corner Jeff pointed out three IRL chassis including Sarah Fisher’s mount. It has a really nice paint scheme and the bright yellow ‘N black Dollar General Livery reminds me of those ‘Old “Buzzin ‘N Hornets, Err Benson & Hedges “EJ” Jordan Grand Prix cars, as we sauntered our way back to the Media center, where we learned that the elevator was out of commission... As Jeff made his way upstairs to write some Blog Entries?

And as everyone entering the building groaned over having to take the stairs... The Yellow Shirts kindly allowed me to sit inside at their desk while awaiting the Golf Cart to come over and pick me up. “Sir, it’ll be about 30min due to the large crowd on hand.” No Problema, as another Yellow Shirt told me she thought it was their biggest crowd in years. Then the Golf Cart arrived and she bobbed ‘N weaved her way thru the crowds before dropping me off at the gate at the corner of 16th & Georgetown. She got out of the Cart and escorted me to another Yellow shirt who walked me out, saying; Hold that Cab! As I was whisked back to my Hotel by the Cabbie just waiting for me... Pretty Damn Slick, eh?

To continue reading, see; Surviving Indy L51-100

Women in Racing: The Centennial Years (2009 Edition)

I’d say that the majority of today’s mainstream media attention is firmly affixed upon the Indy Racing League’s Danica Patrick, having FINALY WON her first major car race with some precocious fuel mileage strategy in Motegi, Japan last year. Yet with my NON politically correct stance towards Princess Danicker and Milka Duno’s indecision upon which car to drive? I continue to sit firmly on the Sarah Fisher side of the Danica divide, thus I thought I’d shed some light on the REAL women of motorsport once again, As these female pioneers truly paved the way for Danica to live the “Good Life.”

Interestingly the first women racers were in Grand Prix, prior to the modern day Formula 1 championship which began in 1950. As the earliest reports of female race driver’s centers upon a trio of women, with Eliska Junkova and “Helle Nice” being the most flamboyant. While Kay Petre made her impression due to her small stature behind the wheel of the day’s monstrous vehicles. Junkova caused quite a “stir” when it was discovered that a woman led the opening laps of the 1928 Targa Florio. While the lady behind the wheel of the Bugatti leading the event was quickly named the “Queen of the Steering wheel” by the adoring press, as the Czechoslovakian is the only woman to have ever won a Grand Prix which she accomplished at the Nurburgring in 1926. Junkova retired from racing immediately after her husband was killed in 1928 at the Nurburgring while piloting the vehicle the couple were co-driving in the event.

Helle Nice was Mariette Hélène Delangle’s stage name, as she made her fame and fortune as a Paris “Show Girl.” Amassing wealth and popularity as a dancer, she reportedly enjoyed “Life in the Fast Lane.” As rumours suggest she had a long list of multiple suitors including Philippe de Rothschild and Jean Bugatti. She competed in several Grand Prix’s during the early 1930’s.

Yet sadly after the war, Louis Chiron accused Helle Nice of being a Gestapo agent which effectively ended her career. (Along with ruining her life!) Helle Nice died “penniless” in Paris in 1984.

Kay Petre stood 4’10” tall, making many marvel at her physical ability to manhandle a 10.5 liter V-12 Delage while setting speed records at the famed Brooklands circuit. Petre was most likely the first female to compete in the 24 Heurs du Mans, finishing 13th overall in 1936. She competed in three Grand Prix’s in 1937 before being injured. Petre went on to become a motor journalist along with being an automotive fabric designer.

After two decades of no women participants, Maria Teresa de Filippis contested three Grand Prix’s between 1958-59. While it would be almost another two decades before a quartet of female drivers attempted participating in various Formula 1 races from 1974-1992. (Lella Lombardi, Divina Galica, Desire Wilson and Giovanna Amati).

Lombardi raced twelve times, becoming the only woman to have ever scored a World Championship point in 1976. Finishing sixth in the rain shortened Spanish GP, where Lombardi was awarded a half point. Lella also finished seventh at the Nurburgring. Galica, Wilson and Amati were entered, but didn’t qualify for their races. With quite a fuss caused when multiple females were entered for the 1976 British GP. Amati was the last female to enter a Formula 1 event for the struggling Brabham team before being replaced by Damon Hill, with Amati’s F1 test coming courtesy of playboy Flavour Flav… (Flavio Briatore).

Meanwhile Janet Guthrie began her racing career in Sports Cars and won two class victories in the 12 Hours of Sebring, prior to getting her big break, when in 1976 Rolla Vollstedt gave her a test drive at Indianapolis, although she didn’t qualify for that year’s race. Yet in 1977 Guthrie would not only become the very first female to race in the Indianapolis 500, but also make history as the first woman to race in the Daytona 500.

Guthrie would compete at Indy three times (1977-79) with a best finish of 9th in 1978 before disappearing from the Speedway’s horizon. It would be a further 13 years before a second female would participate in the Indy 500. As although Desire Wilson passed her Rookie test on May 11, 1982, she failed to qualify for that year’s race, thus it was a further decade before Lyn St James made the first of her seven appearances. St James became Indy’s first female rookie of the year in 1992. This debut race would also become her best finish of 11th place at the Speedway.

Y2K
As the new millennium dawned, (2000) the third female to crack the Brickyard’s entry list was Sarah Fisher driving for Derrick Walker. Fisher has since gone on to become the first woman driver to win a Pole in the Indy Racing League and holds the records for fastest one and four lap qualifying speeds at Indy. (2002: One lap = 229.675mph; Four lap average = 229.439mph)
Next, in 2005 Danica Patrick burst upon the scene, causing instant Danica mania while flirting with capturing the pole at Indy and finishing 4th in her rookie year for Rahal Letterman Racing, which at the time was the highest finish ever by a female at the Speedway and garnered Patrick Rookie of the Year honours.

In 2007, another first was recorded, when the Brickyard saw three females take the green flag for the very first time in the Speedway’s history, as Venezuelan Rookie Milka Duno driving her CITGO sponsored Team SAMAX racecar joined Sarah Fisher and Danica Patrick in the 91st running of the Indianapolis 500.

The 2008 event brought many changes for all three of these female contestants, as we were all painfully aware of Princess Danicker basking in the glow of winning her first victory just over one month prior to the 92nd running of the INDY 500, at the Twin Ring Oval of Motegi, Japan. Danica rolled off fifth from the middle of Row 2 aboard her #7 Motorola/ Andretti Green Racing and finished 22nd, with Contact on lap 171.

Meanwhile, the driver of this trio struggling the hardest financially to make her record tying seventh Indy 500 start, without a doubt was Sarah Fisher. After a disappointing 2007 season as Buddy Rice’s team mate at Dreyer & Reinbold Racing, Fisher decided to accomplish another first by starting her own race team and thus becoming the first female Indy Car owner. Hoping to have her team backed by Gravity Entertainment and ResQ energy Drinks adorning her sidepods, both entities failed to ever mail her the Check! As Fisher has since moved on, as her No. 67 Dallara’s sidepods would be emblazoned with her new associate sponsors, with Sarah qualifying 22nd, starting from the inside of Row 8. Unfortunately Sarah by no fault of her own would be involved in an accident with a spinning Tony Kanaan and end up 30th.

Yet, Milka Duno uncharacteristically “Flew under the Radar” during the Month of May, having switched teams in the off season, becoming part of a three car effort fielded by Dreyer & Reinbold Racing and was still backed by CITGO, Duno then eagerly took to constantly asking her teammates Buddy Rice (2004 Indianapolis 500 winner) and Townsend Bell for advice on how to master the Brickyard, as Duno would qualified 27th, lining up on the outside of Row 9. Ironically, Milka was the highest finishing Female, with a classified finish of 19th and Running, albeit only completing 185 total laps.

2009: The Centennial Era Begins
As you may be aware of? This year marks the first part of a three year Centennial celebration at the Speedway, which first hosted races in 1909, albeit a Balloon Race preceding the roar of Automobile engines. These were then followed by the inaugural 500 mile event being held in 1911, which was won by Ray Haroon aboard the Marmon Wasp.

For this year’s event, all three of these female contestants have gone thru more changes... As we’re all painfully aware that Princess Danicker still basks in the glow of winning her first victory just over One year ago, Now entering her third season with Andretti Green Racing, as her Motorola racecar was recently recovered in another media blitz, which will see the No. 7 sporting new Boost Mobile livery, rolling off from the inside of Row 4, having qualified 10th at 222.882mph.

Meanwhile, the driver of this trio showing the most turnaround from last year is undoubtedly Sarah Fisher, who’s in solid financial shape this season thanks in large part to Dollar General, who’s just extended Fisher’s schedule to encompass six Ovals, beginning at Kansas.

Thus, Fisher captures the record for Female pilots by making her record breaking eighth Indy 500 start, as Sarah qualified her No. 67 Dollar General/Sarah Fisher Racing 21st at 222.082mph and will start from the inside of Row 7.

Milka Duno has caused the most fanfare early this year with her on-again/off-again relationship when trying to secure a third seat at Newman Haas lanigan Racing, of which apparently her promised sponsorship fell thru.

Duno has since returned to her old haunt; Dreyer & Reinbold Racing, also making her ’09 season debut at Kansas, where she and Fisher shared the same starting row. Milka will be part of a four car armada out of the stable of D & R’s Indiana shop, with the four car Dryer & Reinbold effort sporting two cars for Milka and Rookie British teammate Mike Conway, while Associate programs with Richard Petty Motorsports and Kingdom Racing are being fielded for John Andretti and Davey Hamilton respectively. Milka is being backed by CITGO once again, qualifying her No. 23 “CITGO El Speciale” 30th at 221.106mph and will start from the inside of Row 10 this year, as ironically “Tres hembras”
all start on the inside of their respective Rows...

Yet this year’s Qualifying theme was to withdraw your entry and requalify at a faster time in hopes of improving your starting position which Danica, Sara and Milka all did, with Fisher having the biggest moment in her initial qualifying run, having to get out of the throttle and loosing a whole 5mph from 222 to 217 entering Turn 1!

And the roar of the crowd was unmistakable, as Danica Patrick finished a record third place, besting her previous record fourth position and re-establishing the record for highest finishing Female in the Brickyard’s history, while Sarah Fisher finished a very respectable 17th and was this year’s recipient of the Scott Brayton Driver’s Trophy Award; “Presented annually to the driver best exemplifying the character and racing spirit of the late driver Scott Brayton.”

Meanwhile as Danny Bridges mused, Milka Duno actually finished a career best One lap down, being recorded as the only car to finish 199 laps and being classified as 20th/Running, having progressed steadily forward in her three starts at the Speedway. In 2007, her rookie year, she crashed on lap 65 and in 2008, although finishing 19th and Running, (L185) albeit some 15 laps behind.

Thus, as Virginia Slims would say, “You’ve come a long way Baby…”

Blue Crown Spark Plug Specials (Stats)

Epilogue


Dean Jackson:
The No. 8 Blue Crown Spark Plug Special in Henderson, Nevada currently for sale has no history to it. The owner is asking $400,000, but only received an offer of $250k a year ago, which he declined. It’s the only six cylinder Offenhauser engine built.

Blue Crown Spark Plug Special No. 8

There were four Blue Crown race cars, with the Joe Lencky chassis being the fifth. One of the cars was in the Smithsonian Institute and the cars travel around to various museums.

Even more impressive was its nine year span of competition at the Brickyard which is unheard of regarding today’s relatively short lifespan of modern day IndyCars...

Apparently Joe Lencki was a most colourful person, being extremely opinionated and difficult. And as I’ve written, there were actually at least two Lencki Specials built, (perhaps 3-4?) although the six cylinders “Lumps” were indeed the only ones ever produced by Offenhauser.

As noted, Lencki started with a two valves per cylinder variant, which would become known as the “Little Six,” with a four valve variant being produced afterwards, as the No. 8 Blue Crown Special is the “Little Six.” In the early 1960’s Lencki once again approached Leo goosen to produce him a turbocharged version of his six cylinder engine, of which Goosen at the time was too far involved in the Offenhauser Turbo project to do so.


Blue Crown Spark Plug Special – Offenhauser engine (DJP)

Reportedly Lencki was of much annoyance to Fred Offenhauser, as he kept every single pattern and drawing of his six cylinder engines, along with all of his racing cars except for one until his death in 1994. Lencki reportedly offered his remaining chassis to the Smithsonian and Indianapolis Motor Speedway towards the end of his life, but never delivered them and the cars were still in the possession of his long time aide Adam Wuchitech in 1996 and potentially as late as 2004, or beyond...

Statistics
Team Owner: Lou Moore
Car Designer: Leo Goossen
Chassis: Emil Deidt (Deidt & Lesovsky)
Running Gear: Lujie Lesovsky(?)

Three time Indy 500 Winner (1947-49)
1947-48: Mauri Rose; 1949: Bill Holland


Indy 500 Victories- overall
Lou Moore (5)
Year Start Driver
1938 Pole Floyd Roberts
1941 17th/1st Floyd Davis/Mauri Rose*
1947 3rd Mauri Rose
1948 3rd Mauri Rose
1949 4th Bill Holland

Note*
Mauri Rose* began the 1941 race from the Pole position in the No. 3 Elgin Piston Pin Special Maserati, but retired on lap 60, before being drafted to replace Floyd Davis in his No. 16 Noc-Out Hose Clamp Special on lap 72, as both drivers were competing for Lou Moore.


Lou Moore
Born: Sept 12, 1904: Hinton, Oaklahoma; Died: March 25, 1956: Lakewood Park, Atlanta, Georgia.

Racing Driver (1928-36)
Racing driver; Won 1932 Indy 500 Pole; 9 Indy 500 starts; Best finish: 1928; Second; Other top 5 finishes: 1934-35; Third.

Team Owner (1938-56)
After retiring as a race driver; Moore becomes a (5 time) Indy 500 winning car owner. Becoming not only the very first to win Indy three consecutive years, but finish 1-2 three consecutive years...


Blue Crown Spark Plug Special Show Car at Navy Pier, Chicago (DJP)

The only Team Owner to duplicate Moor’s feat of winning Indy three consecutive years is some chap known as The Captain, a.k.a Roger Penske who accomplished this from 2001-03. Yet, some Dude named Paul Tracy messed up Penske’s 1-2 (2002 Controversy) sweep by finishing runner-up in ‘02 to Helio Castroneves, while his teammate Gil De Ferran finished 10th that year; hence Moore is the only team owner to ever score three successive 1-2 finishes.

The Blue Crown Spark Plug Special is one of only four chassis to ever win Indianapolis two consecutive years in a row with the same driver.


Emil Deidt
Fabricator/Panel builder; Chassis constructor
While little is known about this panel beater extraordinaire, (apparently even stumping the Great Donald Davidson) according to Joe Scalzo, he was one of Harry A. Miller’s countless minions, and his hands touched many of the winning Indianapolis racecars over several decades...

The only substantive information I could dig up upon him was a story about the 1952 Rodchester Special; built for Comedian/Actor Eddie Anderson.

It claims that Deidt was Involved in several successful racing cars, including: Miller Fords; the Brady Special; Blue Crown Special; Novi cars; Scarab F1 cars and the Nat Round rear engine Offy...

Blue Crown Spark Plug Specials (Part 5)

Dean Jackson:
Along with the two Indy cars, there were also two Dirt Track racers built, with Driver’s including: Lee Wallard, Henry Banks and Tony Bettenhausen Sr., whom my Dad gave him his first ride in a “Big” car in 1939.

Bill Holland was an excellent driver while Mauri Rose and Tony Bettenhausen were also very good hard charging racers; but the latter were harder upon their equipment...


1950: Moore’s “Super-team”
Having become the first winner of three consecutive Indy 500’s, Lou Moore added a fourth car to his stable in his efforts to garner an unprecedented fourth consecutive victory. Bill Holland and George Connor returned in their previous year’s chassis, while new recruits Lee Wallard was entrusted with the brand new rear drive Dirt Car and Tony Bettenhausen (Senior) was given the ex-Rose front drive Offenhauser Champion Car.

1950 Blue Crown Spark Plug Team Photo (DJP)

Meanwhile, Mauri Rose had found a new steed to pilot, taking the wheel of another chassis Emil Deidt had built in 1948 for Superior Oil tycoon Howard Keck, who would campaign several drivers over the years.

Rose replaced Keck’s original driver Jimmy Jackson, as the unsung Jackson who’d piloted the Deidt/Offy entry to a pair of 10th place finishes the prior two years, moved onto drive the Cummins Diesel entry.

NOTE:
The Indy 500 became part of the Formula 1 Driver’s World Championship between the years of 1950-60 and hence, all participants taking part in the Indianapolis 500 during these years were awarded Grand Prix Championship points for finishing positions 1-5 between 1950-59; and 1-6 in 1960.

Thus, while Moore’s four car armada of Connor, Bettenhausen, Holland and Wallard started fourth, eighth, tenth and twenty-third respectively, It was Rookie Walt Faulkner winning the pole position, which came as a total surprise, as Faulkner who’d seemingly come out of nowhere knocked off another surprise pole sitter named Fred Agabashian at the last moment.

And in what has become increasingly common in past years, at the time of the 34th running of that year’s Indy 500; for only the second time ever, with 1925 being the first, the race was halted early due to rain.

Yet, the eventual first two finishers of that year’s shortened race were simply inverted from the previous year’s event, with Johnny Parsons winning and bill Holland being runner-up, just ahead of ex-teammate Mauri Rose in third.


1951
Interestingly, the winning car had originally been built for Meyer & Drake by Frank Kurtis in 1949, before their customers complained about competing against the factory and the car was sold to Murrell Belanger with Tony Bettenhausen as part of the deal. Since he’d been Meyer & Drake’s hired gun, although Tony was still willing to drive the “experimental” race car on the Dirt Tracks, he told Belanger that he wished to drive for Lou Moore instead at Indy as he still believed that the front wheel drive racecar’s held an advantage over the rear drive chassis. Hence Tony recommended Lee Wallard as his substitute... With Wallard going on to victory, while Bettenhausen spun out of the race from fifth place in the closing stages... And thus, once again ‘Tony had given up a winning ride! Having been unwilling to break ranks and accept Lou Moore’s ride in 1947.

