Indy 500 - Review

[Jimmy Higgins]

Well, the Indy 500 kind of got postponed this year. Whether it happens or not is to be seen. So on the normal day I watched Emerson Fitapaldi win his first Indy 500 on YouTube. And with the passing of my Father, I have felt compelled to watch a bunch more. Since then, thanks to YouTube, I've watched (in not this order), the races in '68, '78, '81, '83, '85. Interesting how the coverage changed over time.

'68 must have been cool when it was seen, but it is clearly an edit hatch job with fake live commentary when Jim McKay is allegedly calling the race and interviewing the racers in the Pit live during the race. It was tough watching '68 because the broadcast cameras were awful and the editing stole any possible cohesion with the event. '68 was a safe year, no one killed in the race and the accidents themselves relatively benign. One car fire, but it is something to watch a crash occur and then the driver is unbuckling themselves before the car comes to a stop to GTFO of their car. Compared to what I have been used to seeing my entire life, seeing those death traps is unsettling. '68 had the turbines again which did pretty well, but broke down near the end of the race. Honestly, it looks a bit suspicious that two of the Turbines broke down at about the exact same time. Jackie Stewart had a similar thing happen when he had the race virtually won. Conspiracy? I report, you decide! Got a kick out of McKay saying that this race would be talked about for 50 years (2018 would be 50 years!).

'78 and '81 broadcasts were after the fact, but they showed a lot more of the race and the camera work is great. '81 obviously has the infamous Bobby Unser pass that "stole" the race from Andretti. Because the broadcast is after the fact, the announcers make quite a big deal of it with the hindsight. Andretti actually is given the win on Monday, but Unser gets it back in court. Both drivers a bit easier about it these days, partly due to age. '81 did have a frightening Danny Ongais crash, which isn't completely caught on camera, but his legs dangling out, his head slumped, his car... almost non-existent. His injuries would ultimately not be quite as bad as they could have been, pretty much badly broken legs and a cut artery I think. It was definitely haunting to see him. It'd take until '85 I think when the nose cone needed to become indestructible.

I think it was the '78 Indy where they had an interview with Bobby Unser and he discussed the difference in safety when he started verses now, and how death was almost a fait accompli in those death traps, and you just had to accept it. Indeed, racing is much faster today and the vehicles and barriers much safer, even compared to the huge improvements from the 60s to the late 70s and early 80s.

'83 and '85 appear to be live or close to live broadcasts. Everything is great, though it feels weird to see this newcomer Al Unser Jr. '85 would be the famous Spin and Win and a deja vu Mario Andretti moment as a car that passes beneath him spins out in front of him (Parsons back in '83 and another I believe in '82). Danny Sullivan doesn't hit the wall and his Penske had enough power to get back in front of Andretti to win. '85 also had Scott Brayton on the pole in his Buick, which last maybe a dozen laps. I think I saw Brayton as a rookie in '78. He'd pass away, I saw it happen on TV live, in Indy in '96 in a crash while practicing in a backup car, after having won the pole. Andretti actually finished this race, did great, but didn't win. He'd only win Indy once, despite being arguably the greatest race driver of all time (supporters of Graham Hill and Jim Clark, Aryton Senna, arguably Nikki Lauda can get in line). If it had four wheels, Andretti won (not could have, but did) in it. He even won Daytona even when his pit crew allegedly held him up to try and keep him from winning in the last pit stop.

Indy Car has changed a lot. Back in the 80s and 90s and before that, races could have a single leader on the lead lap. The drama of a Goodyear / Unser Jr finish wasn't too common. Ever since the IndyCar/CART split, the cars became similar chassises and unlike NASCAR where cars are too similar, the racing at Indy has become ridiculously competitive.

 

[ZiprHead]

IndyCar is my favorite racing series, then F1.

I don't get into the personalities of the drivers or teams much. I just enjoy the competition. And I much prefer the road courses or street races than the roundy-rounders.

Unfortunately we've cut down on our cable channels severely so I won't have access to watch those any longer. Maybe I can get them somewhere on my Fire TV.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

Indy 500 (1966) - This was odd as the broadcast was much much much better, if not a little shorter than the '68 broadcast. Now the different might have been because the cameras were B/W and easier to use than the color ones in '68? They racing was about 35 minutes. '66 has a big wreck early in the race... when I say early, I mean before most cars made Turn 1. The good news is that the cars aren't quite up to speed where the cars are crashing into each other, and no one apparently had a tire hit their head, so thankfully, no one hurt (so long ago). In fact, the race was primarily safe as far as injuries. AJ Foyt was taken out in the wreck, wasn't happy. I mean, you watch these starts and the cars are all bunched together. It is nuts! Graham Hill wins the race after Ruby's engine dies on him. Four cars finished on the lead lap.

