A Fan Comes of Age at the Indy 500

Indy Journal - 1980

2010-03-22T21:41:00.002-05:00

1980

The nearly flawless performance of Johnny Rutherford’s Pennzoil Chaparral, the nearly unbelievable finishes of Tom Sneva and Gary Bettenhausen, the outstanding job by rookie Tim Richmond, and my visit with some former church friends were highlights of this year.

It was about 9:30 on Friday morning, May 9, when I left in my 1975 Chevrolet Caprice Classic for my trip to the Speedway to see the first day of time trials. I took old Route 36 to Decatur and then the regular Route 36 the rest of the way. It was a few minutes before 12:00 when I arrived at the Colonial Kitchen at Chrisman for a snack of a grilled cheese sandwich, french fries, and coffee.

At 12:20, I left the restaurant and, unlike last year, didn’t have any detours the rest of the way. I arrived at the Standard Service Station on Lynhurst Drive about 2:15, where I stopped for a fill up, and then I made two more stops at Rosner’s Drug Store and Carl Hungness Publishing Office before arriving at the Speedway. I decided on something new on entering the Speedway this year. I would enter from the north, instead of the usual southern way. I had to go to 30^th St. and right a short distance. I turned right onto the road, paid my $1.00 admission, and drove to the museum parking lot. To my right, along the way, was the infield parking lot, and on my left was the Speedway golf course. I had never seen this area of the infield up close before.

After parking the car I toured the museum gift shop and also the one adjacent to the refreshment stand. From there, I walked to the Tower Terrace and pit area. There was a large crowd everywhere in the stands, garage area, pit area, museum, gift shop, and infield. There was much activity both in the pit area and on the race track. I watched the activity for a while and took a walk to the fourth turn area of the infield.

A happy-go-lucky carnival atmosphere pervaded the area. A large number of young people were listening and dancing to rock music played at almost ear-splitting volume. Some were eating and drinking and sunbathing all at the same time. There were parents watching their children in their playpens, and even a few people were watching the race cars speed by.

As the afternoon wore on, the competition on the race track wound down to the 6:00 closing time. I returned to the Tower Terrace area where I remained until closing time. When the racing activity ceased, I returned to the car via the same route I had used to go the other way. The route included the garage area, Speedway hospital, and museum.

I had no trouble with the Friday going-home traffic, and a few minutes later, I was parked at the Speedway Shopping Center. My first order of business was supper and for that, I patronized the MCL Cafeteria. There was a long line, but it moved quickly. My tray was full, but I ate every bite of food and felt quite a bit better for doing so. After supper, I walked to the Kroger store and bought my box of fried chicken to take with me to the Speedway on Saturday.

I then called Mary and David Jones, who had been in my Kum Dubble Sunday School Class at Central Baptist Church, but who had moved to Indianapolis a few months earlier. I talked to Mary. She seemed real happy I called her, and we agreed to meet at the MCL Cafeteria on Saturday night at 7:00.

After the telephone call, I went to a bakery store and bought Dixie’s Mother’s Day present – a long white cake with pink icing in the form of roses on it. I also looked in several other stores for presents but couldn’t find anything. By now, it was gradually becoming darker, so I decided it was time to leave and get to the motel.

It was about 8:30 when I arrived at the Holiday Inn Motel in Lebanon. Since I had a guaranteed reservation, all I had to do was register and go to my room. It felt real good to take off my shoes and sit down and relax for a few minutes. About 9:15, I decided to take a walk and see what was going on around the motel. As I was returning from the Holidome area, I walked by the entrance to the motel restaurant, and standing there to pay their bill was my next-door neighbor, Rosalie Roethe, and her escort for the weekend. We both laughed with surprise when we saw each other. Neither one of us knew the other one was staying at the motel. We chatted for a few minutes and then went our separate ways. I returned to my room and did some reading, watched a few minutes of television, took a bath, and about 11:00 decided to call it a day.

My alarm clock did it job and awoke me at 5:30 on Saturday morning. I rose up, washed my face, shaved, combed my hair, then got dressed and walked to the motel restaurant for breakfast. There were only a dozen or so customers and I was seated and waited on right away. Remembering the long wait I had last year, I brought my National Geographic magazine with me to keep me occupied while I waited for my food.

The meal consisted of pancakes, sausage, coffee, and orange juice. I was most appreciative of the pitcher of coffee which I received for consumption. The service was much better than that of a year ago, and I left in a better state of mind. I returned to my room to wash my teeth and get my equipment together, and then left for the Speedway. It was about 7:00 now.

I parked at the First Bank & Trust Company parking lot and then walked to the Speedway, stopping to have my thermos bottle filled with coffee. After buying my ticket and going in, I took a quick trip in one of the gift shops, and then found a seat in the Tower Terrace section a few rows behind the photographers’ area. It provided an excellent view of the cars and drivers after they finished their trial run.

The weather was cool and unpleasantly windy with the sun going in and out all day. To nobody’s surprise, Johnny Rutherford had the fast time of the day with an average speed of 192.256 mph. Two of Roger Penske’s drivers, Mario Andretti and Bobby Unser, had the second and third fastest times respectively. In addition to Rutherford, the biggest event was probably the 186.374 mph run made by rookie Roger Rager in his stock-block car.

About 4:00, it started raining, ending all activity on the track. Then, between 4:30 and 5:00, a strong hail storm hit the Speedway. Almost everybody ran for cover. My sanctuary was the area at the bottom of the Control Tower. The hail lasted only a few minutes and then the sun came out. There was water standing on the track, so it would be some time before any cars could get onto it. In the meantime, many of the spectators left for the day, but others like me waited out the last hour to see what would happen.

Finally, a few minutes before 6:00, the engine of AJ Foyt’s car was fired up and he was pushed away for his qualification run. He ran his four laps, but it was nothing spectacular and only 12^th fastest of the day. Now the day was over and fifteen cars had qualified.

It was 6:50 when I arrived at the MCL Cafeteria for my 7:00 date with the Joneses. It was about 7:10 when they arrived, but it was only Dave, one of his boys, and his father-in-law. Dave explained that the other boy had injured on of his legs during the day and didn’t want to leave the house. He wanted me to come out to the house, but I told him I thought it would be too late and I might get lost. He replied that it was only a few minutes’ drive and then drew a map to show me how to get there. I told him I would eat supper first and then try to find it.

I followed the map carefully and it was 8:20 when I arrived at their house at 2223 East 74^th St. Mary’s parents were visiting them and all of them seemed happy that I came to see them.

We had a real warm, friendly visit. When it was about 9:30, I decided it was time to leave, since I still had quite a distance to go to the motel. I returned via the same route until I arrived at the I-65 intersection, and then turned right and went north to the motel.

It was 10:00 when I arrived so I walked around to see what was happening. The bar was doing a good business. A three-piece combo (drummer, guitarist, and female vocalist) were supplying live entertainment for a few minutes, but the music was so loud that you could hardly hear yourself say hello.

I returned to my room to do some reading, and at 11:00, I watched the Mike Douglas show on TV. His co-host was Loni Anderson, who made the program quite interesting to me. I watched the program about thirty minutes, then took a bath, did some reading, and about 12:45, decided it was time to go to bed. It had been a long day but I liked it.

It was about 6:45 when I opened my eyes and first looked at my alarm clock on Sunday morning. Since I didn’t have to be home by a certain time, I did some reading and then around 8:00, I got cleaned up and put all my equipment into my suitcase. About 8:30 checked out of the motel.

I tried something different for breakfast this time. I stopped at the Pancake House Restaurant a couple miles south of the motel on I-65. The place was almost full and I almost decided to leave when I saw an empty single seat at the far end of the building. I don’t know if the booming business was caused by race fans, Mother’s Day, or people going to church, but it was really good. The service was rather slow, both in taking and bringing my order, but I wasn’t surprised. I had pancakes, toast, orange juice, and coffee. The food was good and I had plenty of coffee, which pleased me.

It was 9:15 when I left. I drove south to the US 36 intersection and went west. Shortly after 11:00, I stopped at Colonial Kitchen for dinner. I had a cup of coffee and a grilled cheese sandwich. While I was eating, the business increased considerably. It was almost all young or middle-aged adults treating their mothers to dinner for Mother’s Day. It was one of the largest crowds I had seen in the restaurant, and I was glad I hadn’t arrived any later.

At 11:45, I left to the restaurant and headed for Springfield, arriving home shortly after 2:00. Another safe, enjoyable trip was over.

On Saturday, May 24, at 11:50am, I left home for my 26^th trip to see the big race. I stopped at Dalbey’s to leave some Indianapolis newspapers for dad, and left again at 12:07. I drove old Route 36 to Decatur, where I arrived at 12:57. As usual, the traffic was quite heavy on this first day of the holiday weekend. As I continued east on Route 36 and was within ten or so miles of Tuscola, the sky got real dark up ahead. A couple minutes later, big rain drops started pelting the car and a few seconds later, the clouds opened up with a downpour. It lasted only a few minutes and when I went through Tuscola, it had calmed down to a light shower.

A few miles further east, the rain stopped and the sun came out again. About a mile before I reached the Colonial Kitchen intersection, I noticed that the restaurant on the south side of the highway had been destroyed. This caught my eye because I was sure it had been there just two weeks ago.

It was 2:25 when I arrived at the Colonial Kitchen and stopped for a little rest. I don’t think there were more than a dozen customers in the restaurant, several of whom were farmers having an afternoon cup of coffee. For my snack, I had a barbecue sandwich, French fries, and coffee. It wasn’t a full meal, but it relieved some of the hunger feeling I was having. When I finished my second cup of coffee, I used the restroom and paid my bill.

I asked the cashier about the destroyed motel and she said there was a gas explosion there earlier in the week, that there was an investigation being conducted, and that was all she knew.

It was 2:58 when I left that restaurant and started my trip to Danville. The traffic was quite heavy and in every town there were many people pulling weeds, cutting grass, and doing many other Saturday-afternoon jobs. I reached Danville at 3:25 and arrived at the motel at 3:32.

I registered and then checked on my room, which was on the second level on the west side of the motel. The first thing I did was check on the room, and then I took off my shoes and relaxed for a couple minutes.

The first thing I wanted to do was to find a Derby Service Station. I used the telephone directory to see if there was one and while I was at it, I looked for a smorgasbord restaurant. There was only one of each listed and they were on the same street, about three blocks from each other.

When I opened my room door, I had the unpleasant surprise of seeing rain on the ground, although it wasn’t coming down now. I was getting uneasy about the weather situation and hoping it would settle down before tomorrow. The service station was on East Voorhees St., and when the cashier made the receipt, I discovered that the cost was $0.05 per gallon more than it was in Springfield. About three blocks further east was George’s Buffet. I looked the place over on the inside and decided I would come back for supper. I rushed back to my room and got cleaned up.

Feeling livelier and refreshed, I returned to George’s Buffet in hopes of arriving before the big supper rush. There were only a few people ahead of me and the line moved quickly. The customer pays for his meal at the beginning of the line, and the charge is $4.00, which is real reasonable. Most of the selections were ones I liked, and I had chicken livers, baked ham, macaroni salad, beef & noodles, cornbread, rolls, beets, sliced potatoes, lettuce salad, and coffee. Everything tasted fine and at $4.00, I thought it was a real bargain. I wanted to break my habit of eating supper at the motel restaurant because it was so expensive, and this was a good way to do it.

It was about 6:30 when I left and business had increased considerably. Before returning to my room for the evening, I stopped at the Famous Recipe chicken house and bought my dinner for tomorrow at the Speedway. It was about 7:15 when I arrived back at the motel.

The motel was a busy place. I heard the desk clerk tell somebody that all rooms were occupied or reserved for the night, and many of them were race fans on their way to the big race. The swimming pool was also getting good use. Upon returning to my room, I spent the rest of the evening catching up on my Indianapolis newspapers and National Speed Sport News newspapers. At 10:00, I broke the routine and watched the news on one of the Indy stations. The race, of course, was the big news and there were pictures of the 500 Festival Parade. The weatherman said there were rain clouds in the area, but they were expected to go north of the capital city, and the race should have no problems with the weather.

After the news, I put all of my equipment into the tote bag so that it would be ready to go in the morning. With that important job done, I set my alarm clock for 4:30, and shortly after 11:00, turned out the lights and retired for the night. The big day was almost here.

A few minutes before 4:30, my alarm clock did its job and awoke me for the beginning of race day, 1980. I lay in bed for a couple minutes and then got up and washed my face, shaved, combed my hair, and dressed. When I awoke, it was dark outside, but when I left my room at 4:55, the sun had risen for another day.

There were already several persons waiting for the restaurant to open when I arrived, and it was almost 5:05 before customers were allowed in. After a couple years of not having it, the restaurant had gone back to having a buffet breakfast. That was most pleasing to me. I had scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, toast, orange juice, and coffee. I had two large servings of everything, including two cups of coffee, which, luckily, I didn’t have to beg for. Business was good and it was almost all race fans having a good breakfast before leaving for the race. When I could eat no more, I paid the bill and returned to my room. I brushed my teeth, made a quick check to see I had everything I needed, and then I walked to my car. It was 5:35 when I left the motel parking lot.

Before I got out of Danville, I encountered a problem that was to trouble me almost all the way. The problem was fog – the very thick, soupy kind. It was so bad that I almost missed the Indianapolis turnoff because I couldn’t see it until just a few feet ahead of it. After I got onto I-74, I had to be very alert for other cars because I would almost be on top of them before I could see their tail lights. The fog necessitated driving with low beam lights on all the time and windshield wiper blades on almost all the time. At times, it was necessary to drive 35-40 mph, and the only thing I could see was the blurred light coming from the cars’ lights. It was certainly the thickest and longest fog I’d ever encountered. As I drove along, three thoughts ran through my mind concurrently: 1.) I was hoping the sun would come out and evaporate the fog; 2.) I would not run into another car; and 3.) Some car would not run into me. The dense fog made the trip seem longer than usual, but when I came within about ten miles of Speedway, it started thinning out and in a couple minutes, it was all gone and I could see normally.

It was 7:05 when I arrived at I-465, and traffic became the bumper-to-bumper type. It moved slowly but with no long, exasperating waits. Many people were walking to the Speedway, while others ate an outdoor breakfast or slept on the ground. At 7:25, I arrived at the bank parking lot, only to be told that the lot was full, and the only space available was a house about a block west of the bank. I drove on until a Lions Club member directed me to the rear of the house. It wasn’t where I wanted to park, but I couldn’t afford to be choosy, so I took it.

I paid my $5.00 fee, made sure I had everything, locked the car, and started for the Speedway. I walked the distance of about two houses when a sudden sickening feeling struck me – I didn’t have my keys! I did a quick about-face and almost ran back to the car. My mind was in turmoil, and I was very relieved to see the keys still in the door lock. Somebody could easily have walked off with them, and I would have been in one heck of a mess!

Again, I started my walk to the Speedway, feeling much better this time. When I reached Fisher St, I saw Bud Kramer standing in his yard, so I stopped and talked to him for a few minutes. He seemed happy to see me and asked about Dad and Bobby. My next stop was the White Castle restaurant where I had my thermos bottle filled with coffee. It was between 8:00 and 8:15 when the gateman tore off my gate admission stub and I entered the Speedway grounds. I bought three souvenir programs and then continued on my way. Along the way, I looked for a present for Mark and John, but didn’t see anything that appealed to me.

When I reached the pedestrian tunnel, I walked though it and then turned right and went to the gift shop between the Control Tower and the garage area. It was real crowded and warm, so I left and walked along the north side of the garage area. The race cars had been pushed to the pit area, but there were still hundreds of people hoping to see one of the drivers.

I stopped at a concession stand and bought a small Coca-Cola and then started my walk to my seat. At times, the walking was elbow to elbow, but I finally reached the north end of the Tower Terrace area, and joined several dozen other men in making use of a restroom. With that important job out of the way, I handed the gateman my ticket, and at 9:00, I entered the Tower Terrace area and walked to my seat.

It felt good to sit down and rest my feet after doing so much walking. While my feet were resting, I watched the spectacle of bands parading on the straightaway. A few minutes later, when my feet felt okay, I walked behind the pit area fence all the way to the Gasoline Alley driveway, hoping to see a race driver, famous chief mechanic, or any other person I might recognize. Among the recognizable faces I saw were Sam Hanks, Pat Vidan (now retired), J.C. Agajanian, Roger Penske, and Chris Schenkel.

Between 9:45 and 10:00, I returned to my seat while the Purdue University Band played the first of the traditional prerace songs, “On the Banks of the Wabash,” and the pit crews responded to announcer Tom Carnegie’s order to push the cars to their starting positions on the race track. Only one hour remained until the start of the race.

Between 10:00 and 10:30, the parade of 500 Festival Princesses and celebrities from the entertainment industry were driven around the track for everybody to see. Shortly before the parade started, my two race-day companions for the past three years, Barbara and Malcolm McKean, church friends of mine from Central Baptist Church, arrived on the scene to claim their seats. We exchanged greetings and race talk as we watched the activity on the track.

At 10:35, various USAC officials made their final track inspection and declared it ready for racing. The huge crowd rose in silence at 10:40 as the band played “The Star-Spangled Banner,” and about a minute later, the invocation was given by a local minister who asked God, among other things, to watch over all thirty-three drivers and bring them back in safe condition.

Following the invocation, silence pervaded the crowd as the band played “Taps” in keeping with the theme of Memorial Day. Now it was time for the climax of the prerace activities as the band played “Back Home Again in Indiana.” The tension and excitement could be felt by everybody, as the big moment was almost here.

A minute after the song ended, Tom Carnegie turned the PA system over to Jim Phillipe, who introduced the Chairperson of the Speedway Board of Directors, Mary Hulman, widow of the late Speedway President. Mrs. Hulman spoke loudly and clearly as she issued the famous command, “Gentleman, Start Your Engines!”

Immediately, the air was filled with cheering and applause as the thirty-three engines roared into life. That sound I had been waiting for a year to hear was now here, as one member of each pit crew raised an arm to indicate his car was ready to be pushed away.

1950 race winner Johnnie Parsons drove the official pace car, a Pontiac Turbo Trans-Am. Two other Pontiac official cars, with Mary Hulman, her daughter, Mari George, and Mrs. George’s son, Tony George, were between the pace car and the race cars. These two cars pulled off the track after the first parade lap.

As the field exited the fourth turn and headed down the straightaway, the huge crowd erupted into cheering and applause as the cars went by. Shortly after they were pushed away by their pit crews, Tom Carnegie announced that all thirty-three cars had started and were moving. This was good news and it received a delightful response from the crowd. The field was lined up better as it finished the second parade lap and started the official pace lap. The excitement increased as Tom Carnegie kept everybody informed as to the cars’ position on the track, and some fans stood on their seats and stretched in different ways to get a good view of the fourth turn. A few seconds later, the pace car appeared and sped through the pit area as Rutherford, Andretti, and Bobby Unser started charging. Starter Duane Sweeney waved the green flag, and the race was on!

Rutherford and Unser roared side by side into the first turn, with Rutherford winning the duel as they went through the second turn and down the backstretch. Johnny led the first fifteen laps, but during that time, four drivers dropped out of the race. The race had hardly started when the caution flag was displayed on the fourth lap. The camshaft on Larry Cannon’s car broke and he pulled into the infield. At almost the same time, Mike Mosley left the race with a broken head gasket. This was certainly a disappointment after his outstanding third-place finish of last year.

On the 10^th lap, the yellow light came on again when rookies Dick Ferguson and Bill Whittington crashed in the second turn. Bill broke his lower right leg when he hit the wall. Dick received a minor foot injury when he spun to avoid the Whittington car and slammed into the inner guard railing, causing major damage to his car. The yellow light remained on through the 18^th lap when the field went green again, but came out again when fourth-place Spike Gehlhausen hit the wall in the first turn.

Through the first 24 laps, the race had four leaders – Rutherford, rookie Roger Rager, George Snider, and Gordon Johncock. On the 25^th lap, Bobby Unser became the fifth leader and led through the 30^th lap when Johncock regained the lead.

Meanwhile, the dropout list continued to grow as Tom Bagley was forced out after 29 laps with fuel pump failure and Al Unser’s day was finished after 33 laps with a broken cylinder.

At 50 laps, the race had a new leader, Mario Andretti in his Penske car. He led laps 47-56 and then relinquished the lead to Pancho Carter for one lap.

At this time, the yellow flag came out again when Jim McElreath spun in the first turn and hit the wall. Following closely behind him were Roger Rager, who was forced to spin out to avoid the McElreath car. The caution flag remained out for six laps.

When the pace car went onto the track, Carter led the procession of cars behind it. USAC official, Bob Cassady, was in the pace car and gave a signal to Pancho. Pancho said Cassady signaled him to go around the pace car. Cassady said he signaled Carter to hold his position. Whatever the signal meant, Carter passed the pass car and was penalized a lap for doing so, which dropped him from second to sixth position.

The lead went back to Rutherford, who remained there though the 72^nd lap. The next lap was led by the rookie sensation Tim Richmond. It was hard to believe that the new race leader was Tom Sneva. He had accomplished the incredible job of moving from last to first position, and he received a warm cheer from the fans when Tom Carnegie announced what had happened. He remained in the top spot until Bobby Unser regained the lead on lap 85 and kept it through the 103^rd lap.

After 44 laps, Johnny Parsons was out with a broken piston, and rookie Gordon Smiley left after 47 laps with turbocharger trouble. Dick Simon followed McElreath and Rager out of the race on his 58^th lap when he lost his right front tire.

Jerry Karl was the next dropout when he encountered clutch trouble, and then a loud groan came from the crowd when Tom Carnegie announced that Mario Andretti’s car had stalled on the backstretch after 71 laps of racing. Strangely enough, there were no more cars to leave the race until Andretti’s teammate, Bobby Unser, was forced out after 126 laps when his ignition coil failed. That left Roger Penske with only one car still in the race – Rick Mears.

In addition to Roger Penske, car owner Sherman Armstrong also had three entries in the race. All three were doing quite well, with Gary Bettenhausen, Tom Bigelow, and Greg Leffler doing the driving.

On his 128^th lap, rookie Hurley Haywood was done for the day when his turbocharger caught fire. The yellow light came out again when Jerry Sneva crashed in the first turn and damaged his car too much to continue.

The lead continued to be traded back and forth among several drivers, including Bobby Unser, Rutherford, Mears, and Sneva. Rutherford’s car seemed to be superior to all the others, but he certainly wasn’t making a runaway of the race.

Rookie Dennis Firestone was the next victim of bad luck and was forced to retire after 137 laps when his car stalled on the backstretch with transmission trouble.

AJ Foyt and George Snider were teammates and their pits were just north of my seat and within vision. On his 170^th lap, George came in. When he started to leave the engine quit, not once, but three times. While his pit crew was trying to keep the engine running, Foyt came into his pit after 173 laps. His car was also done for the day.

While the cars of Foyt and Snider were still in their pits, rookie Don Whittington crashed into the inside wall of the fourth turn on his 179^th lap, causing his exodus from the race.

Defending champion Rick Mears was running near the front of the field when some debris on the track got into one of his tires and caused it to go flat, thus necessitating an unscheduled pit stop on his 179^th lap and a drop in position. Rick led laps 172-178, but gave up the lead to Rutherford when he made his pit stop.

If everything went okay, Rutherford and Sneva would finish first and second, but the interesting and exciting battle was for third place. Like Sneva, Bettenhausen had started in the last row and made an incredible advance in position. Now he and Gordon Johncock were putting on a ding-dong battle, and the crowd was enjoying it immensely. As the finish came closer and closer, Johncock edged closer to Gary, but Gary managed to hold him off.

Rutherford’s Pennzoil Chaparral continued its fine performance and as he came down the straightaway on his 200^th lap to receive the checkered flag, the crowd cheered and waved him to victory. Thirty seconds later, Sneva received the checkered flag for the most incredible second-place finish in the Speedway’s history.

Now came the fight for third place. The crowd was going wild as Bettenhausen and Johncock came out of the fourth turn and charged for the checkered flag. Just a few seconds from the finish line, Gordon made a sudden dash to the inside to pass Gary and from where we were sitting, McKeans and I couldn’t say how it finished. About a minute or so later, we heard that Gary had won the battle and taken third place.

Rutherford and Sneva received the plaudits of the fans as they came through the pit area, but the crowd erupted in unabashed elation when Bettenhausen pulled into his pit. He was immediately swamped by his happy crew, and a couple minutes later he was helped out of the car and waved to the crowd, which increased it applause even more. He had something to drink, gave a couple radio interviews, and then shook hands with several people. He could really be proud of his work for the day.

After Johncock, Mears, Carter, and Danny Ongais all completed 199 laps for fifth, sixth, and seventh finishing positions, respectively. Bettenhausen’s teammate, Tom Bigelow, took eighth-place honors, and rookie Tim Richmond and Greg Leffler were ninth and tenth.

As the cars deserted the race track and pit crews carried, pushed, and drove their equipment back to the garage area, the huge crowd started the exodus from the Speedway. Several thousand, like McKeans and me, decided to stay for a while and eat our belated dinners. McKeans ate their sandwiches and cold drinks while I ate my cold chicken and lukewarm coffee. We could take our time eating and not worry about spilling something on or bumping into somebody.

A few minutes after 3:00, the three of us put our equipment in our carrying bags and left our seats for another year. They went to their car and I started my walk to the gift shop by the museum. The traffic, both pedestrian and automobile, was quite heavy, particularly around the garage area.

When I came over for the time trials, I saw some undershorts for little boys, but didn’t buy any because I wasn’t sure what size Mark and John wore. When I arrived at the gift shop, I was disheartened to discover there were none to be bought. I looked around for their gift possibilities but didn’t see any, so I walked back to the garage and Tower Terrace area.

I left the infield area via the gate between Grandstands A and B, which opens directly onto the race track. A few minutes later, I exited through the same set of turnstiles I had entered a few hours earlier. I crossed Georgetown Road and stopped at the White Castle to buy a Pepsi-Cola for my dry throat. There was a long line of customers, so it took several minutes, but the soothing effect of the drink made the wait worthwhile.

As I walked along Crawfordsville Road, I encountered the usual hot and impatient drunks and drivers, and I had to be careful to avoid being hit by some of them. After walking on hot pavement and bumpy rocks for several blocks, it felt good to walk on the grass of the lot where my car was parked. Mine was the last car, so I had no trouble leaving. It was 4:40 when I left the parking lot.

I turned right and stopped at the stop sign by Crawfordsville Road. A friendly, understanding driver let me onto the road before I had hardly stopped, so I waved my thank you to him and zipped into the stream of traffic. The traffic from here to the I-74 interchange was bumper to bumper, but it moved right along and in a few minutes, I was out of the heavy traffic and moving right along to Danville. Air conditioning in the car and enjoyable music on the radio combined to make a pleasant trip for me, and it was 6:20 when I arrived at the motel.

I took my equipment to my room, washed my face, and then watched television for a few minutes. About 7:00, I walked to the Eisner grocery store and bought some food for my supper. My purchase included baked beans, macaroni salad, and potato salad, all from the delicatessen department, and a quart of milk. All these items, plus the fried chicken I still had, made my supper for the evening, and it tasted real good.

At 8:00, I tuned in the ABC same-day telecast of the race. It was expanded from two to three hours this year, and I was well pleased with the program. It showed several of the accidents and action in the pit area, which I couldn’t see during the race. One of the reason I’ve always watched the telecast is to see some of the highlights of the race which I couldn’t see from my seat at the race.

The telecast of the race ended at 11:00, after which I took a bath, read a little bit, and then watched television for a few minutes. It was 12:00 when my 19 ½ hour long race day came to its end, and I retired for the day.

It was not quite 6:30 when I awoke on Monday morning. I got up and did a little reading, and then turned the television set on and watched it off and on while I got cleaned up and then got everything arranged in my suitcase. I double checked to be sure I hadn’t left any of my possessions in the room, checked out of the motel, and at 8:34 left the parking lot for the beginning of my trip home.