George Connor; 1950 (DJP)

Noting Bettenhausen’s decision to drive once again for Moore, I came to surmise that Lou Moore must have entered four race cars for the Indy 500, albeit this time only two were Blue Crown Spark Plug Specials; one being driven by reigning AAA National Champion Henry Banks, in the No. 1 Moore/Offy, driven the previous year by Lee Wallard. While Bank’s sister No. 22 Blue Crown entry, was the Lesovsky/Offy chassis, piloted by George Connor for a third successive year, these being the two rear drive chassis Moore had previously commissioned.

Meanwhile Bettenhausen was aboard the No. 5 Mobil Oil Special and Duane Carter was driving the No. 27 Mobilgas Special, both of these entries being the earlier built front drive Deidt chassis.

Thus, with a total of four Deidt/Offenhauser racecars, plus the two aforementioned Blue Crown entries contesting that year’s event, the No. 19 Tuffanelli-Derrico entry driven by Mack Hellings was possibly entered by somewhat obscure Car Owner Gordon Schroeder? While once again Mauri Rose was behind the wheel of Howard Keck’s No. 16 entry, although the front (wheel) “drivers” were now seeming to lose some of their advantage at the Speedway, as this year’s front row was locked out by Frank Kurtis chassis, with Duke Nalon on pole in the revered Novi.

Meanwhile, in what seems a strange incident, Bill Holland, having moved to Miami was banned from driving at Indy by the AAA after he’d driven a match race prior to the event which was apparently frowned upon and the AAA didn’t take kindly to this... Issuing Holland a suspension from racing at all AAA sanctioned tracks for 1951!

Holland then crucified the AAA in his local media to no avail, being forced to sit out that year’s Indy 500 after having finished second three times and winning once the previous four years...

Holland, still not having gotten the memo and continuing to trash the AAA, was further demoralized when his application for reinstatement was denied a second time, being forced to miss the 1952 season as well, before finally being cleared to return to competition at the Speedway in 1953! As apparently Holland had learned his lesson... While his replacement for Moore’s Blue Crown Spark Plug Specials henceforth would become Henry Banks, the 1950 AAA National Champion.

Yet the race was fraught with attrition, with only six cars finishing on the lead lap, as Banks was the highest Moore team finisher in sixth place, while Carter wound-up eighth, Bettenhausen ninth and Connor 21st, having retired with a Driveshaft failure, while Mack Hellings retired on lap 18 with a piston failure

And after having fallen out of the race from a broken wire wheel suffered with just under 75 laps remaining, triple Indy 500 winner Mauri Rose would retire from competition the following January...


1952
From what I can tell, this was Lou Moore’s final season as an Indy Car team owner, as Moore had already won the event a record five times and was preparing to switch his attention full time to NASCAR...

Dean Jackson:
Blue Crown also sponsored Hudson Hornet NASCAR race cars, as even then NASCAR was quite “Big.”


Frank “Rebel” Mundy;
“To P.D. a real racing friend + sport. Best wishes” Frank “Rebel” Mundy” (DJP)

Yet, Moore’s team did contest the Indy 500 that year, albeit apparently having reduced his effort from four cars to two, with entries for Henry Banks and Tony Bettenhausen (Sr.) as Bill Holland was still sitting on the sidelines, with the AAA intent to show the racing drivers just exactly who was boss!

With Rose’s retirement, Howard Keck had hired west Coast hot-shoe Bill Vukovich to take over and would ultimately bring Keck his long sought Indy triumphs in 1953-54.

Meanwhile, Banks rolled off 12th and finished 19th, while Bettenhausen started from the final row in 30th and finished 24th after stalling and retiring on lap 93. As the face of the Speedway’s winning entries were changing greatly and the front wheel drive variants had become basically obsolete, giving way to the era of the Kurtis and Watson Roadsters...


1953-56: The Stock Car years
For the years 1953-56, I have been unable to gather any substantial information about Moore’s whereabouts, and can only surmise he was running the then dominant Hudson Hornet in the Grand National series, as Dean has mentioned that Blue Crown sponsored these cars after Indy.

Dean Jackson:
“Oh, you’d better write down Frank “Rebel” Mundy.”
(NASCAR Hudson Hornet driver)

Also according to Donald Davidson; Frank “Rebel” Mundy carried Blue Crown Spark Plug sponsorship on his Hudson Hornet in 1953; so, I’m guessing that Mundy drove with Blue Crown backing between 1953-54 for Lou Moore? And that perhaps either after the 1953 or ’54 seasons, Blue Crown finally got out of the race car sponsorship business altogether...

Although I’d never heard of Frank “Rebel” Mundy before, he seems to be quite the character, having driven in NASCAR between 1949-56, although I don’t know if all of the latter year’s were with Lou Moore? As I’ve had a tough time finding anything substantial on this stock car driver, other then he won three races in the No. 23 along with four poles, the majority of these coming behind the wheel of a Studebaker... Having even once won in a rental car that had cost him $25.00 for the day. Mundy’s real name was Francisco Eduardo Menendez and he had once been a chauffer for General Patton during World War II.

Hudson Hornet/Frank Mundy (DJP)

Furthermore, I’m assuming Moore continued on in NASCAR for 1955, although I cannot seem to find out any details on his whereabouts that season. Yet, in 1956 Moore switched alliances (from Hudson Hornets?) to be a factory Pontiac race team owner, before he suddenly died of a heart attack at the Atlanta NASCAR race that season being held at Lakewood Speedway. Moore was 56 years old at the time of his death...

Trivia
Was Lou Moore’s entry of four Blue Crown Spark Plug Specials entered at Indianapolis the most by a single team owner?

If you said no, its Andretti Green Racing’s tally of five entries in 2006-07, you’re wrong! As the correct answer is Cliff Durant in 1923 with seven entries...

For the conclusion of this story, see; Blue Crown Spark Plug Specials-Statistics

Special Thanks
Dean Jackson
Without Dean’s willingness to tell me his story, provide me the details and graciously sending me multiple photographs of the Blue Crown Spark Plug Specials;
THERE WOULD BE NO STORY!

Donald Davidson
For taking time out of his busy schedule to answer my arcane questions about the Blue Crown Spark Plug racing cars and the Old Timers era.

Books
Autocourse: The Official History of the Indianapolis 500
By Donald Davidson and Rick Shaffer

Offenhauser
The Legendary Racing Engine an the Men who built It
By Gordon Elliot White

Miller
By Griffith Borgeson

City of Speed
Los Angeles and the Rise of American Racing
By Joe Scalzo

Internets
Lou Moore; Emil Deidt; Driver Bio’s; IMS Statistics; Lucy O'Reilly Schell/Maserati, etc.

Blue Crown Spark Plug Specials (Part 4)

Deem Jackson:
The secret to the success of the Blue Crown Spark Plug vehicles was that the front wheel drive pulled the car around the corners vs. pushing the rear wheels.

Some of the cars fiercest competition came from the Novi Governor race cars, which were also front wheel drive, but the supercharged V-8’s were simply too powerful.

The Offy’s performance secret was the size of its pistons; which were the size of Grapefruits...

1947 INDY 500 Winner - Mauri Rose:
“Best wishes to “P.D.” Jackson; a real performer.” (DJP)

1947-49: Victorious
In 1947, the very first two Meyer & Drake 270cid “Offy’s” produced went to Lou Moore for his brand new Blue Crown Spark Plug Specials race team, which were designed by the famous Draftsman Leo Goossen during the war.

Reputably “secretive,” Moore’s Offenhauser powerplants were presumed to be of two valves per cylinder design, with 13:1 compression and running 115 octane “Av-gas” Aviation grade petrol. As Moore’s winning philosophy centered on fuel economy; utilizing the time honoured philosophy simply known as making the least amount of pit stops possible, with Moore’s strategy consisting of running the race on a single pit stop!

Meanwhile Joe Lencki was back again with his Lencki Specials, as this year saw Lencki’s mounts be entered under the Preston Tucker Partners banner, with the addition of a new Myron Stevens chassis joining the mix. Emil Andres and newcomer Charlie Van Aker were his drivers behind the keyboards, with Rookie Van Aker and Andres qualifying 24th and 30th respectively. Andres was classified 13th after his No. 3 Lencki/Lencki chassis retired on lap 149 with an uncooperative oil line, while Van Aker crashed the No. 44 Stevens/Lencki chassis out on lap 24 and was classified 29th for the non-typical 30 car field.

Moore’s two Blue Crown drivers that May were the 1941 Indy 500 co-winner Mauri Rose, with Indy 500 Rookie Bill Holland as his teammate. Rose qualified his No. 27 racecar third, while Holland rolled off from eighth place aboard the No. 16.

After pole sitter Bergere had led the first 23 laps, the rest of the race would be dominated by the two Blue Crown Spark Plug Specials leading the rest of the way, as Holland would lead a total of 143 laps.


Pit Board signs (DJP)

Yet, this was the year of the infamous EASY (“EZY”) sign board debacle, as then race leader Holland, mistakenly interpreted his pit board’s EZY letters that Moore had been showing him to imply that he was a lap ahead of teammate Rose, having backed off his pace to cruise to the win. Thus, on lap 193, Holland simply waved Rose by, believing that his elder teammate was simply unlapping himself, unaware the move would ultimately be for the race win... As Holland would have to take solace in being the race’s runner-up...


1948
Lou Moore once again entered his two front drive Offy’s for Mauri Rose and Bill Holland, yet the spotlight was firmly affixed upon the shrieking wail of the Novi, which had seem much controversy leading up to the races start. As previous year’s pilot Cliff Bergere had declared the car unsafe and retired, with his last moment replacement being Ralph Hepburn, who at 52 years old would sadly lose his life in a practice session after having run a lap at 128mph. Chet Miller then resigned from driving the second Novi and thus stepping into the breach was Dennis “Duke” Nalon, who qualified the car in 11th place after his last minute substitution, albeit his speed having been faster then pole winner Rex Mays, with his first flying lap being just a tick over 134 miles per hour.

Joe Lencki returned once again in what would ultimately be his last race at the Speedway during the front engine era, before a long hiatus, when he’d attempt a comeback in 1960, having Meyer & Drake produce another 265cid six cylinder engine for him, which Lencki hoped to contest the 1962 Indy 500 with a modern Roadster. Yet, his sponsorship fell thru and his final attempt at the Speedway in 1963 saw the racecar fail to qualify.

Lencki entered the now long in the tooth front engine six cylinder chassis, with Ronnie Householder and "Cowboy" O'Rourke as his drivers, but both failed to qualify.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, Rex Mays pole winning Bowes Seal Fast Kurtis/Winfield set the pace at 130.570mph, vs. Nalon’s electrifying four lap average of 131.600mph, while the Blue Crown Spark Plug Specials of Bill Holland and Mauri Rose qualified second and third respectively.

Meanwhile starting in fourth place was a third Deidt/Offenhauser front wheel drive chassis, having been purchased by Superior Oil magnate Howard Peck and driven by Jimmy Jackson.

And although Mays took off like a rocket at the start of the race, he was forced out of the race on lap 129 with a fuel leak, While the stiffest competition for victory came from Duke Nalon and the Novi, while Rose and Holland once again steadily held station at the front of the pack by running Moore’s traditional one stop strategy.

Nalon was also on a similar strategy, as the Novi featured a cavernous 112 gallon fuel tank, but ironically his tank was not filled full at the race’s midpoint due to a pressure differential and suffered an excruciating second pit stop when the Novi failed to re-fire for two minutes after refueling... And thus, Rose who’d been leading at the time was followed home by his wingman Holland for a repeat 1-2 sweep by the Blue Crown racecars, while Nalon forlornly finished third...


1949
For the 1949 Indy 500, Lou Moore increase his team’s entry to three cars, with the two front drive Offy’s once again being reserved for Mauri Rose and Bill Holland, while new Blue Crown recruit George Conner was given the wheel of a rear drive Offy that Moore had ordered the previous year for Holland to contest Dirt Track events in.


1947 INDY 500, Bill Holland; 2nd place (DJP)

This year’s race would once again see the Novi’s as favourites... With Duke Nalon on pole and new teammate Rex Mays alongside him, as the Novi’s started one – two.

And while Nalon took off like a scalded cat and led with ease for the firs 20 laps, a rear axle failure would cause a violent crash in which Nalon would be seriously burned and Mays would retire with engine failure.

Next into the lead was Lee Wallard, in the ex-Wilbur Shaw Maserati, but he too fell out and as history has shown time after time, the Speedway always beats its own drum, as it would be second row starter Bill Holland aboard his No. 7 racecar winning his first and only Indy 500 for Lou Moore.

Ironically, towards the end of the event, another “EZY” sign board was displayed around lap 143 while Holland was leading his arch rival (teammate) Mauri Rose by 45 seconds. Yet, this time he was more cautious about backing off, having fallen fowl to this instruction in ’47, slowing down only slightly while Rose continued charging.

Thus instead of Rose finishing second, the hard charging exertion caused the magneto strap to wilt under the demands of the impatient Mauri and the No. 3 Blue Crown Special ground to a stop just eight laps short of the finish, while rookie Johnny Parsons (Senior) inherited second and Blue Crown debutante Connor’s No. 22 finished in third place.

After the race, Moore and Rose reportedly got into a shouting match over Rose’s disrespect for his equipment, and their longstanding partnership came to an end, while Holland said nothing!

To continue reading, see; Blue Crown Spark Plug Specials-Part 5

Blue Crown Spark Plug Specials (Part 3)

1946: Racing resumes
With World War II over, and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in the hands of the Hulman family, racing not only resumed around the globe, but at the Speedway during Memorial Day weekend.

Dean Jackson:
My father Purvis “P.D.” Jackson was a World War One fighter pilot whom met Eddie Rickenbacker during the war. So, it was Rickenbacker who spurred his interest in motor racing.

My father originally owned the Continental Radio Tube business, but during the depression he lost everything; i.e.; business, buildings & factories, etc. so he started over from scratch and began the Blue Crown Spark Plug Co. which was his first and only endeavor into sponsoring racing cars.

I used to go to time trials and the race every year with my father and I recall riding from Chicago and leaving once around 8-9PM, riding in the back seat with my father and (Blue Crown) company executive Curt Kellogg while we listened to the Joe Louis fight on the radio the year he won, while I was probably the last kid allowed to have a pit/garage pass during the late ‘40’s...

1946 Indy 500: Mauri Rose; No. 8; Leading at 40 laps (DJP)

Thus, with the resumption of racing at the Speedway that May, a lone Blue Crown Spark Plug Special (#8) was entered for Mauri Rose. It was once again one of the Lencki Specials, as Mauri would be behind the controls of The original “Little Six” (Lencki 2V) that would ultimately see service at the Brickyard between the years of 1939 to 1948; with drivers Tony Willman, George Conner, Emil Andres, Mauri Rose, Ronnie Householder and Cletus Joseph "COWBOY" O'Rourke all taking turns behind the keyboard of this racecar which now resides in Nevada.

Ironically, the 1938 ex-Floyd Roberts winning chassis qualified on pole at the hands of Cliff Bergere, with a speed of 120.220mph. Since Lou Moore currently had no racing cars in his stable, he instead participated as Bergere’s chief mechanic, who had once again partnered with Moore.


1946 Indy 500: Mauri Rose; crashing into No. 10 Twin Coach
(“Rear axle flying above car!” DJP)

Yet, the sensation of qualifying was Ralph Hepburn, now 50 year’s old and piloting the newly constructed Frank Kurtis roadster with the ’41 Bud Winfield developed V-8, now renamed the Novi, with the race car carrying the moniker of Novi Governor Cup, while two most unorthodox racecar’s accompanied the pole sitter.

Dean Jackson:
The No. 8 Blue Crown Spark Plug car started ninth, on the inside of row three, driven by Mauri Rose and by the first lap led by a quarter of a lap, leading for 40 laps before it was involved in an accident, when Mauri spun out on an oil slick in the North chute and there was major carnage, with an axle being thrown 30-40 feet into the air!


1946 Indy 500: Aftermath of Rose’s crash ( Car No. 10 + Car No. 8; DJP)

On lap 41, Rose rammed the stricken chassis of Paul Russo’s #10 Fageol Twin Coaches, which had crashed against the wall some 24 laps prior, but had been left unattended on the circuit! Thus, when Rose had been forced to take evasive action upon attempting to lap another competitor, whom seems to be unknown, a massive collision occurred and Rose would be classified 23rd.


1946 Indy 500: Tow Truck cleaning up Rose’s stricken chassis (DJP)

Interestingly, the Fageol Twin Coach, was a rather unique vehicle entered by NOTED Indy Car owner Lou Fageol, whose fortunes seemingly came from his father who built twin engine busses for a living. Hence,, the motivating factor of the Fageol Twin Coach was based on the motor coaches principles and thus, not one but two 90cid four cylinder Offenhauser midget engines were shoehorned into the radical chassis with one each in front of and behind the driver.

Meanwhile, rolling off from third place was a youthful Sam Hanks aboard another interesting creation, as the Myron Stevens 1939 chassis originally built for George Schroeder was motivated by the ex-Frank Lockhart V-16 Blackhawk Stutz supercharged engine. This sixteen cylinder Lump was the same motor propelling Lockhart’s fateful land speed record attempt on the sands of Daytona Beach in 1928, having originally been produced by the famed Miller Engine Works. As the racecar was entered by popular bandleader Spike Jones and his Spike Jones special wound up finishing 31st, falling out with a broken oil line on lap 18.

Being the first post war race, the field was comprised of an eclectic mix of pre-war vehicles and alas, the Indy 500 was not won that year by an Offy, with victory instead being obtained by George Robson aboard a Thorne Engineering, Adams/Sparks race car, as Offenhauser, Lou Moore and the Blue Crown Spark Plug Co. would have to wait a further year before their indelible grip upon the Borg Warner trophy would begin...

