This year the Indianapolis Motor Speedway turns 100.
Today, 33 drivers took part in this uniquely American race.
In honor of this Memorial Day weekend tradition,I invite you to enjoy some excellent videos, pictures, and a few comments by yours truly that, I hope, will help illustrate why the Indy 500 has come to be known as The Greatest Spectacle in Racing.
(NOTICE: Lots of pics and videos)
This photo is of Ray Harroun, winner of the first Indianapolis 500 Mile Race.
Harroun won the race driving his Marmon "Wasp" at an average speed of 76.2 miles per hour.
This year's race was won by Helio Castroneves, driving the #3 car for Team Penske. It was Helio's third trip to victory lane.
You can see the complete box score here.(PDF)here
Although the track itself was built in 1909, it first hosted a motorcycle race.
The first Indianapolis 500 Mile Race, the official name of the contest, was held in 1911.
Back then, the track looked like this:
There have been myraid changes and developments at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway since 1911.
Some of the most visible changes are obviously to the cars.
Contrast Ray Harroun's 1911 Indy winning car,
With that of this year's winner, Helio Castroneves:
Here are some memorable moments of the last 4 decades at the Indianpolis Motor Speedway.
This first selection is an overview of the 1963 Indy 500, won by one of the true legends of racing, Parnelli Jones.
Besides having a superstar name, Jones was able to outdrive the rookie sensation from Scotland, Jim Clark, who was driving a lighter, lower Lotus Ford.
That's then-speedway owner Tony Hulman giving the command of "Gentlemen, start your engines."
The corny narrative here makes the film:
Take note of the graceful, flowing lines of the #98 car that Parnelli Jones won in, a Watson roadster.
Jones was the first driver to break the 150 mph barrier, and he did it in this car.
Front engine cars like this one would soon be a thing of the past, as rear engine cars became the norm after 1964.
Here is a photo of A.J. Foyt and his Offenhauser-powered Sheraton-Thompson roadster, the last of it's type to win the Indy 500.
The #1 on Foyt's car signifies that he is the defending Indy car points champion. A feat that Foyt repeated many times in his extensive career. Look at the helmet that Foyt is holding. Doesn't look too safe, does it?
The 1964 Indy 500 was also the last year in which the cars would be fueled by gasoline.
The decision to run Indy cars on methanol was made after a terrible crash that started a tremendous fire on the second lap of the 1964 Indy 500 which claimed the lives of two drivers, Eddie Sachs and Dave MacDonald.
In 2007, an effort was made to make the Indy series more green, with the requirement that every car be fueled by 100% ethanol.
This video is a highlight reel of the 1965 race, which was
setting up as a duel between Clark and A.J. Foyt, who had won his second Indy 500 just the year before.
Clark won by over 2 minutes, however, due in part to Foyt running out of fuel and having to let his car coast into the pits.
Clark was a phenomenal race driver and ever the gentleman.
Sadly, Jim Clark would lose his life in a crash while driving in a Formula 1 race at Hockenheim, Germany on April 7, 1968.
Here is one of his finest moments.
Here is a great photo of Jim Clark and his Indy winning ride.
We can't very well end the 1960's at Indy without noting Mario Andretti's win at the Speedway.
Here he is in the STP #2, winning the 1969 Indy 500 in a car owned by Andy Granatelli.
Note the flag waiver standing on a platform with the cars speeding by at 180 mph.
It would be Andretti's only win at Indy.
Much has been written about "Andretti luck" at Indy, due to Mario's many attempts to win Indy again and coming up short due to accidents or mechanical failure.
Michael Andretti,Mario's son, tried numerous times to win the 500, only to be thwarted by mechanical problems, usually in the final few laps.
Michael Andretti has the dubious distinction of having led more laps of the Indy 500 without winning than any driver in history.
Michael's younger brother Jeff Andretti,was seriously injured in a crash in the 1992 Indy 500, a race in which Mario crashed as well and was treated for broken ankles.
As unfortunate as these events were, my take on the Andretti's fortunes at Indy is a bit different than the conventional view.
Though they have only one win between them, the Andretti family is lucky in that all of them have escaped the race more than once with their lives. As we will soon see, that is more than some other drivers have been able to do.