The traffic on the way to Chrisman was real light, but there were several persons cutting grass on riding mowers. I stopped at a Standard Station in Georgetown for a gas fill-up, and then continued on to the Colonial Kitchen

There were a few holiday morning customers at the restaurant, most of whom were farmers around a table having their morning coffee. I had a second cup of coffee then used the restroom, paid the bill, and resumed my trip. It was 9:48 when I started west on Route 36.

There was a lot of traffic around Lake Decatur because the annual Memorial Day boat races were in progress. When I left Decatur, I got onto old Route 36 and drove on it to Springfield. On my way into Springfield on Camp Butler Road, I was detained by a long, slow freight train for about 10-15 minutes, but it finally passed and I continued on to my house, where I arrived at 12:20. Another trip to the big race had come to a safe and happy ending.

EPILOGUE

At the victory banquet, Johnny Rutherford received a first place purse of $318,019.63 out of a record total purse of $1,502,425. Johnny’s Pennzoil Chaparral ground effects car was the fastest car during the time trials and lived up to its prediction as the race winner.

The second and third place finishers of Tom Sneva and Gary Bettenhausen will be something to remember for a long time. Not only did Sneva come all the way from last starting position, but his car wasn’t even qualified to be in the race. Tom had had only a mediocre year for him, and he qualified a disappointing 15^th fastest time on the first day of time trials. During a practice run the following week, he crashed into the wall in the first turn and damaged the car too much to be in the race. As a result, he was forced to drive one of car owner Jerry O’Connell’s backup cars and start in last position. His steady drive to the front of the field was a most pleasant surprise to everybody, and his second place finish was a highly commendable fete.

After eleven frustrating attempts, Gary Bettenhausen finally finished the Indy 500. It was a most remarkable fete, considering that he started next-to-last, had the slowest qualifying speed, and had the oldest car in the field. He may not have been in the race at all if it had not been for the late afternoon rain on the last day of time trials, which prevented anybody else from making a qualifying attempt.

Gordon Johncock finished fourth in the North American Van Lines Pacesetter, 0.004 seconds behind Bettenhausen. Gordon incurred a foot injury during a practice lap when he crashed into the south wall, but he qualified on the second day and drove a good race.

Defending champion Rick Mears finished fifth but might have finished as high as second if it hadn’t been for his unscheduled pit stop to replace a flat tire.

Sixth place finisher Pancho Carter might have finished in second place, too, if it hadn’t been for the pace car incident. He and his chief mechanic, Johnny Capels, filed a protest about the incident, but it was denied by USAC officials.

Popular Danny Ongais took seventh place honors in his Interscope Panasonic car. He was the fastest second day qualifier and moved up steadily during the race.

Tom Bigelow, along with Bettenhausen and Tom Sneva, started in the last row and drove his Armstrong Mould machine to a fine eighth place finish.

Rookie Tim Richmond was the ninth place finisher and unanimous choice for Rookie of the Year. He was also the fastest rookie qualifier and had the fastest practice lap of anybody all month, a 193+ mph lap on the day before the beginning of time trials. His fine accomplishments on the race track, plus his pleasing personality, made him popular with the fans.

Another one of the ten rookies who qualified for the race, Greg Leffler, drove a good race and finished in tenth position.

The other drivers still on the track when the red flag ended the race were Billy Engelhart, Bill Vukovich, and Don Whittington.

One rather unpleasant, but memorable, highlight of the race was the large amount of caution time. There were a total of thirteen caution periods which accounted for 56 of the 200 laps. This accounted for Rutherford’s slow winning average speed of 142.882 mph, which was the slowest winning speed since the 140.293 mph average of Roger Ward in 1962.

There was little controversy about this year’s race in contrast of last year’s activities. After 18 months of separation, the USAC and CART factions had reunited, although many people were doubtful if it would last very long.

I hope future 500-Mile races will be run with as little controversy as possible. It certainly makes it more enjoyable for the race fan. Next year, once again, I plan to be in attendance to see “The Greatest Spectacle In Racing” – the Indianapolis 500.

Pace Car – Pontiac Turbo Trans-Am

500 Festival Queen – Joan Pearson

Indy Journal - 1979

2009-12-07T23:06:00.002-06:00

1979

My silver anniversary year at the Speedway was highlighted by increasing controversy during the practice and qualifying periods, my first time of seeing time trials on Sunday, almost not being able to see the time trials in person, the first new race champion in five years, and a precarious gasoline situation.

On Friday, May 4, Dixie was operated on for a ruptured disk in her back. This had been unscheduled until the day before when she had to be taken to the hospital by ambulance, and the doctor decided to operate the following day. She was not released from the hospital until the following Friday morning, my scheduled leaving time for the Speedway. My parents brought her home from the hospital and after I made arrangements with them to check on her while I was gone, she told me everything would be okay and to go on my way.

It was between 10:30 and 10:45 when I left home. I traveled old Route 36 all the way to its intersection with the new Route 36 a few miles west of Decatur, and then followed the old route to the Colonial Kitchen at Chrisman. It was 1:00 when I stopped for a cup of coffee and a grilled cheese sandwich. As usual, there were some farmers sitting at a table and drinking coffee, plus a few other customers.

I left shortly before 1:30 and about 10-15 minutes later, I was in Indiana. When I reached the Route 63 intersection, I had to detour south for a few miles and then east. The detour signs were few and far between, and several times I got upset thinking I might have gotten off the road. Luckily I stayed on the route and it finally ended at the US 231 intersection. From there I stayed on Route 36 until I stopped at the Amoco Service Station at Lynnhurst Drive.

I had the gasoline tank refilled and then drove to 16^th St and turned right. The further I drove the heavier the traffic was. Traffic rules prohibited me from turning left into the tunnel, so I went to the Speedway Motel and turned around and went back w3est, paid my $1.00 and went through the tunnel and then to the museum parking lot. It was 4:00 when I turned off the engine and locked the doors.

My first stop was the gift shop, where I spent a few minutes browsing, and then I walked to the Tower Terrace Area, via the hospital and garage area.

Several drivers were participating in the last two hours of practice; including AJ Foyt, Janet Guthrie, Johnny Rutherford, Pancho Carter, Tom Sneva, and several others. Several hundred persons were in the Tower Terrace seats taking in the action.

When the 6:00 gun went off, I left the grounds and stopped at the fried chicken place ½ block west of Georgetown Road on 16^th St. They didn’t have what I wanted, so I drove over to the Speedway Shopping Center.

My first stop was the MCL Cafeteria. The line of waiting customers stretched almost to the door, but it moved quickly, and in a short time I was going through the serving line. When I reached the cashier my tray was full, but I was hungry and it cost less than $5.00 so I didn’t mind.

With supper out of the way, I did some window shopping in the shopping center. I was trying to get some ideas about what to get Dixie for Mother’s Day. I finally stopped at a bakery which had many delicious looking items on display.

It was hard trying to choose just one item, but I finally decided on a long cake with white icing and the words “Happy Mother’s Day” and three roses in pink icing. Roses are Dixie’s favorite flower so I thought it would be appropriate. From safekeeping, I put the cake in the car trunk and then went to the Kroger grocery store and bought my box of friend chicken for eating at the Speedway on Saturday.

By now it was almost 8:00 so I thought I’d better be on my way to the motel. I took I-465 north to the I-65 intersection and followed it to the Holiday Inn at Lebanon. My registration at the motel was easy because I had paid for my room at the Holiday Inn East in Springfield in January, and the desk clerk was waiting for me.

My room was on the south side of the motel and was one of the best I’ve ever had. It had two double beds and was very clean throughout. I unpacked some of my belongings and then watched TV for a couple minutes to see how the set worked.

With everything ok in my room, I decided to take a little walk and see what was going on elsewhere in the motel. Business at the Holidome was good, with several people using the swimming pool, slide, shuffleboard, ping pong, and refreshment area. The restaurant, bar, and lobby were also busy.

At 10:00 I watched the news to see what had happened at the Speedway and what kind of weather was predicted for tomorrow. After the news I watched a few minutes of the Tonight Show and a movie, and then did some reading. About 11:00, I got ready for bed, set the alarm clock, turned off the lights, and retired for the night.

It was 5:30 when the alarm sounded and awoke me from my sleep. I got cleaned up and then dressed and walked to the motel restaurant for breakfast. It was shortly after 6:00 when I arrived. The hostess seated me and gave me a menu, and a few minutes later the waitress took my order. I didn’t know it, but the next hour or so was to be quite upsetting for me. I ordered French toast, bacon, coffee, and orange juice, and thought I would be eating in fifteen minutes or so. As it turned out, it was almost an hour before I received my food. I was almost ready to take some action, but the waitress apologized and was quite upset herself. I had my Readers Digest with me, so that helped pass the time.

Feeling better physically, but not emotionally, I went back to my room, brushed my teeth, and got ready to leave for the Speedway. It was about 7:30 when I left the motel and 8:00 when I arrived at the Lion’s Club parking lot at Lynnhurst Drive and Crawfordsville Road.

As I was walking to the Speedway, I felt something terrible hit me – rain. I increased my pace and dashed into the White Castle for some shelter and a filling of my thermos bottle with coffee.

There weren’t many people walking around the Speedway grounds. It wasn’t a heavy rain, but certainly enough to prevent any cars from getting on the track. The rain was a blessing for the gift shop and other vendors. The gift shop could hardly keep up with the business.

I sat in the Paddock area and read my newspapers and Readers Digest, listened to the radio, ate chicken, and visited with some of the fans around me. As the afternoon wore on, the rain eventually stopped, and the track dried out enough to be used. The crowd was getting restless for some action, and at 4:19 it was announced that the track was open for 1 ½ hours of practice.

Shortly thereafter, Danny Ongais lost control coming out of the fourth turn and crashed into the inside wall twice before stopping. It took 22 minutes to extract him from the car, and by the time the debris was cleaned up and the practice period finished, there was no time for qualifying.

It was 6:30 when I arrived back at the parking lot and a few minutes after that, I was at the MCL Cafeteria. I ate a big supper, and then took a little ride through the residential area of Speedway. It was a real quiet and well-maintained neighborhood, and it was the first time I had seen that particular area.

When I arrived at my hotel room, I sat down for a couple minutes to glance at my newspapers. While I was doing so, the telephone rang. I answered and to my surprise, Dixie was on the other end. She had heard on television that the time trials had been washed out and urged me to stay over and see Sunday’s time trials. Since she wasn’t going to work on Monday, I could stay another day and come home Monday morning. I told her I would think about it.

I went down to the front desk to see if I could get a room on Sunday night at the Holiday Inn in Danville, IL. When I got that confirmed, I went back to my room and called Dixie to tell her my plans.

With that important job done, I walked around to see what was happening around the motel. The Holidome, bar, and restaurant were all doing a good business. I returned to my room in time to see the 10:00 news, and then watched a few minutes of a couple movies, did some reading, and around 12:00, I turned in for the night.

Because the time trials didn’t start until 12:00 and I didn’t think a huge crowd would be present, I didn’t set my alarm clock. It was about 6:30 when I woke up, after which I took a bath, brushed my teeth, shaved, and combed my hair. Feeling ready to face the world now, I left about 7:15 for the motel restaurant. For breakfast I had pancakes, bacon, toast, coffee, and orange juice. The service was much better than it was Saturday morning, and that made a better beginning of my day.

I returned to my room to brush my teeth and to pick up my equipment, and then drove to the Standard Service Station about ½ miles north of the motel just off I-65. I was real happy to find the station open and not limiting the amount of gasoline sales to their customers. The gasoline situation throughout the United States was quite precarious at this time, with some stations closing at night and/or Saturday and/or Sunday, or all three. The ominous feeling this situation caused me dissipated when the attendant filled the tank and I saw the needle go to the right side of F. I felt I had enough to drive all the way back home if necessary.

I had already decided to park in the same place I did Saturday, but I was quite surprised when I arrived and found no cars or people there. I asked a state policeman if the place was open for business. He said he didn’t know, but then added I could park there if I wanted to because he would be on duty all day and would watch my car for me.

I stopped at the White Castle to have my thermos bottle filled with coffee, and then proceeded through the main gate.

The size of the crowd was considerably smaller than I had expected, although it was almost three hours before qualifying started. For a change, I sat in the lower deck of Grandstand E and watched most of the practice period from there. The view is somewhat different than that from the Tower Terrace area. You can see the entire front straightaway and south chute, plus all or part of the 1^st, 2^nd, and 4^th turns. Also, the cars are only a few yards from you as they go through the first turn.

About 11:00, I walked over to the Tower Terrace area. My seat was south of the tower and a few feet north of the photographers’ stand. Practice ended at 11:30, and at 12:00, the engine of Joe Saldana’s car was fired up and he was pushed away to try to become the first qualifier for this year’s race. The lady sitting next to me was by herself and a half hour or so later, we started talking to each other. I discovered she knew quite a bit about racing, and eventually found out that she was the wife of Bobby Grim, who drove at the Speedway for several years beginning in 1959. She made a real interesting companion as she told me about many drivers, mechanics, car owners, and Speedway officials, both present and from many years back. Although Bobby doesn’t drive at the Speedway any more, she still maintains her interest in the race because her son-in-law is driver Sheldon Kinser. When Sheldon qualified his car, she excused herself and left to join Sheldon and her daughter, Susan. She seemed to be a real affable and unpretentious person, and I was glad to have been able to talk to her.

The weather was ideal. It was sunny and pleasant, warm but not hot, with little wind. It was just as beautiful as Saturday was ugly.

There were 16 first-day qualifiers, and the front row provided the most excitement. Shortly before 1:00, Al Unser qualified his Pennzoil Chaparral “ground effects” car at 192.503 mph, which was the fastest time until 4:00 when Tom Sneva pleasantly surprised everyone with a 192.998 mph run in his Sugaripe Prune Special.

For half an hour it seemed that he would be the first man in Speedway history to have the pole position three years in a row, but his dream ended when the last “first day” qualifier, Rick Mears, went out in his Gould Charge. His first and fastest lap was a crowd pleasing 194.847 mph, and his four-lap average was 193.736 mph.

Pancho Carter was the only second-day qualifier and his 185.806 average was faster than the slowest three first-day qualifiers. During the last hour or so, there was little activity on the track, and at 6:00, the gun sounded ending the first weekend of qualifying.

I had thought about eating supper at the MCL Cafeteria, but knowing they’re closed on race day night, I didn’t know whether they would be open tonight or not. I was most happy when I arrived at the shopping center and saw it was open. I ate a big supper and then left right away for Danville. I arrived there about 8:45.

My motel room was a letdown after my two nights at Lebanon. The condition of the room, particularly the bathroom facilities, was considerably poorer. I took a bath, shaved, watched TV for a few minutes, and then went to bed.

As I reviewed the day’s activities in my head, I decided I had been a most lucky fellow for several reasons: 1.) I had been able to get a full tank of gasoline at the first station I tried; 2.) I didn’t have to pay to park my car; 3.) I didn’t have to pay to get into the Speedway, because yesterday’s tickets were accepted; 4.) I sat next to a former driver’s wife who was a good racing conversationalist; and 5.) I was able to eat supper at the MCL Cafeteria.

I woke up about 6:30 Monday morning, checked out of the motel, ate breakfast at the Colonial Kitchen, and then drove home. My trip turned out to be quite different than what I had planned when I left Friday morning.

The period between May 13 and race day was one of the most controversial ever at the Speedway. It actually started several months earlier when a group of unhappy USAC car owners broke away and formed their own organization called Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART). Before the track opened for practice on May 5, USAC rejected CART’s race entries because they were “not in good standing with USAC.” CART took its complaint to federal court where the presiding judge said USAC was wrong and ordered it to accept the CART entries.

On May 19, the qualification attempts by Dick Ferguson (a rookie), Tom Bigelow, and Steve Krisiloff were disallowed because their turbochargers had been illegally altered. The following day, rookie Bill Alsup’s qualification run was disallowed because his engine actually belonged in the car of his teammate, Bobby Unser. Seven drivers who were bumped from the 33-car starting field filed protests, saying they were not given a fair chance at qualifying. At first, USAC denied the requests, but on Friday, May 25, it changed its mind and announced that the 33 already qualified cars wouldn’t be bumped, but the following day, the seven protesting drivers would be given one last chance to make the field. Roger McCluskey’s speed of 183.908 mph was the slowest in the field, and anybody qualifying faster than that would start the race behind the other 33 cars. The seven affected drivers were Alsup, Bill Vukovich, George Snider, Al Loquasto, Jerry Karl, Larry Cannon, John Martin, and Duane Carter.

On Saturday, May 26, the day before the race, the unusual qualifying session took place. When it was over, only two of the seven drivers, Vukovich and Snider, had qualified and so for the first time since 1933, more than 33 cars would start the race.

During the morning of this same day, I put all my equipment into my suitcase, said goodbye to Dixie and the boys, and at 11:33, I left and started my two-day trip. I ran into light rain shortly after starting out but it had stopped when I reached Illiopolis. I took old Route 36 all the way to Decatur and arrived there at 12:30. The drive from here to Chrisman was real pleasant, as it usually is and at 2:05, I stopped at the Colonial Kitchen. I had a cup of coffee and a sweet roll, and at 2:28, I left for Danville, where I arrived about 3:00.

Because of the gasoline situation, I decided to get my tank filled before I did anything else. This didn’t happen, however, without my experiencing some anxiety. The Standard station about three blocks north of the motel was closed because they were out of gas. The same was true for the second and third Standard stations I tried. Time was passing quickly and I was getting uneasy, so I finally stopped at an ARCO station and inquired about the station’s gasoline supply. The attendant said they were having no problem getting fuel, so I told him to fill the tank. With a feeling of relief, I drove to the Holiday Inn and checked in. It was about 4:30 now.

I took a bath and then shaved, brushed my teeth, and combed my hair. Now I was ready for supper at the motel cafeteria. The cafeteria was almost empty when I arrived. The waitress took my order right away, and while I waited for it to be cooked, I partook of some selections from the salad bar. The main course consisted of hamburger steak, baked potato, salad, and bean soup. The steak was tender and tasty, and the potato was large enough to cover the length of the plate. It was about 6:00 when I finished eating. When I left, the size of the crowd had increased, although there were several tables still empty.

With supper out of the way and feeling better because of it, I drove to the Famous Recipe chicken place, a few blocks from the motel, and bought my box of chicken for eating at the Speedway tomorrow. I then returned to my room and caught up on some of the reading material I had brought from home. My period of reading was broken by intermittent TV viewing.

Earlier in the evening, it started raining while I was taking a bath and cleaning up, and continued through most of the evening. While it didn’t cancel any of my plans for the evening, I was more concerned about it affecting my plans for tomorrow.

At 10:00, I watched the news which included a report of the day’s time trials, the drivers’ meeting, and a few other items of interest about the race. When that was over, I made sure I had everything packed and ready to go in the morning, and then set my alarm clock for 4:30, turned off the lights, and retired for the night.

When the alarm went off, I lay in bed about a minute, and got up and shaved, combed my hair, and then dressed. It was a couple minutes before 5:00 when I left my room, and the sun had just risen to start another race day. The cafeteria was just opening for business when I arrived, but there were already about a dozen customers ready to eat breakfast and get on their way to the race. My breakfast included pancakes, hash brown potatoes, orange juice, and two cups of coffee. It was a good breakfast, and when I finished I went back to my room, brushed my teeth, and then got my equipment and went to the car. Several of the people I saw in the cafeteria were also leaving. It was 5:38 when I left the motel parking lot.

I drove south about a mile, took the Indianapolis turnoff, and a few seconds later was on I-74 and driving to the race. Almost every car I met looked as if its passengers had the same destination I did. As I drove, I listened to an Indianapolis radio station, whose entire program pertained to the race. It included several weather and traffic reports.

It was 7:00 when the traffic slowed down and it was bumper to bumper then. This started just before reaching the I-465 interchange. The traffic moved slowly, but there were no long, irritating waits, and at 7:33, I ended my trip at the Lion’s Club parking lot on the northwest corner of Crawfordsville Road and Lynhurst Drive, the same place I parked for the time trials. I paid my $6 fee, made sure I had everything and that the car was locked, and then started my walk to the main gate.

Before going to the Speedway, I stopped at White Castle and had my thermos bottle filled with coffee and then stopped at Rosner’s Drug Store for a couple minutes. I looked at my pocket watch and it was 8:15 when I went through the turnstiles. Just a few feet inside the gate, I bought a newspaper and four souvenir programs. Then I took the long walk to the Gate 6 underpass and a few minutes later, I was on the infield.

I stopped briefly at the gift shop, used the men’s room for the last time until after the race, and then started walking to my seat. The traffic was elbow to elbow in places now. When I reached the far north end of the Tower Terrace seats, I handed my ticket to the gateman. He tore off one of the stubs, and I proceeded in. It was 8:50 when I arrived at my seat, the same one I’ve had since 1967 – Section 47, Row J, Seat 5.

It felt good to sit down and get off my feet for a few minutes, and to take in the panorama of sights and sounds around me. After a few minutes’ rest, I took a walk along the pit area fence to see what was happening. There were famous people walking through the pit area and being interviewed on the PA system while the pit crews made last minute checks on their cars. Because there was little for the drivers to do now, almost all the personnel working on the cars were pit crews and car owners. All of this pit activity, plus the sound and color of the numerous marching bands, provided fans on the main straightaway with plenty of action and excitement.

It was 9:40 when I arrived back at my seat. Five minutes later, PA announcer Tom Carnegie directed the pit crews to push their cars onto the track and into starting positions as the Purdue University Band played “On the Banks of the Wabash.”

At 10:00, the parade of celebrities around the track began. Among some of the celebrities this year were Peter Marshall, Kent McChord, and Loni Anderson. While this was happening, my two race companions, Barbara and Malcolm McKean from church, arrived to occupy their seats. We exchanged greetings and talked about the race, etc, and then watched the activity on the track.

At 10:30, USAC officials made an inspection trip of the track and said it was ready for racing. This was especially important this year since it had rained the night before and didn’t stop until 5:00. Luckily the sun came out and stayed out to evaporate the moisture.

At 10:45, the huge crowd rose in unison as the “Star-Spangled Banner” was played. It remained standing for the pronouncement of the invocation and the playing of “Taps”, in keeping with the theme of Memorial Day. It was now time for the last familiar song, as the pre-race excitement was reaching its peak. About a minute later, the bank played “Back Home Again in Indiana” as the spectacle of balloons was released behind the control tower and rose skyward, to the pleasure of the crowd.

Now it was time for the big moment. Tom Carnegie excitedly introduced Mary Hulman, who gave her deceased husband’s famous command “Lady and gentlemen, start your engines!” The roar of the engines filled the air as thousands of spectators, including Malcolm and me, cheered and applauded their approval. One member of each pit crew raised an arm to indicate his car was ready to go. About two minutes later, the black and silver Ford Mustang pace car, driven by former world racing champion Jackie Stewart slowly pulled away, followed by two additional pace cars which ran side by side behind Jackie to create a V-formation. Jim McElreath’s car was the only one that didn’t start and it was still in the pits. It finally started and Jim sped through the pit area to try to catch up with the field. All eyes were on the fourth turn and a loud cheer came from the crowd as the cars went by us to finish the warm-up lap and start the parade lap. As the pace car came through the fourth turn, the two secondary pace cars came through the pit area and left the one car to pace the last lap. With the parade lap completed, the official pace lap began. The 35 cars lined up in their 11 2/3 rows provided a spectacular sight for the fans to see. Malcolm and I nervously cuffed our hands and tapped our feet as we waited out the last few seconds. Another huge cheer came from the crowd as the pace car came though the fourth turn and sped through the pit area. Row by row, the cars came out of the turn and slowly started picking up speed as everybody looked at starter Pat Vidan to see what would happen. When the front row was within a few feet of the start-finish line, Pat waved the green glad and the race was on!

The front row of Mears, Sneva, and Al Unser stayed that way almost all the way to the first turn before Unser swung across to beat the other two there. Sneva was second and Mears third. As they came down to complete the first lap, Al had increased his lead to almost a full second over Sneva. Mears was third and was followed by AJ Foyt, Johnny Rutherford, Bobby Unser, Gordon Johncock, Johnny Parsons, Wally Dallenbach, and Lee Kunzman.

Al increased his speed by about a second on the second lap as the crowd let out a moan. Janet Guthrie was going real slow and was the last car across the starting line. The next time around, she pulled into her pit and was done for the day. The cause of her departure was a broken piston. It was a most stunned and disappointed crowd and pit crew that saw her pushed back to the garage area after only three laps.

Four laps later, George Snider was out with valve trouble. This was George’s 15^th race and he was in the race only because there was a fifth qualifying day. Now, after having so much trouble getting in, he was finished after only seven laps.

At ten laps, Al Unser was still leading, and his 187.688 mph average was a new record for that distance. Behind Al were Mears, Sneva, Rutherford, Johncock, Foyt, Bobby Unser, Dallenbach, Parsons, and Kunzman. Johnny Parsons made his first pit stop on lap 15, but ran only two more laps. His car had a burned piston. Also out of the race after 17 laps with a burned piston was Jerry Sneva.

As twenty laps went by, Al Unser was still leading. In fact, his lead over Mears had increased to six seconds. The rest of the top ten behind Al and Rick were Sneva, Johncock, Rutherford, Bobby Unser, Foyt, Dallenbach, Sheldon Kinser, and Mike Mosley. Al pitted on his 25^th lap and had hardly gotten back on the track when the first yellow light of the race came out. Cliff Hucul’s car had stalled on the track and needed a tow-in. This yellow period initiated a new race procedure. For the first time ever, a pace car would be used to police the “pack up” rule in which all drivers must close up in single file behind the leader. The pace car was driven by 1960 race winner Jim Rathmann, with USAC registrar Bob Cassidy as his passenger. He waved each car past him until the lead car was directly behind him. Then the other cars followed in single file.

At 30 laps, the top ten were Al Unser, Mears, Sneva, Rutherford, Bobby Unser, Foyt, Johncock, Dallenbach, and Kinser. After three laps, the pace car pulled off the track and the green flag was displayed again. Al Unser gradually increased his lead to 14 seconds at 42 laps, but then the yellow flag came out again. Sheldon Kinser had stalled on the track, which brought out the yellow. A couple laps later, Wally Dallenbach came bouncing through the pit area with his right rear tire missing. His remarkable job of keeping the car under control evoked a large applause from the crowd.

At 50 laps, ¼ of the race, nine cars were out of the race. The first ten positions were held by Al Unser, Rutherford, Bobby Unser, Sneva, Foyt, Mears, Johncock, Mosley, Danny Ongais, and Vern Schuppan. The only change in positions during the next ten laps came when Ongais passed Mosley for eighth place. Al Unser made his third pit stop on his 69^th lap and was away in 14 seconds. Bobby Unser was the leader for four laps, and then Mears for three laps until he pitted and Al took the lead again.

With 80 laps gone, Al had set a new record for that distance with a 164.131 mph average. Brother Bobby was second, and they were followed by Rutherford, Mears, Foyt, Sneva, Ongais, Mosley, Schuppan, and Johncock. Shortly past the 90 lap mark, the third yellow light of the day came on when Larry Dickson stalled on the track and required a tow-in. This brought on a real busy period in the pit area. Among those who came in was Foyt. He killed his engine and by the time his crew got it started again and pushed him out, he had fallen from 3^rd to 6^th position.

Meanwhile, after 66 laps, John Mahler was done for the day. John was the last qualifier on the last regularly scheduled day of qualifying, but his hopes were ended now.

Larry Dickson’s stall was caused by a broken fuel pump belt, and he was credited with 86 laps for 24^th position.

On his 90^th lap, Eldon Rasmussen had to retire because of a broken exhaust header. Eldon started last among the original 33 starters and was in last place when he retired.

It was about this time that one of the most dramatic events of the race occurred. Al Unser made a routine pit stop, but two laps later, he returned to his pit. Smoke was coming from the right corner of the rear of his car. A couple laps later, a small fire could be seen as he came down the straightaway. The crowd came to its feet and moaned in disbelief as Al’s speed dropped remarkably. Starter Pat Vidan waved the black flag and a couple laps later, he came back to his pit. He sat in the car about a minute, and then was told the car was done for the day. A transmission seal had broken and ignited because of the heat. It was a bitter disappointment to the man who had led almost every lap, except when he was in the pits.