To continue reading, see; Blue Crown Spark Plug Specials-Part 4

Blue Crown spark Plug Specials (Part 2)

NOTE:
Last week I began this story with the unveiling of the Blue Crown Spark Plug Specials “Saga,” which you can check out in:

Blue Crown Spark Plug Specials-Part 1.

1941
After the 1940 Indy 500 race, Lucy O'Reilly Schell sold both of her Ecurie Bleu Racing Team Maserati cars to Lou Moore, as Lucy O'Reilly was the mother of American Grand Prix race car driver Harry Schell, whom had both traveled to Indianapolis via luxury liner to have their race team contest the 1940 Indy 500 representing France, in hopes of boosting morale for a country mired in War...

Lee Wallard, 1950 (DJP)

Moore subsequently had the Maserati’s prepared and readied for the 1941 race as the 'Elgin Piston Pin Special’s” made up half of his unprecedented four car armada.

Moore’s three primary entries featured lead driver Mauri Rose; qualifying the No. 3 Maserati on pole, with teammate Dennis “Duke” Nalan starting the No. 17 Maserati on the outside of Row 10, in “P30.” While the unheralded Floyd Davis would roll off 17th aboard the trusty No. 16 Noc-Out Hose Clamp Special Wetteroth/Offy race car, while Moore also had an interest in a fourth race car, as Cliff Bergere was contesting the race aboard the No. 34 Noc-Out Hose Clamp Special, the ex-Moore/Floyd Roberts Wetteroth/Offy chassis.

Meanwhile, Joe Lencki once again entered his two car stable of six cylinder designed Lencki’s with Emil Andres at the controls of the No. 19 Kennedy Tank racecar (Lencki 4V) qualifying 15th, while George “Joie” Chitwood was aboard the No. 25 Blue Crown SpL. (Lencki 2V) Also referred to as the “Little Six,” Starting from 27th. (Lencki now claimed his 4V engine was of 265cid displacement). Andres would retire on lap 4 after being involved in an accident, while Chitwood solidered home to a 14th place finish, 33 laps behind.

The Blue Crown Spark Plug Company was making its foray into the Indy 500, by sponsoring one of Joe Lencki’s racecar’s this May, with the aforementioned Chitwood as the pilot.

Dean Jackson:
Blue Crown Spark Plug was a product of the Motor Master Products Company in the 1930’s and at the height of business, Motor Master Products was selling a range of 90+ spark plugs. This was during the era of when Chrysler owned the Autolite spark plug concern and General Motors owned AC spark plugs with Champion also doing business.

Blue Crown Spark Plug advertisement

During World War II; Blue Crown was producing 40,000 spark plugs per day under Government contracts for the war effort; Purvis, (his father and Owner of the Blue Crown Spark Plug Co.) owned factories in Chicago and Mexico, with the Mexican plant being for international business, prior to selling Blue Crown to the Defiance Automotive Screw Machine Co. in Defiance, Ohio in the early 1950’s.

And for this 29th running of the Memorial Day classic, the front row’s three starter’s are the same in two consecutive Indy’s For the very first time, along with being the top three finishers from the previous year. As Rose started from the Pole, with Rex Mays and Wilbur Shaw alongside respectively; having led the race for six laps, Rose retired with engine trouble on lap 60. However, he finally won driving the Floyd Davis car; from the same stable of Lou Moore’s, while “Duke” Nalon finished in fifteenth place, twenty seven laps behind the winner.

Drivers: Duke Nalon, Mauri Rose, Bill Holland and Ted Horn, 1948 (DJP)

Speculation suggests that team owner Lou Moore and driver Floyd Davis were both of strong bull-headed opinion; supposedly with Moore fast growing displeased with Davis’s race performance, who was at the time running in 11th place.

Thus on lap 72, Moore ordered Davis to relinquish his mount to the now sidelined Rose, who resumed the race in 13th place. Yet, by lap 152, when leader Shaw crashed out, Rose moved into third place, with only Mays and Bergere ahead of him. Yet Mays needed to pit for fuel and thus Berger in the ex-Lou Moore entry was the only opposition left ahead of Rose,

Bergere, racing on Moore’s savvy strategy, was trying to complete the race without making any pit stops and eventually would be forced to slow down in order to finish the race. Thus smelling blood, Mauri swept by on lap 162 as the two combatants’s sped down the front straightaway in lockstep, before Bergere would fade to 5th place.

Upon his triumph, Rose tried doing everything in his power to share the victory laurels with Davis, even having come to a crawl on the pit lane whilst trying to hand over the winning race car to Davis to drive into victory lane... Yet, a dejected Davis was nowhere to be found and a widening rift between him and Moore would lead to their eventual falling out, as Davis was not to be featured in the winner’s photographs the following day.

Bill Holland (DJP)

On an interesting side note, starting the race from 10th and finishing fourth was the little known No. 54 Bud Winfield prepared Bowes Seal Fast Special, with Ralph Hepburn behind the wheel of what was the forbearer to one of Indy’s most popular post war race cars, affectionately known as the Novi.

This particular race car was actually one of the previous ten front engine 1935 Miller Ford’s, with it’s alluring body panels having been hammered by Emil Deidt, as Henry Ford had sold off the cars piecemeal to private collectors after the fiasco of the ’35 Indy 500, in which all of his race cars failed to finish. And like the majority of top line racing Lumps of the period, once again the Novi engine’s designer was the renowned Leo Goossen, while Bud Winfield was responsible for developing the supercharged V-8, after Team Boss Lew Welch told him to go ahead and build it!

But after escaping the scourge of warfare in the European theatre, as we all know, “A Day of Infamy” occurred on December 7th and the United States was finally involved in World War II...

To continue reading, see; Blue Crown Spark Plug Specials-Part 3

Blue Crown Spark Plug Specials saga

Joie Chitwood, 1935 (DJP)

Introduction

It’s always interesting to me what sparks your curiosity, eh? As during last summer, while dining with “Snobyrd” M.J. and her longtime friend Joy, who was visiting “The Emerald City” from Phoenix, AZ, I was busy extolling the virtues of my No Fenders “BLOB.” (What Aunty Harriet affectionately calls it!) which in turn sparked the following conversation of Joy telling me about an ex-Chicago classmate’s father who was the sponsor of the Indy 500 winning Blue Crown Spark Plug Specials sixty-plus years ago. Thus, my curiosity was definitely peaked, (Hey! You didn’t think peaking was Danicker’s sole property; did yuh’s?) And Joy introduced me to Dean, whose father Purvis was the owner of the Blue Crown Spark Plug Company and hence the following conversations with Dean morphed into this story about a long forgotten racing team and racecar I’d never heard about before...

Early Days

Having retired from the cockpit after the 1936 Indy 500, Lou Moore was busy beginning his career as a team owner, circa 1937 and would ultimately go on to win the Indy 500 five times, a record that stood for nearly four decades, until some dude adorned by the moniker; “The Captain,” a.k.a. Roger Penske scored the sixth of his untouchable fourteen victories to date, in 1987. And while “The Cheepster,” a.k.a. Chip Ganassi basks in the limelight of being the current Indy 500 winning Team Owner, Ganassi still trails Moore on the all time victory list; 5-3, as Chip was co-owner of Emerson fittipaldi’s 1989 Patrick Racing winner, along with Juan Pablo Montoya’s 2000 victory and Scott Dixon’s 2008 triumph for Target Chip Ganassi Racing respectively.

So, eat your heart out “Cheep!”

1938

The very first Lencki chassis was being laid down by Joe Lencki of Chicago, as Lencki had commissioned Leo Goossen to design what Lencki considered to be the ultimate solution to capturing victory at the Brickyard. Interestingly, Lencki was also the inventor of some secret “Slippery Liquids” concoction known today as Z Max, for which you may see an ‘Ol Snake Oil salesman by the name of Carroll Shelby pitching to you via television.

Lencki, a mechanic by trade, had begun racing Dirt Tracks in the mid-1920’s and after owning multiple Miller chassis, went to California to have Offenhauser produce an engine of his own specification. There, Goossen, chief draftsman and engine designer extraordinaire for Harry Miller, Offenhauser, Meyer & Drake and Drake Engineering, penned a 270cid, two valves per cylinder “Lump,” for what would become the first Lencki/Lencki to race at the Speedway in 1939.

Speculation suggests that if you were so inclined to call the six, which looked extremely similar to an Offenhauser 270cid four cylinder, with the additional two cylinders in front of Lencki, you were likely to get slugged!

George Connor, 1950 (DJP)

Meanwhile, Louis “Curly” Wetteroth was another of the many fabricators making a living by building race cars, with a shop in California and kept busy by producing Midgets and Indianapolis/Champion Cars. As Curly had previously built the 1935 Indy 500 winner for Harvey Ward and Kelly Petillo.

Thus, reportedly it was Lou Moore serving as chief mechanic for driver Floyd Roberts at the controls of Moore’s Burd Piston Ring Special, who captured the pole position for that year’s race. Roberts would go onto lead 92 laps enroute to his lone 500 victory wilds taking the chequered flag aboard a Wetteroth/Miller race car. The win would become the first of Moore’s five Indy 500 wins as a team owner and the first time the pole sitter had won the race since 1930.

Tony Bettenhausen, 1939; First “Big Car” he drove (DJP)

1939

Floyd Roberts returned with Lou Moore aboard the previous year’s winning Burd Piston Ring Special, while for the 27th Indy 500, there were a total of four entries sponsored by Burd Piston Ring, with Frank Wearne in a second Wetteroth/Offy, along with Tony Gulotta in a Stevens/Offy, while Lencki entered his lone chassis for Tony Willman, the #51, which started 26th and finished 14th after retiring on lap 188 with a broken fuel pump.

As in 1937, when rules revisions no longer made it mandatory for competitors to have a riding mechanic, another popular change was made, when qualifying was cut from ten laps to four, with Jimmy Snyder capturing the pole at 130.130mph, Louis Meyer in the middle of row one and Wilbur Shaw on the outside. This triumbrant would go on to lead the majority of the race, as Shaw in a Boyle-Maserati would win his second race in three years, while Meyer had spun out of contention for his record forth victory while chasing Shaw on lap 198.

The win by a Maserati was the first by a foreign make since the Fisher/Allison owned Peugeot had won the 1919 May classic, while Floyd Roberts, the previous year’s Indy 500 victor, began the race from the 23rd position, but tragedy was to strike Roberts, who was involved in an accident on lap 106, when a spinning Bob Swanson was collected by Roberts, causing Swanson’s car to flip, catch fire and eject its driver, while Roberts race car hurtled out of the Speedway, thru the wooden retaining fence at over 100mph and came to rest against a tree. Chet Miller was also involved in the incident, along with two spectators being injured from flying debris, while all three drivers were transported to the hospital, it took 30 minutes to remove the burnt hulk of Swanson’s car and Roberts was pronounced dead prior to the races conclusion as a result of a skull fracture. Sadly, Roberts was reportedly set to announce his retirement after the race. Also, that August, Carl Fisher passed away in a Miami hospital...

Mauri Rose; Indy 500 Winner (DJP)

1940
While the public pondered the possibility of the Indy 500 occurring that May, as ominous war clouds festering over Europe had led to the invasion of Poland on September 7, 1939 and war declared by Adolf Hitler... IMS track owner Eddie Rickenbacher decided to press on.

Meanwhile, Joe Lencki had commissioned Offenhauser to produce a second six cylinder engine. While the original engine was of two valve design, (hemispherical combustion chamber) the new Lump sported four valve per cylinder construction, (pent-roof combustion chamber) measuring 260cid vs. the 2V’s 270 displacement.

Lencki’s two entries lined-up for the 500 with driver’s George Connor in 17th, while Floyd Davis nabbed the very last spot upon the grid. Connor’s No. 10 Lencki (Lencki 4V) would finish 26th, having thrown a rod on lap 52. While Davis’s No. 61 Lencki (Lencki 2V) wound up 20th. (Ironically Davis would race for Lou Moore the following May).

Pole sitter Rex Mays finished a disappointing second to race winner Wilbur Shaw, while the final “Podium” position of third place was captured by Mauri Rose aboard an Elgin Piston Pin racecar owned by Lou Moore, which past Indy 500 winner Floyd Roberts had helped Moore and Wetteroth construct over the winter of 1938.

Shaw’s third victory was of historic proportion, as not only did it make him the race’s second three time winner, but he became the very first driver to win two consecutive races in a row, along with piloting the very first chassis to win two events in a row... Thus Shaw’s remarkable tally of finishes between 1937-40 comprised of three wins and one runner-up finish, not to mention his two second places in 1933 and 1935...

To continue reading, see; Blue Crown Spark Plug Specials-Part 2

Penske at Indy

Ah, the life of a humble scribe, eh? As once again the critics have come out of the woodwork... Most notably Mr. Indy-breath, a.k.a. Indiana Bureau Chief Danny B, who has been demanding the following correction to my recent post; McLaren at Indy, in which I wrote regarding the year 1973; “At the end of the season Gulf Oil withdrew its sponsorship of the Works team, while Penske quit USAC in favour of NASCAR and in 1974 Penske campaigned a lone Indy entry for Gary Bettenhausen.”

(Recall that 1973 was the year of the original Arab Oil Embargo!)

Thus, upon Danny B informing me that The Captain ran a two car effort in the 1974 Indianapolis 500 for Gary Bettenhausen and Mike Hiss, further research has revealed the following information and I apologize for these mistakes...

Amazingly in 1973, Penske Racing had contested Can Am, with the all conquering Porsche 917/30; NASCAR, with the anemic AMC Matador; Formula 5000, with an AMC-Lola entry and the USAC championship trail, as the defending Indianapolis 500 winner. Even more impressive was the fact that this was accomplished by the same driver, Mark Donohue.

Yet, The Captain had made the decision to have Donohue only contest the three USAC 500 milers that year, while Donohue talked Penske into purchasing a customer AAR Eagle for him to contest Indy aboard, with Gary Bettenhausen becoming the team’s primary full season USAC pilot, while Bobby Allison piloted a third Penske entry for Indy only.

Thus, for 1974, Roger did indeed refocus his team’s efforts that year, scaling back to only three programs; the NASCAR (AMC) Matador program, Penske’s initial foray into Formula 1, with his own in-house design, along with continuing in USAC, purchasing two new McLaren M16C chassis in favour of the Gurney Eagle.

1974 would also be the first year that Donohue wasn’t behind the wheel of one of Roger’s Indy Cars, having been so thoroughly frustrated by the ’73 USAC campaign that he’d announced his retirement from racing an began his role of “Official” Team President, overseeing the daily Management/Engineering duties for Penske Racing, a position that would later be filled by Tim Cindric.

Thus, Gary Bettenhausen would be designated the primary driver with a second Indy 500 entry slated for Peter Revson, which sadly would never occur as Revson was killed in F1 pre-season testing in South Africa.

Bettenhausen’s entry was sponsored by Score, a motor oil product developed by Sunoco which would later be renamed CAM2, as Sunoco was hesitant to run its Oil Company sponsorship in the wake of the current energy crisis, even though Methanol wasn’t an oil derived product.

Penske selected Mike Hiss, a Californian native to replace Revson, as Hiss had previously been the 1972 Indy 500 Rookie of the year and substituted for Bettenhausen in ’73. Hiss was the first driver to pilot the “Norton Spirit,” as Norton Industries would become a major sponsor of Penske Racing, culminating with Bobby Unser’s controversial 1981 Indy 500 victory.

Hiss was quick to show up his elder teammate, by qualifying third at Indy, while Bettenhausen could only muster an 11th place grid slot. Yet, Bettenhausen’s Offenhauser engine would expire on lap 2 while Hiss would suffer two painstakingly long pit stops to diagnose and rectify electrical problems before ultimately finishing 14th, albeit 42 laps behind.

Hiss would fill in for the oft-injured Bettenhausen, who had injured himself once again in a Dirt Track race and after a pair of mediocre showings; Penske pulled the plug on his USAC program prior to the season’s final two events. Yet, interestingly Hiss would be pressed into service for Penske in 1978, when he would qualify Mario Andretti’s Penske/Cosworth at Indy, as Mario was busy contesting Formula 1, enroute to becoming that year’s World Champion...

Hopefully these corrections will meet with Indy 500 Aficionado/Fact Checker Danny B’s approval... Please check out the updated version of; McLaren at Indy

And for a fully detailed look into the annuals of the Penske Racing operation, you may wish to check out the excellent ‘lil book I’ve just began reading; Penske Racing Team, 40 years of Excellence

The Gasman

School's out for summer

School's out forever

School's been blown to pieces

No more pencils

No more books

No more teacher's dirty looks

‘Cause School's out forever!

(Alice Cooper, lyrics; School’s out Forever)


It sure seems like a very long time ago that Spokane, Washington native Thomas E. Sneva (who just celebrated his 60th birthday on June 1st) won the 1983 Indianapolis 500…

Sneva’s first career was rooted in Education, wearing multiple hats as a School Bus driver, dutifully chauffeuring Farmer’s children of the tiny Lamont, Washington town to their miniscule single four room school building… Where Sneva was also the math teacher, Err head of the one man Math Department, , Junior High School Principal, assistant High School Football & Basketball coach, assistant High School Tennis coach (largely since he could drive the School Bus to events) and Driving Instructor… (“C’mon! You’re NOT going FAST enough!”)

Yet, in the early 1970’s, Sneva decided to move cross country to Indianapolis in order to take a shot at becoming a professional racing driver by hurtling about in USAC Midgets, which apparently must have gone quite well since Sneva would make his Rookie debut at the Speedway in 1974… (Of which he was involved in one of the most violent looking crashes at The Speedway! But one can only assume that “The Captain” (Roger Penske) saw enough raw talent in the fellow “Warshentonian” to hire him as a driver the following season, where Sneva would spend a tumultuous four years, before being fired by Penske for being too outspoken.

But during his tenure at Penske Racing, alongside such notable talents as Mario Andretti and Bobby Allison, Sneva would ultimately be replaced by his newest teammate and some young Californian named Rick Mears… While being constantly a thorn in Mario’s side, going on to win two USAC National Championships (1977-78) before moving onto “Greener” pastures…

Although according to noted journalist and author Doug Nye, Mario Andretti was the first to go 200mph at the Speedway… Nye refers to Sneva as “snively” in his book; McLaren: The Grand Prix, Can Am and Indy Cars.