Indy 500 (1977) - Back to Sunday Night (same day!) coverage. Again, this is more a real coverage of the event. Gordon Johncock was kicking ass, but his car breaks down. A couple crashes, but in general, people were alright. Foyt walks into his 4th victory (the only one at the time) much like Unser Jr walked into his 2nd with the forementioned Johncock retirement. Janet Guthrie broke the gender barrier by almost not completing any laps in the 500, actually completed 27 laps after a long ordeal about the "Gentlemen start your engines" bullshit because men apparently had an issue with women racing.

Back to the race, the real story regarding the those up front was Johncock was dying out in the car from heat and thirst. He had one particular moment where his attention seemed to be waning. The announcers, deal with the race after the fact, and were all over it as if Johncock was driving with the brake lights on for 50 laps. Johncock's car dies with around 15 laps left and he manages to pull it off on to the grass, slowly gets out the car, and goes for a dip in the adjacent creek. He was exhausted! It is possible Foyt could have pulled back and taken the lead, but we'll never know. The first key to winning Indy, is finishing. Two racers finished on the lead lap. It was a pretty good race overall, despite not many in competition. How bad was it? Johncock still finished 11th... after DNF'ing with 16 laps left.

Unser Sr. kicked but, if not on the lead lap finishing third. Unser Sr had a pretty good record at that track, as did his brother and son.

 

[hurtinbuckaroo]

I remember the '66 start: tires flying everywhere. It was spectacular, and even at the lower speeds, it was amazing that there weren't serious injuries.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

The announcer for the broadcast almost sounded joyous about the wreck. Granted, they know no one was even really mildly hurt, so I suppose that was possible, but it sounded a bit much for my taste. I'm not one of those 'love to see accidents' people. Obviously, this is historical and no one is dying a second time, but still.

Indy 500 (1969) - So this is the big one... the one Mario actually wins. I think Mario Andretti has led in over 100 Indy 500s (need to fact check that) but only won once (and could have won twice if USAC didn't fuck up in '81 and penalized either Unser or Unser and Andretti). He was a benefactor of Ruby's mistake in the pits when he started leaving too soon and punctured the fuel tank. Ruby didn't have lots of luck at Indy, but this was one of his rare mistakes. 4 cars finish on the lead lap, 11 cars finish period. AJ Foyt had something break, went into the pits, for a long time. Came back out and finished 8th, 19 laps down.

The announcers were talking about Foyt racing 10,000 miles in the early 80s, I think in '84 when something just went to heck on the car... I don't know if that included those missing laps.

No one hurt in this race, and no turbines because despite their guaranteed longevity, they weren't lasting 500 miles, which is kind of important, unless it rains. Looking at the stats only two previous winners drove in the '69 Indy 500, Unser (Bobby) and some Foyt character.

Watching 1974 next.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

Indy 500 (1974) - An incredible run away job by Johnny Rutherford. In '74 they decided to slow the cars down. The safety tech was no where near the speeds they were racing, so less horsepower, less fuel, less boost, but more cow bell (I need to fact check that). The fuel seemed to throw teams for a loop as plenty ran out of fuel during the race.

Indy 500 (1975) - This was a tough one for Wally Dallenbach, who had the strongest car in the field. Gordon Johncock started off strong, but the engine fell apart on him. Dallenbach was take over for AJ Foyt and be in control, but then there was an accident. Tom Sneva was in a horrific looking crash that sent debris everywhere. He needed help to get out due to the car's damage, but would otherwise be okay for a guy in a car that was ripped in half up against the fence. Dallenbach would note that debris led to him having to hold back, which would ultimately doom his engine. Prior to this, Andretti suffered from some stalling in the pits only to have his car break on him on the backstretch (lost a wheel!) and slammed into the inside wall at a pretty high speed, but was alright.

From the Dallenbach exit, it was between Rutherford and Unser, with Foyt further back. The long humid day with darkening skies. Unser was able to take the lead from Rutherford, and then when the race went yellow as a light rain started falling, Unser swung into the pits to get a little fuel, fearing the race was going to be called, but didn't know when. He managed this without giving up the lead, which was important because the skies opened up to a gully gusher of a rain storm. It wasn't that long, but it flooded the track and Vuckovich almost hit a man who was standing by a fence after he spun out. The red flag came out with the checker. Cars were spinning out every where, but Unser as well as Rutherford managed to get to the finish and finish the race.