At 100 laps, or half the race, the first ten were Bobby Unser, Mears, Al Unser, Tom Sneva, AJ Foyt, Ongais, Mosley, Johncock, Howdy Holmes, and Pancho Carter.

While Al Unser was still in his pit, the yellow light had come on again. Phil Threshie had stalled on the track and had to be towed in. The green light came on again on lap 107 and Bobby Unser was now the leader. At 110 laps, Bobby was first, with Mears second, and Sneva four seconds behind him.

As the 300 mile mark approached, Phil Threshie was able to get back into competition after a new magneto was put into his car. The standings were now Unser, Mears, Sneva, Foyt, Ongais, Mosley, Johncock, Holmes, Carter, and Vukovich. There was some good racing at the front of the pack and the close competition made the race interesting for the spectators.

Another series of pit stops took place during laps 120-129. Sneva made a real bone-headed move and waited too long to come in. He ran out of fuel and had to coast to his pit. This cost him valuable time, and he was in sixth position when he returned to the track.

Bobby Unser remained ahead but Mears stayed within a couple seconds of him, thus giving Bobby no time to slow down a little bit.

Meanwhile, in the pit area, Vern Schuppan was forced out of the race after 111 laps with a broken transmission, and Pancho Carter had a wheel bearing go bad after 129 laps, ending his hopes for the day.

Unser and Mears continued 1-2, but Mosley, Ongais, and Foyt were putting on a good fight for third. At the 150 lap mark, or 375 miles, Unser was still leading with a new track record of 163.135 mph. He was followed by Mears, Sneva, Ongais, Foyt, Mosley, Johncock, Holmes, Bagley, and Vukovich.

All of the front runners were making pit stops now, but Unser and Mears were the last ones to do so. Just as they were coming into their pits, the yellow light came on, thus preventing anybody from gaining on them. The yellow was caused by Larry Rice, who, while in the second turn, had his car spin into the infield and then spun again and crashed into the wall. Larry was unhurt, but his car was damaged too much to continue. The green light came on again on Unser’s 163^rd lap.

At 170 laps, Unser was still leading, but Mears was only 1.8 seconds behind him. Foyt was third, ahead of Ongais and Mosley. The remainder of the top ten included Sneva, Johncock, Holmes, Bagley, and Vukovich.

The close battles among the leaders continued as they neared the 180 lap mark. With less than 20 laps to go, the crowd came to life again when it was noticed that Unser was slowing down. On the 182^nd lap, Mears took the lead as Unser lost fourth gear in his car, which caused him to lose about six seconds per lap.

Foyt was averaging almost 190 mph and on the 185^th lap, he was 23 second behind Unser as Mears increased his lead to 25 seconds. The three front runners all pitted on the 187^th lap, and as 190 laps became history, Foyt passed Unser to take second place.

Then a strange, almost unbelievable event occurred. Foyt started having car trouble. He slowed down considerably going into the first turn as white smoke seemed to be coming from under the rear of the car. Just as this happened, the yellow light came on. On his 189^th lap, and in sixth position, Tom Sneva lost the rear wing on his Sugaripe Prune Special as he was going through the third turn. The car spun and crashed into the wall. He was stunned by the impact, but wasn’t injured, although the car was badly damaged. Jim Rathman took the pace car out again and the cars lined up behind it. Four laps later, the track had been cleared enough for the green light to come on. The pace car pulled in with five laps to go.

Because of the bunch-up procedure, Foyt was only six seconds behind Mears. His car still wasn’t running properly, and as Mears took the white flag, he had fallen to twelve seconds behind. About 45 seconds later, Mears came down the straightaway to receive the checkered flag and become the first new race champion since Johnny Rutherford in 1974. As the remaining cars crossed the finish line, they were also given the checkered flag, which ended the race for them.

A few seconds later, everybody started wondering what happened to Foyt. Pretty soon he came through the fourth turn and was hardly moving. As he continued, there was increasing doubt as to whether he would make it to the finish line. When he finally got there, the crowd gave him a tremendous ovation. As he waved in response, Mosley was speeding toward the finish line and arrived there only 2.34 seconds after Foyt. Mears took an extra lap around the track and then came slowly through the pit area on his way to Victory Lane, all the time waving to the fans as they gave him a warm applause.

For the first time in five years, since Johnny Rutherford won his first race in 1974, there was a new face in Victory Lane, and everyone, including me, was most happy about it. He was only the fourth driver in the last fifty years to win the big race on either his first or second attempt.

As the pit crews gather up their equipment and took it back to their garages, the huge crowd started its exit from the Speedway. Since I had eaten hardly anything during the race, I took out my chicken, coffee, and napkin, and enjoyed a late dinner. Barbara and Malcolm had brought some food too, and they likewise enjoyed their late dinner. For the first time since the start of the race, we could relax and enjoy our food and converse with each other without being interrupted by some race action or the roar of the engines.

It was about 2:30 when Barbara and Malcolm decided to leave. We exchanged farewells and then I finished my dinner and put all my equipment into my tote bag. I took one last look at the race track, the pit area, the control tower, and the thousands of spectator seats, and then left. The mob of people heading for the tunnel was almost elbow to elbow, but they moved quickly through the tunnel, and then thinned out somewhat when it reached the back of the grandstands.

When I went through the main gate, I crossed the street and stopped at the White Castle. The place was doing a good business, but I only had to wait a few minutes to receive my order of two hamburgers and a small Coca-Cola. The cold Coca-Cola really felt good. As usual, I had to be careful while walking along Crawfordsville Road to avoid being hit by impatient drivers, stepping on or tripping over beer cans, and slipping on the rocks.

It was between 4:00 and 4:15 when I arrived at the car. Most of the cars were gone but a few hadn’t left yet. I opened all the windows so that the hot air could escape and some new air could circulate. I waited a few more minutes and then at 4:26, I drove onto Lynhurst Drive and joined the crowd waiting to get to the intersection.

The traffic was bumper to bumper for several blocks on both streets, but the policemen finally let the southbound traffic go, and it took only a few seconds to get onto Crawfordsville Road. From there, the traffic moved pretty well, and in a few minutes I was on I-74 and heading for Danville. I turned on the air conditioning and in a couple minutes I was feeling better as I drove along and listened to the radio. It was a couple minutes before 6:00 when I crossed the state line, and at 6:10, my trip ended at the door of my room.

I took my equipment in with me and then I took off my shirt and shoes and lay on my bed for a few minutes. It really felt good to be on the bed in the cool room after being outside almost all day. About 7:00, I walked to the Eisner store and bought some macaroni salad, potato salad, and baked beans from the delicatessen section, and some milk. When I arrived back at my room, I turned on the TV set and watched it as I ate my supper. One of the Indianapolis stations had a program about the 500 Festival Parade, which I found real interesting and watched until 8:00. I wanted to watch the ABC-TV same day telecast of the race, but it wouldn’t come in, so I rushed over to the barroom and watched it there. I had to stand all the time and I couldn’t hear real well because of the talking and laughing but I enjoyed it enough to make it worth watching.

I went back to my room, and at 10:30, one of the Indianapolis stations had a one-half hour program of the day’s activities at the track with Tom Carnegie as the narrator. After the program, I did a little reading, and at 11:30, I turned off the lights and got under the covers, ending my race day in the exact spot it had started nineteen hours earlier.

Between 6:15 and 6:30 the next morning, I awoke and felt quite refreshed. I got up, took a bath, shaved, and washed my teeth, and that made me feel even better. I checked everything in my room to be sure I hadn’t left anything, turned in my room key, and at 7:28, started my trip home.

I stopped at the first Standard station that was open, which was in Georgetown. The attendant said his supply was tight, but didn’t restrict me to a certain amount of gasoline. I felt better with the tank full, knowing for sure I could go all the way home. My next stop was the Colonial Kitchen.

It was 8:12 when I arrived. There were a few other customers there, most of them being farmers having their Monday morning coffee. I ordered pancakes, hashed brown potatoes, orange juice, and coffee. It was a good breakfast, and at 8:45, I left and started the last part of my trip home on Route 36. It was shortly after 10:00 when I reached Decatur, where there were many people making use of Lake Decatur. At 11:28, I pulled into my driveway. My 25^th trip to see the big race was over, and like the other 24 before it, it provided me with many memories.

EPILOGUE

On Monday night at the Victory Banquet, the Speedway distributed a record purse of $1,271,954.54, of which $270,401 went to winner Rick Mears. In only his second year, he had what might be called a perfect year, both starting and finishing first.

For maybe the first time in his racing career, AJ Foyt was happy to finish second in a race. His spectacular, creeping finish provided the large crowd with one of its most exciting moments of the race. One thing is certain – if the race had been one lap longer, he would have finished lower than second as he was only 2.34 seconds ahead of Mike Mosley when he crossed the finish line.

After 11 disappointing years, Mike Mosley was finally able to finish a race, and gave an excellent account of himself in doing so. He is a fine driver, but usually had mechanical trouble or chased, thus preventing him from finishing the race.

Danny Ongais deserves special mention. After his crash on the first scheduled day of time trials, it was with some difficulty that he obtained a medical clearance to qualify the second weekend. When this problem was solved, he qualified on the last scheduled day at 188.099 mph and started 25^th. He moved up steadily during the race and finished a fine fourth.

Bobby Unser led 88 of the 200 laps, but like brother Al, this was not the year for another Unser victory. Bobby had the 4^th fastest qualifying time in his Norton Spirit and appeared to be on his way to his third victory but when trouble struck late in the race, he had to settle for fifth place.

Gordon Johncock finished sixth in his fifteenth race. He drove the North American Van Lines car with master mechanic George Bignotti as his chief mechanic.

Seventh-place finisher Howdy Holmes was the only rookie in this year’s race and for doing such a good job, he was given the Rookie of the Year award.

Bill Vukovich deserves special attention as well for starting in 34^th position and rising all the way to eighth place when the red flag came out. The veteran chief mechanic AJ Watson headed the pit crew.

Tom Bagley finished ninth in his second year at the Speedway. He was in that position after 130 laps and remained there for the rest of the race.

Spike Gelhausen finished tenth in his No. 19 Sta-On car. He started in thirty-first position and gradually increased his position during the race.

The practice and qualifications periods were some of the most controversial in Speedway history. The trouble started a week or so before the Speedway opened when USAC officials rejected the entries of six CART teams, involving nineteen cars. An Indianapolis Federal Court judge said USAC couldn’t do this and the CART entries were reinstated.

During the time trials, it was discovered that several teams had modified their turbocharger assemblies to override the allowable boost. This brought about disallowed qualifying runs, leveling of fines, lawsuits, and an additionally qualifying session.

It made everybody unhappy, including the fans whose money keeps racing alive. There were times when I wondered if there would be a 500-mile race this year. The exciting and interesting race made the fans temporarily forget about the pre-race problems; however, the problems remain.

The CART-USAC war shows no signs of easing. Nobody is predicting when, if ever, the two factions will come together again as one group. I hope it is soon. I hope that future races will be much less controversial than this year’s race. In addition to ending the USAC-CART problem, there needs to be a greater application of fair and equal rules to everybody.

The Indianapolis 500 has long been the greatest racing event in the world, and I, along with every other racing fan, hopes it continues that way for a long time.

Pace Car – Ford Mustang

500 Festival Queen – Carol Orem

Indy Journal - 1978

2009-11-24T20:51:00.004-06:00

1978

A first day of qualifying unlike any others I had attended and the contrast in weather of the first scheduled qualifying day and of race day were events to remember about this year.

On Friday, May 12, I left Mark and John, my two children, off at the house of Mrs. Frances Turner, their regular babysitter, and left for Indianapolis about 9:15. I traveled old Route 36 to Decatur and arrived at the Colonial Kitchen about 11:45. For dinner, I had a couple cups of coffee and a sweet roll. The light lunch gave me a lift as I continued on Rt. 36 until I came to the I-465 interchange west of Indianapolis. I went north on I-465 until it intersected with I-65, and then stayed on I-65 until I arrived at the Holiday Inn at Lebanon.

The desk clerk confirmed my reservation, and then I went to my room and got cleaned up. It was about 3:30 when I arrived at the Speedway Museum parking lot. After a cursory tour of the gift shop, I walked over to the Tower Terrace area and watched some of the drivers turn in practice laps.

I ran into a friend of mine from the Post Office, Ron Atkins, who was there with his wife and their two children. He and his wife had passes to the garage area, but since she didn’t want to use her’s right then, she loaned it to me, and Ron and I took a quick tour of the area.

Some good lap speeds were being turned, but the biggest cheer from the crowd came shortly before closing time when Mario Andretti turned a lap at 203+.

The track closed at 6:00, after which I drove to the Speedway Shopping Center where I ate supper at the MCL Cafeteria. Feeling better now with a full stomach, I walked around for a few minutes and did a little shopping before returning to the car. The car was our 1975 Chevrolet Caprice Classic.

About the time I reached the I-465 interchange, the radio station I was listening to started broadcasting the possibility of heavy rain and tornadoes hitting the Indianapolis area. The unwelcome weather was scheduled to arrive about 8:00, which was when I would arrive at the motel. When I reached Lebanon, I stopped at a Standard Service Station for fuel. While I was there, the first drops arrived. I went back directly to the motel and barely got my room door shut when the clouds opened up. As the rain continued, the temperature dropped and the wind increased.

Before settling down for the night, I took a little walk and saw some of the facilities of the motel. The front end had a registration area, restaurant, bar, and dance hall. There was a breezeway that led to the recreation area, which consisted of a children’s play area, a pool table, sauna baths, swimming pool, and snack area.

It was about 8:30 when I returned to my room. I did some newspaper and magazine reading, set the alarm clock for 5:00, and then about 10:00, retired for the night.

In the morning, I woke up, got myself cleaned up, had a pancake and sausage breakfast in the motel restaurant, returned to my room for a few minutes, and then left for the Speedway about 6:45. The weather was generally the same as the night before, although the wind speed had decreased and the rain was a steady, heavy drizzle. The prospects of seeing any activity on the race track were dim, but of course, nothing is certain with the weather.

The traffic around the Speedway was so light that a person hardly knew anything unusual was happening in the area. I parked in the bank parking area at Lynnhurst and Crawfordsville Road and then walked to the main gate. The grandstands had a few people in them, but the uncovered seats were almost entirely empty. The weather precluded any activity on the track, but it provided a gold mine for the gift shops, cafeteria, and anybody else selling anything. I went to the photo shop to buy some batteries for my movie camera, and while I was there, I looked through a large collection of Speedway pictures that were for sale. After that, I did something I had wanted to do for many years. I got a look at the main straightaway from different angles, including the upper deck on the first turn, the upper deck at the start-finish line, and sections H and J. It was an interesting experience, but of course it would have been more so if there had there been race cars on the track.

As the hours slowly passed by, the weather showed no signs of improving, and at 3:15, Chief Steward Tom Binford announced that the track was closing for the day. With three extra hours I hadn’t planned for, I decided to go to the Lafayette Square Shopping Center north of the Speedway on 38^th Street. It turned out to be a real pleasant time. I bought Dixie a Mother’s Day gift and some toys for Mark and John. Because of the bad weather, I didn’t expect many people to be there, but to my surprise, they were almost wall to wall everywhere. It was one of the most enjoyable shopping trips I have ever had. I had no children crying or fussing about anything or wanting me to buy them something. I didn’t have to keep one eye on the clock to be sure to be somewhere by a certain time. I could stay until closing time if I wanted and browse at my own leisurely pace.

I ate supper at the MCL Cafeteria in the shopping center between 7:00 and 7:30, and then went back and did some more browsing. It was about 8:00 when I left for the ride back to the motel. The weather hadn’t improved any, and now it was unpleasantly cool and windy. I drove south on Georgetown Road to the three-way intersection at the main entrance to the Speedway, and then turned right onto Crawfordsville Road.

Upon returning to the motel, I took a little walk to see what was happening. The restaurant was pretty quiet, but the bar was doing a good business. The ballroom was occupied by what seemed to be a high school prom. I went back to my room, did some reading, watched TV for a while, took a bath, and then went to bed.

On Sunday morning, I got up, got dressed, checked out of the motel, and started my trip home. I took the same route returning as I did coming, and when I reached the Colonial Kitchen, I stopped for breakfast.

While I was sitting at my table, I looked over and saw two women sitting in one of the booths. They looked familiar to me, but I couldn’t think how I knew them and I was too hesitant to go over and talk to them. Two weeks later, in church, I saw the same two women. This time I went over and talked to them. I explained the situation and they said it was they whom I had seen two weeks earlier. The remembered seeing me and they, too, were too hesitant to come over and talk to me. It was about 12:45 when I arrived home and ended my enjoyable, but unforeseeable, trip.

A few days earlier, I had made my list of equipment to take with me, and on Saturday morning, May 27, I got out one of my suitcases and put everything in it that was on my list. I ate dinner with Dixie and the boys, and then at 1:12, I said goodbye to them and started on my 24^th trip to the big race.

Due to sentimentality, I drove on old Route 36 to Decatur, instead of the new four-lane road. As I drove on, I often thought of the many times I had traveled on this road to the big event, particularly with dad and Bobby. It was 3:36 when I reached the Colonial Kitchen and decided to stop for a little break. I had a couple cups of coffee and two dips of vanilla ice cream. The cafeteria was crowded, but there were several farmers at one table having their afternoon coffee break.

At 3:51, I left Route 36 and headed north on Route 1. Traffic was quite heavy in some areas. Many people were enjoying the warm weather and the beginning of the three-day weekend. I reached Danville about 4:30 and it was 4:34 when I arrived at the Holiday Inn Motel. I checked in at the registration desk, and then I went to my room and checked on things. Everything looked good so I took a bath and put on some clean clothes, which made me feel considerably better.

It was about 5:45 when I arrived at the Boston House for supper. The hostess seated me and the waitress handed me a menu for me to look at. I had hoped to have liver and bacon as I had the last two years, but I was disappointed to find a different menu this time – one without the liver and bacon listed on it. I asked the waitress what was happening, and she said she was sorry, but the hostess had made the change. I didn’t see much that appealed to me, but ordered roast beef and all the trimmings. The trimmings included baked potato, coffee, ice cream, and whatever I wanted from the salad bar. The food was good, but I still missed the taste of the liver and bacon.

When I left the restaurant at 6:30, I drove over to the Famous Recipe chicken store and bought a box of chicken to take to the race for my lunch. From there, I went to the Standard Service Station about a block from the motel and had the gas tank filled. With those two important jobs done, I was ready to return to my motel room and retire for the night. I had brought several newspapers and magazines I wanted to read, and with nobody to bother me, this was a good time to do it.

At 10:00, I turned on the TV set to see if there was any race news. All of the Indianapolis stations had stories about the upcoming event, including the drivers meeting and the 500 Festival Parade. It made for interesting viewing. Sometime between 11:00 and 12:00, I turned off the lights for my night’s sleep, although I wasn’t as tired as I normally am at this time of the day.

My alarm clock rang at 4:45. I got dressed, washed my face, shaved, combed my hair, and then walked to the Boston House for breakfast. For breakfast, I had pancakes, sausage, hash brown potatoes, coffee, and orange juice. It was a good beginning of the long day. When I finished I returned to my room to brush my teeth, and then checked to see that I had everything I needed for the long day ahead.

It was 5:56 when I drove out of the motel parking lot to start my trip to the Speedway. The traffic on I-74 was fairly heavy and most of the people looked as if they were going to the big race too. The traffic moved well until I reached the I-465 interchange, and then it seemed to stop almost at once.

From here on the traffic moved slowly, but quite well. Considering the large amount of cars, I thought the police did a good job of moving them. As I approached Lynnhurst Drive, I moved into the left lane, made my turn, paid my $5.00 parking fee, and then was directed to my parking space. It was 7:56 when I turned the engine off, two hours to the minute after I left the motel.

I locked the car, got my tote bag from the trunk, and started my walk to the Speedway. The north side of Crawfordsville Road looked much the same as it had for the past 23 years – empty beer cans, vendors selling their merchandise, people sleeping in trucks, cars, cans, and on the ground, while some of the others were trying to either sell or buy tickets for the race, and everybody looking forward to a big day at the Speedway.

I took a few pictures of the entrance area and then at 8:30, I handed my ticket to one of the ticket-takers and made my entrance on the Speedway grounds. The area behind the straightaway grandstands was bustling with activity as the size of the crowd seemed to increase. At the end of the long walk, I turned right and walked through the tunnel to the infield. I went into the gift shop behind the Control Tower but it was so hot and crowded that I only stayed a couple minutes. The heat was getting bad and there were many cold drinks being consumed.

By now, it was after 9:00 so it was time for me to get to my seat. Before going to my seat, I bought a small cup of Coca-Cola at the concession stand behind the far north end of the Tower Terrace section. It was between 9:15 and 9:30 when I arrived at my seat. I put my equipment under my seat and then sat down for a few minutes. I again had the same row J, and the same seat (5), as I’ve had since 1967, but I was in section 47, instead of 43, as in previous years. Actually all three were the same. Since last year’s race, a new addition had been built on the south end of the Tower Terrace. Consequently, all the old area had its section numbers raised by four.

The main straightaway was aglow with activity. All the cars were in their pit area and being checked over by the pit crews. On the track itself, several bands were performing for the spectators. I took a walk along the fence down to the entrance to Gasoline Alley. There was some last minute work being done in the pit areas. As I was walking back to my seat, the announcement came over the PA system for all cars to be pushed onto the track and into their starting positions.

At 10:00, the caravan of celebrities formed and drew cheers from the Tower Terrace fans as it headed for the track. As the caravan moved, the Purdue University Band played the first of the traditional songs, “On the Banks of the Wabash.” Among the celebrities touring the track was Louis Meyer, who won the race 50 years ago in 1928. He drove the golden Miller Special with which he won the race, and received a warm ovation from everybody. Among the celebrities were U.S. Senator Barry Goldwater, country singer Roy Clark, and TV star Norman Fell.

By now, my two race companions, Malcolm and Barbara McKean, from Central Baptist Church, had joined me for the big race. They are big race fans just as I am.

At 10:30, USAC officials made their final inspection of the track and pronounced it fit for racing. The huge crowd rose in unison at 10:45 for the playing of “The Star-Spangled Banner,” and remained standing for the invocation, which was given by a local minister. A minute later, this was followed by “Taps” in keeping with the true meaning of Memorial Day. It was now time for the final traditional song, “Back Home Again in Indiana,” sung this year by noted singer, Jim Nabors. The prerace excitement reached its climax as the big moment was only a couple minutes away now. There was much speculation about who would give the famous command this year. This, of course, was the first race since the death of Speedway president Tony Hulman in October. There had never been a public announcement about who was to do the honors. At 10:53, the speculation ended as one of the track announcers, Jim Philippe, introduced Tony’s widow, Mary, who gave the command, “LADY AND GENTLEMAN, START YOUR ENGINES!”

The engines came to life and one member from each pit crew raised an arm to indicate his driver was ready to go. In a departure from tradition, there were three paces cars this year instead of one. The Chevrolet Corvette cars were driven by 1960 winner Jim Rathman, astronaut Frank Borman, and Tony Hulman’s grandson Tony George. Rathman was in the lead car with Speedway president Joe Cloutier and was followed by Borman and George, who paralleled with each other and formed an upside-down V with Rathman.

Thirty-two of the cars started right away, but John Mahler, starting in 17^th position, had trouble with his car, but finally got started before the field completed the first parade lap.

The black and silver Corvette, along with a multitude of colors on the cars, made a beautiful sight for the fans to behold, and the steady, low roar or the engines in unison added to the pleasure. Before the green flag had flown, Gary Bettenhausen stopped at his pit for a few seconds and then roared away to catch up with the rest of the field. At the end of the second lap, Borman and George got off the track and left Rathman to pace the cars to the start. Everybody on the straightaway stretched their necks to see the field come through the fourth turn. A big roar came from the huge crowd as Jim Rathman pulled off the track and hurried through the pit area. The front row of Tom Sneva, Danny Ongais, and Rick Mears led the field to the starting line, and just before they got there, starter Pat Vidan waved the green flag and the race was on!

Ongais jumped into the lead with Sneva second, but Mears had trouble and fell behind somewhat. As they came down the straightaway to the finish line, Ongais had a big lead over Sneva. The remaining eight in the top ten were Johnny Rutherford, Gordon Johncock, Al Unser, Mears, Johnny Parsons, Wally Dallenbach, Larry Dickson, and Steve Krisiloff.

At the end of the second lap, the yellow light came on, the reason being that Sheldon Kinser had stalled and was in the infield. His car was towed back to his pit, and as Ongais came by to finish lap four, the green light came on again. Along with Kinser in the pits were Gary Bettenhausen and Salt Walther. Kinser’s crew worked on the car for a few seconds and then sent him out again. As this happened, Cliff Hucul came in and was done for the day with a broken oil line. He finished only four laps and was awarded 33^rd finishing position. Walther returned to the track after a four-minute stop, while the pit crew of Bettenhausen continued working on his car.

At the end of ten laps, the first five positions were held by Ongais, Sneva, Johncock, Rutherford, and Al Unser. The yellow flag came out for two laps for Kinser and when the green came out again on the 12^th lap, Sneva jumped ahead of Ongais. However, within a couple laps, the two positions were reversed again. Kinser and his crew gave up for good after 15 laps and the car was retired with no oil pressure.

Jerry Sneva, starting 32^nd, was finished after 18 laps with transmission failure, and rookie Phil Threshie was done after 22 laps with no oil pressure. After 20 laps, the leaders were Ongais, Sneva, Unser, Rutherford, and Johncock.

As the 25-lap mark approached, the pit area became quite busy. Sneva stopped and received fuel in only 13 seconds. Two laps later, Ongais pitted and had luck riding with him. The yellow flag came out again, this time because Spike Gehlhausen crashed in the second turn. Spike was only slightly injured, but the car was pretty badly damaged.

Salt Walther returned to the pits for a third time and finally called it quits after 24 laps with transmission trouble.

At 30 laps, there was a new leader, Steve Krisiloff. He had really been moving and now led Sneva, Ongais, Johncock, and Bobby Unser. One lap after Walther exited the pits, rookie Tom Bagley was through for the day with overheating problems. After 40 laps, or 1/5 of the race, Krisiloff had dropped to 11^th place because of a pacer light infraction, and Ongais had regained the lead with Sneva, Johncock, Al Unser, and Bobby Unser behind him.

Between the 40^th and 50^th laps, almost all of the drivers made their second pit stops. Ongais and Sneva both were able to get in and out without losing their positions. On the 48^th lap, the yellow flag was displayed again because there was some debris on the track and officials removed it before it caused any trouble. As Ongais completed his 52^nd lap, the green light came on and full speeds resumed.

Danny increased his lead to 3.5 seconds over Sneva and Al Unser passed Johncock for third place. Behind these four were Bobby Unser, Wally Dallenbach, Mears, Krisiloff, Rutherford, and A.J. Foyt. In third place, Al Unser steadily moved up and on the 66^th lap, he passed Sneva to take second place.

As the 75-lap mark appeared, so did the third round of pit stops. Ongais was the last of the leaders to stop. As he exited the pit area, Al Unser came charging down the straightaway in pursuit of him. The possibility of seeing a new leader brought the crowd to life. They weren’t disappointed as Al went into the lead and then increased it slightly.

At 80 laps, Al was 1.6 seconds ahead of Danny, and they, along with Sneva and Johncock, were the only drivers on the lead lap. The remainder of the top 10 included Bobby Unser, Mears, Rutherford, Dallenbach, Krisiloff, and Foyt.

Al increased his lead to three seconds and then the yellow light came on again on the 84^th lap, again because of debris on the track. Several drivers took advantage of the slowdown and came in to top off their tanks. Two laps later, the green came on again and Al increased his lead to 15 seconds as Sneva and Johncock fall 30 seconds behind. He completed the first 100 laps in 1 hour, 37 minutes and was 21.6 seconds ahead of Ongais. Behind him in the top ten were Ongais, Johncock, Sneva, Bobby Unser, Rutherford, Dallenbach, Krisiloff, Mears, and George Snider.