Yet, Sneva would become the first official driver to crack the 200mph barrier at the Speedway, when he won the pole in 1977, with a record single lap speed of 200.535mph and a four lap average of 198.880mph aboard his Penske Racing Norton Spirit McLaren M24 Cosworth. And although Tom started first, as we know, someone by the name of “Super Tex” (AJ Foyt) would go onto become the very first driver to win Indy four times that year, while Sneva finished runner-up.

Robin Miller;
“Snively is something we always called him, not sure of its roots.”

“The day before he broke the 200 mph barrier, he tried running flat out in Turn 4 with Mario's set up and crashed. Jim McGee wanted to fire him but snively came back the next day with his setup and his bravado to break 200 and win the pole.
'That night he was driving a bunch of us to dinner in his van and there was a mile of cars behind us because Mr. 200 MPH was driving 28 in a 45 mph zone.”

And while Tom is the best known driver of the Sneva clan, his younger brother Jerry also contested the Indy 500 (1977-80, 1982) as well as competing in the USAC/CART championship trail alongside his brother, while unfortunately Tom’s younger brother Ed “Babe” Sneva Jr. was involved in a racing accident at Cranbrook, BC during a CAMRA Super Modified event and died after going into a coma.

The following year, in what would become Tom’s last driving for The Captain, Sneva once again stuck his Norton Spirit on the pole, for a second consecutive year, as Penske had switched over to running his own chassis, with the debut of the Penske PC6/Cosworth. Yet, once again Sneva would be frustrated by taking the runner-up position behind future Penske piloto Al Unser Sr.

As typical in motor racing, the landscape of Indy was rapidly changing, as 1978 was the first year that the entire front row was propelled by the Formula 1 derived DFV Ford Cosworth V-8 “lump” which was known as the DFX, having been turbocharged in order to finally slay the ubiquitous four cylinder “Offy” (Offenhauser) dragon that had ruled Indy for nearly four decades. (Pole: Tom Sneva, Penske/Cosworth; 2nd: Danny Ongais, Parnelli/Cosworth; 3rd: Rick Mears, Penske/Cosworth)

And thus as the Offy went, so too did the wedge shaped McLaren’s and Eagles, as Jim Hall’s revolutionary “Yellow Submarine” (Chaparral 2K) ground effects car made these past winners obsolete.

Yet, there were some last minute heroics for the McLaren IndyCar, as originally Sneva had been set to race the Bon Jour Action Jeans sponsored Phoenix ground effects chassis for Jerry O’Connell’s team and had qualified it fourth. But an accident left the car destroyed and the team was forced to settle upon rolling out ‘Ol Hound, its three years old McLaren M24 chassis, as the Indy 500 rules stipulated, Sneva would be required to start dead last in the field, yet The Gasman was soon mixing it up midfield and even briefly led before finishing runner-up to Johnny Rutherford, (in the Yellow Submarine) as this impressive feat of going from 33rd to 2nd had never been accomplished before and would be Sneva’s third second place finish at Indy.

Can you name the other driver to accomplish the same feat? Yeah, his name is Scott “What Pace Car?” Goodyear. (1992)

For 1981 Sneva briefly ran up front once again at Indy aboard a finicky March 81C/Cosworth chassis in which Sneva recorded the fastest overall qualifying speed, (200.690mph) but was forced to start 20th due to not qualifying during Pole Day, before ultimately retiring.

Then in 1982, Sneva decided to join forces with the mercurial George Bignatti, which resulted in another very tumultuous partnership, as Sneva would duel with eventual first and second place runners Gordon Johncock and Rick Mears before winding up fourth with an engine failure on lap 197.

Yet, for 1983, I seem to recall that in order to reduce the pressure of working for Bignotti; Disney’s “Goofy” was employed to lighten up the Texaco Star Bignotti-Cotter gang’s mood in Gasoline Alley…

Robin Miller;
“Johnny Parsons nicknamed Tom the Gas Man when he drove the Texaco Star.”

Making his tenth start at the Speedway, Sneva would ultimately go on to win his first and only Indianapolis 500, a record seventh victory for Bignotti as Chief Mechanic… Recall this was the year that a Rookie “pip-squeak” by the name of ‘lil Al tried to play blocking back for his father Big Al, and frustrated Sneva for 16 laps before he finally got around both of them enroute to victory.

For 1984, driving for the newly formed Mayer Motor Racing, (Sneva’s final year of Texaco sponsorship) Tom would capture his third and final pole at Indy, enroute to becoming the firs driver to go 210mph, with one (210.689mph) and four (210.029mph) lap averages respectively. Starting from pole, Sneva would finish a disappointing 16th, due to a CV failure before moving to the Skoal Bandit for the following three seasons. And while The Gasman was quick, he also was involved in a lot of incidents, as his career ultimately began to slide downhill, as Sneva currently holds the dubious record of most race crashes at the Brickyard. (1975, 1979, 1985-88, 1992)

Sneva spent his twilight years piloting inferior machinery, although the stock block Buick V-6’s never lacked for horsepower, just the fact that they were most likely over-boosted in an attempt to make up for the lack of two cylinders, they routinely “DONE BLOWN UP!” as they seemed notorious for their lack of reliability…

Sneva announced his retirement from Indy Car racing after contesting the 1992 Indy 500 and now resides in Scottsdale, Arizona, where he owns a Golf Course which reportedly still has the world’s fastest golf kart…

But my favourite Robin Miller story about The Gasman is when CART made its initial foray south of the Border, racing in Mexico City. (1981-82) And apparently while the drivers were waiting to be shuttled back to their hotel rooms, Sneva was coerced into commandeering an empty School Bus missing its driver in order to leave the track! As it musta seemed like the Good ‘Ol Days in Lamont…


Jim Murray:
“Tom Sneva was the only race driver who knew that a hypotenuse wasn't an animal…”

McLaren at Indy (Part 2)

As some of you will recall, I’ve failed to mention that while although founder Bruce McLaren lost his life in a testing accident at Goodwood in 1970, the team did indeed carry on and upon its third attempt was successful in winning the prestigious Indianapolis 500, which had been one of Goodyear’s incentives for sponsoring the team, albeit this first victory came at the hands of customer Roger Penske, could McLaren win at the hallowed Speedway?


1974
M16C/D
After the horrific ’73 Indy 500, major rule changes were made to the regulations in regards to safety, with an emphasis on fuel protection and vehicle length being shortened to a maximum of 15 feet to reduce speeds, as competitors had been flirting with speeds of nearly 200mph.

David Hobbs joined the Works effort as Rutherford’s teammate aboard his Carling Black Label liveried mount and qualified ninth at Indy while Johnny missed the first week of qualifying and would be forced to start 25th with a speed of 190.440mph clocked during the second week of qualifying. Yet, the even year charm was once again cast upon McLaren as Rutherford stormed his way to the front to capture his first Indy 500 victory while Hobbs finished a respectable fifth… Rutherford went on to take three more victories that season at Ontario, Michigan and Milwaukee.

Meanwhile, Penske’s 1974 USAC campaign saw major driver changes, as Donohue had become thoroughly frustrated during 1973, that he’d announced his retirement from racing.

Thus, the recuperated Gary Bettenhausen would become Penske’s lead USAC driver, with a second Indy 500 entry slated for Peter Revson, which sadly would never occur as Revson was killed in F1 pre-season testing in South Africa.

Bettenhausen’s entry was sponsored by Score, a motor oil product developed by Sunoco which would later be renamed CAM2, as Sunoco was hesitant to run its Oil Company sponsorship in the wake of the current energy crisis, even though Methanol wasn’t an oil derived product.

Penske then selected Mike Hiss, a Californian native to replace Revson, as Hiss had previously been the 1972 Indy 500 Rookie of the year and substituted for Bettenhausen in ’73. Hiss was the first Penske Racing driver to pilot the “Norton Spirit,” in what would become a long standing partnership.

Hiss was quick to show up his elder teammate, by qualifying third at Indy, while Bettenhausen could only muster an 11th place grid slot. Yet, Bettenhausen’s Offenhauser engine would expire on lap 2 while Hiss would suffer two painstakingly long pit stops to diagnose and rectify electrical problems before ultimately finishing 14th, albeit 42 laps behind.


1975
M16E
Now five years old, the M16 model received further design refinements, which saw the new model updates “penned” by Gordon Coppuck’s assistant, an English bloke by the name of John Barnard, as Coppuck was fully engulfed in the Formula 1 side of the house, as McLaren’s M23 had won the 1974 World Championship with future Indianapolis victor Emerson Fittipaldi.

After having ran two cars in 1974 with less then expected outcome, Penske increased his Indy 500 entry tally to consist of three modified M16C/D’s for Bobby Allison, Mario Andretti and Tom Sneva, the fastest school principal ever.

Ironically Sneva, a fellow Dirt Tracker himself, was hired as Gary Bettenhausen’s replacement for the 1975 season after The Captain had grown tired of Bettenhausen being constantly injured, as Mike Hiss had filled in at Penske once again after Bettenhausen had suffered severe nerve damage to his arm in a Dirt Track race at Syracuse, NY.

Meanwhile, at McLaren, Lloyd Ruby replaced “Hobbo” (Hobbs) as Rutherford’s wingman and the rain soaked race was halted on lap 174 with Bobby Unser’s Works Eagle being declared the victor, while Rutherford finished runner-up.


1976
M16E
In another tough year of finding sponsors, McLaren retained Rutherford as its sole driver, which would pay off handsomely, as Johnny once again secured the Pole position (188.950mph) and piloted his Hy Gain sponsored McLarein to his second Indy 500 victory, as the even year charm worked once again and would become the factories third and final win at the Speedway.

Meanwhile Roger Penske continued to soldier on with McLaren, with Tom Sneva once again his primary pilot, at the controls of the Norton Spirit, while veteran driver Mario Andretti was hired to contest the Indy and Pocono 500’s in a second CAM2 sponsored Penske entry.


1977
M24
For 1977, McLaren debuted the M16’s predecessor, the M24, of which had actually been an earlier exercise in 1971-72, when the team had grafted the M23’s 3.0 liter Cosworth onto a M16 test mule which led to the development of the M23, with which McLaren would win two Formula 1 championships with in 1974 and 1976.

With the arrival of Cosworth’s 2.65 liter V-8 turbocharged DFX variant, at last the Offenhauser became obsolete, as the DFX would propel the M24 to new heights. Although Mario andretti was the first to pass the 200mph barrier, the first official one lap record would be set by Tom “The Gasman” Sneva at the Brickyard with his pole setting run of 198.880mph, including a top lap speed of 200.535mph! As both drivers remained in Penske’s employ that season.

With all of the hoopla surrounding Sneva’s 200mph blast, the “Works” McLaren team effort was greatly overshadowed, as Rutherford could only muster a 17th place starting position and would finish dead last, retiring after only 12 laps with gearbox failure.

Ironically, the first M24 racecar had actually been completed in 1976 with the second chassis being delivered to Penske later that season, although Sneva and Andretti would outshine Rutherford during the month of May. Yet, interestingly the ’77 Penske chassis were heavily modified cars that served as rolling test beds for what would become Penske Racing’s Engineer Geoff Ferris’s Penske PC6 chassis the following season.


1978
M24B
For 1978 McLaren upgraded the M24 chassis to its final configuration and one updated M24 along with a new M24B chassis were on hand for Johnny Rutherford’s hoped for even year mojo at the Brickyard, as the team was running a single car effort for Johnny with First National City Travelers Checks as their sponsor.

There were two M24’s to fear that year at Indy, with the Works team and privateer Jerry O’Connell’s Sugaripe Prune chassis piloted by Wally dallenbach, yet Tom “The Gasman” Sneva was on pole again with a speed of 202.156mph, while Rutherford lined up fourth at 197.090mph and Dallenbach started seventh at 195.220mph.

Future CART Chief Steward Dallenbach was the highest finishing McLaren, coming home fourth, while Rutherford finished 13th, behind Janet Guthrie, with Salt Walther in a third M24 winding up 28th, retiring with clutch issues, while three older McLaren Offy’s finished in various positions.

Interestingly First National City Travelers Checks is listed as the sponsor of the winning car driven by Al Unser Sr. which seems to imply that the Citybank group was covering their bases…

1979
M24B
1979 was the final year of factory participation in IndyCars, as Team McLaren ran a single car in Budweiser livery for Johnny Rutherford, yet the team was on a slow downhill slide and Rutherford was hard pressed to compete against the newer era IndyCars, while Tom Sneva had taken over the bright yellow O’Connell Sugaripe Prune and continued to drive the wheels off of the aging McLaren M24 chassis, affectionately nicknamed ‘Ol Hound.

Rutherford lined up eighth and finished 18th, with Sneva starting 2nd and finishing 15th due to an accident on lap 188, while the highest placed McLaren Cosworth was Roger McCluskey’s privateer National engineering entry, finishing 13th.

But, with McLaren trapped in mediocrity, having become uncompetitive in Formula 1 and the newly formed Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART) series, as the newer ground effects chassis were making the McLaren’s obsolete, along with lack of sponsorship and Rutherford having left to drive for Jim Hall’s Chaparral team, McLaren decided to shut down its Indy Car operation and focus solely upon Formula 1. Ironically, Rutherford would win his third and final Indy 500 in 1980 behind the wheel of the Yellow submarine, a.k.a. the Chaparral 2K, a revolutionary ground effects chassis designed by John Barnard, who in later years would design Formula 1 World Championship winning chassis for McLaren before working his design magic on Ferrari’s ill handling racecars.

Yet, there were two last minute flashes of glory for the McLaren IndyCar’s, as originally Tom Sneva had been set to race the Bon Jour Action Jeans sponsored Phoenix ground effects chassis for O’Connell’s team and had qualified it fourth. But an accident left the car destroyed and the team was forced to settle upon rolling out ‘Ol Hound, its three years old M24 chassis. As the Indy 500 rules stipulated, Sneva would be required to start dead last in the field, yet The Gasman was soon mixing it up midfield and even briefly led before finishing runner-up to Rutherford, as this impressive feat of going from 33rd to 2nd had never been accomplished before.

The final moment of glory for the fleeting McLaren Indy Car’s came when Vern Schuppan scored an impressive third place finish aboard his Red Roofs Inn during the 1981 Indy 500 after having started 18th. Yet, by 1982 the Indy 500 field would be totally devoid of any McLaren chassis, as sadly their time had passed…

McLaren at Indy

Recently, Roger Penske scored his 300th major motor racing victory at the Milwaukee mile, at the hands of new hire Ryan “Disco Inferno” Briscoe, which was also the 30th Anniversary of perennial Penske Racing driver Rick Mears maiden Indy Car victory… And as I’ve been painstakingly researching the McLaren Indy Car odyssey, for a pet project of mine, I thought the above accomplishment was a nice tie-in to the following story…

1970
M15A
The McLaren M15 was born out of the frustrations that Bruce McLaren and Denny Hulme experienced during the 1968 Indy 500, (Bruce’s one and only race) in which Bruce had been originally scheduled to compete in the stillborn Shelby American turbine Indy Car project… Having been scrapped prior to that year’s running of Indy, while Denny had originally been slated to drive a Lotus turbine chassis before both drivers switched to Eagle chassis instead, while Interestingly the Shelby turbine car would serve as a show car for Paul Newman’s movie Winning.

A prototype and two race cars were built for the ’70 Indianapolis 500, with drivers Hulme and Chris Amon originally scheduled to drive, but Denny was forced to miss the event after being burnt in a fire, while practicing, as a fuel filler cap unexpectedly opened at speed as the “Kiwi” noticed droplets of fuel spewing onto his windscreen like rainfall and when he attempted to slow down, fuel surged onto the red hot turbocharger and immediately ignited the flameless methanol at 180mph!

Every time Denny stomped the brakes, more fuel gushed out of the open fuel petcock, as Hulme’s hands were searing hot… Finally at 70mph Hulme decided it was time to jump from the stricken McLaren, which was now fully engulfed in flames, hoping to clear the rear wheels during his exit! Hulme suffered severe burns to his hands and there were even whispers of possible loss of fingers, as obviously the Kiwi would be out of action for awhile… In the meantime, Denny’s teammate Amon was unable to get up to sufficient speed, thus Peter revson and relative unknown Carl Williams were drafted into duty.

The M15 was designed by Gordon Coppuck and powered by the ubiquitous 2.65 liter Offenhauser “Offy” inline four cylinder turbocharged motor. With its single Garret turbocharger and Hillborn fuel injection, the Offy developed 650bhp. This venerable lump was so antiquated that some members of McLaren were tempted to write where the British chassis met American motor; “1970 ENDS HERE!”

McLaren focused upon that year’s three long distance events; Indy, Ontario and Pocono, with two newer M15A’s being built; with Peter Revson qualifying 2nd at Ontario, while the older M15’s were sold to Gordon Johncock, which I’m assuming was the chassis he used in the following year’s Indy 500.


1971
M16A
Roger Penske and Mark Donohue flew to England in search of potential Can Am machinery to purchase and upon their visit to the McLaren workshop at Colinbrook immediately wished to purchase a McLaren M16 Indy Car, with Penske saying; “Build me one.”

The prototype would eventually become Donohues Sunoco liveried mount, engineered by Don Cox, while McLaren’s “Works” entries would be later chassis sprayed in the traditional papaya colours of McLaren’s Can Am cars and sponsored by Gulf Oil.

The Offy produced 700bhp and was transferred to the rear wheels via a Hewland LP500 three speed gearbox, eschewing the traditional two speed unit.

The M16’s “Wedge” shape was inspired from the then all conquering Lotus 72 Formula 1 car… And as an interesting side note; cornering speeds at Indy were 60mph SLOWER… In the early 1970’s (210/150mph) pre-ground effects era.

