Indianapolis 500 memories and facts.
May 27, 2016 14:53:04 GMT -5
Woody Williams, duff, and 3 more like this
Post by featherduster on May 27, 2016 14:53:04 GMT -5
As a kid growing up in Gary Indiana in the 50's and 60's the Indianapolis 500 was a big part of my life I can recall that on race day I could ride my bike around any neighborhood and never miss one lap of coverage because just about every household and/or garage would have a radio blaring away while men worked on their cars,cut their lawns or cooked out.
Fast forward to May 1973 I am in Indianapolis taking delivery of my first ISP cruiser when one of my classmates who grew up just blocks away from the track asked if I would like to visit the track and watch some practice,he didn't have to ask twice and in just a few minutes we were driving into Gasoline Alley.
I walked out to the pit wall and watched Johnny Rutherford practice and the thing I remember the most about that was the loud bang that came from his tires every time he raced across that yard of brick it was as loud as a shotgun.
Rutherford brought the car in got out sat on the left front tire with his helmet and posed for a bunch of publicity photos then got up walked right over to me and introduced himself and started a conversation with me as if we were old friends......I was impressed,the following year he won.
The next few years I was assigned to work the infieLd or to be more specific the "SNAKE PIT" and during those years I took some impressive photos of or with some of the drivers with my best being that of A.J. Foyt just inches from his face just seconds before he was pushed off and the following year he autographed that photo telling me it was one of the most impressive photos of himself he had ever seen.
I remember standing at the exit to the pits when Kevin Cogan started on the inside of row one next to Foyt and Mears and everybody was holding their breath since he was a rookie and inexperienced and they all had reason to because he caused a crash as they were coming to the Green flag that crash took out several of the most well known drivers.
In 1978 a photo was taken of me standing next to the Pontiac Fiero pace car just before the command to START YOUR ENGINES was given it is an impressive photo with all the cars in the background and the thousands of fans in the stands.
This photo is hanging above my computer.
When I moved to Laporte county I started hanging out at an old gas station where the owner was an old time sprint car driver and his good friend who would come in on most Saturdays for coffee was Art Cross the first ever Indianapolis 500 ROOKIE OF THE YEAR and that was in the year 1952 when he finished second.
Fast forward again to the mid 1980's when I was on the board of directors for the National Hemi Owners Association and for the Mopar Nationals I had the distinction of having my signature on the paperwork to lease the Indianapolis 500 track for 3 days where we held the Mopar Nationals the cost of that lease was..........you guessed it $500.00 plus a one million dollar liability insurance policy
I probably turned about 200+ laps on that track acting as a pace vehicle during that 3 day event.
Now a days I am content to watch it from the comfort of my lazy boy in a climate controlled environment with a cocktail in my hand but to all the folks out their ENJOY THE GREATEST SPECTACLE IN RACING and remember this .......
ON SUNDAY THERE WILL BE MORE PEOPLE IN THE TRACK THEN THERE IS IN THE ENTIRE STATE OF WYOMING.
Fast forward to May 1973 I am in Indianapolis taking delivery of my first ISP cruiser when one of my classmates who grew up just blocks away from the track asked if I would like to visit the track and watch some practice,he didn't have to ask twice and in just a few minutes we were driving into Gasoline Alley.
I walked out to the pit wall and watched Johnny Rutherford practice and the thing I remember the most about that was the loud bang that came from his tires every time he raced across that yard of brick it was as loud as a shotgun.
Rutherford brought the car in got out sat on the left front tire with his helmet and posed for a bunch of publicity photos then got up walked right over to me and introduced himself and started a conversation with me as if we were old friends......I was impressed,the following year he won.
The next few years I was assigned to work the infieLd or to be more specific the "SNAKE PIT" and during those years I took some impressive photos of or with some of the drivers with my best being that of A.J. Foyt just inches from his face just seconds before he was pushed off and the following year he autographed that photo telling me it was one of the most impressive photos of himself he had ever seen.
I remember standing at the exit to the pits when Kevin Cogan started on the inside of row one next to Foyt and Mears and everybody was holding their breath since he was a rookie and inexperienced and they all had reason to because he caused a crash as they were coming to the Green flag that crash took out several of the most well known drivers.
In 1978 a photo was taken of me standing next to the Pontiac Fiero pace car just before the command to START YOUR ENGINES was given it is an impressive photo with all the cars in the background and the thousands of fans in the stands.
This photo is hanging above my computer.
When I moved to Laporte county I started hanging out at an old gas station where the owner was an old time sprint car driver and his good friend who would come in on most Saturdays for coffee was Art Cross the first ever Indianapolis 500 ROOKIE OF THE YEAR and that was in the year 1952 when he finished second.
Fast forward again to the mid 1980's when I was on the board of directors for the National Hemi Owners Association and for the Mopar Nationals I had the distinction of having my signature on the paperwork to lease the Indianapolis 500 track for 3 days where we held the Mopar Nationals the cost of that lease was..........you guessed it $500.00 plus a one million dollar liability insurance policy
I probably turned about 200+ laps on that track acting as a pace vehicle during that 3 day event.
Now a days I am content to watch it from the comfort of my lazy boy in a climate controlled environment with a cocktail in my hand but to all the folks out their ENJOY THE GREATEST SPECTACLE IN RACING and remember this .......
ON SUNDAY THERE WILL BE MORE PEOPLE IN THE TRACK THEN THERE IS IN THE ENTIRE STATE OF WYOMING.