Meanwhile, back in the pit area, John Mahler had to quit after 47 laps because of a broken timing gear. His pit area was directly in front of me and it was a disappointed crew and driver who had to admit defeat.

After 81 laps, veteran Roger McCluskey had to retire his AMC stock-block Eagle because of clutch failure. This was his 17^th race and it was a disappointment to his many fans that he couldn’t have done better.

The next retiree from competition was popular Pancho Carter. Pancho was seriously injured while testing a car at Phoenix last year and was not expected to be racing for a long time. Through exercise and determination, he made a strong comeback, and his 196.829 mph qualifying run was one of the highest in the field. The cause of his trouble was listed as a broken exhaust header.

As the second half of the race began, Ongais started decreasing Unser’s lead, as it had gone from 21 seconds to 15 seconds at 106 laps. On the 108^th lap, Al pitted for fuel and was gone after 13.6 seconds. On the next lap, Ongais pitted for 16 seconds, and the first ten at 110 laps were listed as Ongais, Unser, Johncock, Sneva, Dallenbach, Bobby Unser, Krisiloff, Rutherford, Foyt, and Snider.

Meanwhile, some more drivers had been forced from the race. Rookie Rick Mears was out after 104 laps with a blown engine. Rick made a big name for himself in practice and qualifying. He and Tom Sneva were teammates with the Penske cars. He had an outstanding run of 200.078 mph, which enabled him to start in third position and become the first rookie to start in the first row since Eddie Sachs in 1957.

Larry Dickson pulled in after 105 laps and was done for the day when his car lost its oil pressure. This was Larry’s first race since 1971, and he made a fine showing of himself.

Back on the track, Al Unser held a 15-second lead over Ongais. The standings at 120 laps were Unser, Ongais, Sneva, Johncock, Krisiloff, Dallenbach, Bobby Unser, Rutherford, Foyt, and Snider.

(By now, the heat was really making itself felt. Barbara, Malcolm, and I were all sweating and could feel it in our sticky clothes. The cold drink vendors were doing a good business. I had a thermos bottle of ice water, but I had to be careful and stretch it out over the full length of the race.)

Tom Bigelow was finished after 107 laps with a broken connecting rod in his Armstrong Wildcat.

Ongais continued to cut Unser’s lead and at 135 laps, he was less than 2 seconds behind Al. Two laps later, both of them came speeding through the pit area and stopped for fuel. Al got away a few seconds before Danny and increased his lead to six seconds, but Danny started catching up again.

Veteran Jim McElreath left the race after 133 laps with a blown engine. At 50 years of age, Jim was the oldest driver in this year’s race, and this was his 13^th race. A few laps later, Dick Simon pulled into his pit area, and got out of his car, which had been disabled by wheel bearing trouble. This was Dick’s ninth race and one of his best finishes.

Ongais had closed the lead to 5.2 seconds when a huge groan quickly built up in the large crowd. Everybody jumped up to see what the trouble was. A few seconds later, the answer became apparent when Danny came through the pit area with grayish-white smoke coming from the rear of his car. His engine had blown and he was done for the day. It was hard to believe because he was moving up on Unser and had sounded fine the last time he went by. Everybody behind Danny gradually moved up a position, as Tom Sneva took over second position, 28 seconds behind Unser.

After 150 laps, there were fifteen cars left in the race. They were Unser, Sneva, Johncock, Krisiloff, Dallenbach, Bobby Unser, Foyt, Snider, Mario Andretti, Janet Guthrie, Larry Rice, Johnny Parsons, Rutherford, Jerry Karl, and Joe Saldana.

Back in the pit area, Mike Mosley was done for the day after 147 laps with gear box failure. This was Mike’s 11^th race and he had yet to finish one, although most people agree he has the talent to do better. Two laps later, Gary Bettenhausen was done with a blown engine. He had trouble at the start of the race, but perseverance kept him in the race as he and his pit crew managed to go almost three-fourths of the race.

As the race entered the last quarter, Unser maintained his lead over Sneva and the rest of the field. At 170 laps, the difference between the two leaders was 28.86 seconds. The advent of the 180^th lap means the final pit stop for most of the cars. The standings at this point were Sneva, Unser, Johncock, Dallenbach, Krisiloff, Bobby Unser, Snider, Foyt, Guthrie, and Larry Rice. Sneva was given credit for 1^st place because he crossed the starting line first while on his way to his pit. Unser had trouble as he overshot his pit and almost ran over the fuel hose.

As the two front runners started their last 20 laps, Sneva started gaining on the leader. Was Al slowing down to save his engine or slowing down to conserve fuel? At 189 laps, the difference was 23.26 seconds and Tom was driving 7 mph faster than Al. The fans were getting a little excited.

On the 193^rd lap, Al’s speed was only 177 mph and the difference was 17.1 seconds. At 195 laps, it was 14.6 seconds, which means Tom would have to gain three seconds on each of the remaining laps, a hard task to accomplish. On the 198^th lap, Al’s speed was again 177 mph, and Tom was only 10.7 seconds behind him. The next time around, Al took the white flag and 9.9 seconds later, Tom did likewise. The huge crowd was standing now in anticipation of the winner. As he exited the fourth turn, they applauded, cheered, and waved as Al Unser came by and received the checkered flag in victory. Eight seconds later, Tom took the same flag for a fine second place finish.

Start Pat Vidan waved the checkered and red flags together ending the activity on the track. Unser rook an extra lap and pulled into victory lane for the celebration. As the remaining cars returned to their pits and turned off their engines, a strange silence returned to the Speedway.

While the pit crews pushed their cars and equipment back to the garages and Al Unser was driven around the track and interviewed over the PA system, I talked with Barbara and Malcolm and ate some of the fried chicken I had brought with me. Before they left, I went to the concession stand almost right behind section 47 and bought a Coca-Cola to drink with the chicken. Because of the high heat and humidity, cold drinks were being sold faster than they could be chilled, so my warm drink did little to help my dry throat.

While I consumed my chicken and drink, Barbara and Malcolm decided to leave, so we said goodbye until we met again. I took a last look at the almost empty seats along the straightaway and then started my exit from the Speedway.

Before leaving the infield, I went to the gift shop behind the Tower Terrace, but it was so hot and crowded that I only stayed a couple minutes and didn’t buy anything. As I got close to the main entrance, I heard what sounded like live music. I looked to the right and there were four men playing clarinet, trumpet, trombone, and bass violin. They were playing good music and attracting a sizable crowd.

It was hot walking along Crawfordsville Road, so I stopped at the Standard Service Station at Auburn St. and bought a can of Sprite. It wasn’t as cold as I wanted, but it still felt good and relived my dry throat a little bit. The heat and humidity were affecting everybody, as evidenced by the bedraggled appearances and short tempers. It was between 3:30 and 3:45 when I arrived at the car.

My feet were hot and tired, so I thought I would take my shoes off and rest in the car for a few minutes. That rest period lasted only a few seconds because the humidity was so high that my face started sweating profusely. I got out and stood by the car for a few minutes, then got back in, and at 3:55, I started the engine. Then I drove a few feet and started the long job of getting onto Lynnhurst Drive.

It was one of the most physically uncomfortable experiences I’ve ever had. The Lynnhurst traffic wasn’t moving one iota, so I couldn’t get onto the street. During this waiting period, the sweat on my back went through my undershirt, my shirt, and all of them stuck to the back of the seat. The sweat on my face further aggravated the situation. After several minutes, the traffic started moving, and I only had to wait a few seconds before some gentleman let me in the traffic.

It was a long time until I reached Crawfordsville Road, and when I got on it, the traffic was still bumper-to-bumper, but at long last, at 4:30, I reached the I-74 intersection and was on my way back to the motel. It had been an exasperating experience. While I was waiting in the traffic, I heard a radio announcer say it was 90 degrees.

Shortly after getting on I-74, I turned on the air conditioning. In a few minutes, I felt better than I had since early that morning. The car radio kept me entertained with different kinds of music and periodic stories of the race. It was about 5:45 when I crossed the state line and 6:00 when I arrived at the motel.

The first thing I did when I got to my room was to take off my shoes and shirt and rest on the bed for a few minutes. Then I walked over to the Eisner grocery store a half block north of the motel and got some food for supper.

My supper consisted of cold fried chicken, baked beans, macaroni, and a quart of milk. While I was eating, I watched part of the TV program “60 Minutes,” and about the time I finished eating, between 7:30 and 7:45, the telephone rang. It was Dixie. She called to see if everything was okay and how everything had gone at the Speedway. She told me that Springfield had received a heavy rain storm about an hour earlier, and then let me talk to Mark for a couple minutes.

When we finished talking, it was 7:45, fifteen minutes before the ABC-TV telecast of the race. I cleaned up my supper mess and then settled back to watch the race.

Unfortunately, the TV reception was poor. The picture was in and out and the audio portion was also poor. I still got to see portions of the action that occurred at places on the track I couldn’t see, so I was glad I was able to see at least part of the program.

After the network program, I watched another race program on one of the Indianapolis stations, which was narrated by Speedway PA announcer Tom Carnegie. By now, it was 11:00 and the eighteen-hour day was getting to me so I turned off the TV and lights and laid my head down to sleep.

It was about 6:30 when my day after the big day began. I took a bath, cleaned my teeth, shaved, combed my hair, and felt better for having done so. I put everything in the suitcase and carrying bag, checked the room to be sure I hadn’t forgotten anything, took my belongings to the car, and then checked out of the motel. It was 7:37 when I started my trip home.

The streets and highway had only real light traffic on this holiday morning. I stopped at a service station in Georgetown and was the first customer of the day. A few more miles of travel brought me to the Colonial Kitchen where I stopped for breakfast.

There were a few farmers having their early-morning coffee and a few other customers, but it wasn’t crowded. My breakfast consisted of pancakes, hash-brown potatoes, toast, coffee, and orange juice. The food made me feel somewhat better, and it was just about 9:00 when I left and started my western drive on Route 36.

The traffic remained light almost all the way, and it was 11:20 when I arrived home. Another memorable trip to the big race was completed.

EPILOGUE

At the victory banquet on the day after the race, Al Unser received the highest purse ever received by a race winner - $290,363 – out of a record purse of $1,145,225. This was Al’s third 500 victory and he became one of only four drivers to win that many races. It was his 13^th race but, ironically, the first for his car owner, Jim Hall

Tom Sneva finished 8.19 seconds behind Unser, which was the second closest finish in the race history. For the second year in a row, Tom set new qualifying records, started on the pole position, and finished second. His qualifying records were 203.620 mph for one lap and 202.156 mph for the four-lap average.

Gordon Johncock made an excellent showing this year. He started sixth, finished third, and was never lower than fifth during the race. His car was tuned by six-time winning chief mechanic, George Bignotti.

In his best finish ever, Steve Krisiloff, a teammate or Johncock, finished in fourth position. Both Johncock and Krisiloff were penalized one lap for rule infractions. Had this not happened, the end of the race might have been even more exciting.

Bobby Unser finished fifth. Because of a misunderstanding with USAC officials, he started 19^th, although he had the 8^th fastest qualifying time on the first day of time trials. Wayne Leary was the chief mechanic and the car was a Dan Gurney owned Eagle.

Popular Wally Dallenbach finished sixth in his 12^th race. His car was a McLaren Cosworth and had Jud Phillips as the chief mechanic.

Last year’s winner, AJ Foyt, had problems this year and was never a serious contender for victory. Like Bobby Unser, he had his problems with USAC officials. His 200.122 mph qualifying speed was second fastest (tied with Danny Ongais), but he started in 20^th position because he qualified on the second day. On race day, he got as high as sixth, but on three of his pit stops, his engine died, and this was costly.

Veteran George Snider finished eighth in his 14^th race. He was a teammate to Foyt.

Special mention must be made to ninth place finisher, Janet Guthrie. For a long time, it looked like the first lady in Speedway history would not be present this year because of no sponsorship. Texaco Oil came to her rescue and provided her with a car known as the Texaco Star. She started in 15^th position and ran a steady, consistent race all day. Her fine showing was popular with the crowd and she received a tremendous ovation when she returned to her pit area at the end of the race. In a post-race interview, it was revealed that she had driven the race with a broken wrist, which she claimed she received two days before the race while playing tennis.

Finishing out the top ten was Johnny Parsons, who started in eighth position in his Lightning/Drake Offy.

In addition to Janet Guthrie, special mention must be made of Mario Andretti. He was considered a contender for the pole position, but both of the first two qualifying days were washouts. This was particularly difficult for Mario because he was scheduled to drive in the Belgian Grand Prix the following weekend. Because of this situation, car-owner Roger Penske had driver Mike Hiss qualify the car. According to USAC rules, Andretti had to start in last place. He moved up several positions during the early part of the race, but was plagued with mechanical problems and two long pit stops, and he eventually finished in 12^th position.

Larry Rice and Rick Mears were co-rookies of the year. This was only the second time this ever happened, the other time being in 1961 when Bobby Marshman and Parnelli Jones shared the award. Mears made a name for himself in practice and qualifying, while Rice started in 30^th position and drove a steady race to finish 11^th, higher than any other rookie.

On April 23, just thirteen days before the Speedway opened for this year, the auto racing world suffered a terrible loss when eight of its top officials lost their lives in an airplane accident. The accident occurred that night about 30 miles southeast of Indianapolis when the officials were returning from the 200-mile championship race at Trenton, New Jersey. Among those killed were Frank Del Roy, USAC technical director; Ray Marquette, VP for Public Affairs; Stanley Warley, registrar; Shim Malone, midget supervisor and championship car flagman; Don Peabody, sprint car supervisor; Judy Phillips, typographist; Ross Teeguarden, deputy technical director; and Dr. Bruce White, USAC physician. They were all highly respected persons and their loss would be felt for a long time.

The 62^nd 500-mile race is history now, and, like all other before it, provided many memories by which to remember it. Come next year, on the last Sunday of May, I again plan to be present for the running of the “GREATEST SPECATACLE IN RACING.”

Pace Car – Chevrolet Corvette

500 Festival Queen – Sherri Kallbrier

Indy Journal - 1977

2009-05-05T23:27:00.001-05:00

1977

The main attractions among the drivers at the Speedway this year were Tom Sneva, A.J. Foyt, and Janet Guthrie. Tom Sneva became the first driver in Speedway history to drive an official 200 mph lap. A.J. Foyt made Speedway history by becoming the first four-time winning of the big race. Janet Guthrie put her name into the record books by becoming the first woman to drive in the race.

On Friday morning, May 13, I left for the Speedway in my 1973 Chevrolet Malibu. I stopped at the Holiday Inn Motel in Crawfordsville, Indiana, and checked in. When that was taken care of, I drove on to the Speedway and visited the new museum and hall of fame. It was my first visit to the museum and a most interesting one.

When I finished seeing the museum, I walked over to the Tower Terrace seats and watched the activity on the race track. There were several thousand fans in attendance and enjoying themselves.

I ran into a friend of mine from the Post Office, Ron Atkins, who was there with his wife and two children, and sat with them until the 6:00 closing time.

Before leaving for Crawfordsville, I stopped at the MCL Cafeteria in the Speedway Shopping Center and had a good supper, and then walked through the shopping center and went in a couple of the store. It was about 9:00 when I returned to the motel. I did some reading, watched the 10:00 news, and then retired for the night.

My alarm clock went off at 5:00 Saturday morning. The motel restaurant had opened at 4:00 to accommodate early-leaving race fans, so I took advantage of the good opportunity. The breakfast was buffet style and was quite popular with the motel customers. For $2.45, a customer received scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, hashed brown potatoes, milk, and orange juice. I was well pleased with the fast service and both the quantity and quality of the food.

The breakfast gave the day a good start for me and it was about 6:00 when I left for the Speedway. It was shortly before 7:00 when I arrived at Bud Kramer’s house, our Indy “home” for so many years. I talked with Bud for a couple minutes and then walked to the Speedway.

My first stop, after paying the $3.00 admissions charge and getting into the grounds, was the gift shop. I wanted something for Mark and John, but didn’t see anything that pleased me, so I went on to my seat.

Instead of sitting in the grandstand area, as I had always done for the time trials, I sat in the Tower Terrace section. The section I sat in was the first one north of the tower, and it was 7:30 when I sat down for the beginning of a long, warm day.

A.J. Foyt and Tom Sneva were the main attractions of the day. Foyt was the first qualifier and had a 193 mph average, which was not spectacular when considering that he had run as high as 200 mph in practice.

An hour or so later, it was announced that due to a malfunction on his car, Foyt was entitled to a second chance to qualify. A.J. decided to take the opportunity again, but this run was 194+, still a disappointment to him and everybody else.

When Tom Sneva went out to qualify, most people anticipated a good run, but they weren’t prepared for what happened. As track announcer Tom Carnegie announced the first lap at 200.401 mph, the fans went wild with joy. The 200 mph barrier had been broken. The second lap was even faster at 200.535 mph. His third and fourth laps were in the 197 range, and his four-lap average was 198.884, also a new record.

At 6:00, the Speedway closed for the day, and it had been a day to remember. I stopped at the MCL Cafeteria for supper and then drove back to the motel.

It was between 7:30 and 8:00 when I left the motel Sunday morning and started the trip home. I followed the route I used coming over and it was a few minutes after 9:00 when I arrived at the Colonial Kitchen for breakfast. That was my first and last stop until I arrive home at 12:00 sharp.

On Saturday morning, May 28, I packed my suitcase and gave the car a good cleaning with the vacuum cleaner. I took the 1975 Chevrolet Caprice Classic. Since Dixie, Mark, and John were in Missouri for the weekend, I checked everything in the house before I left, and at 12:30, I left to see my 23rd 500-mile race.

The traffic was rather heavy and it was 1:30 when I entered Decatur. It was a warm afternoon and there was a large crowd enjoying it. When I got out of the Decatur area, the traffic diminished somewhat, but there were many farmers working in their fields. It was 2:54 when I reached the Colonial Kitchen and stopped for a while.

For a refreshment, I had a cup of coffee and a heated roll. When I finished my snack, I used the restroom and at 3:15, I was on the road again. I went north on Routes 1&150 and it was 3:52 when I arrived at the Holiday Inn in Danville.

My room reservation had been made in January, so all I had to do was sign in and find out what room I had. The room was clean and cool, so I lay on the bed for a few minutes, did a little reading, and checked the TV set to see if it worked okay.

I had decided earlier to have an early supper, so after I cleaned up a little bit, I walked over to the motel’s Boston Room for my supper. There were only a few scattered customers present and the waitress gave me a menu when I was seated. I ordered fried liver and bacon with baked potato and corn. While I waited for the main course, I partook of some of the choices at the salad bar. I was just finishing my appetizer when the main course arrived. The chef was most generous in the portions of food he served me. Everything tasted fine. It was about 6:00 when I finished eating and left, and by now, there were quite a few more customers than when I arrived.

Before returning to my room for the evening, I drove to a fried chicken establishment a couple blocks from the motel and bought a box of chicken to eat while I was at the race. It was about 7:00 when I returned to my room.

I was reading “The Chicago Daily News” newspaper about 7:45 when the telephone rang. I answered and on the other end was Clyde Simpson. He and Judy had driven down from their home in Milford and were waiting to see me in the motel lobby. The three of us sat and talked for about an hour, and then drove to a little drive-in restaurant a couple miles north of the motel, where we had some light refreshments. It was 10:00 when they returned me to the motel and left for Milford. I enjoyed visiting with them, since it had been nine months since I last saw them.

When I returned to my room, I watched part of the 10:00 news on TV, finished reading the “Chicago Daily News”, set the alarm clock and retired for the night.

At 4:45, my alarm clock sounded, and race day, 1977, had started for me. I lay in bed for a couple minutes to try to awaken a little bit, and then I got up and got myself ready. Feeling ready to face the day now, I left my room about 5:15 and walked to the motel restaurant, which I hoped was open.

The restaurant was not only open, but doing a good business. Most of the customers were race fans and were fueling up for a long day, just as I was. It was a buffet breakfast for $2.25, and I had scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, orange juice, milk, and coffee. I had a couple helpings of everything and I was full when I left.

I returned to my room to check and see that I had everything I needed, and at 5:47, I left the motel parking lot for my ride to the race. Unlike last year when I drove through rain part of the way, the sky was clear all the way. The traffic was quite heavy, and almost every car and its passengers looked as if it had the same destination as I had. Just before I reached the I-465 interchange, the traffic became quite heavy and slowed considerably. It was bumper to bumper for several blocks, but the police kept it moving quite well.

For some time I had been thinking about parking farther from the Speedway than Kramer’s house. I thought that being farther away might reduce the cost, but in a few minutes I discovered I was wrong. I also thought I might avoid some of the heavy Crawfordsville Road traffic east of Lynnhurst Drive. There is a bank on the northwest corner of the intersection and it was here that I parked. The charge was the same as Kramer’s, $5.00, but I didn’t mind walking the extra blocks. It was 7:43 when I parked the car and turned off the power.

I checked to be sure I had all of my equipment and then started my walk to the Speedway. The scenery along the way looked the same as in other years, highlighted by cold drink containers, empty beer cars, people sleeping on the ground and in trunks along the road, and the long line of east-bound traffic waiting to get into the Speedway.

My watch read 8:05 when I walked through the turnstiles. A few steps further I stopped and bought four souvenir race programs, which had increased to $3.00 in price. I had also planned to stop at the first gift shop, but the line of customers was already formed outside the building, so I decided to try another one. There were several souvenir stands along the way before I reached the tunnel, but none of them offered anything I didn’t already have or which I thought cost too much.

When I arrived on the infield, I turned right and walked toward the garage area. There was a gift shop along the way, so I went inside to see what they had. The only items I bought were a tote bag and a coloring book of race cars. The book was for Mark and the tote bag was handy for carrying the race programs.

I walked around the infield for a few minutes, filled my thermos bottle with water, and then walked to the far north end of the Tower Terrace Section. It was 8:45 when I arrived at my customary seat of the past ten years, Section 43, Row J, Seat 5. It felt good to rest my feet for a few minutes and not to have my arms loaded with equipment. There was much activity both on the track and in the pit area. The pit area was busy with pit crews making final checks on their cars and hundreds of spectators walking through the area. On the track, several marching bands were doing their thing.

By 9:00, my feet felt okay again, so I took a walk along the pit area fence with the hope of seeing some famous persons and getting pictures of them. A few of the drivers had their racing uniforms on, some were still in street clothes, and some were somewhere other than the pit area.

I arrived back at my seat about 9:40, and at 9:45, the order was given over the PA system for the crews to push their cars onto the track and into their starting positions.

By now, my two companions for the race had arrived. They were Malcom McKean and his sister, Barbara, racing friends of mine from Central Baptist Church. They had purchased my two extra tickets a few months earlier and they were fine race companions.

Shortly after 10:00, the long procession of celebrities drove north through the pit area and onto the race track for their trip around the track so that all the fans could see them. At 10:34, USAC officials started their inspection lap of the track and returned a few minutes later and said it was ready for racing.

Immediately after that, the PA announcer, Tom Carnegie, asked the huge crowd to stand for the playing of the “Star-Spangled Banner” by the Purdue University Band. The invocation was given by the famous minister, Oral Roberts, and then a few moments of silence were observed by the crowd as “Taps” was played in honor of all the drivers who have lost their lives in racing over the years.

The excitement and tension were reaching their climax now as record and television star Jim Nabors sang “Back Home Again in Indiana.” While Jim was singing, the thousands of balloons behind the Tower Terrace section were released and made a beautiful spectacle as they rose toward the sky.

A few seconds after Jim finished his singing, Tom Carnegie introduced Speedway president Tony Hulman to give his famous order. This year, however, because of Janet Guthrie being in the race, Tony changed his order somewhat and said “In company with the first lady ever to qualify at Indianapolis, Gentlemen, Start Your Engines!”

The air was immediately filled with that beautiful sound of racing engines as all thirty-three cars came to life. The fans responded with a huge roar of their own. About a minute later, the Oldsmobile Delta 88 pace car, driven by TV and movie star, James Garner, slowly started moving towards the first turn.

One by one, the cars were pushed away by the pit crews to form the eleven rows of three each. A new procedure was started this year. There were two, instead of one, parade laps, making a total of three pre-race laps. The idea is to give the oil and tires more time to warm up to racing temperature. I like the idea very much because I get an extra change to see the field in their starting positions, which is a beautiful sight to see. The thousands of other fans seemed to feel the same way as judged by their applause when the cars were on the front straightaway. At the end of the third lap, the official pace lap, Jim Garner drove through the pit area and the field stayed closely behind on the track. A couple seconds later, starter Pat Vidan waved the green flag and the 1977 500-mile race was on!

Al Unser, starting on the outside of the first row, took the lead into the first turn. He was followed by Sneva, Gordon Johncock, and Foyt. Al stayed in front for seventeen laps, when he was passed by Johncock. The first ten positions at the end of the first ten laps were held by Unser, Johnock, Foyt, Sneva, Mario Andretti, Bobby Unser, Pancho Carter, Johnny Rutherford, Danny Ongais, and Johnny Parsons.

A huge moan came from the crowd when Rutherford pitted on this 13th lap and was out of the race. His car wouldn’t stay in gear, and he decided to leave the race rather than destroy the engine.

Johnny was a disappointment to many fans during the time trials. His qualifying speed was 197.325, third fastest in the field, but he qualified on the second day, and therefore started 17th instead of 3rd. He made a qualification attempt on the first day and was running well, but his pit crew wasn’t happy and brought him in.

Sheldon Kinser was out after 14 laps with a burned piston and was given 32nd position. Ten laps later, Dick Simon retired with overheating problems and was followed to the garage area on the next lap by rookie Clay Regazzoni with a split fuel cell.

Meanwhile, back on the race track, Johncock took the lead on his 18th lap and kept it through the 21st lap. By now, the first series of pit stops was taking place and there were several lead changes. Foyt led laps 22-23, George Snider on 24-25, Bill Vukovich on lap 26, and then Foyt regained the lead on lap 27. The first five drivers after twenty laps were Johncock, Foyt, Al Unser, Sneva, and Bobby Unser.

The next driver out of the race was Al Loquasto, who completed only 28 laps when he was forced out with a faulty magneto. His pit area was directly in front of me and I was sorry I couldn’t see his pit crew at work anymore.

Janet Guthrie’s first race was a big disappointment. After having much trouble all month, she qualified with a fine average of 188.403 and started in 26th position. She competed 27 laps, by which time she had spent 105 minutes in her pit. Her pit crew made several changed to the car, but none of them helped. It was a sad audience which heard Tom Carnegie announce her exodus from the race.

The yellow flag came out for the first time on the leader’s 36th lap when sentimental favorite Lloyd Ruby crashed in the second turn. This was Lloyd’s 18th race and once again his sour luck raised its ugly head. He drove a Lindsay Hopkins car this year and started in 19th position with an average of 190.840 mph, which was the 11th fastest in the field. He was running in 15th place when he crashed and was credited with 34 laps. The cause of his crash is still not certain.

The caution light stayed on for 16 minutes and then full speed resumed. At thirty laps, the top five were Foyt, Johncock, Sneva, and Al and Bobby Unser. These positions were the same at forth and fifty laps also.

1969 winner Mario Andretti, who started in sixth position, made his exit from the race after 47 laps with a broken header. He had been running up front all day and was in ninth place when he was forced out. Mario’s departure was followed ten laps later by rookie Bobby Olivero, whose day ended because of a faulty valve.

On the 52nd lap, Johncock regained the lead from Foyt, as the two former winners continued to battle for the race lead. At sixty laps, the leaders were Johncock, Foyt, Bobby Unser, Al Unser, and Sneva. After seventy laps, Bobby and Al were first and third with Johncock, Foyt, and Sneva between them.

George Snider, driving in his 13th race, was finished after 65 laps with valve trouble, and then, after 71 laps, Jim McElreath was sidelined with waste gate problems.