During Indy tire testing in March, Donohue ran a staggering 181mph while the Works entries struggled to keep pace and Penske instructed Donohue to share information with Teddy Mayer in order to not make their supplier mad, noting it was a long term deal which would pay off in the future. During Indy qualifying Donohue was on pole at 177mph but had honestly told Mayer why he was so slow and during his Pole Winner’s interview the crowd roared to life as Revson snatched it away with a top speed of 178.690mph and would finish second in the race, while Donohue and Hulme both retired.

Donohue’s stricken car was totally demolished in a later accident by Mike Mosley and the tub was salvaged, with a new car being built back in England in time for the inaugural Pocono 500 that July, where not only would Donohue start from pole, but win Penske’s very first USAC event in his team’s and sponsor Sun Oil (Sunoco) home state. Donohue would win again at the next race at Michigan, along with another pole at Ontario in September, but ran out of fuel after missing his pit signals.


1972
M16B
For 1972 McLaren made minor revisions to its chassis, with new front and rear wings, along with a bullet shaped induction fairing, as once again Penske ordered chassis from McLaren, this time two cars, one for Donohue and one for new recruit Gary Bettenhausen. While Penske would contest the entire USAC calendar, once again the factory concentrated on the 500 mile events, with Gordon Johncock replacing Carl Williams at McLaren.

And although Donohue was once again out qualified by Revson at Indy, this time Penske had opted to utilize a slightly less boosted Offy and when leader Jerry Grant made an unexpected pit stop with 13 laps remaining, Donohue swept into the lead and went on to win the first of Penske’s record 14 Indy 500 victories, after only his (and Penske’s) third attempt.

Gary’s brother Merle was seriously injured in a Kingfish (McLaren knock off) and lost his right arm in the accident at Michigan International Speedway, while Gary’s younger brother Tony, who also raced at the Speedway would later lose his life in a plane crash.


1973
M16C
McLaren built six new chassis this season, with the new model receiving mostly cosmetic updates aimed at improving airflow, as aerodynamics were slowly evolving. Teddy Mayer hired Johnny Rutherford to replace Johncock, who rewarded the team with pole position at Indy, but the race would be diabolical with rain postponements and Swede Savage losing his life before ironically “Gordy” Johncock would take the checquered flag aboard a Pat Patrick Eagle.

Meanwhile, defending Indy 500 champion Mark Donohue was contesting a limited USAC season aboard a customer Dan Gurney Eagle, with less then encouraging results, while teammate Gary Bettenhausen broke his arm in a Sprint race following Indy and Roger Penske offered the drive to some chap named David Hobbs, but the Englishman was unable to accept due to sponsorship conflicts and relative unknown Mike Hiss would subsequently fill-in.

Rutherford would win twice at Ontario and Michigan, while Bettenhausen would win at Texas, but at the end of the season Gulf Oil withdrew its sponsorship of the Works team, while Mark Donohue would retire from racing, immediately being officially named to his previous role the past seven years at Penske; President of Penske Racing...



To continue, see; McLaren at Indy (Part 2)

Another Unser competing

NO! This ain’t no story ‘bout “Lil Al making a further comeback at the Speedway. Nor one of the other countless Unser’s like Johnny or Robby… Or ah shucks… Alfonse “Just Al” Unser III, who’s currently trying to re-invigorate his Open Wheel career by contesting the Indy Pro, Err, Firestone Indy Lights series…

No, its just my clever tie-in for the very enlightening story; Al Jr.'s daughter champions her own causes, Which is about Cody Unser, the daughter of Al Junior and Shelly, who at age 12 was diagnosed with transverse myelitis, a rare degenerative spinal cord disease, yet still has the Unser’s need for speed in her blood, albeit she has a lead hand instead of lead foot!

Women in Racing (2008 Edition)

I’d say that the majority of today’s mainstream media attention is firmly affixed upon the IRL’s Danica Patrick, having FINALY WON her first major car race with some precocious fuel mileage strategy in Motegi, Japan this year…

Yet with my NON Politically Correct stance towards Princess Danicker and Milka Duno’s ride buying, while I sit firmly on the Sarah Fisher side of the Danica divide, I thought I’d shed some light on the REAL women of motorsport once again, As these female pioneers truly paved the way for Danica to live the “Good Life.” Interestingly the first women racers were in Grand Prix, prior to the modern day Formula 1 championship which began in 1950. As the earliest reports of female race driver’s centers upon a trio of women, with Eliska Junkova and “Helle Nice” being the most flamboyant. While Kay Petre made her impression due to her small stature behind the wheel of the day’s monstrous vehicles. Junkova caused quite a “stir” when it was discovered that a woman led the opening laps of the 1928 Targa Florio. While the lady behind the wheel of the Bugatti leading the event was quickly named the “Queen of the Steering wheel” by the adoring press, as the Czechoslovakian is the only woman to have ever won a Grand Prix which she accomplished at the Nurburgring in 1926.

Junkova retired from racing immediately after her husband was killed in 1928 at the Nurburgring while piloting the vehicle the couple were co-driving in the event. Helle Nice was Mariette Hélène Delangle’s stage name, as she made her fame and fortune as a Paris “Show Girl.” Amassing wealth and popularity as a dancer, she reportedly enjoyed “Life in the Fast Lane.” As rumours suggest she had a long list of multiple suitors including Philippe de Rothschild and Jean Bugatti. She competed in several Grand Prix’s during the early 1930’s. Yet sadly after the war, Louis Chiron accused Helle Nice of being a Gestapo agent which effectively ended her career. (Along with ruining her life!) Helle Nice died “penniless” in Paris in 1984. Kay Petre stood 4’10” tall, making many marvel at her physical ability to manhandle a 10.5 liter V-12 Delage while setting speed records at the famed Brooklands circuit. Petre was most likely the first female to compete in the 24 Heurs du Mans, finishing 13th overall in 1936. She competed in three Grand Prix’s in 1937 before being injured. Petre went on to become a motor journalist along with being an automotive fabric designer. After two decades of no women participants, Maria Teresa de Filippis contested three Grand Prix’s between 1958-59. While it would be almost another two decades before a quartet of female drivers attempted participating in various Formula 1 races from 1974-1992. (Lella Lombardi, Divina Galica, Desire Wilson and Giovanna Amati). Lombardi raced twelve times, becoming the only woman to have ever scored a World Championship point in 1976. Finishing sixth in the rain shortened Spanish GP, where Lombardi was awarded a half point. Lella also finished seventh at the Nurburgring. Galica, Wilson and Amati were entered, but didn’t qualify for their races. With quite a fuss caused when multiple females were entered for the 1976 British GP. Amati was the last female to enter a Formula 1 event for the struggling Brabham team before being replaced by Damon Hill, with Amati’s F1 test coming courtesy of playboy Flavour Flav… (Flavio Briatore) Meanwhile Janet Guthrie began her racing career in Sports Cars and won two class victories in the 12 Hours of Sebring, prior to getting her big break, when in 1976 Rolla Vollstedt gave her a test drive at Indianapolis, although she didn’t qualify for that year’s race. Yet in 1977 Guthrie would not only become the very first female to race in the Indianapolis 500, but also make history as the first woman to race in the Daytona 500. Guthrie would compete at Indy three times (1977-79) with a best finish of 9th in 1978 before disappearing from the Speedway’s horizon. It would be a further 13 years before a second female would participate in the Indy 500. As although Desire Wilson passed her Rookie test on May 11, 1982, she failed to qualify for that year’s race, thus it was a further decade before Lyn St James made the first of her seven appearances. St James became Indy’s first female rookie of the year in 1992. This debut race would also become her best finish of 11th place at the Speedway.
As the new millennium dawned, (2000) the third female to crack the Brickyard’s entry list was Sarah Fisher driving for Derrick Walker. Fisher has since gone on to become the only woman driver to win a Pole in the Indy Racing League and holds the records for fastest one and four lap qualifying speeds at Indy. (2002: One lap = 229.675mph; Four lap average = 229.439mph)
Next, in 2005 Princess Danica burst upon the scene, causing instant Danica mania while flirting with capturing the pole at Indy and finishing 4th in her rookie year for Rahal Letterman Racing, which is the highest finish ever by a female.

Last year, another first was recorded, when the Brickyard saw three females take the green flag for the very first time in the Speedway’s history, as Venezuelan Rookie Milka Duno driving her CITGO sponsored Team SAMAX racecar joined Sarah Fisher and Danica Patrick in the 91st running of the Indianapolis 500.

For this year’s event, much has changed for all three of these female contestants, as we’re all painfully aware that Princess Danicker still basks in the glow of winning her first victory just over one month ago, having now driven for Andretti Green Racing the past three seasons. Her #7 Motorola racecar will roll off from the middle of Row 2, having qualified 5th at 225.197mph.

Meanwhile, the driver of this trio struggling the hardest financially to make her record tying seventh Indy 500 start, without a doubt is Sarah Fisher. After a disappointing 2007 season as Buddy Rice’s team mate at Dreyer & Rein bold, Fisher decided to accomplish another first by starting her own race team and thus becoming the first female Indy Car owner. Hoping to have her team backed by Gravity Entertainment and ResQ energy Drinks adorning her sidepods, both entities have failed to wire her any money to date and Fisher has since moved on, as I’m expecting to see Her #67 Dallara’s sidepods emblazoned with her new associate sponsors, as Sarah qualified 22nd at 221.246mph and will start from the inside of Row 8.

Milka Duno has uncharacteristically “Flown under the Radar” this Month of May, having switched teams in the off season and is now part of a three car effort fielded by Dreyer & Rein bold Racing and is still backed by CITGO, Duno has eagerly taken to constantly asking her teammates Buddy Rice (2004 Indianapolis 500 winner) and Townsend Bell for advice on how to master the Brickyard. Duno qualified 27th at 220.305mph and will start from the outside of Row 9.

Thus, as Virginia Slims would say, “You’ve come a long way Baby…”

(PS: If anybody has seen Danny B’s Milka Duno lunch box laying around the grandstands at Indy, please return it to Lost ‘N Found…)

Ganassi drives Indy

By now I suspect that everybody’s painfully aware that Chip Ganassi’s two Tarz-chey”Indy Car drivers Scott Dixon and Dan Wheldon have secured the first two grid positions for this year’s Indianapolis 500, with Dixon becoming the very first Kiwi to ever claim the Pole Position at the Speedway…

But were you aware that once, long ago, in what I’m sure feels like a different lifetime… Their Team Boss, a.k.a. “The Cheepster” actually was an aspiring Champ Car racing driver? (Otay, I suppose some of you Die Hard Indy Car fanatics out there did indeed…) But quick! How many Indianapolis 500 races did “Cheep” contest?

Even more impressive is Ganassi’s Rookie Class alma matter of 1982, for which I count there being nine fresh face Rookies joining the ranks of the CART Championship, as this grouping has some fairly well known names upon it.

Notice from the list below the names of Rahal, Sullivan and Unser Jr. for starters… Other notables are Hector REbaque and Chris Kneifel. As of course we could debate tirelessly over who was the most successful of this group?

Consider Bobby Rahal who burst onto the scene, finishing runner-up to Rick Mears in the championship in his debut season. As we all know, Rahal would go onto win three CART/PPG Championships (1986-87, ’92) along with winning the 1986 Indy 500. Interestingly, Michael Andretti finished runner-up to Bobby during all three championships along with his Indy 500 victory. Rahal won an impressive 24 times and has since won the 2004 Indy 500 as a team owner with David Letterman and Buddy Rice as the driver that year…

Or how about Al Unser Jr.?As ‘Lil Al would win the Indy 500 twice, 1992 and 1994, (Galles, Penske) along with two CART/PPG Championships in 1990 and 1994 for Galles and Penske respectively. And while last years running aboard AJ Foyt’s second entry at Indy was a very sad state of affairs, I’m sure we all recall that ‘Lil Al’s 1992 Indy 500 victory aboard the Galmer chassis was the closest finish in Indianapolis history. (0.043 seconds) Over some ABC Broadcaster named Scott “What Pace Car?” Goodyear…

Another sentimental favourite has to be Mr. Hollywood, a.k.a. Danny Sullivan, who began his IndyCar career driving for Forsythe in 1982 before completing a tough season in Formula 1 driving for Ken Tyrrell in 1983, returning to IndyCars with Doug Shierson’s outfit in 1984.

To most, I’d assume that Danny’s most defining moment was becoming the victor of the 1985 Indy 500 during his famous Spin ‘N Win drive, passing race leader Mario Andretti not once but twice.

At this time, “Sully” was driving for The Captain and would continue on until 1990, having won the 1988 CART/PPG Championship before becoming part of Penske’s “Super-team,” consisting of Emerson Fittipaldi, Rick Mears and Sullivan. (With Emmo bringing Marlboro sponsorship)

While playing third fiddle, Sully ended-up odd man out and moved onto Pat Patrick’s fleeting operation with the recalcitrant Alfa Romeo turbo power plant in 1991, a derivative of the stillborn Ferrari CART 2.65 liter turbo engine project.

Danny then moved onto partner “Lil Al at Galles before finishing his CART career with the fledgling PacWest Racing team…

As I’ve previously scribbled in Cinco de Mayo, Hector Rebaque was one of four Mexicali’s to contest Formula 1 before trying his hand at Open Wheel Racing stateside. Driving for Gerald Forsythe’s own “Super team” (Rebaque, Sullivan and Unser Jr.) he won a lone race at Road America before having a big shunt at MIS and deciding to hang-up his helmet. Interestingly, Forsythe’s triumbrant was headed by REbaque, finishing ahead of Unser and Sullivan.

Jim Hickman, Chris Kneifel, Patrick Bedard and Chet Fillip are lesser known talents who briefly plied their trade behind the wheel of various high speed machinery, while Indy only rookie Dale Whittington is a sad story…

Hickman, an ex-Air Force fighter pilot and Car dealer was the Rookie of the Year at Indy (1982) but would lose his life at the Milwaukee Mile on August 2nd, 1982 with just five minutes remaining in the final practice session and was the second driver to perish that season, as Gordon Smiley died while trying to qualify at Indianapolis.

Kneifel’s name was familiar to me from the Trans Am days, but interestingly holds the honor of being the very last driver to qualify for Indy under 200mph, as he took Jacques Villeneuve’s Sr. (“Uncle Jacques”) starting slot when the Canadian injured himself prior to the 1984 Indy 500 and was forced to withdraw.

Kneifel’s name was also familiar to me as he became the Chief Steward for CART from 2001-04 after finishing his racing career by winning the 2001 Daytona 24hrs with Ron Fellows, Frank Freon and Johnny O’Connell and if memory serves me correct, Chris was in the Justin Wilson over six foot club, may be even taller than Justin?

I guess if I went into the way back machine I should recall Bedard’s name, since he’s been employed by Car and Driver magazine since 1968 as a contributing journalist. Patrick drove for Jaguar in endurance racing before switching to CART and contested the Indy 500 twice from 1983-84, finishing 30th both times. He was involved in a massive shunt during the ’84 race, cart wheeling several times and decided to retire afterwards…

Fillip is a name that doesn’t ring a bell with me, having driven briefly in CART (1982-85) before moving to RASSCAR for two years. Next Chet raced USAC Sprint cars, winning eight times including the prestigious little 500. (1999) in 2006 after 28yr’s of competition he won his very first Championship in the inaugural Premiere Racing Association (PRA) series…

Whittington is apparently another “One Hit Wonder,” as apparently he made only one dubious start at Indianapolis in 1982, when the Whittington Brothers made history by being the only trio of brothers to qualify the same year.

Recall this was the year that Kevin Cogan broadsided Mario Andretti just prior to the green flag being thrown. Whittington, who was starting from 23rd position incorrectly assumed that the slowing cars trying to avoid the accident were an opportunity to pass them and slammed into a slowing Roger Mears.

Allegedly Mario was so incensed by the results of what triggered the four cars being retired that he threatened to expose Dale and his brothers smuggling hi-jinx, thus Dale never returned to Indy.

Unfortunately the Whittington Brothers along with the John Paul’s (Jr. and Sr.) and Randy Lanier were part of IMSA’s notorious 1980’s “International Marijuana Smuggler’s Association” which later led to several arrests, with Dale being the only suspect to not go to jail.

Whittington died of an apparent Drug overdose in 2003 after being found deceased by his son on Father’s Day…

And while I cannot recall what I was searching for last year, I stumbled upon an interesting article reflecting upon Bill Papis in Bob Jennings Indy 500 Diary (Feb. 2002) with some interesting tidbits on the Cheepster’s first attempt at the Speedway…

“Jack Rhoades, an airplane dealer from Columbus, Indiana, entered a 1981 Wildcat chassis in the 1982 "500" for rookie Chip Ganassi. The young driver from Pittsburgh qualified eleventh for the 1982 race with an average speed of 197.700 mph. That was the fastest qualifying speed by any member of the 1982 Indianapolis rookie class which also included Dale Whittington (197.690), Danny Sullivan (196.290), Jim Hickman (196.210), Herm Johnson (195.920), Hector Rebaque (195.680),Chet Fillip (194.870), Bobby Rahal (194.700) and Roger Mears (194.150). Ganassi finished 15th in the 1982 "500," falling out of the race after 147 laps with engine problems.”

Note:
Herm Johnson: Drove in 1981 for Menard/Cashway and Kraco Car Stereos in CART.
Roger Mears: Competed in USAC/CART from 1978-84.
Dale Whittington: Apparently a “One-off” at Indy in 1982. Part of the only trio of brothers to ever qualify for Indy.