Marco Andretti, Michael's son, competed in this year's race, finishing in 30th position. Marco was run into by a car driven by rookie Mario Moraes.
The crash took place on only the first lap of the race.
Both drivers were uninjured.
Jeff Andretti, Michael's nephew, also competed in today's race.
He finished in 19th place, driving a car owned by Nascar legend Richard Petty.
The 1970's saw many changes to Indy style cars, most noteably the addition of wings, which added downforce to the cars, literally holding them onto the track.
This photo is of Mark Donohue's Sunoco McClaren, owned by Roger Penske.
Donohue won the 1972 Indy 500 in this car. This was also the first of Penske's 14 wins as a car owner at Indianapolis.
This next video is a cornucopia of vintage Indy lore.
If I were to watch only one video in this entire diary, it would be this one.
It begins and ends with shots of the eventual winner,Mark Donohue,and also features that year's fastest qualifier, Bobby Unser, in a record setting run for that year in his white #6 car, the Olsonite Eagle.
Even in the early 1970's, speeds at Indy were approaching 200 mph.
Bobby Unser's one lap record was over 196 mph.
Keep in mind that these drivers at Indianapolis were hurling these cars into a turn that has no more than 9 degrees of banking.
That's a far cry from the 40 degree inclines that hold NASCAR racers on the track at Daytona.
Keep in mind that's 1972 technology, folks. Only the sticky tires and wings were keeping these cars from hitting concrete at close to 200 mph.
Unfortunately, some of the cars did hit concrete back then, and hit it very hard.
Driver Jim Malloy was killed in a practice accident prior to the 1972 qualifying runs.
If you watch at 2:22 on the clip, you'll notice a car similar to Donohue's, another blue McClaren.
It is the #7 car driven by Donohue's counterpart on the Penske racing team, Gary Bettenhausen.
In the early 1970's, Bettenhausen drove all types of open wheel race cars with frightening speed and fury.
Bettenhausen led the 1972 race for 138 of the 200 laps only to be sidelined by an ignition problem. He would finish 14th.
Later that year, Bettenhausen would suffer a dibilitating injury while driving a sprint car which rendered his left arm nearly useless.
Bettenhausen would continue to drive, but never again in cars that were as good as those owned by Roger Penske.
Gary Bettenhausen would try 20 more times to win at Indianapolis. He never did.
Racing was a much more dangerous business back then when compared to the many safety measures that drivers and fans enjoy today.
Look at the clip at 1:49, where the driver bails out of a burning car while it is still moving and then has to roll around on the racetrack to extinguish the flames. The driver was Mike Mosely in the #98.
The music here really fits.
I think that this video is a fitting tribute to Donohue, who, although he made it to the coveted victory lane at Indy,lost his life due to injuties he sustained in a crash while practicing for the Austrian Grand Prix in 1975.
R.I.P., Mark Donohue.
While we are on the subject of danger, no Indy fan can forget the terrible year that was the 1973 Indianapolis 500.
What most people remember is the horrible crash at the start that left Salt Walther in the #77 car severely burned.
Remember, race cars did not have the sealed fuel tanks and cockpit fire extinguishers that today's cars do.
Here is the footage from that race, which not only shows the flaming cars, but on the replay you can clearly see the alcohol fuel being spilled onto the spectators, injuring 13 of them.
This is the reason that spectators are no longer permitted near the wall during pracice sessions or the race at Indy.
Here is Jim McKay's call on that awful scene in 1973:
Unfortunately, this crash was not the only tragedy at Indy that year.
Driver Art Pollard was killed in practice for qualifying on May 12, 1973.
During the race, a young and promising driver, Swede Savage, was severely injured after a horrific, fiery crash into a concrete barrier located at the inside of turn 4.
Savage's car struck the concrete at nearly top speed after he lost control going into the fourth turn.
At the time, Savage was in second place and was trying to catch Bobby Unser and pass him for the lead.
Savage would die 2 months later in the hospital of liver failure after contracting Hepatitus from a blood transfusion needed for the extensive burns he suffered in the crash.
Finally, a pit crew member, Armando Teran,was killed when he was struck by a rescue truck traveling that was rushing to put out the fire of Swede Savage's crash.
Mercifully, after 2 more restarts, the race was stopped short due to rain and was eventually won by Gordon Johncock.