The standings at both eighty and ninety laps were Johncock, Foyt, Bobby Unser, Sneva, and Al Unser. Johncock had a 3.6 second lead on Foyt , and AJ seemed headed for trouble when he pitted on his 92nd lap with an empty fuel tank. His efficient crew went to work and had him running again after only 20 seconds. While Johncock and Foyt were making their fourth pit stops, Sneva led laps 94-96 before he also pitted.

Meanwhile Cliff Hucul, Bubby Jones, and Danny Ongais, all rookies, had had mechanical problems serious enough to take them out of the race. They were soon joined by Mike Mosley, who left after 91 laps with a faulty timing gear.

The race was approaching the half way mark, but before it got there, popular Bobby Unser, two time winner and second-place starter this year, was forced out of the running with a broken oil line. At 100 laps, Johncock had a 28.7 second lead over Foyt. Positions 3-10 were occupied by Sneva, Unser, Wally Dallenbach, Bill Vukovich, Johnny Parsons, Pancho Carter, Roger McCluskey, and Lee Kunzman.

It was about now that Foyt began closing the gap between him and Johncock. At 120 laps, the distance had been reduced to 19.53 seconds, and then to 18 seconds when Foyt pitted on his 138th lap.

The standings at 110, 120, and 130 laps were still Johncock, Foyt, Sneva, Unser, and Dallenbach. After Bobby Unser made his exit, the next driver out of action was Foyt’s teammate, Bill Vukovich, after 110 laps, and then Gary Bettenhausen, driving for J.C. Agajanian was out after 138 laps with clutch trouble.

Meanwhile, Foyt continued to decrease Johncock’s lead. He made a pit stop on the 156th lap and lost time of course, but he expected to make it up a few laps later when Gordie pitted. On the 156th lap, Pancho Carter’s engine blew and this brought out the yellow flag. Foyt, but not Johncock, pitted and many people thought Gordie may have lost the race at this time. A few laps later, however, the yellow came out again when Johnny Parsons had to be towed to his pit, and this time the race leader made his pit stop. He left with a fifteen second lead.

A.J. was still decreasing the lead and the excitement among the fans increased as track announcer Tom Carnegie did his usual fine job of keeping them informed of the action. The first five positions at 140, 150, and 160 laps were still held by the same drivers, but the exact position sometimes changes because of the pit stops. In the meantime, John Mahler, Eldon Rasmussen, and Bill Puterbaugh joined those drivers on the sidelines with various mechanicals ills.

Foyt was now turning laps at 191 mph and was only eight seconds from the lead when Gordon made his final pit stop on his 180th lap. He had his fuel tanked filled and was on his way again. Three laps later, AJ made his final stop for fuel and two right tires, which took only fifteen seconds. The excitement was at a fever pitched now as the fans speculated among themselves what would happen. It should be a royal battle to the finish.

Just as the excitement was accelerating, Johncock came down the straightaway slowly with smoke pouring from his engine. The crowd gasped in disbelief as Gordie pulled over to the side and into the first turn infield, a most disappointed fellow. A broken valve spring was the culprit. Hot and almost exhausted, he got out of his car and stepped into the water to cool off.

With the crowd cheering and waving wildly, Foyt went back into the lead. Now the big question was “Can his car last seventeen more laps?” He had almost a forty second lead on new second place driver, Tom Sneva, and drove slightly slower to save his car.

As 190 laps went into the record books, the first five positions were held by Foy, Sneva, Unser, Dallenbach, and Johnny Parsons.

Foyt’s good luck continued as one by one the last few laps went by, and then, with starter Pat Vidan holding the checkered flag, he came out of the fourth turn on his last lap and sped towards the start-finish line as Pat waved the black and white flag. The crowd, estimated at more than 350,000, gave a tremendous ovation to the first four-time winner of the race. AJ took an extra insurance lap, and then slowly drove his last lap, waving all the time to his thousands of admirers all around the track. Although I didn’t want him to win, I too became engulfed in the euphoria of the moment and cheered and waved at him as he came through the pit area on his way to victory lane. The big smile on his face indicated that he was a most happy fellow.

Twenty-eight seconds after AJ finished the race, Tom Sneva competed his 200 laps for second place, and then the red flag was displayed because some overzealous race fans had gotten onto the race track. It was the end of one of the most memorable races in Speedway history.

A large part of the fans were leaving by now, but I stayed for several minutes and watched some of the drivers and pit crews father up their equipment and walk to their garages. When the pits were empty, I took one last look at the length of the straightway and started my walk to Gate 1.

I shopped in one of the gift shops for a few minutes and then walked through the tunnel and south to Gate 1. I was hungry and thirsty and wanted to stop at the White Castle restaurant, but the customers waiting in line weren’t moving very fast, so I decided to move on and stopped at the Standard Service Station and bought a bottle of Coca-Cola. It wasn’t just what I wanted, but it greatly relieved my dry throat and made me feel better. The automobile traffic was bumper to bumper and going nowhere as usual, but the pedestrian traffic was moving okay and it was a few minutes before 4:00 when I arrived at the bank parking lot. I opened the windows to cool the inside a little bit and to get some air circulating. The soft car seat felt good after sitting on a wooden seat during the race.

Traffic was moving fairly well on Lynnhurst Drive, so at 4:10, I left the parking lot and started my drive back to Danville. When I reached the intersection, the start police wouldn’t let me turn right, so I kept going south until I came to the first side street and then turned right. The traffic on this street moved real well and within a few minutes, I was back on Crawfordsville Road and then onto I-74. Within a few miles, the traffic diminished considerably and I had no trouble the rest of the way. I think this was the easiest time I ever had getting out of the post-race traffic congestion. When I arrived at the motel, I looked at the clock in my car and was pleasantly surprised when I saw it was 5:55.

The cool temperature and soft chairs in my room felt good as I watched TV and relaxed for a few minutes. Little by little a feeling of hunger was coming over me, so I walked to a grocery store a block from the motel and bought a quart of milk for supper. I had not eaten any of the fried chicken I had taken to the race, so that and the milk made a good, tasty supper for me. While I was eating supper, I also had pleasant entertainment in the form of a television musical variety program which co-starred Robert Goulet and Julie Andrews. It was a fine program with little advertising and was most pleasing to me.

When the musical show ended, I tuned in ABC-TV’s same-day telecast of the big race. It was a fine program, with good commentary by the announcers and excellent camera work. The cameras were located all around the Speedway and picked up several scenes I missed seeing, including fine coverage of Lloyd Ruby’s crash and Gordon Johncock leaving the race. There was also an interview with AJ Foyt at the end of the program.

After the race program, I took a refreshing bath and then retired for the night. It had been a real pleasant day.

When I awoke in the morning, I cleaned up somewhat, got everything packed and put into the car, checked out of the motel, and at 8:40 headed south for the Colonial Kitchen and breakfast. It was about 9:15 when I stopped for breakfast, which was eggs, bacon, hash browns, toast, orange juice, and coffee. Most of the customers were farmers having their morning coffee, although there were a few late eaters like me having a full meal.

The full meal made me feel better and it was a few minutes before 10:00 when I left the restaurant and started the last part of my trip home. It was a quiet holiday morning, with little traffic on the highway, but several farmers working in their fields. When I arrived in Decatur about 11:30, there were a lot of people watching the boat races as I went by the lake. About an hour later, I arrived home to complete another safe and enjoyable trip to the big race.

EPILOGUE

On Monday night, May 30, a record purse of $1,116,870 was divided among the 33 drivers who participated in the race, with Foyt receiving $259,791 for first place and Sneva $109,946 for second place.

Foyt, of course, wrote his name into Speedway history by becoming the first four-time winner of the race. This was his 20th race and his first victory since 1967. He had now achieved his main goal in racing, and because of this many people expected him to announce his retirement in victory lane, but AJ says he had no intention of retiring now and will be back next year to try for number 5. His winning speed of 161.331 mph is about 1.6 mph slower than that of record-holder Mark Donohue’s 1972 average.

By starting first, setting one and four lap qualification records, driving the first official 200 mph lap in Speedway history, and finishing second in the race, Tom Sneva came within 29 seconds of having a perfect year.

Al Unser also had a fine year. He started and finished third and was never lower than fifth position.

Wally Dallenbach finished fourth for the second year in a row, and again drove the STP Oil Treatment car.

Johnny Parsons had his best finish in four starts by finishing fifth in another STP car.

Tom Bigelow also had his best finish in four starts by placing sixth in the Thermo-King machine.

Lee Kunzman made a fine comeback by placing seventh. This was his first Indy race since 1973, when he was seriously injured in a race later that year.

Roger McCluskey finished eighth in his 16th Speedway race. He was a teammate of Lloyd Ruby and drove for veteran owner Lindsay Hopkins.

Steve Kisoloff had the slowest qualifying speed this year, but completely 191 laps and was awarded ninth position.

Jerry Sneva, brother of Tom, finished in 10th place and was given the “Rookie of the Year” award for his good work.

Gordon Johncock finished eleventh but collected the fourth highest prize money because of his large lap prize winnings.

A happy feature for everybody this year was the fact that a full 500-mile race was completed this year. Rain had shortened the race three out of the last four years and it was certainly a pleasure to see a full race again. In fact, it was unusually warm and dry almost all month, with rainfall almost non-existent and race day temperatures in the low and mid-eighties.

The records established by Tom Sneva, Janet Guthrie, and AJ Foyt certainly made this year’s race a pleasant one to remember. There was also considerable sorrow at the Speedway this year caused by the loss of three of its most devoted and long standing figures.

On May 3, “The Voice of the 500” for 25 years, Sid Collins, took his life. Sid had been in poor physical and emotional health for several months. A few weeks earlier, he had gone to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, where it was discovered he had amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, a steady degeneration of the spinal cord. With this knowledge and knowing that he would be unable to broadcast the race, it apparently was too much for him to endure and resulted in his suicide. It was a great shock to racing fans everywhere. The new anchorman for the broadcast of the race will be Paul Page.

On July 31, the Speedway lost the man who, for 32 years, had been its Superintendent of Grounds, Clarence Cagle, by retirement. Under his guidance and direction since 1945, the Speedway had gone from weeds and shambles to one of the most outstanding structures in the world. He was in charge of all maintenance and construction work, and it was a job to which he devoted his life.

The biggest shock of the year occurred on October 27 when the entire racing world was stunned by the death of Speedway president Tony Hulman. I gasped in disbelief when I saw the article in the newspaper the following morning. He had entered an Indianapolis hospital about noon on October 27 and died on the operating table that night of an aneurysm of the aorta. Tony was a multi-millionaire, but also had put millions of dollars of improvements into the Speedway. It was his money that turned the Speedway from a ramshackle mess in 1945 into what it is today. To millions of fans around the world, he was associated with those four famous words, “GENTLEMEN, START YOUR ENGINES.”

Two weeks later, it was announced that Speedway vice-president Joe Cloutier was the new president. I hope Joe will be able to continue the operation of the Speedway in the future just as Tony did for 32 years, and that the race will continue to live up to its reputation as the greatest spectacle in racing.

Another year had come and gone, one to be remembered for a long time. Come next May, I plan to be there again to see “THE GREATEST SPECATACLE IN RACING.”

Pace Car – Oldsmobile Delta Royal
500 Festival Queen – Kathy Hegg

Indy Journal - 1976

2009-04-29T20:03:00.001-05:00

1976

My return to the first day of time trials after a two-year absence, the comparatively slow speeds turned in by the drivers, the first laps ever run at the Speedway by a woman, my first appearance at a Goodyear Motor Sports Club open house, the third rain-shortened race in the last four years, and the shooting death of Speedway vice-president Elmer George were the memorable events of this year for me.

On Friday afternoon, May 14, I drove to Crawfordsville, Indiana, in my 1973 Chevrolet Chevelle, where I had a reservation at the Holiday Inn Motel. I registered at the motel and then went to my room and took a bath and shaved. Immediately after that, I drove to the Speedway to attend the GMSC open house.

It was 7:00 when I arrived at the Speedway Motel and parked my car. The open house was held at the Goodyear building just east of the motel. Speedway radio network announcer Sid Collins was the master of ceremonies and interviewed many drivers. The drivers were available to sign autographs and talk to club members, and this was a popular attraction.

There was an abundant supply of doughnuts and Coca-Cola to be served, and since I hadn’t had any supper, I took full advantage of this part of the evening.

Among the drivers present were Mike Hiss, Duane Carter, Larry Dickson, Lloyd Ruby, Bobby Unser, Wally Dallenbach, Dan Gurney, Gordon Johncock, A.J. Foyt, Jackie Stewart, Eldon Rasmussen, Tom Sneva, Sheldon Kinser, Janet Gutherie, Dick Simon, Jim Hurtubise, Parnelli Jones, John Martin, and Bill Puterbaugh.

It was a fine event and everybody there seemed to enjoy themselves. It lasted until about 10:00 and it was about 11:00 when I arrived back at my motel and retired for the night.

When I awoke about 5:30 on Saturday morning, I looked out the window and noticed that it had been raining for some time. I got myself ready for the day and left the motel about 6:15.

I drove through a steady rain for several minutes and then stopped for breakfast. The restaurant was about a mile south of the highway. My breakfast was pancakes and sausage, with coffee and orange juice and a side order of toast. The service and food were both good and there were other customers also, most of whom I guessed to be on their way to the Speedway.

As I drove to the Speedway, the rain fell in spurts and there were just a few drops coming down when I parked the car about two blocks from the Speedway.

It was 8:00 when I entered the Speedway grounds. There weren’t many people walking in the rain so I went to the gift shop and bought a sweater for Mark.

From here, I walked to where I wanted to sit and saw the race track was under water, so I turned around and walked to the new Hall of Fame to see if I could sell my two extra race tickets.

Selling the tickets was no problem. There was another man who entered the building with me and when I saw him looking at the seating chart, I asked him if he would like to buy my tickets. He looked at the price and location and then gave me the $50. We talked for a couple minutes and then he left and said he’d see me at our seats on race day morning. I was happy to have the tickets sold and know there would be somebody sitting with me.

By now, the rain had stopped falling, but it looked as if it could resume at any minute. I took the long walk back to the Paddock area and found a seat just a few feet north of the start-finish line. The grandstands were filling now and Speedway trucks were trying to dry the race track.

The usual 10:30-11:00 festivities were conducted, with thirty-three small race cars and several marching bands attired in bicentennial uniforms being the main attractions. The festivities helped to alleviate the boredom of the crowd caused by not being able to see any race cars tour the track.

There was no further rain and little by little, the track dried sufficiently to be used. Shortly before 2:00, a tremendous roar went up from the crowd as it was announced that the track was opened for practice. The applause increased in sound as the engines were started and the cars pushed away.

Between 2:30 and 3:00, the track was opened for qualifying and Larry Cannon was the first driver on the track and the first one to complete a qualification run for this year’s race. Seven other drivers made qualification runs. The eight, in order of speed, were Johnny Rutherford, Gordon Johncock, Tom Sneva, Al Unser, AJ Foyt, Duane Carter, Wally Dallenbach, and Canon.

Bobby Unser lost his oil and Mel Kenyon crashed on the backstretch. This not only killed their qualification attempts but closed the track for a long time.

At 6:00, a long, frustrating day ended and I waited for about thirty minutes before leaving to allow some of the traffic to leave. The traffic was still heavy so I decided to stop at the MCL Cafeteria for supper and thought maybe by the time I left, the traffic wouldn’t be so bad.

I had a good supper of breaded pork tenderloin with mashed potatoes, beets, corn, and bread. My only food since breakfast had been two hotdogs, so it really tasted good. I was only one of many race fans who ate there.

It was 8:00 when I left the cafeteria and the traffic was still bad. It took a long time to get to the highway, and while I was waiting, it started raining again. It rained steadily off and on for the rest of the evening.

I arrived at the motel shortly after 9:00, turned the TV set on, and rested on the bed for several minutes. I watched the 10:00 news and a special show which covered the day’s activities at the Speedway, and then retired for the night.

The alarm clock rang at 6:00 Sunday morning, so I got up and left for home about 6:30. I had taken a bath Saturday night, so I shaved and brushed my teeth and was ready to go. I took U.S. 231 south to the Route 36 junction and went west. I stopped for breakfast at the Colonial Kitchen and then drove on home, where I arrived at 11:25.

On Saturday morning, I put all of my travelling equipment in my suitcase and checked my list to be sure I had everything. The three of us had a good dinner, and after eating, I put my equipment in the trunk of our 1975 Chevrolet Caprice. Dixie took a picture of Mark and me together, and then at 1:28, I waved goodbye to them and started on my 22nd trip to the big race.

The traffic was quite heavy in Springfield and most of the way to and in Decatur. About a mile or so after I crossed Lake Decatur, I glanced to my right and saw Bob Allen, one of our neighbors, and his three boys and one of their friends in their station wagon. Dixie had told me that they were going to the race, but I hadn’t thought about meeting them on the highway going over there. I honked a couple times and waved at them, and when they saw who it was, they did likewise. They stayed immediately ahead of me all the way to Tuscola, although most of the time there was a considerable distance between us. I finally caught up with them shortly before we reached Tuscola, and then, as we were driving through the city, they stopped at a filling station, and I didn’t see any more of them.

It was 3:50 when I reached the Colonial Kitchen and stopped for a break. There were a few people having their mid-afternoon coffee, and I decided I would have the same thing, plus a heated sweet roll. I kept looking out the front window to see if Allens came by, but I didn’t see them. When I finished my second cup of coffee, I used the restroom, paid the bill, and at 4:18 left and drove to Danville. As is true with many small towns, the small towns on Route 1 were quite busy this Saturday afternoon. A few minutes before 5:00, I arrived in Danville, and after looking around for a few minutes, I found the motel.

The first thing I did was to go to the check-in counter and register. There were several people waiting to sign in and I was glad I had a reserved room. My room was on the third level and after putting my suitcase on the bed, I checked the TV set to see if it worked. I didn’t want to have an inoperative TV set as I did last year. There was no response when I turned the set on, so I went back to the check-in counter and told one of the employees what my problem was. She said there was a switch inside the room door that turned the TV and radio off and on. I went back and discovered what she was talking about and happily for me the TV worked fine.

With that problem solved, I decided to go to the Standard Service Station a block north of the motel and have the gas tank filled. With a full tank, I would be able to get to Indianapolis and back safely. It was about 6:30 now, and I decided it was time for supper. The only place I knew that served food was the motel restaurant. I thought it might be expensive, but I decided to have a good meal and spend some money.

Luckily, when I arrived, there were a few empty tables and I was seated and given a menu right away. There was a wide variety of choices to choose from, and I chose beef liver with bacon. While my meal was being cooked, I partook of the salad bar. As I was eating my salad, there was a steady flow of people both entering and leaving the restaurant and I was surprised at the informal atmosphere of the customers’ attire. There were business suits, long dresses, work clothes, slacks, and shorts all mixing with each other. There was also a wide range of ages, from young couples with small children to others well along in years. My meal consisted of two plate-length pieces of liver and a plate full of tasty, crisp bacon, and a big baked potato. It was a delicious meal and when I finished I knew I wouldn’t be hungry for some time. My bill was $4.63, and considering the excellent food and service I received, I think it was a bargain.

It was 9:00 when I returned to my room. I read three newspapers I had brought from home and, at 10:00, watched the news on the Channel 6 Indianapolis station. They had a 30-minute program about the race at 10:30, which I watched, and then shortly after 11:00, I retired for the day.

I had set the alarm clock for 5:00, but I awoke a few minutes before that. I don’t know whether it was my usual night before the 500 excitement or the weather that awakened me. When I opened my eyes, I saw lightning and heard thunder. I looked out the window and saw the wind blowing the rain against the window, and there appeared to be a river of water rushing down the street.

That was a bad way to start race day, but I knew it was six hours until the race started and it may not be raining at the Speedway. As the rain continued, I got myself cleaned up and checked to see that I had everything I needed for my day at the Speedway. When I left my room at 5:30, the rain had stopped, although the water was still standing in the streets. I had planned to eat breakfast at the same restaurant I did on the morning of the time trials, but then, just as I was ready to start the engine, a thought entered my mind. Maybe, just maybe, the motel restaurant was serving breakfast. I went back to check, and it was one of the smartest things I did all day. Not only was the restaurant open, but a buffet style breakfast was being served. I decided to join all of those people, most of who were going to the same place I was going to and who were taking advantage of the situation. The menu consisted of scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, coffee, orange juice, and tomato juice. For some reason, I had a hard time getting full. I ate several pieces of bacon, sausage, and toast, plus three helpings of eggs and three cups of coffee. The charge was only $2.75 per person, and I’m sure I ate more than that. At last, I got my fill, and after paying my most reasonable $2.75, at 6:03 I left for the Speedway.

The rain started falling again shortly after I left the motel, and I drove in a steady rain all the way until I was 10 miles or so from the Speedway, and then it stopped. I was happy to see it stop, but I knew from experience not to get my hopes up too much. Until now, traffic had moved right along, but when I reached the I-465 intersection, everything came to a stop. I was prepared for a long wait until I parked the car, but I was pleasantly surprised to discover the traffic moved quite well – only a couple feet at a time, but it was never completely stopped for long. At Lynnhurst Drive, state policemen directed all traffic northward, so then I took the first street to the right and drove until I came to Fischer St. and then turned right again.

I stopped at Bud Kramer’s house and asked him if he had a spot for me. He almost said no, but at the last second, he found a place in front of his front steps. It was one of the tightest spaces I ever squeezed a car into, and after much back and forth maneuvering, the car was parked. It took me several seconds to slither out of the car, but I made it. I paid Bud his $5.00, chatted with him for a few seconds, and then left for the Speedway. It was now 8:00.

The sights along Crawfordsville Road between Kramer’s and Georgetown Road were much the same as in past years, with beer cans, Styrofoam coolers, people sleeping in ditches, and people selling and buying tickets, all in abundant supply.

Because I had not been in the vicinity the night before to do so, I decided to take a quick trip through Risner’s Drug Store, at 16th and Main Streets. I wanted to buy something for Mark and Dixie, but I didn’t see anything that appealed to me. From the drug store, I walked to the Speedway entrance, and at 8:20, the ticket taker took my ticket as I entered the Speedway grounds. I walked only a few feet before I stopped and bought four Speedway souvenir race programs. With that important job done, I continued walking until I came to the tunnel entrance to the infield.

As I started down the tunnel, I caught my first view of the race track and the pit area and it really brought a smile to my face. Before I went to my seat, I walked around in hope of finding something of interest for a camera fan but didn’t have much luck. I wanted to be in my seat by 9:00, so I put everything back into my carrying bag and left.

The crowd was quite large now, and when I put my carrying bag down to get my ticket out of it, I had a hard time finding a place to do so. When I arrived at my seat, it felt good to sit down and get off my feet for a couple minutes. The multitude of activity also made me feel better, including the marching bands, the work in the pits, and all the other activity.

Shortly after 9:15, I took a walk behind the pit area to look at some of the cars, pit crews, drivers, and anybody else I could see that I might recognize. The pit crews were making their last minute checks and adjustments as the starting time was now less than two hours away. My sightseeing lasted for about 30 minutes, and I was on my way back to my seat when the announcement came over the PA system for the pit crews to push their cars to their starting positions on the race track. While this was being done, the first of the traditional pre-race songs, “On the Banks of the Wabash,” was played by the Purdue University Band.

With the zero-hour now less than an hour away, the many celebrities were driven around the track in official Buick cars for everybody to see. Among the celebrities present this year were Shirley Jones, Claude Akins, Clifton Davis, Jose Perez, Jo Anne Worley, Kent McChord, Ron Howard, Phyllis Diller, and Indiana University basketball stars Kent Benson and Wayne Radford. There was one celebrity who was driven around the track separate from the other celebrities. That was Bob Hope. He and Speedway owner Tony Hulman were driven around the track in their separate car and were given a warm reception by the huge crowd.

At 10:30, top USAC officials made their final inspection trip of the track and announced it was okay for racing. About 10:40, the national anthem was sung by “Up With People” with Tom Sullivan as the vocalist. It was an offbeat arrangement of the song, and it was rather coolly received by many of the spectators.

With everybody still standing, the innovation was given by Dr. Ray Montgomery, an Indianapolis minister, and then “Taps” was played in keeping with the true meaning of Memorial Day.

To regress a little bit, my two race companions had arrived at 10:00. I had begun to wonder if they had forgotten what day it was, but he said he and his wife had gotten a late start from their home in Michigan and then got caught in the heavy traffic around the Speedway. Although I have forgotten their names, they were strong race fans and made interesting companions.

After the playing of “Taps”, there was a pause of about a minute and then the last traditional song, “Back Home Again in Indiana” was played by the band and sung by Jim Nabors.

The huge crowd was abuzz with noise now as the last few seconds passed away before the famous command. Chief announcer Tom Carnegie introduced Speedway president Tony Hulman, and Tony slowly and distinctly gave his famous order, “Gentlemen, Start Your Engines!”

The air was charged with electrifying excitement as the 33 engines came to life and the fans responded with cheering and applause. A few seconds later, a member of each pit crew raised an arm to indicate his driver and car were ready to go. Another minute or two went by and then the Buick Pace Car, driven by country music singer Marty Robbins, slowly started away. One by one, the cars were pushed away and started getting lined up for the start of the race. Mike Mosley’s car was the last one to start but was soon in its proper position.

All eyes were on the fourth turn and about two minutes later, a loud cheer came from the crowd as the pace car and the field appeared and came down the straightaway. It was a beautiful sight to see. The cars disappeared into the first turn but could be heard all the way around the track. Two to three minutes later, the pace car appeared and started through the pit area. The field stayed in good formation behind the pace car and then starter Pat Vidan waved the green flag and the race was on.

From his pole position, Johnny Rutherford took the lead, but kept it for only three laps when AJ Foyt took over. He held the lead through the 13th lap. In the meantime, there was action occurring in the pits. Spike Gehlhausen, a rookie who started 25th, had oil pressure problems at the start and was unable to finish the first lap. On his second lap, Dick Simon was finished for the day with a broken connecting rod and his car stopped on the backstretch.

About the same time, Bill Vukovich pulled into his pit, and after a wait of a minute or so took off his helmet and was done for the day. The trouble was diagnosed as a broken connecting rod. Bill’s good record of finishing in the top ten positions didn’t hold up this year.

On the tenth lap, the yellow light came on when Roger McCluskey spun in some oil in the southeast turn and crashed into the wall. Roger had a good car and one of the highest qualifying speeds, but his bad luck of so many years returned to plague him again.

While the yellow light was still on, David Hobbs, who started in 31st position as a teammate to Salt Walther, was finished after ten laps with a water leak.

With only ten of 200 laps completed, five cars were out of the race. The attrition rate was terrible, but little did anybody know that it was almost over for the day.

Meanwhile, back on the race track, there was much action. At the end of ten laps, the first ten were Foyt, Rutherford, Gordon Johncock, Tom Sneva, Wally Dallenbach, Duane Carter, Mario Andretti, Johnny Parsons, Gary Bettenhausen, and Mike Mosley.

Foyt and Rutherford both made pit stops during the yellow period for McCluskey’s accident. Duane Carter led laps 14-16 before being passed by Dallenbach, who lead only 2 laps before being overtaken by Johncock. Gordon remained in front until the 37th lap when he made a pit stop. This put Sneva in front but only for one lap because he pitted on his next lap and Rutherford regained the lead.

Further back in the field, Andretti, Lloyd Ruby, Tom Bigelow, and Jan Opperman had moved up several positions and were giving a good account of themselves. Rutherford remained in first until the 60th lap when he made his third pit stop and Foyt regained the lead. After 50 laps, or 125 miles, the first five positions were held by Rutherford, Foyt, Johncock, Carter, and Bobby Unser. On his 53rd lap, Gary Bettenhausen came into his pits and was done for the day with mechanical problems. His pit was in front of me and he and his pit crew were quite a dejected group when they discovered their problem.

By now, the fans were noticing the low attrition rate and it made the race quite interesting. At this stage in the race, Foyt’s pit crew began to notice his lead over Rutherford was getting smaller and smaller, but they didn’t know why. AJ pitted on his 81st lap and Rutherford took over again.

At the halfway mark, 100 laps, the standings were Rutherford, Foyt, Johncock, Dallenbach, Carter, Sneva, Al Unser, Andretti, Walther, and Bobby Unser.