1983 Indy 500 Rookies
Patrick Bedard; Steve Chassey; Derek Daly; Teo Fabi; Chris Kneifel; Al Unser Jr.

(The Indy 500 was NOT part of the CART Championship calendar in 1981-82, due to the CART-USAC WAR, precursor to the CART-IRL SPLIT; 1996-2007)

Interestingly Jennings notes that Ganassi’s mount was apparently an ex-Mario Andretti chassis;

“Allegedly the Jack Rhoades entry driven by Ganassi was the same Patrick Racing STP Wildcat chassis driven to second place in the 1981 "500" by Mario Andretti. Perhaps you remember Mario's "500" car in 1981. It was a beauty, painted in a dark shade of (almost navy) metallic blue that sparkled in the sunlight like a deep blue diamond. With the contrast of the STP day glow red trim, Andretti's car 40 had one of the all time great paint jobs in racing in my opinion. Remember Mario was declared the winner of the 1981 "Indianapolis 500" the day after the race when a penalty was assessed to Bobby Unser by USAC officials for passing cars coming out of the pits. In October, 1981 a three man panel voted to restore the victory to Unser, reversing the earlier USAC decision. But for nearly five months Andretti's STP Wildcat was the winning "Indianapolis 500" car. “

Ganassi would go onto race in a total of five Indy 500’s (1982-86) and graduated from college the week after his debut at the Speedway. In ’83 Floyd “Chip” Ganassi signed to drive for Pat Patrick and showed some signs of driving prowess with a second place finish before having a major accident at Michigan International Speedway (MIS) with Al Unser Jr. Although I’ve never seen any footage of this, it’s fairly spectacular and Ganassi was lucky to get away with it…

Pat Patrick replaced the injured Ganassi with some guy named “EMMO,” while Chip recovered and competed in the ’85 Indy 500 for AJ Foyt, followed by his last Indy in the Machinist Union car. Afterwards, Ganassi first was a partner of Patrick’s, with Fittipaldi winning the 1989 CART/PPG Championship along with that year’s Indy 500 in a customer Penske chassis, before going on to form his own team which subsequently won four consecutive CART/PPG championships, before jumping to the IRL.

And while Ganassi’s reign as a team owner has been much more successful than a fellow competitor’s at least Dale Coyne has beat the Cheapster” in one category, by racing at Indy six times…


1982 CART Rookies
Bobby Rahal; Hector Rebaque; Al Unser Jr; Danny Sullivan; Jim Hickman; Chip Ganassi; Chris Kneifel; Patrick Bedard; Chet Fillip.

(Team/SR*/Driver/Chassis/Engine)
Truesports/Red Roof Inns
(2) Bobby Rahal
March 82C/Cosworth

Forsythe/Carta Blanca/Newsweek
(15) Hector REbaque
March 82C/Cosworth

Forsythe Racing
(21) Al Unser Jr
March 82C/Cosworth

Forsythe/Brown
(22) Danny Sullivan
March 82C/Cosworth

Rattlesnake/Stroh’s
(26) Jim Hickman
March 81C/Cosworth; March 82C/Cosworth

Rhoades/First Commercial Corp.
(34) Chip Ganassi
Wildcat Mk. VIIIB/Cosworth

Metametix
(36) Chris Kneifel
Eagle 82/Cosworth

Escort Radar Detector
(41) Patrick Bedard
Penske PC7/Cosworth; Wildcat Mk. VIII/Cosworth

Circle Bar Track Corral
(44) Chet Fillip
Wildcat Mk. VIII/Cosworth

1982 CART Season Standings
SF Driver
2nd Bobby Rahal
15. Hector REbaque
21. Al Unser Jr
22. Danny Sullivan
26. Jim Hickman
34. Chip Ganassi
36. Kris Kneifel
41. Patrick Bedard
44. Chet Fillip

SF = Season Finish (Overall Points Standings)

Strike the pose

IMS; July, 2007

Who’s dat Cool Cat? Yes indeedie, it’s none other than the Idahoan celebrity Mr. Hamilton… Who graciously adorned his limited first edition No Fenders T-Shirt all day at the Brickyard!

Way Too Cool! Thanks Davey…

Davey Hamilton

Where do I begin? As this has to be one of the “Coolest Cats” (Drivers) I’ve had the pleasure of personally meeting, which I did last summer. Little did I know just how much interaction I’d have with him, as he was overly gracious with me that most memorable day in July, having flown back to Indiana to take my ride aboard the Sinden 2X single seater at the Speedway…

First Danny introduced us, as Davey was nonchalantly sitting behind the check-in desk. Then we surprised him with a limited first edition No Fenders T-Shirt, of which Davey proclaimed he’d wear while at the office that afternoon. (Yeah, right!) Next we got to spend an amazing amount of time talking to him; 15-25 minutes approximately before Davey told us he needed to go get changed. And I just sat there awestruck with a silly grin across my face as everybody inside the Formula 1 garage was watching Messer Hamilton strut toward the hot pits in his driver suit, a la sleeves tied around the waist and sporting the No Fenders T-Shirt… SHEISA!

But, my 15 minutes ‘O fame wasn’t over yet, as next thing I knew I was being shepparded to the pit lane to stand in front of the Sinden land shark to pose once again with Davey while everybody else stood around listening to instructions being barked out prior to us waiting to take the E-Ticket ride of our lifetimes!

What I’d totally forgotten about Davey was the horrific crash and injuries he’d suffered at Texas Motor Speedway in 2001, as this high speed oval seems to have a nasty habit of destroying driver’s lower extremities. Recall that this is the track that was too fast for CART to tame, as they’d had to cancel the race after having fears about drivers blacking out due to the excessive G Forces they’d be enduring.

And then, there’s been the multiple blow-over’s, which have cost Kenny Brack and Davey Hamilton life threatening injuries, as the close quarters of racing wheel to wheel on this high speed oval seems to be a recipe for carnage. (Along with Ganassi Racing’s Pablo Perez and Ryan Briscoe’s terrible accidents at Homestead and Chicagoland respectively)

On that terrible day in 2001, Davey Hamilton was trying to get around back marker Jeret Schroeder, Whose engine expired, causing Hamilton to spin in the offending slippery liquids deposited on track before cart wheeling into the infield.

Trying to extricate himself from the wreckage of his racecar, Hamilton was unaware that his feet were barely hanging on by just a few pieces of flesh and bone. After the Doctors back in Indianapolis pieced his broken feet back together with 15 pins in one and 13 pins plus a rod in the other, Hamilton would endure a total of 21 surgeries over a period of four years along with spending a year in a wheel chair on his road to recovery.

Yet, Hamilton ultimately decided that he wanted to attempt a comeback if he could put together the right opportunity for a ride in competitive Machinery, which took several years to accomplish.

Davey spent time reacclimatizing himself to the cockpit of a single seater as a chauffer for the Sinden 2X Indycar Experience program, along with doing colour commentary work on WIBC Radio as well as being a spotter for Cheever Racing.

It was thru the Indy Racing Experience that Hamilton chauffeured an executive of Hewlett Packard which would ultimately lead to the most amazing return to the Speedway in 2007 after a six year absence, as Hamilton would make up one fourth of Tony George’s Vision Racing armada. And while Hamilton may not have been the quickest gun in George’s stable, Hamilton led the Vision Racing brigade home with a top finish of ninth place…

While chit-chatting with Davey on that wonderful day last July, I was reminded that he’s a Boise, Idaho native who’d cut his racing teeth in Sprint Cars as he reeled off about 8-9 short tracks in the Pacific Northwest that I’d never heard of. And while listening to the Terre Haute Trio interview, I learned that Davey along with his father have been managing Meridian Speedway for the past 20 years, along with having a son who’s now competing in racing. (JD Hamilton)

Thus, while I believe that Davey would like another shot at this year’s Indy 500, it seems unlikely as I’ve read that he’ll be back in the booth as the Indycar Radio Network’s colour commentator. Also, Tony George seems to be close to shutting down his team in order to free up chassis for the impending arrival of Champ Car teams, having given Tomas Scheckter and AJ Foyt IV their walking papers.

Hopefully Davey will continue chauffeuring those of us privileged enough to ride behind him at 180mph! While it sounds like he’s planning for his future as a race track promoter, whenever he decides its time to step away from the cockpit, along with watching his son try to become a professional racecar driver. At least his daughter doesn’t seem to have been bitten by the racing bug to date.

Thanks Davey and Good Luck!

D-Squared

As previously mentioned, it was rough sledding for me while in Indianapolis. Having to meet ‘N greet so many damn celebrities. And last but certainly not least was the REAL Double D. NOT to be cornfused with Derr-Wreck Daily. To whom I’m not sure whether Mr. Davidson would wish to be associated with? Therefore I’ll nickname him D-Squared from now on!

Donald Davidson is a very pleasant chap, originally from England. Naturally his first interest in motorsports was Grand Prix racing, where he learned of the Indy 500 in the mid 1950’s. (Recall that the Indianapolis 500 was part of the Formula 1 calendar back then)

Folklore claims he wowed the crowd in 1964 upon making his first trek to Mecca. Having written to track announcer Sid Collins, Davidson impressed the crowd by; “being able to recite the record of every driver who had ever competed in the "500." After this, Davidson quickly changed his focus to Oval Track racing and the rest as they say is history.

Davidson immigrated to the United States in 1965, promptly going to work for USAC as a statistician, a position he held for 31 years. In January of 1998 he became the official track historian of the Speedway.

As I mentioned, Danny spotted him coming out of his office while we were perusing the Hall of Fame Photo Shop. Upon introducing Davidson to me, we struck up an enjoyable dialogue. As I mentioned that I’d enjoyed listening to his radio broadcast; “The Talk of Gasoline Alley” on WIBC. To which I listened via the internets.

Danny also told him his newest book was excellent. You may wish to check it out: Autocourse Official History of the Indianapolis 500. To which I’ve just received my very own copy from Motorbooks…

Then we launched into several questions. Which soon reminded me of a little ‘ole radio program we have out here in Seattle. It’s called “Stump Slayton.” (KZOK, 102.5 FM) Of which nobody ever stumps the DJ Steve Slayton on Rock ‘N Roll trivia…

I was quite intrigued to discover how the Speedway had gotten its mitts upon Michael Schumacher’s 1991 Benetton-Ford chassis? Davidson coolly responded that they’d purchased it. Yet several race cars are on loan or simply donated by their owners. As many racing cars were either handed down or sold to other teams. Since there was a brief period in history when teams could run older equipment competitively. Yet most racing team owners don’t wish to hang onto obsolete machinery since its just equipment.

Danny then asked about the mysterious Hall of Fame basement collection. To which Davidson remarked is used to hold vehicles in rotation as five cars had just been moved recently. There have been several plans to expand the museum over the years. And it’s been designed for expansion, but things seem to always get in the way. Like the addition of grandstands, etc. Right now it’s on the back burner, but look for it to happen one day.

Next I asked him about the 1972 Penske Sunoco McLaren M16B currently on display in the museum. Telling him I’d seen the exact same Mark Donohue winning race car on display at the Penske Racing Museum in Scottsdale, AZ. Which sparked a startling response from D-Squared. Davidson flatly answered without hesitation; “It’s a replica!” Penske has every Indy 500 winner except for two. *1972, 1981)

Sensing he wished to move along, Danny casually pointed to a picture of an early Speedway roadster parked on a snowy pit lane. Davidson told us that the picture was real. They’d rolled the car out, which was 1 of 3 remaining and he believed it was 90-95% original. Amazing, simply amazing…

For more Indianapolis stories, see; Indy Celebrities

Doctor Doctor

Upon arriving at Indianapolis, I was chauffered to the Brickyard Crossing Hotel by Danny B, checking into my room we ventured off for some much needed nourishment.

Upon returning to the hotel after dinner, Danny noticed that his friend Dave was still there, so we sauntered back into the bar and pulled up stools to chat with Dave and Dr. Who.

And I certainly don’t know how he got the nickname, but Dr. Who’s real name is Tim Wardrop. Perhaps you’ve heard of him? He’s a quite prolific and well traveled Indianapolis 500 Winning race engineer. As in specifically Arie Luyendyk’s 1997 victory for Tredway Racing. Along with engineering The “Flying Dutchman’s” pole position in 1996. You know when Arie posted one and four lap records of 237.498mph and 236.986mph respectively, which still stand today.

Soon we were waltzing down memory lane as Tim was quite willing to engage us in conversation regarding his motorsports career. To which the conversation soon steered towards Formula 1. Of which Messer Wardrop has a quite distinguished career in. Telling us briefly of his exploits of working for Walter Wolf Racing, Williams and McLaren. Not too shabby, eh?

Tim claims that the inspiration for the white stripe on the Wold WR1 came from his seeing those beloved “copper’s Starsky & Hutch! And he reminisced about that being a star crossed lineup of engineering talent. As he worked with Dr. Harvey Postlethwaite and Patrick Head. With Jody Schekter as the driver of the single car entry.

Wardrop fondly stated that Postlethwaite was a great guy. And it was a thrill to have Scheckter win three races in 1977. They won the season opener in Argentina. Startling the F1 community as it was the team’s debut. Scheckter also won the crown jewel of F1, Monaco. Along with the Canadian GP that season.

Sheckter finished second in the Driver’s championship with Wolf finishing fourth in the Constructor’s championship, the team’s best results. Scheckter then Moved to Ferrari. Where he became the Scuderia’s last World champion pre Michael Schumacher.

Tim then told us an entertaining story about discovering ground effects. As he’d gotten ahold of some pictures of the revolutionary Lotus 78 from an Italian magazine. Tim claims he then set to work in his spare time cobbling together a ground effects chassis from various discarded bits. While the team was busy testing Postlethwaite’s latest creation at the MIRA wind tunnel. Wardrop mentioned his mock-up, which was reluctantly tested and came up with numbers twice as good as Postlethwaite’s “winner.” And when they put moving side skirts upon it, the numbers were even higher.

I asked Tim his thoughts upon CFD. (Computational Fluid Dynamics) and he was quite positive about it. I wish we’d had that back when I was at March. As you can simply input your data points and change everything on the fly. Wind Tunnels are so expensive to operate, as they’re running 100% scale models at speeds up to 200mph these days!

Did you work with Robin Herd? Yeah, I worked at March Engineering for eight years. Then I came to the States in 1995 to work for Newman/Haas with Michael andretti and Kevin Cogan.

Tim asked me if I remembered Willy T Ribbs? Sure, while trying to ask him why Ribbs sat out the 1992 Indy 500 over the din of the bar’s patrons. Tim replied that he’d been Ribbs race engineer for both of his Speedway efforts. (1991, 1993)

Yet the 1992 Indy 500 was a most successful year for Tim as his cars finished 1-2 that day. You see Wardrop was involved with Alan Mertens who designed the Galmer G92, driven to victory by Al Unser Jr. And Tim was engineering Scott Goodyear who came from dead last (33rd) to finish second for Derrick Walker that day in what is regarded as the closest finish at the Brickyard!

And speaking about Walker Racing drivers. Tim told us an entertaining story about Robby Gordon, who once asked a teammate when do you turn-in at Turn 1 of Indy? And the response was when you reach 228mph. So bam, Robby turns into the corner as soon as he reads 228 on the dashboard. Not 229 or 227, but exactly 228mph!

And speaking about straight line speed, Wardrop assured us that Luyendyk’s record numbers are correct. Claiming he was reaching 250mph on the front straight. Never dipping below 236, as the car was completely trimmed out… Tim claims that Gugelmin’s & De Ferran’s “record” runs at Fontana, CA are NOT correct as the track distance was measured incorrectly. Therefore the speeds are approx. 6mph too high!

Wardrop’s ex-Indiana neighbor was a chap named Jim McGee. And he worked on Newman/Haas’s 2004 entry for Bruno Junqueira, which just missed winning the race by about 10 minutes, as everybody was watching for precipitation.

Wardrop also was reunited with Arie Sr. in 2006 to attempt qualifying Luyendyk Jr’s entry, which wasn’t successful. While now having been hired as Chief Engineer for the SWE Racing Indy Pro Series team. The team ran gray beard Jon Brownson (54yrs old) n a limited ISP program this season while searching for sponsors. Brownson’s dream is to become the next Marty Roth and race in the Indianapolis 500…

SWE has moved into a new “state of the art” facility. Currently sharing the space with a brand new IPS team; Team KMA co-owned by the “Red Rocker.” A.k.a. Sammy Hagar. With SWE’s website claiming; “Wardrop has won the Indianapolis 500 more times than any other engineer in the history of the 500.”

And as we kept saying just one more question, Tim told us how he’d worked with some chap named Ross Brawn. I mean he was a true junior machinist at Williams when I worked there. Oh you mean the Ross Brawn who worked with some dude named Michael Schumacher!

For more Indianapolis stories, see; D-Squared

Brickyard Flyer (Part 2)

Standing in pit lane watching the whole procedure was very enlightening, as everything except for climbing aboard followed normal racing procedures. From the firing of engine via auxiliary starter to the pit crew pushing the car off via the rear wing. Along with Hamilton killing the motor and coasting the last 100 feet to a complete stop.

With four (victims) riders ahead of me, we watched Hamilton being rolled backwards as the momentary silence was broken by the BBUURRRR-RAP BBUURRRR-RAP BBUURRRR-RAP Rat-a-tat of wheel guns bolting on a fresh set of Firestone rubber…

I then overheard two men behind me commenting that they didn’t want to go out on “Sticker’s.” So I interrupted and said you want them scrubbed –in for maximum adhesion? Although I’ve been led to believe that sticker tires are faster than scrubbed?

And then back to action as we continued watching Davey run mid-50’s during his hot laps. As Mike kept checking his wrist watch along with pointing out that the Sinden crew was also timing Davey. (50-55 second laps approx.) As Danny had earlier informed the check-in girls that Mr. Tomaso would prefer to go 200mph today! And although this chassis has apparently reached 208mph, the Speedway has imposed strict performance limitations. With the Sinden Racing literature claiming a top speed of 180mph

Then it was Mike’s turn to put the rest of the uniform on, before going for his ride, which meant I was next… GULP!

Moving forward, another very friendly woman first assisted me with putting on the balaclava. Making certain it was tucked in correctly before fastening the velcro throat strap.

Then she asked me what size helmet do you wear? “I DON’T KNOW.” Ok, we’ll try a large. Placing the helmet on my head it seemed fairly snug when she first put it on. It actually felt almost too tight giving me a brief headache. She replied, good that’s what we want As I’d later understand why while she fastened the chin strap securely before helping me don on the matching nomex gloves.