Indy 500 (1960) - Short 30 minute or so coverage, including "qualifying". This was black and white. And when the rear engine would really begin to start its invasion into Indy. It would include an incredible back and forth between JIm Rathman and Roger Ward (not shown in broadcast) and Rathman would win. No one hurt badly in this race. There was a peculiar macabre moment when Tony Bettenhausen (will ultimately die racing) is coming back into the pits, getting himself out of the car before the car has stopped (these cars were fire traps!) and they accompany this with clown like orchestra like it was a joke. Again, they know nothing bad happens, but what was happening on the screen wasn't remotely funny. I guess Americans were cool with death back in the day? Lloyd Ruby would finish 7th as a rookie this year, one of the few times he would have back luck at Indy.

One interesting thing is seeing the Track "devolve" over time... backwards. You can see fields and not stands. Trees on the in field near the track! Yipes!

Indy 500 (1964) - I think this was in color, which surprised me as a later one was not. This was an ugly one. Again, like the other 1960's broadcasts, this is short, about 10 to 12 minutes of actual racing. A crash very early in the race led to the first red flag in Indy 500 history for an accident. It would also be the last time gasoline was used for fuel. A spin by MacDonald led to an impact with the inside wall (there was a camera right there, it almost looked like a Hollywood scene it was so perfectly filmed), and the car ruptures into a fire. This caused a chain reaction that took other drivers, and Eddie Sachs tried to find a whole, but it was plugged up by MacDonald's car which caused a huge explosion.

In my day of auto race spectating, drivers are killed by force of debris or equipment or by impact. That wasn't the case back then. Two drivers (Eddie Sachs and Dave MacDonald) crashed at decent speed, but were harmed greatly by the fires that ensured. Sachs apparently wasn't burned too bad, but died what was presumed to be instantly. Dave MacDonald not as "lucky". Breathing in the flames would be the cause of his death a little later that day. A number of other drivers were involved but managed to survive and get through the wreck alive and were merely out of the race including the aforementioned Johnny Rutherford and Bobby Unser.

Back to the race... Parnelli Jones was looking good until his rear engine Lotus came into the pit and then caught fire when exiting. As his crew chased after him, he slowed down and got out near the end of the pit. AJ Foyt would take the lead and not relinquish it for the rest of the day, winning his second race.

 

[Worldtraveller]

Hey, the cowbell was an important safety feature.

Consider yourself fact checked.

I was a big A.J. Foyt fan back in the day. I think I stopped watching Indycar racing around the time he retired. It was a big tradition every year, though. We would go spend Indy 500 day at my grandparents' house. Watching the race, bbqing, and generally enjoying the day.

These days, I'm just not a fan of racing if there isn't at least left AND right hand turns involved. Honestly, if you haven't watched MotoGP, especially recently, you should. The Moto3 grids in particular (the small bikes) are very competitive, with usually 5-6 lead changes just on the front straight...every lap! Going into the last lap, it's not uncommon to see 10-12 bikes that all have a shot at at least a podium.

A lot of the prior races are currently free. Hint hint.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

Hey, the cowbell was an important safety feature.

Consider yourself fact checked.

I was a big A.J. Foyt fan back in the day. I think I stopped watching Indycar racing around the time he retired. It was a big tradition every year, though. We would go spend Indy 500 day at my grandparents' house. Watching the race, bbqing, and generally enjoying the day.

These days, I'm just not a fan of racing if there isn't at least left AND right hand turns involved. Honestly, if you haven't watched MotoGP, especially recently, you should. The Moto3 grids in particular (the small bikes) are very competitive, with usually 5-6 lead changes just on the front straight...every lap! Going into the last lap, it's not uncommon to see 10-12 bikes that all have a shot at at least a podium.

A lot of the prior races are currently free. Hint hint.

Speaking of motorcycle racing...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OKP43cEoKj4

(can't seem to embed right now)

[YOUTUBE]https://youtu.be/OKP43cEoKj4[/YOUTUBE]

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

Caught a trio of races, I think '46, '51, '53, and '55. I guess that'd make it a quartet?