Everything was going fine at this point, but it was only minutes away from coming to a most unhappy ending. I saw and felt it coming down, but didn’t want to believe it. That ol’ culprit of the Speedway – rain – was here again.

A huge moan arose from the crowd as the jackets, caps, rain scarves, and plastic covers were put into use. On the race track, the cars slowed down as the yellow flag came out, which was followed a couple laps later by the red flag, which stopped all activity on the track and brought the drivers into their pits.

I sat in stunned disbelief and disgust, as did the thousands of other spectators, as the rain continued. Pretty soon it intensified and everybody scampered to get under dry protection somewhere. I went into the first men’s restroom behind the Tower Terrace section, made use of the facilities, and then stayed for several minutes to escape the rain, as did many other men.

Eventually the rain diminished somewhat, although it was a long time before it stopped. By now, there were several trucks going around the track in an effort to dry it and get it ready for racing again. By 3:00, the track was dry enough to be used again and pit crew members were instructed to line their cars up in single file in the pit area for the restart of the race.

Most of the fans returned to their seats and were eagerly awaiting Tony Hulman’s order to have the engines restarted. The cars were lined up, the drivers were in their cars and ready to go, and the starters were inserted into the cars. The only thing left to be done was for Tony to issue the order.

Suddenly, the sky opened again and drenched the Speedway. Within the next couple minutes, the fans again rushed for shelter and the exits. A restart was out of the question now. It was all over for this year. This second rain was almost a downpour, and the mad rush for the exits made for a most unpleasant situation.

I checked to be sure I had all of my equipment and then started the long walk to Gate 1. The pouring rain made the walk seem longer than it really was. At times while walking behind the Paddock area, there was no way to avoid walking through several inches of water, plus being soaked from above by water falling off the grandstand roof.

When I passed through the gate, I walked across the street and stopped at the White Castle. I had eaten almost nothing since 6:00 so I ate a couple cheeseburgers and some French fries while I was getting out of the rain for a few minutes. The food didn’t fill my stomach, but I did feel somewhat better.

The rain had stopped for a few minutes, so I left for Kramers’ and hoped I arrived before it started again. Along the way, I encountered some race fans whose frustration and unhappiness about the weather was further aggravated by the failure of the traffic to move. Two carloads of such people across the street from Kramers’ almost tangled with each other, but calmed down before any punches were thrown.

Kramers’ yard had only two cars left on it when I arrive, so there was no problem about getting out. Bud was picking up trash left by some of his other customers, and when I arrived the two of us talked for quite a while about the weather, the people, the race, and several other matters. I think it was about the longest and friendliest conversation the two of us ever had with each other, because there was nothing or nobody to interrupt us. He finally excused himself to attend a birthday party for one of his grandchildren in the house and said I could sit on the front porch until I left.

Shortly after 5:00, it started raining again and I went to the car so that I wouldn’t get any wetter. I was hoping the traffic would taper off somewhat before I left, but it didn’t and at 5:30, I decided I had to leave and would have to hope for good luck.

It took a few minutes but finally somebody with a little compassion for me let me onto the highway. The traffic was so heavy that it took an hour and fifteen minutes to reach the I-74 junction. Next to the race being abbreviated by the rain, this was the most frustrating part of my trip. I encounter this same situation every year, and I have never been able to understand the necessity for this bottleneck. After what seemed like hours, about 6:45, I reached I-74, and finally started moving. I could tell by looking at some of the other people that I wasn’t alone in my thinking.

It rained intermittently all the way to Danville, but the traffic moved well and it was between 8:00 and 8:05 when I arrived at my room. I turned on the TV set, took off my wet shoes, and watched ABC-TV’s same-day coverage of the race. It was a two-hour program and a good one, considering that only half a race was run and it wasn’t until 3:17 that the race was officially finished.

At 10:00, when the program ended, I checked to see if the motel restaurant was open. It was closed for the night, so I returned to my room and, shortly before 11:00, retired for the night.

I woke up between 6:00 and 6:30 Monday morning and felt much better. I turned on the TV set and watched it for a few minutes, and then took a bath, shaved, combed my hair, and put on clean, dry clothes. With that important job done, I checked to see I hadn’t left anything, took my equipment to the car, and then returned my motel key to the front desk and made sure I was checked out.

Danville was now a quiet city with little automobile traffic and almost nobody walking the streets when I left it about 7:30 and drove south to Chrisman. I stopped at the Standard Station in Georgetown for gasoline, and then continued on and arrived at the Colonial Kitchen at 8:00.

There were about a couple dozen or so customers in the restaurant. Almost every time I stop here, there is a group of farmers having their morning or afternoon coffee, and this time was no exception. I ordered pancakes, sausage, toast, hash browns, and coffee. It was a good, inexpensive breakfast, and when I left about 8:45, I felt refreshed and ready for the drive home.

There was no doubt in my mind that this area of the state had received quite a bit of rain in the past several hours. There was water standing in many fields and the highway was wet in various degrees almost all the way to Decatur. In some places, it was completely wet and in other places only along the center line. A few miles east of Decatur, the rainy area seemed to end and from here on to Springfield it looked as if there hadn’t been any rain.

It was about 10:00 when I reached Decatur. The city traffic wasn’t as heavy as it was Saturday afternoon and in about fifteen minutes, I was out of the city and on the last forty or so miles of my trip. Traffic was about normal most of the way and it was 11:15 when I drove into my driveway. I carried my equipment into the house and started the job of unpacking and putting everything away. Another safe trip to and from the big race was complete.

EPILOGUE

The official finish was posted by USAC on Monday morning and listed Rutherford first, Foyt second, and Johncock third, all with 102 laps completed.

Wally Dallenbach had his best finish in his ten races when he finished fourth in the Sinmast Goodyear Wildcat. He was a teammate of Johncock and their mechanic was George Bignotti.

Pancho Carter had another fine year and finished fifth, having started in sixth position. In his three years at the Speedway, he had placed seventh, fourth, and fifth.

Tom Sneva had a fine year, starting third and finishing sixth. It was particularly pleasing after his spectacular crash of last year.

Al Unser finished seventh in his car with one of the new Cosworth engines in it, after starting in fourth position.

Mario Andretti made news at the Speedway this year when he had the fastest qualifying run. His average was 189.404 mph, but he started in 19th position because he didn’t qualify until the third day of time trials. He moved up fast during the race, but had two long pit stops which dropped him to eighth place at the finish.

Salt Walther was running at the finish for the first time in his five races. In three of those five years, he finished last, so it was good to see him do so well.

Last year’s winner, Bobby Unser, was tenth after starting 12th.

Special mention must be made of 11th place finisher, Lloyd Ruby. Lloyd, the perennial sentimental favorite and hard luck driver of the Speedway, was almost unheard of this year until the last day of qualifying, when he really made big news. He didn’t have a car until that day, but then made an outstanding qualifying run of 186.480 mph. It was the seventh fastest time in the field, but Lloyd started in 30th position because he qualified so late. If he had qualified on the first day, he would have started in third position on the first row, a row he had never started from. This was Lloyd’s 17th race and he is second only to Foyt in that category. Once the race started, he advanced quickly and had worked up to 11th place when the rain ended the race. It would only be conjecture, of course, to say where he would have finished if the race had gone to completion, but he certainly gave a good account of himself in this year’s race. His many thousands of fans, including me, are still hoping to see him in Victory Lane some year.

The purse for this year’s race was a record $1,037,775, of which Rutherford received $256,121, and Foyt $103,296. The purse was distributed at the Victory Dinner on Monday night. Also at the Victory Dinner, Vern Schuppan, one of four rookies in this year’s race, was named the Rookie of the Year. The other rookies were Billy Scott, Al Loquasto, and Spike Gehlhausen.

Qualifying speeds were lower this year than they were in 1975 or 1974. The fastest four-lap average was 189.404 mph, compared to 193.976 in 1975 and 191.632 in 1974. The overall qualification average for the entire field was 183.785, compared to last year’s 185.057. Several reasons were given for the decrease in speed, including limited amounts of fuel and engine restriction mandated by USAC.

One of the biggest stories of this year was the appearance of the first woman driver in the history of the Speedway. Her name was Janet Guthrie and every lap she ran and every word she spoke received much attention from the news media. As might be expected, she was not well received at first by some members of the racing fraternity. This negative opinion, however, changed considerably after she passed her rookie test with flying colors. Unfortunately, she was troubled all month long with a sour running car. Her Bryant Heating and Cooling Special, a teammate of Dick Simon’s car, encountered one mechanical problem after another, and when the qualifying deadline came, she was unable to qualify fast enough for the race. By this time, she had proven herself to be a race driver to almost everybody’s satisfaction, and her congenial personality won her many new fans.

It is hard to believe that this was the third rain-shortened race in the last four years. Before 1973, many fans had never seen a drop of rain at the Speedway, and now it seems to be becoming an almost yearly occurrence. Unlike last year’s sudden downpour, this year’s rain was gentler but lasted much longer. It is only speculation, of course, as to what would have transpired had the full 500 miles been run, particularly in regard to the Rutherford-Foyt battle.

This year’s activities came to an unpleasant ending with the shooting death of Speedway vice-president, Elmer George. George was the son-in-law of Speedway president, Tony Hulman, and was a former race driver, having driven in the 500 in 1957, 1962, and 1963. He and his wife were having marital problems and earlier in the month, she had filed for a divorce. He was killed at the Hulman farm in Terre Haute, apparently by a farm attendant. Both George and Tony Hulman were guests at the GMSC open house party on May 14. I had no idea George would be dead before the month was gone.

Another year of activity at the Speedway was done. Like all others, it would have its outstanding events by which it would be remembered. When the time comes for the 1977 race, I plan to be in attendance to see “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing.”

Pace Car – Buick Century
500 Festival Queen – Rebecca Tippy

Indy Journal - 1975

2009-03-08T18:53:00.000-05:00

1975

The winning of the pole position for a record-tying fourth time by A.J. Foyt, the close fight for the lead during the race, and the heat and rain on race day were highlights of this year’s activity at the Speedway.

From a personal viewpoint, it was my first race since becoming a father and the first year I stayed at a motel while either going to or coming home from the race.

On Saturday morning, May 24, I packed all of my belongings into our 1975 Chevrolet Caprice and then ate dinner. After dinner, I made a last check to be sure I had everything on my list and at 12:20, I said goodbye to Dixie and my boy, Mark, and started on my 21st trip to the race.

The weather looked threatening when I left and I didn’t even get to Riverton before the first drops fell. It turned out to be a light short shower and when I reached Dawson, it had stopped.

The traffic moved slowly in both directions and it took 55-60 minutes to reach Decatur, which I think is the longest time it’s taken to get there on any of my trips. The slow traffic continued for a few miles east of Decatur and then it improved considerably. It was 2:45 when I stopped in front of the Colonia Kitchen in Chrisman.

I stretched my legs and arms for a few seconds and then went in and found a seat. The place was almost empty of people and there were no more than six customers at a time while I was there. I had a cup of coffee and a dish of vanilla ice cream, both of which tasted good. When I finished my coffee, I used the restroom and then, at 3:02, I started on the second part of my trip.

Ten minutes later, at 3:12, I crossed the state line and started the up-and-down, twisting ride to the Speedway. The Raccoon Lake State Recreation Area is an attractive area and the lake was replete with boaters taking advantage of the good weather.

I took Route 36 all the way to Lynnhurst Drive and stopped at the Standard filling station at the intersection of the two roads and filled the gasoline tank. Lynnhurst Drive is a four lane road now and a tremendous improvement from several years ago when it was only two lanes.

The traffic on Crawfordsville Road was quite heavy and moved slowly but I managed to get to Auburn St. and at 4:53 pm, I arrived at the Bray house. It had taken four hours and sixteen minutes of travelling time to make the trip.

Mrs. Bray was sitting in her front yard talking with two of her sons and some friends and race fans and seemed pleased to see me. I took my suitcase upstairs and then joined the people for some informal socializing. We talked for quite a while and then I went to the Speedway Museum.

The scene around the museum was the same as in past years. There was a long line of people waiting to tour the museum and there were also a few persons still trying to buy tickets for the race.

There didn’t appear to be any exhibits I hadn’t seen before so I went to the souvenir counter to see if there was anything I might want to buy. The souvenir programs for the race were being sold and I decided to buy mine now instead of at the race tomorrow. I gave the salesclerk a $10 bill for four programs and was thoroughly shocked when she said $8 and only gave me $2 in change. I could hardly believe that the price had doubled in just one year.

I went back to the house and left my programs and then drove to the MCL Cafeteria in the shopping center on Crawfordsville Road. The cafeteria was doing a steady business, but I had no trouble finding a seat, which made me happy. For my supper, I had breaded veal cutlet, mashed potatoes with gravy, baked beans, roll and butter, and Coca-Cola. The cost was a few cents over $2, which I felt was reasonable. The food was good and the atmosphere was pleasant.

It was between 8:00 and 8:30 when I left and I window shopped in some of the stores and then drove to the Dunkin Donuts shop and had a cup of coffee and a couple donuts for dessert.

When I returned to the house, it was almost dark and I decided to take a walk around the area and see what was happening. Because of the trouble of recent years, I decided not to walk on Georgetown Road and just walked a short distance east on 16th Street and then came back. I went into the drugstore at 16th and Main Streets with the hope of buying a little souvenir for Mark. Most of the race and Speedway merchandise was either too junky or too old for Mark, so I didn’t buy anything. I also tried the drugstore a block south on Main Street but I had the same luck.

It was about 10:00 when I returned to the house. Most of the people were sitting in the yard because it was cooler there than in the house, but I wanted to read the newspaper I had brought so I sat in the living room and did that. I had the house to myself, except for somebody coming in once in a while to use the bathroom or telephone.

I decided to take advantage of nobody being in the house and used the bathroom without feeling I had to hurry because somebody was waiting to use it after me. Earlier I had decided that I would shave now instead of in the morning, and I was glad I did.

It was a few minutes before 12:00 when my day came to an end. There was much noise coming from the wild activity on Crawfordsville Road and there was almost no wind to cool my hot, uncomfortable room, but after a couple minutes, I went to sleep and wasn’t awaked at all during the night.

I had brought my electric alarm clock from home and set it to ring at 6:00. When I woke up and looked to see what time it was, it was between 5:55 and 6:00. I immediately turned the alarm off and lay in bed for a couple minutes and listened to the noise coming from downstairs and outdoors.

When the couple minutes had passed, I got up, got dressed, made the bed, and combed my hair. Mrs. Bray was serving breakfast again this year so I went downstairs and joined some other people who were already eating. I sat at the dining room table and had it to myself until I was almost finished amd three young persons joined me. The meal was two eggs, two pieces of bacon, two pieces of toast, and either milk or coffee to drink. I chose the milk. The meal cost $2.50, tasted good, and was a fine way to start the day. When I finished, I washed my teeth, got all of my equipment put into my carrying bag, and left for the Speedway. It was about 7:00 now.

The restaurant across the street from the main entrance to the Speedway was doing a good business and I stopped to have my thermos bottle filled. Because of the heat, I wanted to get Pepsi-Cola instead of the usual coffee. The person who waited on me told me they sold soda by the cup only and they couldn’t sell it in a thermos bottle. This didn’t make sense to me, but I didn’t want to argue and there were people waiting in line behind me, so I ordered coffee even though I felt that I wouldn’t use much of it.

Before I went into the Speedway grounds, I took a few pictures with both of my cameras of the entrance area. It was about 7:30 when I went through the turnstiles. My reason for coming to the Speedway earlier than usual was to go to the gift shop and buy something for Mark. As it turned out, I was glad I didn’t get there any later then I did. There were several shoppers there when I arrived but before I left, a Speedway safety patrolman was needed. He would only allow as many persons to enter the building as there were leaving. If two persons left the building, then only two persons could enter. I didn’t see much of what I wanted, but I finally bought a white sweater with a picture of the Control Tower and the words “Indianapolis Motor Speedway” on it.

There were several souvenir stands set up on my way to the tunnel and I stopped at one of them and bought a little beanie. I wasn’t sure of Mark’s head size so I bought one that I thought looked about right. When I got home and put it on Mark’s head, it was just the right size, so for once I guessed something correctly.

There were several concession stands along the way to the Gate 7 tunnel, and because of the heat, I stopped at one of them and bought a Coca-Cola. This was the first time I could remember buying a cold drink before I arrived at my seat. The traffic was heavy but not to the extent that it was crushing.

As I started through the tunnel, I looked up and saw the Control Tower and the pit area and heard the public address announcer and the sound of some of the engines being tested. That brought a smile to my face and a tear to my eyes.

I didn’t go directly to my seat, but instead toured the infield area behind the Tower Terrace seats to see if there was anything or anybody that might appeal to me as a cameraman. I was there for a few minutes and then left to go to my seat.

As I was walking, I came upon the information booth of the Goodyear Motor Sports Club. There was a man tending the booth so I stopped and we talked for a couple minutes. I had joined the new club earlier in the year and this was the first race I attended as a club member.

It was about 9:00 when I entered the Tower Terrace area. The sight and sound of the cars and the crowd was pleasing and I decided to walk along the pit area and observe as much as I could. All of the cars were in their pit areas and were being attended to in one or more ways. Unlike most years, I didn’t see many drivers or celebrities that I recognized, although I felt sure there were as many as usual. I walked down to the entrance to Gasoline Alley and then walked back to my seat. It was 9:30 when I arrived at my yearly seat in Section 43, Row J, Seat 5.

I sat down in my seat, put my equipment under the seat, and then relaxed for a couple minutes and rested my feet and legs. Then I introduced myself to my two companions for this year’s race, Willy Moats and his wife.

Ted and Margaret had originally planned to use my two other tickets, but thirty minutes before I left home on Saturday, Ted called and said his father-in-law was getting remarried on Sunday, and therefore he and Margaret couldn’t go this year. He then told me that a friend of his at work, Willy Moats, and his wife would be happy to take their places. Ted and I were both disappointed that he couldn’t go, but I was glad he was able to find a last-minute substitute.

Willy and his wife were both real quiet, shy persons, who neither smoked nor drank, and these traits made them real pleasant race companions.

I watched the bands parade up and down the straightaway and the hectic activity in the pits as the 10:00 hour approached. At 9:45, the announcement came over the PA system for the pit crews to push their cars to their starting positions on the race track. This drew a cheer from the audience as they realized the zero-hour of 11:00 was getting close.

Between 10:00 and 10:30, the many celebrities were introduced over the PA system. Most of them were TV names that I didn’t recognize, but I knew the names of Bob Barker, Jackie Cooper, and Jimmy Dean.

The heat and humidity were quite high now and it made me thirsty for a cold drink. I asked my companions to watch my equipment for me and then I went to the nearest concession stand behind the Tower Terrace area and bought a large Pepsi-Cola. There were a lot of people still walking around and many of them also stopped for a cold drink. I drank it slowly and it felt real good.

It was about 10:15 when I returned to my seat and at 10:20, the chief steward announced that the pit crews could run their engines for ten minutes for a final check.

The testing period ended at 10:30 and then the chief steward and other USAC officials made the final inspection of the race track to see if it was ready for the race. Their trip ended with a cheer from the audience as they said it was ready for racing.

Now came the part of the pre-race ceremonies that always increases my heartbeat and sometimes makes me cry. Between 10:40 and 10:45, the Purdue University Band played the “Star-Spangled Banner” and then Dr. Ray Montgomery, an Indianapolis minister, gave the invocation. This was followed immediately by the playing of “Taps”, in keeping with the true meaning of Memorial Day. A couple minutes later, the band accompanied Jim Nabors as he sang the traditional final song, “Back Home Again in Indiana.” The excitement was increasing with each passing minute.

A few seconds later, a loud deep boom was heard from the infield area and in a couple seconds, hundreds of multi-colored balloons ascended over the Speedway in an awesome sight of beauty. While this was happening, Tom Carnegie, chief PA announcer, slowly and distinctly introduced Speedway president Tony Hulman, who a few minutes earlier had accepted a trophy on behalf of the Speedway upon its being listed on the National Register of Historical Places. Once again, Tony loudly, slowly, and distinctly gave his famous command “GENTLEMEN, START YOUR ENGINES.”

A mighty cheer came from the huge crowd as the 33 big cars roared into life. It was a wonderful sight to see and hear. A member of each pit crew raised one arm to indicate his car and driver were ready to go. The drivers continued racing their engines and about a minute later, the Buick pace car, driven by TV celebrity James Garner, slowly moved away toward the first turn, as the field began the first of two prerace laps.

The cars could be heard moving down the backstretch towards the north end of the track. A minute or so later, the field moved through the fourth turn and down the straightway. The crowd responded with applause and cheering as the official pace lap began. Everybody was standing and looking at the fourth turn. A couple minutes later, the pace car appeared and quickly drove through the pit area. Pole position driver, AJ Foyt, brought the field down slowly, and then about the time the front row reached the starting line, started Pat Vidan waved the green flag and the race was on.

Gordon Johncock, starting in second position, jumped into the lead and was the first driver to reach the starting line. He was several feet ahead of Foyt and third place started Bobby Unser. As they reached the first turn, it was Johncock, Foyt, and Unser.

Johncock maintained his lead for eight laps before Foyt caught him on the ninth lap. Three laps later, Gordon pulled into his pit and was finished for the day, a victim of ignition failure.

Before Gordon came into his pit, however, two other drivers were already in their pits. Salt Walther was finished after two laps with ignition failure and my perennial victor choice, Lloyd Ruby, had a short seven lap race. Salt has been in four races and finished last in three of them. Lloyd started in sixth position in one of the McLaren cars and seemed to be destined for a good day, but his traditional bad luck arrived early this year and there was a big moan from the crowd when he was finished after seven laps with a burned piston.

Foyt continued to lead through the 21st lap when he made his first pit stop, as did most of the other drivers. This gave the lead to Johnny Rutherford, who led only two laps before pulling into his pit.

At 20 laps, or 50 miles, the first five cars were those of Foyt, Rutherford, Unser, Wally Dallenbach, and Bill Vukovich.

Rookie Larry McCoy’s first race was a dismal one as he was forced to the sidelines after 25 laps with a burned piston.

The 1969 winner, Mario Andretti, was also having problems. He started 27th, and after making his first pit stop, his car stalled. He was pushed back to his pit, the car was restarted, and stalled again. On the third attempt, he kept the engine going and rejoined the field.

On his 42st lap, Mike Hiss spun his car and hit the wall in the third turn. This brought out the yellow light for the first time in the race.

At 40 laps, or 100 miles, the standings were Foyt, Rutherford, Unser, Dallenbach, and Al Unser.

Andretti’s problems didn’t end when he was able to keep his engine from stalling. On his 49th lap, he crashed into the wall and brought out the second caution flag of the race.

On his 59th lap, Wally Dallenbach moved to the front for the first time in his No. 40 Sinmast Wildcat Special. He proceeded to put on one of the finest individual performances in the race for several years. His car was running fine and little by little he was pulling away from the rest of the field. He led through the 69th lap, when he made a pit stop and yielded the lead to Foyt for one lap.

The green flag was displayed again on the leader’s 71st lap after almost five minutes of caution time because of Andretti’s crash.

After 80 laps, or 200 miles, the first five positions were held by Dallenbach, Foyt, Bobby Unser, Rutherford, and Tom Sneva.

Dallenbach continued to run strong and almost seemed to be in a race by himself, as the rest of the field tried in vain to catch him. At the halfway point, he was still in first position, with the remainder of the first ten made up of Rutherford, Foyt, Bobby Unser, Sneva, Johnny Parsons, George Snider, Sam Sessions, Bobby Allison, and Bill Puterbaugh.

Meanwhile, John Martin was forced to the sidelines on his 62nd lap with radiator trouble, and Mike Mosley, fifth place starter, left after 94 laps with engine failure.

Shortly past the 100 lap mark, there was a series of pit stops by the leaders which resulted in the lead constantly changing. At 300 miles, the first five positions were held by Dallenbach, Foyt, Bobby Unser, Rutherford, and Sneva.

On his 127th lap, Sneva made his exit from the race in a most spectacular, undesirable way. He was going through the second turn when he tangled with rookie Eldon Rasmussen. His car hit the outside wall and did a complete flip in the air. At the same time, the car seemed to explode and pieces of the car, including Sneva himself, were thrown in every direction. Luckily, the car landed right side up and miraculously Tom suffered only minor burns. The track emergency crew got him out of his burning car and he was able to walk to an ambulance. By a slight twist of fate, he could just as easily have been killed. For being such a terrible crash, it had a wonderful ending in that Sneva was not injured any more than he was.

Sneva’s crash naturally brought out the yellow flag and it remained out for 25 minutes. Many drivers took advantage of the caution period and made pit stops, including Dallenbach, who retained his lead while making his pit stop. When the green flag was displayed on the 141st lap, the leaders were Dallenbach, Unser, Rutherford, and Foyt.

Leaving the race were Bobby Allison on his 113th lap with a broken gearbox, Eldon Rasmussen on his 120th lap with a leaky O-ring, and Johnny Parsons on his 138th lap with a broken transmission shaft.

The next round of pit stops came at about the 160 lap mark. Dallenbach stopped at his pit and in doing so relinquished the lead to Rutherford who in turn also pitted and yielded the lead to Unser.

Then misfortune hit Dallenbach. Coming down the straightaway to complete his 161st lap, his car sputtered and sounded sick. The next time around, he came slowly through the pit area and was finished for the day with a brown piston. It was a big letdown for many of the fans, including me. I was beginning to hope he could win the race, not because I’m a Wally Dallenbach fan, but because he was the only one of the leaders who hadn’t won the race previously. Wally had the race to himself for several laps, but now his No. 40 Sinmast Wildcat was on the sidelines.

On the 164th lap, Bobby Unser became the leader, with Rutherford second and Foyt third.

As he was coming down the main straightaway on the leaders’ 170th lap, Gary Bettenhausen gave the fans in that area their biggest excitement of the day. Something broke on his car and caused him to crash into the outside wall almost directly in front of me. His right rear wheel came off and the tire tore into several pieces. I did not see his initial contact with the wall, but did see him hit the wall several more times as his car bounced wildly toward the first turn. It was a frightening sight to see but Gary did a masterful job of keeping the car under control and not getting in the way of any other drivers.

Gary’s wreck brought the yellow flag out and this brought about more pit stops. Unser and Rutherford came in to top off their fuel tanks in preparations for the drive to the finish line.

While the pit stops were being made and the debris from Bettenhausen’s crash was being cleaned up, that most unwelcome visitor – RAIN – arrived on the scene. I gasped and moaned in disbelief as I saw the first few drops, and then within just a few seconds, the clouds opened up and a gulley washer covered the Speedway. It had been cloudy for some time, but the rain was not predicted until late in the afternoon, well after the end of the race.

The storm came so fast that almost nobody could escape it. My two companions, the Moats, had left a few minutes earlier in anticipation of the rain so that they could get to shelter. I had no rain protection at all with me, so I could do nothing but sit or stand there and take it. I got under my seat, but that provided no protection because it seemed to be coming from every direction.

Meanwhile, on the race track, starter Pat Vidan waved the yellow flag, and then a few seconds later, did likewise with the red flag, thus ending all activity on the track. Several cars, including those of Steve Krisiloff, Bill Puterbough, Jimmy Caruthers, and Bentley Warren, got out of control because their tires lost all traction on the wet pavement. This caused several spins and minor crashes, but there were no injuries.

After a few minutes the intensity of the rain subsided and then quit. By now, the water on the track and in the pit area was several inches deep. Although I didn’t see it, Bobby Unser drove his No. 48 Jorgenson Eagle to Victory Lane at a very slow pace but still threw water to both sides in doing so.

Several minutes after the rain stopped, some of the pit crews returned and gathered up their equipment and took it back to their garages. The large amount of water made the job quite unpleasant.

When the pit area was almost empty, I gathered up all of my equipment and walked to the garage area. The pedestrian traffic was still quite heavy, but was gradually diminishing. In the garage area, all of the cars were being given their post-race inspection by USAC officials, and therefore it was still off limits to everybody without a pass.