Standing there with the helmet visor up I was asked; “Are you nervous?” NO!!! I feel GREAT!!! With Danny telling me to try keeping my answers a bit shorter…

Actually I had mild butterflies of excitement, as I was totally ready for the ride of my life! Since it’s not everyday that I strap-on a two seater Indy Car!

Then Scott Jasek (Sinden Racing Co-Owner) came up and greeted me, saying he’d personally help me aboard the race car when my turn came. As I watched Hamilton coasts the beast to a stop directly in front of me. Next Mike climbed out and soon it was my turn to enter the pit lane. As they have really cool custom fabricated aluminum steps for getting into the back seat, with the two step platform neatly fitting underneath and over the G-Force’s side pod.

At this point I was slightly nervous of mis-stepping, since I noticed with my helmet on. It was hard to see where my feet were going. (As I heard my “Inner-Child” SCREAMING DON’T step on the side pod!) Then I was instructed to put my right hand on the passenger’s roll hoop and grab the driver’s roll hoop with my left. Before simply stepping into the belly of the beast and rotating 45 degrees

Now facing forward while standing on the carbon fibre passenger’s seat, I was instructed to simply slide down. No, put one foot on each side of the drivers seat I was told. Interestingly the driver’s seat was completely visible to me, since this is where the chassis had been modified. Now comfortably seated, they reached in to secure my lap belt. Next I was told to bend my head forward while the shoulder belts were connected. Then tilting my head back they cinched up the six point harness snuggly. I asked what about my visor? Don’t worry… We’ll take care of that. And then SNAP!

Next I heard the bark of the engine being fired behind me… Idling serenely, I heard the thump of first gear being engaged and then we were off! As the car rolled down the pit lane warm-up loop quickly gathering speed

With the initial clutch engagement, I counted as Davey shifted gears four times while blending onto the Speedway upon exiting turn Two. And man oh man; we were already totally up to speed as we scooted down the back straight. Which really didn’t feel that fast to me

Although I’m told there’s handles to grip, I never located these. Nor did I grip anything during the entire ride. Yet perhaps I was simply resting my hands on top of them. As there appeared to be two slight openings on each side of the drivers roll hoop. Since there doesn’t seem to be any space alongside your legs. Definitely NO armrests, I just stuck my hands in these holes for the duration…

And then BOOM! We entered turn Three and I was TOTALLY FLABBERGASTED as the unexpected G-Forces tried to throw my head out of the cockpit! SHEISA!!! As the unexpected G-Forces physically pulled my helmet hard right… And that made me scream!

And then the funniest sensation of the whole ride As my brain felt like it was a step behind. Quickly learning why the section connecting the two turns are called the Short Chutes.

BAMM!!! HOLY FUCKING SHIT!!! As my head was ripped right once again… And then before you know it you’re screaming down the front straightaway!!!

Now In full sensory OVERLOAD!!! I decided to try looking ahead over the back of Davey Hamilton’s helmet. And upon doing this I suddenly felt the air trying to rip my helmet off! OH CRAP!!! Better NOT try that any more. Instead just looking over to the right Hey there’s the empty grandstands. And then to the left Yep, there’s the pit lane… And OH SHIT!!! (CENSOR that RASSCAR!) Here comes Turn One… YEE-HAWWWWWWWWW!!!

Simply screaming gleefully every time we entered a corner And although I thought it!!! I NEVER screamed any bad words… As it was just too DAMN FUN! With my 64k Commodore “noggin’” (brain) totally incapable of fathoming the feeling of the G-Forces. And WHAMO!!! As we’ve already traveled the length of the Short Chute and my head is flinging right again thru Turn Two…

Down the back straight somewhere between 170-180mph! Funny, now for several years I’d been telling’ Jefford how I wanted to join the 200mph club! (And still do!) To which this was the closest I’d ever been. But I was so much MORE impressed with the cornering speeds that going 175mph really didn’t feel that fast. As I suspect it has something to do with how long the two main straightaways at Indy are…

And then get ready for it, KABLAMOE!!! We’re hurtling thru Turn Four once again as we’re now doing our hot middle lap, with the race car at full song. Yet I never felt anything while going over the Yard of Bricks, along with being amazed how cool I felt with the surging of fresh air firmly flowing thru my cockpit appendage. Yep, there’s the Pagoda and Scoring Pylon… Which means. SHEISA!!! BOOM! Turn One as I am counting my laps the whole time…

The Short Chute flies past briefly and WHAM!!! Turn Two and another blast down to Turn Three. And I’m silently hoping during all of my contorted screaming that may be, just may be? I’ll get an extra lap? As we’re still rocketing around the Speedway at full speed for one last trip thru the final two turns And after exiting Turn Four sadly the car turns left as we’re back onto the pit warm-up lane, quickly decelerating… And NNOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!! It’s too soon. DON’T STOP!!! As Davey cuts the engine and we coast in the last 100 feet silently…

Then there’s arms inside the cockpit disconnecting the six point harness, which has aptly done its job. Flipping my visor up, I’m given the all clear to stand up. As I reverse the procedure of extricating myself from the cockpit, the warmth instantly hits me. And feeling a little dizzy, I start to put my feet in the wrong position when stepping back down onto Tera Firma…

Then I’m out of the car and my helmet strap is undone, allowing me to pull off my helmet and balaclava before being directed in front of the beast for one final picture

Stepping off pit lane I pause to return my helmet and gloves, while being asked: “How was It?” AWESOME TOTALLY FRILLING AWESOME!!! IT WAS TOO SHORT AND TOO SLOW!!! To which everyone laughs at. With Danny telling me the smile on my face was worth the effort of chaperoning me…

At this time I suddenly realize just how much I’ve been sweating, as while inside the cockpit’s cocoon, my sensories had been fully diverted to the E-Ticket ride I was taking. So I decided it was time to get outta the monkey suit and slip back into shorts. Yet I couldn’t stop talking… As it was the most INSANE ride I’d ever taken!

And there you have it. In the time it took you to read this article I had circulated the Indianapolis Motor Speedway three times…

For more Indianapolis stories, see; Doctor Doctor

Brickyard Flyer

By now most of you are (Painfully) aware that I recently traveled to Indianapolis to ride aboard Sinden Racing’s two seater and I really don’t know if I’ll be able to capture the true flavour of this. Nevertheless I’ll try to recount this BLEEPING AWESOME Experience.

With my ride being pushed back to 2:15PM from its original time of 1PM, I had a leisurely morning, sauntering over to a completely empty Brickyard Crossing restaurant. The waitress serving me seemed most impressed that I’d flown from Seattle just to ride around the track. When I asked her how the weekend had gone, she replied that it was lousy. Sheila claimed that they’d only served 500 for breakfast instead of the usual 1,000 per morning they have during the Brickyard 400 weekend.

My personal tour guide (Danny B) arrived at 12:30PM and we hung about talking’ shop. Prior to leaving for the Speedway Danny made a wonderful suggestion. Saying why don’t we give one of the limited first edition No Fenders T-Shirts I’d brought along to Davey Hamilton… (My Two Seater chauffer)

Making the five minute drive around the corner, I’m always amazed how the Speedway sits nestled in the middle of town with four roads and housing flanking its sides. Along with being able to simply drive underneath the track into the infield.

We were directed towards the far end of the track, being directed by various “Yellow Shirts.” (IMS employees) Who seemed most determined to make us walk thru the dirt ‘N dust of construction on our way to check-in. Which was pretty damn cool since we had to report to the Formula 1 garages. Wonder which F1 teams had resided here during the past eight years.

Arriving early, the three kind ladies at the check-in table handed me a pile of forms to sign. While filling out the 43 pages of various waivers, Danny explained in brilliant legal-ease… These simply state that Racing Cars are DANGEROUS!!! Then they gave me a credential pass to wear and told me to just hang out until I heard my name called.

And it appeared we were in a single F1 garage, which are quite spacious since there were three racing cars parked inside. Including both of the Two Seaters with my hoped for mount. The Canadian Club chassis sitting nearest me, then Danny noticed Davey Hamilton sitting behind the check-in table, saying let’s go give him the shirt. Danny introduces me before I casually handed Davey the T-Shirt While Danny explained No Fenders was all about Open Wheel Racing. NO RASSCAR! To which Davey got a chuckle out of.

Telling him I was from Seattle, Davey started naming off 8-9 various tracks he’d race Sprint Cars on in the Northwest… Which unfortunately I’d never heard of since I traditionally don’t follow “Sprinter’s.” (Although a gentleman from Mount Vernon, WA just won his first World ‘O Outlaws event)

Then a little later on Danny asked Davey if he could take a picture of us with our No Fenders T-Shirts Davey was the consummate gentleman, giving us gobs of his time. As we discussed his exploits of running Indy with Davey saying he’s still trying to put something together with this year’s Indy sponsor Hewlett Packard. As he’d be doing some promotional work with them later this fall.

Reportedly Davey landed the HP sponsorship after giving one of their executives a ride in the Two Seater. As Hamilton had been trying to put together a deal to return to the Speedway for over two years and although it wasn’t his best finish, Davey finished ninth in this years marathon Indy 463.

Needing to leave us to change into his drivers overall’s. Davey told me he’d wear the shirt today while driving. (Yeah right!) So I broke into a large grin when I noticed Davey walking out to the pit lane. Driver’s suit on with sleeves tied around the waist and sporting the No Fenders T-Shirt!

Then it was my turn to get suited up as they called my name. Asking me what size shoes I wore, the lady replied we don’t have any at the moment. We’ll have to get you some. She then handed me a Nomex Driver’s suit to put on behind the small enclosed tent which served as the changing room. And shortly I was donning full fledged racing apparel for the very first time. Yet it seemed very comical to be walking about the F1 garage in a Driver’s suit and socks…

After finally putting on the racing boots I ventured out onto the hot grid behind pit lane and suddenly I understood why racing teams use awnings everywhere they go. As it was quite warm out in the sunshine, being 92 degrees. Fortunately the humidity was very mild and there was a nice light breeze blowing. Nevertheless its warm walking about in Nomex, so I quickly got underneath the large awning with the rest of my anxiously awaiting participants.

Casually standing about the first Two Seater took off with a passenger. But after the first few rides, the track went silent. And then a very long pause as I noticed some of the service trucks taking off, driving back and forth to get equipment. And more time passed as we all stood patiently in our matching driver’s suits.

Then while I walked out onto pit lane to have my picture taken again with Davey Hamilton, this time in front of the Canadian Club car by one of the IMS photography staff. The other participants were called together to explain what was happening.

Unfortunately one of the Two Seaters had suffered a mechanical failure and they were down to a single “stretched” chassis. So in-state volunteers were being asked for. Who is willing to defer their ride to either a different date or venue? With the rest of us getting into line for rides that afternoon

Standing eighth in line, Mike, who was in front of me explained that the stricken Two Seater had apparently suffered engine trouble as the driver had heard a large bang in the corner. Shut off the lump immediately. And upon smelling oil pulled off into the grass and said we’re getting outta here! This left a large patch of oil on the track surface which required clean-up before proceeding, which had caused our delay.

To continue reading, see; Brickyard Flyer (Part 2)

Indy celebrities (Postscript)

Did you guess who the six celebrities I ran into while at IMS are?
Or are you simply getting tired of the suspense? Just give us the “Frillin’” answers man… (No cheating Danny B, your excluded)

As I’ve previously written. The mystery men in no particular order are: DH, “S. George,” DM, “Doctor Who?” Mr. Interscope and the REAL “Double D.”

And with no further ado, Drum roll please…………..
The first three represent 1/11th of this year’s Indy 500 grid. And how often do you meet three racing drivers in one day?

Obviously DH is Davey Hamilton, whom returned to the Brickyard for the first time after six years of countless surgeries to repair his shattered feet. Davey has kept sharp by compiling seat time piloting one of Sinden Racing’s two seaters. He’s a true gentleman and it was a pleasure to spend so much time talking with him. And I felt it was a true bonus to have him as my chauffer around the Speedway!

“”S. George” is the aforementioned Steven George. Better known as Stefan Gregoire. And he seemed like a very nice chap as he was sent home early after his two seater mount lost its motor at IMS. Apparently Gregoire is also collecting valuable seat time at IMS as Sinden Racing’s other driver...

Although technically gregoire didn’t compete in this years Indy after crashing during practice. As you may recall Chastain Motorsports drafted the wiley veteran Roberto Moreno as his replacement. Look for S. George to be back next year at Indy.

The third driver is by far the court jester of the triumberant. As Darren Manning is a total crack-up. Making a loud snoring sound when recounting his displeasures of having to attend Sponsor meetings. As well as being a pretty fine golfer. Manning now resides in Indianapolis and was the BAR Honda F1 test driver before moving to Derrick Walker’s Champ Car team.

Dr. Who is none other then 1997 Indy 500 Winning race engineer Tim Wardrop. And I really enjoyed my prolonged chat with him about various facets of Formula 1.

Mr. Interscope could also be called the Flying Hawaiian. As I’ve just read that he was a tire buster in the early ‘60’s prior to getting his shot as a racing driver. Perhaps you’ve heard of him? His name is Danny Ongais.

Unfortunately when I hear his name I can only recite the fact that his crash at Indy in 1987 opened the door for Al Unser Sr. as his replacement at Penske Racing. “Big Al” went on to win his fourth Indy 500 that year behind the wheel of a year old Penske show car. Wow, it just hit me. This is the 20th anniversary of that most forgettable saga.

And lastly, not to be confused with Robin Miller’s Double D. Nope, not “Milk ‘N Doughnuts.” Nor Derr-Wreck Daily. The REAL “Double D” is none other than official track historian Donald Davidson. Whom I’m now calling D-Squared…

The affable Englishman came abroad in 1964 before immigrating in 1965 to work for USAC and has been here ever since. Davidson is a walking computer as he simply rambled off answer after answer to us in the Photo Shop…

Indy celebrities

So I’ve been reveling over my most excellent adventure to the Speedway for the past few weeks now. While basking in the afterglow of my extreme euphoria experienced while hanging out at Indianapolis. As I can still hear the banshee wail of the two seater reverberating off the Turn 2 grandstands. (Especially when I play it back on my mini-recorder)

Did you guess who the six celebrities I ran into while at IMS were? As I wrote before they were none other than: DH, “S. George,” DM, Mr. Interscope, “Doctor who?” and D-Squared. (O.k. The REAL “Double D.”) I’ll let you ponder it a little longer, eh?

For this most memorable trek to Mecca, I stayed at the Brickyard Crossing Hotel, which is located directly next to the Turn Two Grandstand. And it’s slightly dated. Ok, so it looks circa 1970’s. Yet I found it to be a most enjoyable locale as it’s full of old fashion charms.

Although I didn’t get Jimmy Neighbors suite. The room was clean, the staff is super courteous, the waitress’s & bartender’s very friendly and the food is quite palatable. But what I found most humourous was having a real “live” person making the wake-up call each morning. Along with using a real key to unlock your door.

And where else can you simply step out of your room and be serenaded by the symphonic harmonies of the Sinden Racing Two Seater reverberating off of the Brickyard grandstands?

After checking into my hotel room Monday evening. Danny B introduced me to his old friend Dave, who we met on his way into the bar while Danny was showing me the hotel’s layout. There Dave introduced us to Dr. Who. And on our way out for dinner, Danny said hello to Mr. Interscope.

Tuesday was the big day for me. As Danny chauffeured me around the corner to the Formula 1 garages for my big adventure aboard Sinden Racing’s Two Seater.

While waiting for my ride, Danny introduced me to DH, who’d be my two seater pilote later in the afternoon. DH was super friendly and really made my day enjoyable. He talked to us for over 20+ minutes before excusing himself to go get suited up for his afternoon at the office. And I’ll give you a hint. He finished ninth in this years Indy 500.

While awaiting the track to be cleared after having a big problem with the other two seater, Danny introduced me to “Steven George” while going to have my picture taken on the pit lane with DH in front of the Canadian Club car. According to Danny, Steven George has been given the moniker due to his close relationship with Mary Holman George.

Than after a mind boggling FANTASTIC day at IMS, we returned to the bar for some liquid refreshments along with a quick bite to eat. Walking in after us and sitting down directly behind us. There’s Mr. Interscope once again. And Danny told him of my ride aboard the two seater and perhaps he could have been my chauffer? No thanks said Mr. Interscope. I’ll stick to single seaters.

After dinner Danny drove us over to McGilvery's Speedway for a weekly radio broadcast hosted by Don Kay of Autosport Radio. One of his featured guests this week was the “Cheeky Brit” DM. Who as always was quite entertaining. And he started off the show by claiming that I’d messed up his golf game when roaring around Indy! But DM had NO interest in the two seater, stating that may be his girlfriend would?

As he was leaving Danny brought him over to our table and introduced me. DM promptly said, so you’re the chap in the two seater messing up my golf game!

Wednesday upon taking a PAINFULLY SEDATE bus ride around the Brickyard narrated by D-Squared. We toured my favourite racing haunt. The Hall of Fame museum. And upon popping into the Photo Shop on the second floor. Which you really must if you want to see AWESOME racing photography from wall to wall. Coming out of his office was D-Squared, who Danny introduced me to. And very obligingly chatted with us for quite some time as we picked his brains over the history of the Brickyard.

SHEISA!!! That was a really ruff trip! As I mentioned to “Auntie” Harriet, I’m getting a bit spoiled here. And I’m becoming a bit particular on whom I meet ‘N greet…

To continue reading, see; Indy Celebrities - Postscript

Indy day trippin’ (Part 3)

Pictures
Top: Indianapolis Shell gas station billboard supporting M. Schumacher
Bottom: M. Schumacher & R. Barrichello during Driver’s Parade lap


And did I mention how hot it was? As the first two days had been 90+ degrees, with Sunday’s event even hotter. I marveled to myself upon our passing block after block of parked cars on private lawns while nearing the Brickyard, as we’d decided to come later in the day since we had reserved parking. (So I thought! But, Oh NO! The Handicap parking fills up by 8AM…)

It was rough sledding as we had to follow the coolest road car ever produced by the Ford Motor Company… Yes. The Ford GT! As I just sat gaga watching the ass end of the black Ford GT with Indiana dealer plates directly in front of us. With Harriet telling me to quickly roll down the window. In order to listen to the syrupy sweet exhaust note as we handed our parking pass to the IMS attendant.