Ironically, both Swede Savage and Armando Teran were members with Johncock of the STP-Patrick racing team, making his victory a bittersweet one.
As horrific as some of these events were, the 1970's saw some very significant positive events as well.
In 1977, A.J. Foyt won his fourth Indy 500. He was the first man to do so.
Al Unser, Sr. and Rick Mears are the only other drivers to win 4 times at Indy, a feat that only Helio Castroneves seems to have a chance at duplicating any time soon.
This is the car that A.J. Foyt drove to victory in 1977.
Another high point of 1977 at Indianapolis was the entry of the first female driver to the 500.
Janet Guthrie qualified and competed in the race in 1977.
Guthrie finished 29th in that race due to engine problems, but scored her highest finish in of 9th place in 1978.
Guthrie was a capable driver who had been racing since 1963.
She was a graduate of the University of Michigan and was employed as an aerospace engineer.
Many racing insiders believed that Janet Guthrie had the potential to win the 500 had if she had been driving better equipment.
At any rate, Janet Guthrie was a courageous competitor and paved the way for drivers like Danica Patrick.
Janet Guthrie, first woman to break into what was very much a man's world in 1977.
The 1980's saw more changes to the cars and the track.
Most significant was the advent of ground effects to the race cars.
This design invented and perfected by racing car legend Jim Hall, consists of tunnels under the car, along with side skirts around it which create a suction effect when the car is at racing speeds.
This suction further enhances the effectiveness of the wings and increases the grip of the tires, resulting in higher speeds.
Here is an example of an early 1980's "ground effects" car, Rick Mears in the Gould Charge #1.
Note how short the nose of the car is. In the late 1980's this feature would be changed, due to the high number of drivers who suffered heavy injuries to their feet and legs.
Such was the case for Mears, who suffered extensive injuries to his legs and ankles in a mid- 1980's crash.Though he walks with a limp to this day, Mears recovered to race again.
This next video is a much happier day at Indianapolis, both for driver Gordon Johncock and the many fans who witnessed one of the great duels to the finish of America's greatest race.
Here,the veteran Johncock battles Indy racing's new star, Rick Mears, who won his first Indy 500 in 1979.
The finish of the 1982 Indy 500:
Of course, if you're talking about Indy in the 1980's, you have to mention Danny Sullivan's remarkable "spin and win", as it came to be known.
Here, Sullivan passes Mario Andretti for the lead, only to have his car lose traction in the turn and spin.
Miraculaously, he recovers and goes on to win the race.
To conclude the 1980's, we have another changing of the guard, where Al Unser Jr. battles Formula One great Emerson Fittipaldi.
"Little Al" manages to pass Fittipaldi in the final laps, but tries to block him in turn 2.
They touch wheels and Unser is taught a costly lesson.
This finish was dubbed, "The million dollar meeting", in reference to Unser missing out on the million dollar prize:
Unser would have his day, however.The race in 1992 was unfortunately a crash laden race.
The temperatures that year were in the 50's on race day,extremely cold for May in Indianapolis.
Cold air temperatures are not the friends of race car drivers. When temperatures are cold, the soft rubber compound of racing tires does not heat up sufficiently to provide adequate grip.
When that happens, cars go spinning into the wall.
Some estimates put the repair bills at 3.5 million dollars to repair all of the cracked up carbon fiber shed by shattered race cars on that day.
Finally though, two cars battled for the checkered flag in what to this day is the closest finish in Indy history.
Here Al Unser Jr. and Scott Goodyear drag race down the front staight for a near photo finish:
In 1996, Speedway owner Tony George sought to change the nature of open wheel championship racing in America.
His goal was to lower the cost of racing so as to attract more grass roots oriented racing teams from America and end the domination of the sport by a relatively few teams with exceptionally huge bankrolls, such as Penske racing.
Mr. George's decision resulted in his breaking away from the sanctioning body CART (Championship Auto Racing Teams)which sponsored all of Indy type car racing.
Mr. George founded an alternative sanctioning body to compete with CART called the IRL , or,Indy Racing League.
The move was designed to lower the cost of racing and therby attract more grass roots oriented teams from America, as opposed to having the racing series dominated by relatively few teams with large bankrolls, such as Penske racing.