Less than 30 minutes, but there is a Periscope Films org which has remastered film footage and commentary which is absolutely gorgeous. I recommend watching at least one of those. It is incredible coverage!

I can't comment too much on the races as the racing is only about 12 minutes of the film. '46 was the first since the track closed because of some thing going on overseas. '53 was an oven with lots of people switching out drivers. '55 was the Vukovich tragedy where he got caught up in a mess (there is an ESPN Classic documentary on Vukovich on YouTube). He was on his way, if the car made it, to winning three in a row, something not done, ever before or since. Heck, winning two in a row is very rare.

There was one race, I think it was '55, where a guy was in an accident and was hurt, in the video he appears unconscious and slouched on the video and the commentator notes, 'not seriously injured'. He appears in the ESPN video noted above and he states he had awoken in the hospital!

There a few crazy things, it is incredible the amount of danger involved back in the day, and I suppose would ultimately lead to the disasters that'd change all of it. Firstly, the pit road... has no wall between it and the race course! The fans are sitting very close to the track. In the 50's people would erect their own scaffolding to view race. Having been to the Speedway, I can't imagine seeing much from the in-field. Heck, you need to be near the top, at the right spot in turns to see half the track! Fueling? No gaskets! There is a guy with a fire extinguisher, but they are dropping fuel into the tank and there is no seal.

There was some '41 coverage that is in color, but no commentary. There is footage of the garage fire on race day. Man, the cars in '41 looked quite a bit scrappy, let's say. But without commentary, really hard to tell what anything is.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

And I finish off with a couple more, one awful race and one incredible race.

Indy 500 (1973) - We are looking at another 30 minute review for race coverage. So much was wrong with this race. To start, it appeared the speeds were exceeding the safety, and this would be something that would be changed for the '74 race. The cars are safer than the late 60s but that isn't saying a lot. Rains delayed the beginning of the race by 4 hours.

This was also a race that co-starred a rich guy's son that probably didn't deserve to race at Indy. Salt Walther was over his head and nearly lost it in his huge crash at the start of Indy. As part of the crash, his fuel tank ruptures and ethanol sprays out into the crowd, which sits much closer to the fence that they do today. His car comes to rest, upside down, legs visibly dangling out. He survives, but his life is never going to be the same. He'll come back to Indy, the same somewhat arrogant rich playboy he was, and never really going to be the same in large part due to injuries sustained in the accident. He'll live a good long while to 2012, but his drug addiction would be a problem. So, after that massive accident, it then decides to rain. We are washed out.

Tuesday, more rain!

Wednesday, more rain! Everyone is desperate to race, it isn't until about 2 PM that things get started.

A second huge crash, Swede Savage wouldn't be as lucky. He survives the accident, but dies 5 weeks later. His car, was nearly completely destroyed. The 1973 race had two red flags for awful accidents. To make matters worse, a pit crew member was struck by an emergency team vehicle that was driving to the wreck against the typical flow of traffic in a pit. The driver didn't have time to react and the pit screw member was struck and died from his injuries of the incident.

They should have just given up on Tuesday.

The race, which started late, re-starts, and pretty much most of the top racers are dropping out due to car failures. This leaves Johncock in 1st, nearly uncontested. Dark clouds roll in near lap 130. Another red flag. And this time past the halfway mark, and it getting dark because of evening coming, they call the race. Gordon Johncock wins the worst all around Indy 500 that I'm aware of. 11 cars finished with their engines running.

Indy 500 (1982) - And now we finish with the greatest Indy 500 of what I'll call the classic era. Qualifying is marred by the death of Gordon Smiley who crash his car near rfull speed into the wall, somehow he managed to go right instead of left! The impact pretty much implied no one walks away from that. The nose cone of the car collapses with ease and the resulting mess lacked anything large enough to house a live human body. Word is that Smiley's head was scalped and his body was effectively shattered. I don't think a car today could handle that sort of impact.

The beginning of the race is a bit crazy, as the cars approach the green flag, and keep approaching... and keep approaching... and Kevin Cogan is presumably in too fast a gear, as the torque puts his car out of control and he drifts right into the side of AJ Foyt, spins, and then gets hit by Mario Andretti. The race is red flagged. Foyt and Andretti, absolute legends of racing, are not pleased. Foyt manages minor damage that can be fixed, Andretti is out of the race. Cogan was a young driver at the time and his lack of experience was blamed. Most drivers agreed though that the start of the race was too slow, a faster start and this never happens.