While I was waiting to get into the garage area, I looked around and saw a postal colleague of mine, Rob Atkins, and his wife, walking to their car. I caught his attention and we stopped and talked for several minutes about what had happened so far. I knew he was at the race, but certainly hadn’t planned on seeing him.

It was after 4:00 when all the cars were inspected and the gates were thrown open to everybody. The only drivers I saw were Johnny Rutherford and Lloyd Ruby. They were teammates and were wearing everyday casual clothes by now, but I had no trouble recognizing them when I saw them. There wasn’t much to see in the garage area so I made a quick walk around the place and then headed for the exit.

I hadn’t eaten anything since breakfast so I stopped at the White Castle restaurant across from the Speedway entrance and had two cheeseburgers, french fries, and a cup of coffee. The cheeseburgers were quite small and cost only $0.24 each, but they tasted delicious. My hunger wasn’t completely satiated, but I felt better and now it wouldn’t seem so long until supper.

Before I returned to the house, I went to see Bud and Helen Kramer. My knock on the door was answered by Mrs. Kramer and she seemed most happy to see me. Bud was asleep after being up all night parking cars, so Mrs. Kramer and I sat in the living room and had a friendly visit with each other. We talked for several minutes about the race, weather, and her customers, and she inquired about Bobby and dad.

It was about 6:00 when I arrived at Mrs. Bray’s house. She was sitting on her lawn sofa and two of her other roomers and I joined her and rested our feet for a few minutes. We visited for a few minutes and then the other roomers and I got our equipment put into our cars, paid our bills, and went our separate ways. It was 6:25 when I left the house.

Most of the race crowd was already out of the Speedway area, so I had no problem with the traffic. The traffic on Crawfordsville Road was almost back to normal. It certainly was a relief not to have to wait an hour just to get to I-74. When I passed through the last intersection with a stop light, I found an Indianapolis radio station that was playing enjoyable music and settled back for the ride to Danville.

The ride was not without interruption. The weather was still unsettled, with dark skies and lightning and thunder a common occurrence. Despite all these ominous signs, there was little rain and only two or three times was it necessary to use the wiper blades.

It was 7:45 when I reached Danville and a few minutes later, I arrived at the Holiday Inn. Two days before, on Friday morning, I had gone to the Holiday Inn South in Springfield and made a reservation for Sunday night. By doing that, I was assured of having a room when I arrived. I parked in the first parking lot of the motel and then went inside and registered. My room was on the second floor so I got my suitcase and went to my room.

I was eager to see the ABC same-day telecast of the race, which was shown from 7:30 to 9:30. I turned the TV set on only to find, much to my chagrin, that the set didn’t work. I thought about asking somebody at the reservation desk about the trouble, but remembered it was Sunday night and there probably wouldn’t be anybody to fix it, so instead, I got out a newspaper I had with me and sat in a soft chair, took off my shoes, and read the newspaper.

By 8:45, I was rather hungry so I went downstairs to the dining room. I was shown to a table by the hostess and given a menu. There were only eight other customers in the room. My table was only a few feet from the swimming pool, and as I looked out, I could see it was raining again, although only lightly. When I looked at the menu and saw the cheapest meal was $3.25, I was unpleasantly surprised.

I looked over all the choices and prices and selected spaghetti and meatballs. It had been a long time since I had eaten that and it sounded good, so I ordered it. When the waitress brought the food, it didn’t look like much for $3.50, but I had a surprise coming. Before the main meal, she fixed me a huge round bowl full of mixed salad. It was one of the biggest servings of salad I had ever seen or eaten.

When I finished the salad, the waitress brought a large, oblong-shaped dish of spaghetti and meat balls. It was a big serving and tasted delicious. If I hadn’t been as hungry as I was, I don’t think I could have eaten all of it. By the time I reached the end, I could hardly move off my chair. My previous unpleasant thought about the $3.50 charge had changed now as I realized I was getting all I could eat.

At the table next to me was a young couple who were on their way home from the race and were spending the night at the motel before moving on on Monday. We talked for several minutes and then they left because they were done eating.

It was about 9:45 when I paid my bill and left for my room. The light rain had stopped and now it was a real pleasant evening – not too hot, cool, or windy. The two cups of coffee and two glasses of water I had for supper didn’t relieve my feel of thirst, so I decided to buy some soda and see if that would help. I was out of luck, however, because all the machines at the motel were empty. There was nothing to do but return to my room and drink water.

As I started to open the door, I noticed a note on the door handle. It was a memorandum saying my wife had called me and just wanted me to know she had called. The message aroused my curiosity so I went to the service counter to inquire about it. I talked to the man who took the message. He said she had called about an hour ago and, since I wasn’t in my room, said to leave a note to the effect that she had called but that it wasn’t necessary for me to return the call.

I went back to my room and finished my reading and then took a leisurely, relaxing bath and then shaved so I wouldn’t have to in the morning. I felt clean but tired now and it was about 11:00, so I lay down on the soft, comfortable bed, pulled up the sheet and blanket, and thus ended a long and memorable day in my life.

It was about 6:00 when I started the new day. I had set my alarm clock for 6:00, but since I woke up before then, I shut it off so it wouldn’t scare me. The soft bed and cool room felt fine so I lay in bed for a few minutes before arising. When I got up, I washed my teeth, combed my hair, got dressed, packed my suitcase, checked to see I hadn’t left anything, and then went downstairs and turned in my key.

When I stopped outside, the air felt fresh and cool from the light rain of the previous evening, and I told myself it was going to be a pleasant drive to Chrisman. Because of the early hour and the day being a holiday, there was almost no traffic, which made for good driving. I met only a few cars on Route 1 and it was about 7:20 when I arrived at the Colonial Kitchen.

There were several persons there, but it wasn’t crowded. I decided to change my usual way and ordered from the menu instead of going through the line and serving myself. The menu didn’t offer a big selection, but most of the choices sounded good. I ordered ham, hashed brown potatoes, and toast to eat, and coffee and orange juice to drink. It had been a long time since I had eaten hashed brown potatoes and I was anxious to try them again. The waitress was pleasant, the service was good, and the food tasted fine, all of which made a pleasant meal. When I finished, I used the restroom, paid the bill, and then left for home. It was one minute after 8:00 when I drove out of the parking lot onto Route 36.

The flooding in the fields I saw on Saturday hadn’t subsided much, and about the only traffic I saw was an occasional farmer on a tractor or in a pickup truck. It was about 9:15 when I arrived at Decatur, which was the liveliest place I had seen yet along the way. There wasn’t much traffic the rest of the way. I had decided earlier to stop and see dad and Bobby and give them the details of my trip before I went to my house, so I turned south from North Grand Ave. and stopped at their house. When I saw the car missing, I thought they might be gone, but I decided to try anyway. I tried both the front and back doors, but couldn’t arouse anybody, so I went on home. It was between 10:30 and 11:00 when I arrived at my house. I brought in all of my equipment and put it away. Another trip to the big race was safely completed. Like all of my previous twenty trips, it was one that I would remember for a long time.

EPILOGUE

The official finish listed Unser, Rutherford, and Foyt as having completed 174 laps, or 435 miles. Nobody can say for sure who would have won the race if it had gone the full distance, but barring any mechanical trouble or other misfortune, it would have been a close race between the first three finishers.

Sophomore driver Duane Carter finished fourth. This is remarkable in that it wasn’t known until shortly before the start of the race if he would be in the race. He severely damaged his car in the carburetion tests a couple days before the race and his pit crew worked around the clock to have the car ready by 11:00 Sunday morning.

Veteran Roger McCluskey took fifth place honors. This was Roger’s 14th race and his second best finish. He was third in 1973.

Finishing sixth was Bill Vukovich. This was Bill’s eighth race and the fifth time he has finished in the first ten, which certainly is a fine record.

Seventh place was taken by Bill Puterbaugh. Bill had been trying for several years to qualify for the race, but this was his first year to do so. His fine performance earned him “Rookie of the Year” honors.

For the first time in his eleven races, George Snider finished in the first ten with an eight place finish. He was probably one of the happiest drivers after this year’s race. In his other races, he was victimized by mechanical trouble, but this year he finally avoided it.

Tough luck driver Wally Dallenbach led 96 laps, more than any other driver, but unfortunately for him, one of them wasn’t the 174th lap. He drove a great race and was a favorite with the fans, but he still hasn’t been around at the finish of any of his races at Indy.

The combination of Bob Harkey and Salt Walther drove to the tenth place finish. Salt’s own car broke down after two laps and he replaced Harkey, who was his teammate. It was a tough break for Bob, but things happen that way some times.

The weather, which played such an important role in the race, caused no trouble at all during the time trials. It seems strange, particularly after the mess of last year, that there could be four qualifying days without a drop of rain, but it happened this year. In fact, it was one of the driest and warmest Mays in Speedway history.

The close battle for the lead, the spectacular crash of Tom Sneva, and the premature finish are certainly big factors for which many people will remember this year’s race.

My overnight stay at the Holiday Inn in Danville was a memorable highlight of this year’s trip. It took the strain and fatigue out of making the complete trip home after the race, and it was close enough to home so that I didn’t have to worry about getting home in time to be at work at 3:00 on Monday. The television and radio sets didn’t work, but otherwise, the room was fine.

As I was driving home on Monday morning, I was thinking about the motel room and I could not remember packing the little electric alarm clock in the suitcase before I left. When I got home and unpacked there was no clock in the suitcase. As soon as I finished unpacking, I called the motel and told the desk clerk what had happened and asked her if they could mail it to me. She replied that they would be happy to send it. It arrived eight days later, on Tuesday of the following week.

Willy Moats and his wife were pleasant race companions. I was most thankful that they were quiet and non-drinking persons.

Another month of May has come and gone at the Speedway. Like all those other Mays that have come before it in past years, it was different from any of the others. Next year will be the 60th 500, and once again I plan to be there to see the Greatest Spectacle in Racing – the Indy 500.

Pace Care – Buick Century
500 Festival Queen – Kathryn Ball

Indy Journal - 1974

2009-02-21T22:55:00.000-06:00

1974

The first year of my third decade at the Speedway was quite different from any of the twenty years that preceded it. There were changes not only at the Speedway and in the race, but also in some of my own personal habits.

Because of last year’s tragic race, there were many changes made to the physical plant of the Speedway. The outer retaining wall and the inner wall along the main straightaway were raised to a uniform height of 32 inches. In connection with this wall project, about 1,800 chair seats in front of the Paddock and Grandstand A were removed. These two projects were done in an attempt to prevent a recurrence of Salt Walther’s fiery crash of last year.

The pit area was extended 856 feet northward and this gives each pit crew about 35% more working area than they had previously. A new and wider pit entrance was also constructed just south of the fourth turn.

An observation stand was built on the outside of the track at the start-finish line. It is a two-level stand with the starter on the lower level and the chief steward on the upper level. This was done to give both of these officials a better view of the action on the main straightaway, particularly for the start of the race.

This was the first year in the history of the race that it was held on a Sunday. In previous years, when the race was on May 30th and that day came on Sunday, it was held on Monday, the 31st. I didn’t think the race would ever be run on Sunday, but now it has been and it may be the permanent day for the race. Next year’s race will be run on the last Sunday of May, also.

From a personal viewpoint, there were three changes that made this year different than any previous year. This was the first year I didn’t see the first day of time trials since I started seeing them in 1966. There were two reasons why I didn’t go – 1.) I didn’t want to use any annual leave at work, which I would have to have done and 2.) The cost of lodging for two nights was too much, particularly since I would be doing the same thing again in two weeks.

This was the first time I came home the day after the race instead of race day night. I decided I was tired of fighting the terrible traffic after the race and feeling worn out when I arrived home and also decided there was no reason why I had to tolerate these conditions.

The third big personal change this year was driving over and back by myself. After twenty years of seeing the race, Dad decided that because of his poor health, it would be better if he stayed home. Bobby also decided that it had become too much of a strain on her and it was time to stay home.

On Friday, the 24th, I packed as much of my equipment as possible and on Saturday, I finished the job. I decided to use our 1973 Chevrolet Malibu and it was the first time it had been to Indianapolis. On Saturday morning, I did a few little jobs around the house, got myself ready, ate dinner, put my equipment in the car, and at 1:35, I said goodbye to Dixie and started my trip.

I stopped at the Standard Station for gasoline, but they didn’t have any regular gasoline so I had to go to another Standard Station and this time I was able to get regular gasoline.

From the service station, located at Jefferson and McArthur Streets, I went north on McArthur to North Grand Ave., east on North Grand to 8th Street, north on 8th Street to Sangamon Ave., and then east on Sangamon Ave. until I left the city.

This was the first year of the 55 mph speed limit and it was aggravating not to be able to go 65 mph as I had done in the past. One sight I observed as soon as I left Springfield and noticed all the way to Indianapolis was the enormous amount of farm land under water. It was certainly distressing to see and I hope that I wouldn’t see any rain at least until after the race.

It was 2:30 when I arrived at Decatur, where everything looked about the same as it had in other years. I continued on my way and saw the same sights which I never tire of seeing. The Cardinals-Cubs baseball game was my listening entertainment as I traveled and then at 3:55, I arrived at the Colonial Kitchen at the 36-1-150 intersection.

There was scarcely anybody in the place and I sat at a table and had a cup of coffee and a dish of orange sherbet. The refreshments tasted good and after using the restroom I paid my bill and at 4:15, I resumed my trip.

For the first time since 1968, I continued on Route 36 instead of going north to I-74. I thought with the uniform 55 mph speed limit that there wouldn’t be much difference in the time. Also, I still enjoy seeing the little Indiana towns on the route and the pretty green scenery that is so prevalent at this time of the year in Indiana.

It was 4:25 when I crossed the state line and I encountered almost no heavy traffic the remainder of my trip. It was about 5:45 when I reached the I-465 intersection and saw the sign saying “SPEEDWAY” pointing to the right. I followed the road and went north a couple miles until I saw the “U.S. 136 EAST” sign and took it. A few seconds later, I was on Crawfordsville Road and stopped at the Standard Station across the road from Mario Andretti’s tire store. This station was also out of regular gasoline so I bought the low-lead type. I was really amazed when it only took 7.4 gallons to fill the tank. That averaged out to an incredible 25.6 miles per gallon. With the good feeling of having a full gasoline tank, I continued on my way and at 6:10, I arrived at Mrs. Bray’s house.

Mrs. Bray was happy to see me and said she thought I would be there earlier, but I told her I didn’t leave home as soon as I had planned and therefore I was late in arriving. We talked for a few minutes and then I took some of my equipment out of the car and carried it to the upstairs room, which was my home for about 1.5 days. I didn’t want to eat supper this early so I stayed for a few minutes in my room and read the newest edition of “National Speed Sport News”.

About 7:30, after I finished my reading, I decided it was time for supper, so I got in my car and went to the MCL Cafeteria, about a mile from Mrs. Bray’s house. There were several persons in the cafeteria but the line of customers moved right along and it didn’t take long to receive my meal. My supper was Swiss steak, baked potato, corn, rolls, and coffee. All of the food tasted good and I was fortunate to have a quiet, pleasant area in which to eat.

When I left the cafeteria, I did some window shopping at some of the sores in the shopping center and left about 9:00 because the stores were closing for the day. My stomach still didn’t feel quite full so I stopped at the Dunkin Donuts shop next to the Standard Service Station and bought four donuts, which I ate on my way back to the house.

Mrs. Bray had the television set on when I went into the house and highlights of Saturday afternoon’s 500 Festival Parade were being shown, so I watched that for about an hour and then went to bed. It wasn’t real late yet but I knew I’d be getting up early in the morning, so I decided I’d better go now and get a good night’s sleep.

It was about 5:30 when I opened my eyes and when I looked out the window, I was pleased with the weather. The sky was mostly blue with mo hint of rain. I lay in bed for a couple minutes and then got dressed and went downstairs to use the bathroom. It was a pleasant surprise when I found neither anybody in the bathroom nor anybody waiting to use it. I washed my teeth, shaved, combed my hair, and then took my cosmetics upstairs and put them away.

The next order of business was breakfast so I went downstairs and found an empty table and sat down. One of the ladies helping Mrs. Bray brought me a cup of coffee to drink while I was waiting for my food and a couple minutes later, she brought my food. Breakfast was two fried eggs, four pieces of bacon, two pieces of toast, and a second cup of coffee. It was a good breakfast and I felt better when I was finished. I sat and talked to another couple at the table for a couple minutes, then paid my $2.00 and returned to my room.

A few minutes before 8:00, I went to the car and gathered my belongings to take to the Speedway. These items included the movie camera, still camera, film for each camera, field glasses, thermos bottle, cupcakes from home, sunglasses, cap, and most important of all, my ticket. Somehow I managed to get all these items arranged in my carrying bag and at 8:00, I started my walk to the Speedway. Before I crossed Georgetown Road, I stopped at the White Castle eating place and had my thermos bottle filled with coffee.

There was a large crowd of people going through the entrances but the lines moved steadily and within a minute or so I was inside the Speedway grounds. My first stop was just a few feet inside the gate where I bought four souvenir programs. Just a short distance from where I bought the souvenir programs was an attraction which interested me and several other persons. It was an F-104 fighter plane. I recognized it immediately because I had seen them several times when I was stationed at George Air Force Base. I don’t know how it happened to be on display here, but it was a popular attraction. A few minutes later, I arrived at the tunnel by the starting line and walked under the track and up into the infield.

Instead of going straight to my seat, I decided to see what was happening in the area behind the control tower. There were a lot of people looking through the fence surrounding the garage area, although the cars were already in their pits. As I was walking toward the garage area, I happened to look to my left and just a few feet from me stood Tony Hulman, the president of the Speedway. He was talking to a couple men and signing his autograph for anybody who wanted it. He greeted everybody warmly and was popular with the fans.

Another attraction was the Scottish marching band. They were rehearsing their marching routine before they went onto the race track and were attracting a large audience which enjoyed their entertainment. The two Scottish dogs at the front of the parade were a popular subject for persons with cameras, including me. The band stopped for a rest period and the two dogs were surrounded with persons who wanted to pet them and take their picture. The dogs seemed to enjoy the humans as well as the humans enjoyed their company. After its break, the band practiced a few more minutes and then went onto the race track.

When the band left, I decided to go to the Tower Terrace area and see what was going on in the pit area and on the track. Instead of going to my seat first, as I had done in the past, I decided to do my sightseeing first and then go to my seat to stay for the rest of the day.

The pit area was abuzz with activity as the marching units paraded on the track and pit crews made final repairs and checks on their cars. I recognized several drivers, both former and present ones. Among the former ones I recognized were Sam Hanks, Duke Nalon, and Mark Donohue. The many famous celebrities, drivers, officials, cars, and marching units were popular subjects of camera fans. I watched the activity for quite a while and then about 9:15, I went to my seat.

This was the first time I met my two race companions. Since dad and Bobby did not attend the race this year, they asked my cousin, Ted Coy, and his wife, Margaret, if they would like to use their tickets. Ted and Margaret were real happy with the offer and bought the tickets within a few days. Because they left Springfield later than I did on Saturday and did not know where their lodging would be, I decided it would be easier for all of us if we met at our seats. Ted had gone to a refreshment stand to get some cold drinks for him and Margaret, so she and I talked for a few minutes until Ted returned.

Ted was a real interesting person to sit with and talk to, both before and during the race. He was thoroughly familiar with the cars and drivers, plus all the activity that had been going on at the Speedway up to race day. This made it real easy for the two of us to talk to each other.

Between 9:45 and 10:00, the P.A. announcer directed the pit crews to push their cars onto the track and into their starting positions. For those pit crews who were located near the center of the pit area, it was a long push to either end because of the increased length of the area this year.

The various celebrities from different areas of life were introduced to the fans and then driven around in Hurst/Olds official cars for everybody to see. Most of the names were ones I wasn’t familiar with.

The traditional first song played by the Purdue University Band, “On the Banks of the Wabash,” was played at 10:00 as the cars were being lined up on the track. At 10:30, the new chief steward, Tom Binford, and some other USAC officials took a final inspection trip of the track and pronounced it in excellent condition for racing.

A few minutes after the USAC officials returned to the starting line, the PU band played “The Star-Spangled Banner” and then a new pre-race ritual was initiated. A minister from one of the Speedway churches gave the invocation. Although I don’t know for sure, I assume this was done in observance of the race being held on Sunday.

To regress a little bit, at 10:30, the pit crews were allowed to start their engines and run them for a couple minutes. This was another new practice which was initiated this year. It was done in the hope that it might prevent any car from not starting at the regular starting time.

After the invocation was given, “Taps” was played in keeping with the true meaning of Memorial Day and then about 10:50, Jim Nabors sang the familiar “Back Home Again in Indiana.”

The long wait for the big moment was just about over. The crowd was noisy and restless as it waited out the last few seconds of quietude. Those few seconds passed quickly and then the P.A. announcer, Tom Carnegie, introduced Speedway president Tony Hulman, who pronounced those four famous words loudly and distinctly, “GENTLEMEN, START YOUR ENGINES!”

A couple seconds later, that wonderful sound of the engines pervaded the air to the pleasure of everybody. I immensely enjoyed just standing at my seat and listening to the drivers race their engines. This is the only time this can be done and I always enjoy it to the utmost.

One member of each pit crew help up one of his arms to indicate his car and driver were ready to go. A couple minutes later, the Hurst/Olds pace car, driven by 1960 winner, Jim Rathmann, slowly pulled away and one by one the cars were pushed away to start the parade lap. As is usually true, there was one car that wouldn’t start, and this year that unwanted honor went to Rick Muther, who started in the 24th position. His car was pushed to the inside retaining wall where his crew worked on it while the other 32 drivers lined up for the start. Rick finally got started as the field came into the fourth turn, and his crew immediately pushed him away.

As the field came down the main straightaway for the start of the pace lap, fourth place starter Gordon Johncock came through the pit area and stopped for a quick talk with his pit crew. A few seconds later he was back on the track. At about the same time, Rick Muter came flying down the straightaway in an attempt to get into position before the start.

A couple minutes later, the pace car appeared in the fourth turn and turned off into the pit area. Now it was up to pole position driver A.J. Foyt to pace the field to the starting line. The drivers had been told at the drivers meeting on Saturday that the end of the pace lap would not automatically be the start of the race. The field would have to be in correct formation or it would keep going until it was aligned correctly. As they approached the starting line, the drivers kept their good formation and just before the front row reached the line, starter Pat Vidan waved the green flag and the race was on.

Most of the fans were surprised when second place starter Wally Dallenbach jumped into the lead ahead of Foyt. Sharing equal concern with who took the lead was the question of whether everybody got through the first turn okay. When the P.A. announcer announced that everybody had gotten through the first two turns without any trouble, a big sigh of relief went through the crowd. If there had been a fiery mishap such as happened at the start of last year’s race, it would have cast a cloud of gloom over the remainder of the race and perhaps over any future race.

At the end of the first lap, Dallenbach held a big lead over Foyt and seemed to be pulling away from everybody else. His glory was brief, however, and on his third lap, he came slowly through the pit area and was finished for the day with a cracked valve.

At the same time, Dick Simon, Mario Andretti, and Gary Bettenhausen came into the pits and were finished before the race hardly started. Simon had a cracked valve, Bettenhausen had a broken valve, and Andretti had a burned piston. It was certainly disappointing to lose these drivers so soon.

Shortly after these four left the race, Mike Mosley had a blown engine after six laps, George Snider had valve trouble after seven laps, and on his eleventh lap, Rick Muther was finished with piston trouble.

When Dallenbach left, Foyt took the lead and maintained it through the 24th lap. He lost it on his first pit stop for two laps but then regained it when he returned to the race track.

Johnny Rutherford had started in 25th position, but was not fighting Foyt and Bobby Unser for the lead.

Foyt was in the lead from laps 27-49 and then Unser for laps 50-52.

In the meantime, Johnny Parsons, Jim Hurtubise, Larry Cannon, and Jimmy Caruthers had left the race. Cannon’s car stalled and this brought out the first caution flag of the day on the leaders’ 62nd lap. This was as far as anybody could remember the race going before the yellow flag was shown and was a good indication of how safe this year’s race was compared to last year.

There were several times after this when the yellow flag was shown, but none of the incidents were of a serious nature, and only one involved personal injury. On his 115th lap, Jerry Karl crashed into the wall in the third turn and suffered only a slight leg injury.

By now, Rutherford and Foyt were fighting for the lead with Foyt staying only a few seconds ahead of Rutherford. This battle continued for several laps and was a big crowd pleaser. On his 65th lap, Rutherford took the lead for the first time and held it through the 126th lap.

During this same time, Steve Krisiloff, Jan Opperman, Tom Sneva, and Jerry Karl had left the race.

Pit stops were more numerous this year than in any previous race. Each car was allotted a limit of 285 gallons of fuel, which meant the cars had to average at least 1.8 miles per gallon. This reduction in fuel also resulted in a reduction in speed.

On the 127th lap, Foyt regained the lead and maintained it for ten laps and then Rutherford led for one lap. About this time, smoke started coming from the engine of Foyt’s car, to the great disappointment of many fans. He was black-flagged and a couple laps later came into his pit. His crew worked on the car for a while and then sent him back onto the track, but the problem wasn’t solved. He was again black-flagged, and this time he went straight to the garage area and quit for the day. His problem was later determined to be a broken oil line in the turbo scavenger pump.

Rutherford regained the lead and I wondered if Lady Luck would finally smile on him and he could maintain the lead for the rest of the race.

In addition to Foyt, Al Unser, Salt Walther, and Roger McCluskey had made their exit from the race. Al had worked his way up to third position. It was real pleasing to see Walther go 141 laps after finishing less than one lap in each of his other two races, and particularly after his wonderful comeback from his fiery crash in last year’s race.

Rutherford’s good luck continued during the last ¼ of the race. Bobby Unser made a good effort at catching Johnny, but the fuel situation and the smooth operation of Johnny’s car prevented Bobby from getting into first place. Johnny was the first driver to cross the finish line and Bobby was 22.32 seconds behind him. The winner took an extra lap and then drove to Victory Lane and the audience gave him a tremendous ovation.

Finishing in third position was Bill Vukovich and last year’s winner, Gordon Johncock, took fourth place honors.

David Hobbs finished fifth, which is his best finish at the Speedway. He was the only foreign driver in the race and drove a good, steady race all day.

Jim McElreath came from 30th starting position to finish sixth, and Duane Carter Jr. finished seventh, which earned him the “Rookie of the Year” award.

Bob Harkey started 31st, in the last row, and moved up little by little to finish eighth.

Ninth position went to the hard luck driver of the Speedway and my perennial favorite, Lloyd Ruby. Once more Lloyd’s hopes were frustrated by bad luck. He started 18th and steadily moved up and at one time was third. His car ran smoothly all day and he appeared to have fourth position locked up until he pitted on his 188th lap with a dry fuel tank and no more fuel to put into it. His pit was directly in front of me and when he stopped and shut off his engine, he had to put his arms on the steering wheel to prevent his head from falling down with dejection. He sat like a statue for a long time and his eyes stared into space. His pit crew felt bad because they were helpless to do anything for him. When I realized what had happened, I couldn’t believe it. Eventually Lloyd got out of his car and helplessly watched his certain fourth place finish drop to ninth.

Jerry Grant finished in tenth place and completed 175 laps. Jerry had a sick engine for a long time and had to drive next to the inside wall in order to stay out of everybody’s way.

A few minutes after Johnny Rutherford was given the checkered flag, the remainder of the cars were given the red flag which meant the race was finished. Since speed and timing were no longer important, the drivers came slowly to their pit area and then lingered around for a while and talked to their pit crews. The tension and worry were over now and the name of the game now was relaxation.

Ted and Margaret stayed for a couple minutes and then decided to leave because they wanted to get on the road and started for home. I had really enjoyed having them for race companions.

The winner and his wife were driven around the track in the pace car for everybody to see and then he was interviewed by the press at the starting line. After this was done, I walked south along the pit area fence to the control tower and then went back to the garage area.