The immediate effect of George's move was to cause a split between car owners between CART and IRL. Most of the better funded teams, such as the Penske and Ganassi racing teams stayed with CART, effectively banning them from competing at Indianapolis.
Most new, fledgling teams joined IRL, since that would give them an opportunity to race at Indy that was previously out of reach for them.
From a fan's point of view, the prestige and visibility of Indy seemed to be diminished, since the better known drivers like Michael Andretti, Al Unser, Jr., and the like did not race at Indy that year.
Eventually, without the premier race in their schedule, CART ceased to exist and was rebranded Champ Car.
This series eventually waned and was absorbed by IRL.
To me, this only proves the point that there is no race like Indianapolis, since neither CART or Champ car could survive without the crown jewel of American racing, the Indy 500.
Ultimately, Tony George's efforts to bring down the cost of Indy car racing have been largely successful.
Today's cost to field a competitive Indy car team with one driver and one car command a bankroll of $5 to $6 million, according to IRL team owner Roger Penske.
Compared with the budget of a Nascar team, that is an inexpensive price, as a Nascar team can cost up to $20 million for one season.
Still, the trend of a few financially well backed racing teams to dominate the rest of the competition remains.
Most up and coming teams have a difficult time overcoming the likes of Team Penske, Target/Chip Ganassi racing, and Andretti/Green racing, who are often referred to as the "big three" of Indy car racing.
Today, the Indy car series and the Indy 500 have gained back as least some measure of their former glory.
In 2006, we saw yet another passing of the torch to a new generation as
Marco Andretti, then a 19 year old rookie at the Speedway, passed his father Michael to lead the race.
Here is the call at the finish of the 2006 Indianapolis 500.
Marco tries to hold on for the win, but is passed at the finish line by Sam Hornish driving for Team Penske.
Marco's father Michael finished 3rd.
Here is a photo of today's winner, Helio Castroneves, enjoying his trip to victory lane at Indy:
Today's victory was especially sweet for Helio, since only weeks before he was acquitted of charges of Federal tax evasion.
One year ago, Castroneves became famous for much more favorable news, when he won Dancing with the Stars with his partner Julianne Hough.
Arguably the most successful female driver at Indy to date is Danica Patrick, who finished a career best 3rd today.
Perhaps Danica will be the first woman to win at Indy. who remains a
Danica made her debut at Indy in 2005, when she finished 4th.
As we wind down this rather lengthy tribute to the Indy 500, I would like to close with some innovations that I would like to see come to fruition at Indianapolis.
How about a hybrid car race? I think that the most famous track in the world would be a great promotional tool for hybrid cars.
What about a solar-powered car race for the same reason?
Given the fact that many features in today's cars were either developed or refined in race cars, I would think that a race featuring cars with cutting edge solar and hybrid technologies couldn't help but advance more fuel efficient vehicles.
What do you think?
If those ideas sound good to you, you can contact the Indianapolis Motor Speedway here.
Whether or not you are a fan of this race,I hope that you have enjoyed the trip we took today down memory lane.
My hope is that it is a fitting tribute to past champions and a memorial for those who lost their lives in the pursuit of victory.
In their honor, I would like to post this quote by FDR.
Far better is it to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure... than to rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy nor suffer much, because they live in a gray twilight that knows not victory nor defeat.
Theodore Roosevelt
I think that quote pretty much sums it up for me when I think about the reason why someone would want to defy death by getting in a race car and risking his or her life for 500 miles in pursuit of an honor that few will ever reach.
Why do people climb mountains? Why do people run marathons, swim the English Channel?
I suppose they do it in order to do something that has never been done before.
I suppose they do it because winning just feels so damn good.
Anyone who has ever won anything from a spelling bee, to an election, to a 100 Meter dash knows that nothing compares with winning. Nothing.
So, in conclusion, to the contestants in this year's Indianapolis 500 Mile Race, I say congratulations.
To those who admire their spirit, who cheer their triumphs, and mourn their losses, thank you for tuning in to The Greatest Spectacle in Racing.
Update: I intended to publish this diary this morning before the race started, but unfortunately I made some HTML errors while editing.
It took me some time in the wee hours this morning to correct them.
I figured better late than never, so I published an updated version.
Hope you enjoyed.