Meanwhile, AJ Foyt manages to get the car back to the start, and leads the first lap of the 500. His car would suffer engine issues and drop out slightly after halfway. The race seemed to belong to Rick Mears whose car was just handling the track so well, and Rick Mears, despite being young-ish would become one of the masters of Indy. Johncock's car seemed to have handling issues, until around 50 laps remaining, when Johncock's car's handling would improve and Mears' car would start handling not as well. For about 25 laps, these two drivers would duel in one of the best sequences of racing ever at Indy. Mears handled the turns very well, but Johncock's car appeared to have more power at the end of the stretches, usually being able to hold off Mears into Turns 1 and 3.

The race was ultimately won in the pit... not the stop, the drive into the pit. Johncock had a car in front of him moving slowly in the pit, and he passed that car on the left (in the pit). That allowed him to get to his stall quickly. A rookie had tried that, Foyt probably would have thrown a wrench at him. So much could have gone wrong. The pit road is not smooth at all. Mears comes in, but there is a slow car in the right lane and a car further up in the left lane. Sam Posey notes that Mears did a worse job, but Mears couldn't have passed on the left, then swung to the right lane to pass on the right to get to his stall quicker. Mears slows down but still hits the car in front of him in the back. No noticeable damage to either car, but the whole incident impacts Mears a lot because a few seconds in a green flag pit stop is nearly 1000 feet on the track. Johncock and Mears stops are flawless otherwise.

With the incident, Mears is out with 10 or so laps remaining and 11 seconds back. McKay and Posey pop open the champagne for Johncock. Did I mention that they add a turn or two on the front left wing of Johncock in that pit stop? His car is handling like crap, it isn't apparent when watching, but quite apparent in the 1 to 2 second faster laps Rick Mears is putting together. A race that was over, isn't over. The crowd is getting so loud, you hear them over the engines. That is pretty loud! About two laps left, Mears has caught Johncock. Mears clearly is faster, but we are reengaging with the previous duel. Mears is better in the turns, Johncock has the highest speed at the end of the straights. The infamous moment of Mears' wife cheering as Mears pulls slightly ahead at the White Flag is met with disappointment when Johncock is again able to make to the turn first. Johncock noted afterwards he wasn't letting up, regardless what happened, in turn one. Mears, is still trying, he again, can turn and put his car anywhere on the turn, he approaches low in turn four, and might get it, but again Johncock has enough power... and a little bit of race worthy blocking to hold Mears off and win the race.

The finally gives Johncock an Indy 500 without an asterisk or a dying friend in the hospital. For the '82 race, things started off badly. But the final quarter of that race was incredible.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

I caught a couple old Darlington Southern 500s (50s) on YouTube. That just looks silly. Real cars that have been modified to race on a track at very fast speeds. No one seriously hurt in either race, despite three cars going through the 1st turn guardrail. Same ole same ole, pits right next to track, people lighting cigarettes in the pit.

Then I caught Andretti's 1967 Daytona 500 victory. Which is an odd broadcast because he leads over half the race, but you don't get that feeling until after the thing is over and he won it.

Yeah, I know, it is stock car racing, which isn't all that exciting especially when they reached the 32-bit limit.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

Running out of YouTube vids.

Indy 500 (1971) - If you miss one Indy 500, it can be this one. And almost no faster than the green flag comes out, the pace car, driven by a local yokel instead of a race car driver as had been the case seeing how fast the pace cars are going now, crashes into the press stand. Lots of injuries and two were seriously hurt, but all survived. John Glenn was one of the people in the pace car.

Oh yeah, there is a race! The race starts and Ivy League graduate / awesome race car engineer Mark Donahue just goes bonkers at the beginning. Driving the Penske team car, he races to something like a 4 or 6 seconds lead in the first lap. An engine is lost in Kristoff's car, which shoots oil everywhere. One car spins, then a couple other newbs Johncock and Andretti spin under yellow and end their days.

This race is Donahue's to win really, but as sometimes we see at Indy, the engine decides it is done after 60 or so laps. Donahue is done for the day.

And what ensues is the most boring Indy 500 ever, with Al Unser easily taking the race having lead more than half of the laps. Lloyd Ruby was looking to finally make with a good finish, but he is Lloyd Ruby, so his engine bit the dust late. Mike Mosely was in a pretty bad looking wreck and broke a bunch of bones. Bobby Unser was collected in said wreck but was fine. Bill Vukovich II (son of Billy Vokuvich) finished 5th.