And then we had a really fun time trying to find where our seats were as the Yellow Shirts were baffled to why they’d parked us where we were. Finally getting driven by golf cart to the opposite end of the race track as we’d been forced to drive past our grandstand!

Sitting in the scorching sun several hundred yards away from the first corner complex, it was wild watching the seven car melee caused by Juan Pablo Montoya in what would be his very last F1 start. Yet I was extremely happy to watch Schuey wax the entire field pulling away by nearly a second per lap… In fact he was so far ahead that I could hear him downshift 5 gears into turn 1 before his second place wingman Felipe Massa would enter the corner.

And I cannot recall ever sweating so much before, while I did my best impersonation of a “Little German Boy on the podium!” Gleefully whistling the Italian National anthem while waving my conductor’s baton upon Herr Schumacher’s victory!

During the whole race I couldn’t figure out what all of the fuss over M. Schumacher winning five times at Indy was about… Oh, I get it! He’s the first driver ever to WIN 5 times at Indy. Surpassing a trio of drivers named Foyt, Unser and Mears.

Returning to our hotel, it was interesting how the stigma of Le Michelin fiasco still hung over the event. As a patron asking us about the race seemed primarily concerned about whether or not the Michelin shod cars ran? Telling him there was a seven car shunt on lap one didn’t do much to impress him as I realized that not too many more cars were around at the end this year compared to 2005. I recall telling Clyde how hilarious it would have been to see the Michelin Man walking around Indy deflated with bandages all over him! As Harriet really likes the Michelin Man, so we shook hands with him on Saturday.

Dropping Harriet off at the airport Monday morning Clyde & I watched two Sharp Dressed Men in black suits pass thru the airport while awaiting her flight departure. Hey that’s Ross Brawn of Ferrari. Then we talked to a very friendly German journalist, who said it’s a good thing Michael won. That way there’s still interest in the championship and they’ll keep sending me to cover the races. Then on our way out of the terminal Clyde noticed approx. 25-30 people in identical white uniforms standing in the check-in line. It was the Panasonic Toyota team getting ready to fly home.

Upon returning from another 2.5 day mad dash across the country and having only stopped at Old Faithful and Devil’s Tower. It was nice to be back home where I watched the race tape, I found Nick Heidfeld’s barrel rolling down the main straight quite scary. I also learned via Bob Varsha that it was 97 degrees (+ Humidity) race day. As well as being the start of the second century of Grand Prix racing…

Calling Auntie Harriet, I was most shocked to hear her story about who’d sat next to her on her flight home. At the very last moment a young whipper snapper sat down next to her, as it was the last seat on the plane.

Noticing that the young German kid with long blond hair had a slightly funny sounding accent. Harriet inquired, so where are you from? What are you doing in America? After a long pause the kid said. “Ja! I am Nico Rosberg! I have just been at Indy to race in the USGP. SHEISA!!!
Harriet had to sit next to F1 Williams Rookie driver Nico Rosberg on her flight from Indy to Chicago as this was the only flight poor Messer Rosberg could find in order to make his connections back home to Germany.

Harriet told him how she’d just attended her very first Formula 1 race and how I was a huge Formula 1 fan… Just before landing the young German who’d turned 21 during the break between the Canadian and USGP reached for his briefcase and pulled a card out. Then of course neither of them had a pen, so they frantically searched for a writing utensil and finding a pencil. Nico scribbled an autograph onto his race card for me.

SHEISA!!! How come I never get to have anybody famous sit next to me, eh?

Indy day trippin’ (Part 2)

Pictures
Top: Jacques Villeneuve 1995 Reynard Ford/Cosworth; (IMS Hall of Fame Museum)
Bottom: “Auntie Harriet & Tomaso at IMS”


This time one year ago, I had just returned from my second “Coast to Coast” road trip to the Brickyard. Which was entirely different from my first trek to Mecca with Mary Ellen.

Clyde & I made an obscenely fast jaunt across the country, driving from Tacoma, WA to Indianapolis in 2.5 days! Stopping only briefly to visit the Corn Palace, a car model museum and a brief portion of the Badlands…

With the USGP now being held in the summertime, (July 2, 2006) it was obviously much warmer then when I’d attended the fall 2001 event. Yet I was once again fortunate enough to partake in another full three days of Formula 1 action.

Being a “seasoned” veteran of the USGP, albeit five year’s prior, we once again parked inside the race track and partook (Parkay, No Butter, Parkay…) in the days festivities via the grassy knolls (burms) while avoiding the Brickyard Crossing sand traps.

The supporting cast this year was the Formula BMW USA and Indy Pro Series with guest driver Graham Rahal. Along with the Porsche Supercup. Yet as always, my favourite performers were the Formula 1 cruise missiles!

And we even managed to escape a heavy downpour which began as we were meandering our way thru the Formula BMW paddock upon the end of first day practice.

Friday night Clyde & I picked up “Auntie” Harriet at the Indianapolis Airport. You see, I’ve been spending the past several years kibitzing about Formula 1 with my 87 ½ year old Aunt, whom always refers to Formula 1 as the “Big Boyzs.” Which recently has left me pondering if this is an age or generational thing? As I also heard a senior Indy Car owner refer to this term when describing the higher echelons of the Indy Car fraternity this past May, i.e.; Penske, Ganassi, etc.

And I suppose its HELL getting old? As I myself am getting old-ER! Yet every time I talk to Harriet on the telephone she’ll ask me, Ok, now when is the next race? Where are the big boyzs racin’? May be I should write it down? When is the next race? You know the Big Boyzs… Oh Saturday on channel 33… No the RACE is Sunday on SPEED… Qualifying is Saturday… When is the race? May be I should write it down. Oh, you’d better call and remind me again. Now where are the Big Boyzs racin…

Yet somehow Clyde managed to convince Harriet to fly alone to Indiana and meet us in order to attend her very first Formula 1 race at the tender age of 86! So that was pretty cool… Not to be confused with the weather which was NOT cool! But I digress.

Saturday morning we got up early to attend practice and qualifying and we even managed to get front row parking with Harriet’s handicap parking pass. Meandering about the infield section we spotted a beautifully restored 1928 Duesenberg Indy 500 racer parked outside, where we posed for a quick photo. Fortunately the “Yellow Shirt” IMS worker convinced us to check out the Hall of Fame museum which I’d been hoping we’d get a chance too… Where all Harriet wanted to see at the museum was Barney Olfield, who isn’t in the museum. And we spent way too LITTLE time in the museum; flying thru the various displays in less than an hour, prior to the morning’s qualifying session.

The museum had totally rotated the collection of race cars on display. Pulling out various Indy/F1 vehicles like Jimmy Clark’s 1965 Indy 500 winner, A Stewart Grand Prix chassis, etc. And this time once again I was drawn to the wonderful hues of a Day-Glo orange turbine race car. Yet I was even more mesmerized by the wedge shaped Lotus 56 Graham Hill chassis then the 1963 STP turbine driven by ‘ole Parnelli Rufus Jones I’d seen 5 yrs earlier. In fact I was so awed by this car that I forgot to snap a picture of it!

Sitting in a grandstand with the F1 cars coming straight towards us, Harriet could barely be heard above the din of these fabulous creatures. Who’s the white car? Which one? As there were four teams in white livery. (BMW Sauber, Honda, Toyota, Williams) Yet you could always tell when Michael Schumacher was coming as the air horns sounded all around the Speedway…

For qualifying we tried a totally different vantage point, which became quite comical when asking for directions from the Yellow Shirts on how to get to the elevators to get above the pit lane. NO! This elevator is ONLY for Emperor Bernardo…
Finally arriving at the handicap seats, some 35+ minutes later. We enjoyed the sounds and sights of all ten final Q3 combatants screaming out of the pits to begin burning off petrol! Even more impressive was listening to the various F1 drivers simulating standing start launches at the end of the pit lane! And the weekend was shaping up quite nicely with the two Ferrari’s at the top of the time sheets, once again headed by Michael Schumacher. It was even cooler getting to watch the qualifying press conference live via closed circuit TV as we were departing. As I remember fondly watching Michael speaking German, Felipe speaking Portuguese and leaving as Giancarlo Fisichella was speaking in Italian...

To continue reading, see: Indy Day Trippin' (Part 3)

Indy day trippin’

Pictures
Top: Tomaso & The Trusty ‘ol Econoliner
Bottom: Mary Ellen’s “Pooch” Sarah


You know that old saying. “Time flies by when you’re having fun!”

Which is why I guess another year has already slipped by…? Since this time one year ago I was making my last trek to Indianapolis for the USGP. This was my second trip to the fabled Brickyard, having made my first visit to these hallowed grounds in 2001. Which was an interesting trip as the USGP was a fortnight after 9/11.

Departing six days afterwards via Mary Ellen’s trusty ‘ol 1978 Ford Econoliner van. We had NO way to discover whether or not the race would be cancelled? As we were driving coast to coast.

Yet my first memory prior to leaving was how I couldn’t figure out what was different as it was so quiet. I finally figured it out when upon day four of the NO Fly zone; our local TV stations were flooded with calls of panic. As I was surprised to hear a F16 Fighter Jet making a bonsai pass down one of our major freeways. (I-5)

Oh! That’s it; there’s been absolutely NO aircraft in the skies… Not even the pain in the ass obnoxiously loud “Mc Chopper/Chip’s” Snohomish Co. Sherriff’s helicopter that flies directly overhead my Apartment at anytime of the day or night.

Yet by far, the worst memory was the accident that occurred to Alex Zanardi at the Lausitz Ring in Germany on September 15th. Correctly CART, nee Champ Car had decided to commence with its scheduled event in lieu of 9/11. Unfortunately the day would be forever marred by the horrific incident between Zanardi and Alex Tagliani, where Zanardi almost lost his life along with both of his legs.

And it was an absolutely fantastic 17 day vacation of exploring the countryside with M.E. making stops at Custer’s Last Stand, Devil’s Tower, “Jellistone” (Old Faithful) Mount Rushmore, Crazy Horse, Battle of Wounded Knee, standing in the Mississippi and finally Grand Coulee Dam. These stops coincided with three full days of a great Formula 1 race sandwiched in-between.

Arriving at the Brickyard in time for the very first practice of Friday morning, I was overwhelmed by how Frilling Huge Indianapolis Motor Speedway is. As I just stood in awe looking down the length of the 5/8th mile straightaway… As the grandstands just seem to go on and on. And it was even harder to comprehend what it must be like when they’re all filled up with spectators.

Yet I couldn’t get over the disparaging difference between the inside and outside of IMS. As the Brickyard sits in the middle of run down streets directly next to the race track. Dirt parking lots, uneven sidewalks interspersed with gravel. Trailer parks and make shift RV facilities along with temporary vendor booths and Honey Buckets! While inside the Speedway seems fairly up kept wherever a camera may pan.

And apparently if you live anywhere near the Brickyard, you supplement your income by charging for parking on your front lawn. As the further we drove away the price dropped. After forking out $10.00, we headed off for Indy.

And where else can you pay $25.00 (General Admission) for two full days of viewing Formula 1 chassis! As we wandered the infield burms Friday & Saturday, which I still feel are some of the best F1 viewing I’ve had access to. Along with thoroughly enjoying watching the vintage Formula 1 cars of the three liter Cosworth DFV V-8 era perform.

Of course everything paled in comparison to the Star’s of the show, the F1 circus. As I still chuckle to myself today while recalling how pitifully SLOW the Ferrari 360 Modena Challenge cars looked after having just watched 22 of the fastest race cars on the planet scream down the 22+ second full throttle straightaway of Indianapolis at over 200mph. DAMN! Those “liddle” Ferrari’s just seem like their walkin’ at 170mph!

And we also made a trip to the infield Hall of Fame museum which definitely has to be the best $3.00 I’ve ever spent on a museum! Hell, I even had my picture taken in the “Enemy’s” (IRL) chassis which you were allowed to crawl into for pictures. And the museum is simply overflowing with wonderful memorabilia intertwined with a staggering cross sample of vintage race cars. As I was drawn to the row of rear engine chassis of Mario Andretti, Rick Mears, Al & Bobby Unser, Gordon Johncock to name just a few. And it seemed odd to have Jacques Villenue’s 1995 car parked next to my very favourite. The Andy Granatelli 1963 STP Turbine driven by Parnelli Jones.

Saturday & Sunday we arrived bright ‘N early at opening of the gates in order to park inside IMS, which is pretty cool to drive underneath the Brickyard and park in the infield. And I recall being part of a fairly large throng of spectators holding up the Ferrari Challenge cars trying to make their way back to the pits as we ventured towards the burm adjacent the banked final corner of the F1 circuit. The Ferrari’s along with the Porsche Supercup series, identically prepared Porsche 911’s supported the Formula 1 race as the three days of speed seemed to blur by.

The pre-race hoopla in support of the USA upon 9/11 was overbearingly NAUSEATING!!! Although I did enjoy the driver’s parade as they were whisked around the track in vintage automobiles.

The most humorous thing to me was the sound of a P.O.S. Harley Davidson trying to sound cool preceding the Grand Prix, as the torturous sounds of an uncorked Fat Boy resonated off of the grandstands as some goofball roared by on the adjacent street. Yet there is just simply NOTHING that can compare in sound to the symphonic rhapsody of a modern era Formula 1 car! Especially what I consider to be some of the finest machinery ever unleashed on the F1 Championship. The full tilt boogie 3.0 liter unrestricted V-10’s…

And although being a huge Herr Schumacher fan, I was absolutely delighted with the outcome, as I’d be on hand to witness Mika Hakkinen’s final Formula 1 victory. While being overly impressed by rookie sensation Kimi Raikkonen driving for Sauber alongside Nick Heidfeld. As this would ultimately become the passing of the Finnish torch in F1…

To continue reading, See: Indy Day Trippin' (Part 2)

Women in Racing

It seems that most of today’s mainstream media attention falls upon the IRL’s Princess Danica Patrick. Having been noted as a Danica supporter… I thought I’d shed some light on the REAL women of motorsport, who paved the way for Danica to live the “Good Life.”

Interestingly the first women racers were in Grand Prix, prior to the modern day Formula 1 championship which began in 1950. As the earliest reports of female race driver’s centers upon a trio of women, with Eliska Junkova and “Helle Nice” being the most flamboyant. While Kay Petre made her impression due to her small stature behind the wheel of the day’s monstrous vehicles.

Junkova caused quite a “stir” when it was discovered that a woman led the opening laps of the 1928 Targa Florio. While the lady behind the wheel of the Bugatti leading the event was quicly named the “Queen of the Steering wheel” by the adoring press.

The Czechoslovakian is the only woman to have ever won a Grand Prix which she accomplished at the Nurburgring in 1926. Junkova retired from racing immediately after her husband was killed in 1928 at the Nurburgring while piloting the vehicle the couple were co-driving in the event.

Helle Nice was Mariette Hélène Delangle’s stage name, as she made her fame and fortune as a Paris “Show Girl.” Amassing wealth and popularity as a dancer, she reportedly enjoyed “Life in the Fast Lane.” As rumours suggest she had a long list of multiple suitors including Philippe de Rothschildand Jean Bugatti. She competed in several Grand Prix’s during the early 1930’s.

Yet sadly after the war, Louis Chiron accused Helle Nice of being a Gestapo agent which effectively ended her career. (Along with ruining her life!) Helle Nice died “penniless” in Paris in 1984.

Kay Petre stood 4’10” tall, making many marvel at her physical ability to manhandle a 10.5 liter V-12 Delage while setting speed records at the famed Brooklands circuit. Petre was most likely the first female to compete in the 24 Heurs du Mans, finishing 13th overall in 1936. She competed in three Grand Prix’s in 1937 before being injured. Petre went on to become a motor journalist along with being an automotive fabric designer.

After two decades of no women participants, Maria Teresa de Filippis contested three Grand Prix’s between 1958-59. While it would be almost another two decades before a quartet of female drivers attempted participating in various Formula 1 races from 1974-1992. (Lella Lombardi, Divina Galica, Desire Wilson, Giovanna Amati)

Lombardi raced twelve times, becoming the only woman to have ever scored a World Championship point in 1976. Finishing sixth in the rain shortened Spanish GP, Lombardi was awarded a half point. Lella also finished seventh at the Nurburgring.

Galica, Wilson and Amati were entered, but didn’t qualify for their races. With quite a fuss caused when multiple females were entered for the 1976 British GP. Amati was the last female to enter a Formula 1 event for the struggling Brabham team before being replaced by Damon Hill. Amati’s F1 test came courtesy of playboy Flavour Flav… (Flavio Briatore)

Meanwhile Janet Guthrie began her racing career in Sports Cars and won two class victories in the 12 Hours of Sebring, prior to getting her big break. In 1976 Rolla Vollstedt gave her a test drive at Indianapolis, although she didn’t qualify for that year’s race. Yet in 1977 Guthrie would not only become the very first female to race in the Indianapolis 500, but also make history as the first woman to race in the Daytona 500.

Guthrie would compete at Indy three times (1977-79) with a best finish of 9th in 1978 before disappearing from the Speedway’s horizon. It would be a further 13 years before a second female would arrive at the Brickyard, with Lyn St James making the first of her seven appearances. St James became Indy’s first female rookie of the year in 1992. This debut race would also become her best finish of 11th place at the Speedway.

In 1999 the third female to crack the Brickyard’s entry list was Sarah Fisher driving for Derrick Walker. Fisher has since gone on to become the only woman driver to win a pole and podium places in the Indy Racing League.

Then in 2005 Princess Danica burst upon the scene, causing instant Danica mania while flirting with capturing the pole at Indy and finishing 4th in her rookie year. Now once again history is about to be made when the Brickyard will see three females take the green flag for this year’s running of the Indianapolis 500.

As Virginia Slims would say, “You’ve come a long way Baby…”

(PS: If anybody has seen Danny B’s Milka Duno lunch box laying around the grandstands at Indy, please turn it into Lost ‘N Found…)