I had heard and read several times that the garage area restrictions are lifted after the race and anybody who wants to do so may go through the area. For many years, I had wanted to see this area but hadn’t been able to do so. Now my chance was here. There were several hundred other fans that had the same idea and the guards were only letting a limited number in so I waited a while and took in what action I could from behind the fence.

About an hour later, the crowd had decreased considerably and finally the guards decided to let in anybody who desired to do so. I took advantage of the situation and enjoyed it immensely. Several of the drivers had already changed into their street clothes and were visiting with the fans. I toured several garages and recognized several drivers, among whom were Bill Vukovich, Lloyd Ruby, John Martin, Jim Hurtubise, Bob Harkey, Dick Simon, Gordon Johncock, Duane Carter, and Wally Dallenbach. Jim Hurtubise and Lloyd Ruby were the most popular attractions and were kept busy signing autographs and talking about their bad luck in the race. Lloyd was still the same picture of dejection he was when he pulled into his pit after 187 laps with an empty fuel tank, but this didn’t diminish his popularity with the fans, including me. I was one of several fans who received his autograph on their souvenir programs.

By 5:00, the grounds were quite devoid of people, so I decided to take a couple more pictures and then leave. For the first time in all of my years at the Speedway, I was able to enter the pit area. Although there were no cars or equipment in the pits and the seats were almost empty, it was still a thrill to stand in the area and look north to the fourth turn and pretend there were cars coming down the straightaway. I took a picture of that scene and then returned to the infield where I took a picture of the high amount of trash on the inside of the first turn. It was between 5:00 and 5:30 now and I felt I had seen all I could see so I went back to the tunnel by the start-finish line and started my walk to the main gate.

It was a much quicker walk than any of my other post-race walks to the exit. There were almost no people and only a couple Speedway maintenance trucks along the way. The traffic on Georgetown Road to Auburn St. was heavy but not as heavy as it would have been immediately after the race.

When I arrived at Mrs. Bray’s house, I talked to Mrs. Bray for a few minutes and then went to my room and rested for a few minutes. I did a little reading and then dozed for a couple minutes. Shortly after 7:00, I was feeling hungry and decided it was time for supper.

On my way back to Mrs. Bray’s house, I passed the Bonanza Steakhouse and thought it would be a good place to eat since the MCL Cafeteria was closed. From the minute I walked in the door, I wished I had gone elsewhere to eat. The waiting line extended back to the entrance and I had to wait thirty minutes before I reached the serving line. When I arrived there, I discovered the baked potatoes were gone and everybody had to eat french fries. The serving line moved no faster than the waiting line. Some of the employees didn’t seem to know what they were doing, and this added more fuel to my frustration. When I reached the end of the line, I was told to take a seat and my meal would be brought to me. After a few minutes wait, I received the food and the meat was not cooked the way I ordered it. It was partly raw and rather tough. There were about a dozen youths seated in booths across from me and their opinion of the food was the same as mine, but they were more vocal in their opinion than I was. I ate all the food on my plate and then left to return to Mrs. Bray’s house.

I wasn’t full so I drove to the Dunkin Donuts shop and bought four donuts and ate them while I was returning to the house. Now I felt I could last until morning without getting hungry.

Mrs. Bray, her son, and I were the only persons left at the house and we spend the evening talking about race day activity and watching their new color TV set. We watched “Mannix”, “Barnaby Jones”, a telecast of the previous night’s 500 Festival Parade, the 10:00 news, and a half-hour program on the race. After that, we decided it had been a long day for all of us and it was time to go to bed, so we said goodnight and went our separate ways.

When I awakened on Monday morning, my watch said about 7:30. I lay in bed for a few minutes and then got up and used the bathroom. With a clean and freshly shaven face and clean teeth and mouth, I felt fine and was ready to face the day. I made my bed, got my equipment together, and then paid Mrs. Bray for my two nights’ lodging. As I was leaving, she said she hoped I would return next year. I assured her I planned to do so. It gave me a good feeling to know she enjoyed having me and wanted me back again.

It was 8:35 when I left the Bray house and drove to the Speedway. The main gate parking lot was almost full with tourists’ cars, so I parked in front of the drugstore at 16th and Main Streets. The ticket office didn’t open until 9:00 so I shopped in the drug store for a few minutes. I took a real quick trip through the museum and then checked at the office to see about having the name on our tickets changed from dad’s name to my name. The lady who waited on me said that could be done, but dad would have to write a letter to them and ask for the change.

I walked back to the drug store and tried to buy an Indianapolis newspaper, but they didn’t have any. I got into my car and drove east on 16th Street in search of a newspaper, but it proved to be a wasted trip. I stopped at the Holiday Inn, the shopping center, and a few other places, and then turned around and started back. The Speedway Motel seemed a sure bet for a newspaper, but they didn’t have any either. As I approached the entrance, I saw a familiar racing personality coming toward me. It was A.J. Watson. He was with another man but I didn’t notice where they were going.

One of the things I wanted to be sure to do before I left for home was to visit with Bud and Helen Kramer. On Saturday and Sunday nights, I didn’t have time to see them so this would be my last chance. I parked in their driveway and knocked on the back door. Bud answered the door and was real happy to see me. The three of us talked for about thirty minutes. They asked about dad and Bobby and said it had been a long time since they hadn’t come to the race. They were real pleased I stopped be see them and that made me happy to have done so. They are really two fine people.

I left Kramers at 10:15 and drove west to the shopping center where I stopped to check again on buying a newspaper. Because it was a holiday, almost every business was closed, but there was a grocery store that was open for business, so I decided to see if they had any newspapers for sale. I walked through the entire store but found nothing in the way of a newspaper. In frustration and puzzlement, I returned to the car. It was certainly puzzling as to why there were no newspapers anywhere. The only answer I could come up with was that there was no newspaper published because of the holiday.

I fastened my seatbelt and at 10:30 left the shopping center, turned right, and about a minute later was on I-74 going west. It was a fine day for driving. There was hardly a cloud in the sky and the sun was shining, but it wasn’t bright enough to be distracting while I was driving. I encountered no problems along the way and at 11:53, I crossed the state line and returned to Illinois.

When I reached the 150-1 intersection, I changed my usual route and went north into Danville instead of south to Chrisman. The reason for my going into Danville was to find a telephone and make a call to Clyde and Judy Simpson in Milford, which is a few miles north of Danville on Route 1. My effort was to end in frustration. I tried three times to call the operator and tell her what I wanted, but for some reason the operators and I couldn’t communicate with each other, so I decided to forget about the idea. I thought about driving up to Milford, but then remembered the day was a holiday and the Simpsons might be gone for the long weekend and I would have wasted a lot of time and money. I was disappointed that I didn’t get to see or talk to the Simpsons, but I figured I had done what I could and so decided to continue on my way home.

I turned around and drove south on Route 1 and a couple minutes later came to the I-74 intersection and then I was on a familiar road. About halfway to Chrisman, I decided to play it safe and stopped at a Standard Station in Westville and had the gasoline tank filled. It was with a feeling of relief that I left that station with the needle resting on ‘F’. I continued on south and at 1:23, I stopped at the Colonial Kitchen for dinner.

I had been looking forward to having a nice hot dinner, but my hopes plummeted when I saw the price of $3.95. I didn’t expect the dinner to be that high and was rather disappointed, so I changed my plan and ordered a pork tenderloin sandwich and french fries from the menu. Although not as filling as a complete meal, the food tasted good and it was enough to satiate my hunger until I arrived home. Before leaving, I used the restroom and then at 1:50, I drove out of the parking lot and started the last approximately 110 miles of my trip.

Because of the large amount of water in the fields along the highway, there was almost no work being done in them by the farmers. It was a sunny, pleasant drive all the way. I was in Decatur from about 3:00 to 3:15, and at 4:15, I drove into my driveway at home. Another fine and enjoyable trip to the big race had been made safely.

EPILOGUE

I forgot to mention that after returning to Mrs. Bray’s house after eating supper Saturday night, I took a walk down by the Speedway. Since last year’s race, I had met a fellow postal employee who follows the race as closely as I do. His name is Ron Atkins and he and his wife are president of the Bobby Unser fan club. The club was having a meeting on Georgetown Road across from Gate 8 of the Speedway, and he had invited me to stop by and see him.

I had no trouble finding the location. The members were viewing movie films of previous Indy 500 races. I found Ron and he asked me to sit down and watch the movies with him and the other club members. One of the films was of the 1964 race and it was one of the best race films I’ve ever seen. I stayed there for about an hour and then started back to the house.

The crowd of young people on Georgetown Road was rather wild and I was glad when I could get away from them. Firecrackers were being tossed all around me and the street was littered with beer cans. Police patrol cars were cruising the street and were being heckled by some of the obnoxious and intoxicated young persons. The scene here and on 16th Street and Crawfordsville Road was the same as it is every year, and I was certainly thankful I had a house to sleep in and wouldn’t be kept awake by all the noise.

As I mentioned earlier in this story, this year was certainly different from any of the previous twenty years. The many physical changes at the Speedway, the decreased allotment of fuel for each car, the first race on Sunday, the 55 mph highway speed limit, going to the race without dad and Bobby, and coming home the day after the race were all factors that made it a unique year.

The race was certainly one of the safest in history. I think this was very helpful in restoring the status and reputation of this race as the greatest spectacle in racing, which was seriously damaged after last year’s trouble-plagued race. I hope there will never be a replay of that race. Some people have said it was a dull race, particularly after A.J. Foyt left and Johnny Rutherford led the race the rest of the way. I disagree with this opinion and thought it was an interesting race from start to finish.

Although there was little criticism of the race itself, the story of the time trials was much different. They were plagued with trouble and controversy from beginning to end. The persistently inclement weather was the main offender. It was an unusually rainy month and it rained every day of the time trials. Because of the fuel situation, there were only two, instead of four, qualifying days, and those were the second and third Saturdays.

When the trials ended, there were several cars and drivers which had not been given even one qualification attempt. Naturally this made the affected drivers, car owners, etc. very upset. Because of the chief steward’s strict, literal interpretation of the rules, the cars were ruled ineligible because another car made a second qualification attempt without a protest being made about it.

The car owners were so enraged that they sued the Speedway and USAC in court. In their suit, they even tried to prevent the race from being run unless they were given a chance to qualify. Unfortunately for them, the court ruled in favor of the defendants. The cars were not allowed to qualify and the race was held as scheduled, but the bitter feelings and unhappiness remained. It really cast a pall over the pre-race activities and is certainly one area of activity that needs much improvement before next year’s race.

Another race has come and gone, and like all its predecessors, it will be remembered for different reasons by different people. It will certainly be a memorable one for me. When Tony Hulman issues his famous edict “GENTLEMEN, START YOUR ENGINES” next year, I plan to be there and I predict that, as has happened in all the past 21 years, the years will flow from my eyes as I once again get ready to watch “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing.”

Pace Car – Hurst/Olds
500 Festival Queen – Andrea McCall

Indy Journal - 1973

2009-02-10T23:34:00.001-06:00

1973

This, my twentieth year of seeing the 500 mile race, was certainly unlike any of the other nineteen years. It was, unfortunately, one of those years that will be remembered with sorrow and frustration. The death of drivers Art Pollard and Swede Savage and pit crew member Amrando Teran and the persistently inclement weather combined to make it a year that most persons would like to erase from their minds, but can’t.

For me, there were two other events which made this an unusual year. It was the first time I ever made a trip to the Speedway by myself and secondly, it was the first time the three of us slept in a private home and not in our car or in a garage.

After last year’s trips to the time trials and the race, I decided that some changed had to be made. Getting up at 2:00 am and not getting to bed until about 12:00 midnight made a too long of a day. It was particularly bad for me because I did the driving. On a few occasions, I had almost gone to sleep at the wheel, sometimes going over there and sometimes on the return trip. I talked to Dixie and Bobby about the subject, and both of them agreed that a better way had to be found.

I finally came up with the idea of asking Mr. and Mrs. Kramer if they knew of some of their neighbors who might have room for us in their home. They gave us the name, address, and telephone number of a neighbor who they thought might be of help to us. Her name was Mrs. Vivian Bray and she lived at 1804 North Auburn Street, a block east of Kramers and the first house north of Crawfordsville Road.

We received Kramer’s letter in early April and on the first Sunday after receiving the letter, Dixie called Mrs. Bray to inquire about our getting a room for the race. She said Kramers had talked to her about us and that she had a room for us if we wanted it. Dixie said that was fine and asked her to reserve it for the three of us.

The trip to the first day of time trials had two unusual features about it. It was the first time I went to the Speedway by myself, and it was the first time I had ever not made the trip over and back in the same day.

As I mentioned earlier, I had decided that the one day trip was too strenuous. I went over on Friday morning and returned Sunday afternoon.

Bobby and Dixie both had social functions to attend on Friday night and dad decided he didn’t care to go to the time trials this year, so I was left to make the trip alone.

About two weeks earlier, I had written to Mrs. Bray and asked her if I could stay at her house on Friday and Saturday nights. She replied that that would be fine.

I left house about 9:20 Friday morning, May 11, in our 1967 Chevrolet and drove to Tuscola where I stopped for a snack in a pizza parlor about 11:00. When I left Tuscola, I took I-57 north to Champaign. I had decided earlier to take a different route for part of the way and get out of the old routine for once. I drove north on I-57 until it intersected with I-74 at Champaign and then took I-74 to Indianapolis.

It was about 1:30 when I arrived at Mrs. Bray’s house. I introduced myself to her and she seemed like a real fine person. I took my suitcase to my upstairs room and then she showed me the rest of her house. We talked to each other for about thirty minutes and then I left for the Speedway.

This was another feature about this year which was different from any of my other years at the Speedway. It was the first time I was there on a practice day. I paid my $1.00 admission fee and went into Grandstand E. It was the first time I had ever seen cars going around the track from a seat other than the Paddock or Tower Terrace Sections. There were several hundred other persons in attendance including a large crowd of frolicking youths on the southwest turn infield.

I sat in Grandstand E for several minutes and then walked east behind the bleacher seats on the south side of the Speedway. I discovered that it takes much walking to go just a short distance in the Speedway area, in this case from the first to the second turn. I sat in various seats and got several views of the main stretch, back stretch, and short south chute. It was interesting to observe the race cars from a viewpoint other than the main straightaway. There weren’t many persons in the Southwest Vista, Grandstand G, or Southeast Vista, and almost all of them were trying to protect themselves from the strong winds which had started just since I arrived at the Speedway.

I walked as far eastward at I could and then walked back to the Speedway Gift Shop located behind Grandstand A. There were many items on display but all I bought was a $1.00 pillow cover. From the gift shop, I walked back to the Gate 2 viaduct and walked under the track and headed for the garage area.

There were a few cars in the garage area and some of them were having their engines tested prior to being pushed onto the track. The roar of the engines attracted a large crowd of people

From the garage area, I walked to the Tower Terrace section and observed the activity from various seats and then walked south to the front of the Control Tower. There were several cars practicing on the track, but there were also several in the pit area. The race fans, pit crew members, and race officials made a large crowd of people.

I stayed in the pit area about half an hour and then walked north and got a view of the scenery from the Terrace Extension and then the North Terrace. Our race seats were in the Terrace Extension seats in 1964 and 1966, but this was the first time I had been in the North Terrace. From here, I could see the cars on the north chute and all the way down the main straightaway. Both of these bleacher sections were in great need of repainting and general repair. It was shortly after 5:30 when I left the North Terrace and went back to the Tower Terrace and pit area.

The 6:00 deadline was approaching rapidly and the pit area was abuzz with activity. Many drivers were sitting in their cars with the engines running and were eager to get onto the track. Some of them were still sitting when the 6:00 whistle blew, ending all practice on the track for the day.

Right after the whistle blew, the drawing for the order of qualifications on Saturday was held in front of the Control Tower by the fence behind the pit area. Among the drivers I recognized were A.J Foyt, Al Unser, and Peter Revson.

When the drawing was finished, I went back to Mrs. Bray’s house. It was about 7:00 when I got back to the house and I was ready for a good supper. As I was coming into Indianapolis, I noticed, to my left, in the shopping center about a mile west of the Speedway, a cafeteria. I kept it in mind and now decided to see what it had to offer. The name of it was MCL Cafeteria and it had a pleasant but not necessarily expensive appearance. I went on in and had a big supper. I hadn’t eaten much since breakfast and now I was going to make up for that. The food, service, and atmosphere were all good, and I left feeling better than when I arrived.

Since I didn’t have anything definite to do for the rest of the evening, I decided to do some window shopping in some of the stores in the shopping center. I did this until about 9:00 when the stores closed and then I went back to my temporary home. Mrs. Bray said I could watch her television if I wanted to, so I watched “Mission Impossible” and the 10:00 news. There was quite a bit of news about the activity at the Speedway. Because I planned to get up early in the morning, I went to bed when the newscast was finished.

Saturday started unpleasantly. About 5:45, Mrs. Bray called to awaken me and tell me that the Speedway city police were starting to tow my car away. I immediately got dressed and rushed out to the car. The tow truck driver was raising the back wheels off the street and a policeman was writing a ticket to me for parking in a no-parking zone. The policeman said the signs had been installed Friday night, but I hadn’t seen them when I returned from eating supper. He was a polite gentleman and let me retrieve my car, but still issued me a $2.00 ticket for parking in the no-parking zone. I felt lucky to get off so easily, and owed much gratitude to Mrs. Bray and the friendly policeman for saving me from a possibly embarrassing situation. I parked the car in front of Mrs. Bray’s garage.

With that incident settled, I was awake now and went back to get cleaned up and dressed. Mrs. Bray told me on Friday that she would cook breakfast for me if I wanted her to, so I told her yes, knowing I wouldn’t get a good breakfast anywhere else very close. It was a good breakfast of eggs, bacon, coffee, and milk.

It was about 7:30 when I gathered up all my equipment and left for the Speedway. Although it wasn’t 8:00 yet, the ticket lines were almost back to 16^th Street, and it seemed like an eternity before I got my tickets, but I finally made it and got to my seat about 8:00. My seat was in the Paddock section, less than a yard south of the start-finish line. While I waited for the practice period to start at 9:00, I read the newspaper, listened to the radio, and observed the activity occurring around me.

Shortly after 9:00, the track was opened for practice and several cars and drivers went out for practice runs. It was between 9:30 and 9:45 when tragedy struck. Art Pollard was among those drivers taking practice laps. As he was going through the first turn, his car got out of control, spun and hit the retaining wall, flipped several times, and slid upside down for several feet towards the second turn. Art was removed from his car in critical condition, taken to the track hospital, and then transferred to an Indianapolis hospital. News of the accident was not announced over the P.A. system for quite some time after it happened, and it was around noon when the sad news of Art’s death was announced. It was unfortunate that the day had to start so tragically.

The demolished car and the debris it left on the track had to be removed and that took quite some time. The practice period ended at 10:30 and was followed by several marching bands and other pre-qualifying activities.

At 11:00, the track was opened for qualifying and Peter Revson was the first driver to qualify for this year’s race. Several other drivers made good qualifying runs and Swede Savage brought cheers from the crowd when he became the first driver to break Bobby Unser’s qualifying record of 1972.

The biggest news of the day came when Johnny Rutherford made his qualifying run. The crowd went wild when his third lap speed of 199.071 mph was announced. That was only about ¾ of a second under the 200 mph mark. His fourth lap was slightly slower and his four lap average was 198.413 mph. He received a standing, cheering ovation when he returned to his pit area.

Several other drivers made their qualifying runs and by 6:00, four drivers (Rutherford, Bobby Unser, Mark Donohue, and Savage) had broken the qualification record.

I arrived back at Mrs. Bray’s home about 6:45 and talked for a while with a woman who had been at the Speedway and was lodging at Mrs. Bray’s house. It was the first time I had seen her and she and her husband had arrived after I went to bed on Friday night and were leaving for their home in Davenport, Iowa, on Sunday afternoon.

I left at 8:00 and had a good supper at the MCL Cafeteria. After that, I stopped at a doughnut shop for a couple doughnuts and drove around Speedway for a few minutes. It was about 10:00 when I returned to Mrs. Bray’s house and I watched the 10:00 news on television.

Most of the newscast concerned the activity at the Speedway, and much of it was about Art Pollard and Johnny Rutherford. After the race news was over at 11:00, I went to my room and retired for the day.

On Sunday, I ate breakfast at Mrs. Bray’s house and left for home about 9:30. I stopped for gasoline on Lynnhurst Road just before reaching Route 36 and then took Route 36 all the way back to Springfield. I stopped at the Colonial Kitchen for a few minutes, but it was too crowded so I went on my way and arrived home shortly before 2:00.

At 1:28 pm on Sunday, May 27, Bobby dad and I left from Bobby and dad’s house in Bobby’s 1969 Chevrolet. The drive from Springfield to Decatur was ideal with a pleasant temperature and cloudless skies. A few miles east of Decatur, the good weather ended for the remainder of the trip. The sky suddenly darkened and we were caught in a heavy downpour. It lasted only a couple minutes and then the sun shone brightly again. Pretty soon, it became dark again and we had to go through another downpour. It was 3:33 when we arrived at the Colonial Kitchen for our break. Each of us had a cup of coffee and a little snack to eat and used the restroom before we left.

It was 3:57 when we started the second part of our trip and at 4:32, we entered Indiana. We encountered intermittent showers all the way to Indianapolis. Because of the gasoline shortage and the possibility of being unable to get gasoline at Indianapolis, we stopped at Brownsburg and were able to get a full tank of gasoline. That ended our worry of not being able to get back to Springfield when we wanted to.

When we got into the heavy traffic on the outskirts of Indianapolis, we decided to go ahead and eat supper before going to Mrs. Bray’s house. It was about 6:00 when we arrived at the MCL Cafeteria. There was a fairly long line of customers, but it moved well and pretty soon we had our food and were seated. Before I ate, I called Mrs. Bray to let her know we had arrived and would be at her house in about half an hour. Our food tasted good and it was definitely the best meal we had ever eaten at Indianapolis.

We left and drove east on Crawfordsville Road. It seemed strange not to turn on Fischer Street and be at Kramers’. As soon as we got out of the car, a loud siren started blowing. I introduced Mrs. Bray to Bobby and dad and the four of us talked for a few minutes. She told us the siren was a tornado warning and that tornadoes were predicted all around central Indiana. The weather was certainly unsettled and the prediction for race day wasn’t good.

We unpacked some of our belongings and then walked over to Mr. and Mrs. Kramer’s house and visited with them for a few minutes. They were happy to see us and showed no resentment over losing us as customers after eighteen years.

The Speedway museum was our next destination and it was a popular attraction. Although we had seen most of the exhibits before, we enjoyed seeing them again. We didn’t know it at that time but we had chosen just the right time to tour the museum. While we were there, another shower passed over the area, but it was okay when we left the museum.

When we arrived back at the house, it was a busy place. The back yard was full of tents and some men were playing cards in the garage. Inside, several persons were talking to each other and Mrs. Bray was watching television, so we joined her for a while. It was about 11:00 when we retired for the day, and we hoped to get the first decent night of sleep we ever had on the night before the big race.

Although there was a lot of loud, unpleasant noise outside, it was many times quieter than sleeping outdoors or in the car. Once we got to sleep, we didn’t awaken until about 5:30. I got dressed immediately and went downstairs to wait my turn in line for the restroom. Having only one bathroom in the house made it uncomfortable for everybody, but by 7:00 the three of us had used the bathroom, gotten dressed, and were ready for breakfast.

Mrs. Bray did most of the cooking but she had two other ladies who did most of the serving. We ate in the dining room and were served eggs, bacon, toast, coffee, and milk. It smelled and tasted real good and provided a good beginning for the day. When we finished, we got our equipment together and about 8:00 started walking to the Speedway.

Before crossing Georgetown Road, we stopped at the White Castle hamburger shop and had our two thermos bottles filled with coffee. Business was good but we didn’t have to wait long to be served.

The lines of race fans in line to get through the turnstiles were long, but they moved steadily and at 8:35, we entered the Speedway grounds. I bought two souvenir programs and then we made use of the first restroom we saw.

The size of the crowd seemed about the same as that of other years but when we reached the tunnel entrance, we did not have to endure the extreme congestion of many other years. The traffic moved slowly but steadily, and it didn’t stop once. We were now on the infield and a minute or so later we were behind the Tower Terrace section. By 9:00, we were in our seats.

We got our equipment situated and then sat down and rested our feet for a few minutes. I told Bobby and dad I was going to walk behind the pit area to get some pictures and then proceeded to do so. Just about every car was having last minute work done on it by its pit crew and the roar of the engines sounded good.

At 9:30, everything seemed to be going fine when I felt something hit me. I didn’t want to believe it, but there was no escaping the fact that it was rain. Although nobody knew it at the time, this was the beginning of one of the most frustrating, miserable, depressing, and saddest days in the history of the Speedway.

It was not a hard rain at first, but after a couple minutes, pit crew members were covering their cars and the spectators used their umbrellas and plastic lap covers. I was getting ready to return to my seat, so I didn’t linger any and got back in time without getting soaked.

After a few minutes, the rain stopped and the sun came out, brightening everybody’s spirit and raising hopes that the race would still start on time. These hopes, however, proved to be only dreams. Unlike the steady, all day rain of 1967, there were intermittent periods of rain and sunshine. At first, the showers were light but after a couple hours, they became regular downpours. After almost every shower, the sun would appear and almost have the track dried out, when suddenly it would disappear and those cool breezes, dark clouds, and rain showers would appear again.

The 11:00 starting time came and went with no indication of when the race would start. With each shower, frustration increased and tempers became shorter. It was highly frustrating for everybody and nobody could do anything about it Pit crew members sat dejectedly by their cars while the spectators tried to keep dry with umbrellas, rain coats, and lap covers. Many of them listened to their radios and consumed the food and drinks they had with them.

Before 11:00, during one of the brief dry periods, the caravan of celebrities was driven around the track for the fans to see. Among the celebrities this year were Joey Bishop, Jim Nabors, Chad Everett, Jackie Cooper, Hank Stram, Burgess Meredith, Lucy Arnez, and Miss Teenage America.

At 2:30, after five hours of great frustration and disappointment, chief steward Harlan Fengler gave the order for the cars to be pushed to their starting positions. A huge cheer and applause came from the crowd. Although the sun wasn’t shining, the track was dry, which was unusual.

In quite rapid succession, the Purdue University Band played “On the Banks of the Wabash”, “Star-Spangled Banner”, “Taps”, and then was joined by singer Jim Nabors for the singing and playing of “Back Home Again in Indiana.” The multitude of balloons was released from behind the Control Tower and a couple minutes later, Tony Hulman once again gave his yearly command, “Gentlemen, start your engines!” The roar of the engines elicited a huge applause and approval from the frustrated, but now happy, crowd. Little did anybody know that was to be the happiest moment of the day for everybody.

After a minute or so, the cars were pushed away and the pit crews returned to their pit area. Bob Harkey’s car, in 31^st starting position, wouldn’t start and was pushed off the track for the time being. 1960 race winner Jim Rathmann drove the Cadillac pace car and the roar of the engines could be heard as the field moved through the two south turns and down the backstretch. A few seconds later, the cars moved through the fourth turn and down the mainstretch to the applause of the fans. They were now on the official pace lap and about two minutes later, the roar of the crowd increased as the pace car entered the main straightaway and headed for the pit entrance. It flashed through the pit area, the green flag was displayed, and the race was on.

I yelled “Unser took it” to indicate Bobby Unser beat Johnny Rutherford into the first turn, and at the same instant, it looked like the start of the 1966 race. I screamed in terror as I saw cars going in every direction. I also saw several parts from some of the cars flying through the air, and then I saw fire. It was really a mess.

The race was immediately red flagged and rescue equipment was on the scene almost before the cars and debris had come to a rest. Panic seemed to break out everywhere in the stands, in the pit area, with race officials, and of course at the accident scene. The rescue squad went to work immediately and little by little, it was discovered who was in the wreck. The P.A. announcer said the following drivers and cars were involved: John Martin, Jim McElreath, Mike Mosley, Wally Dallenbach, Mike Hiss, Salt Walther, Dick Simon, David Hobbs, and Lee Kunzman. A few minutes later, it was determined that the main car in the wreck was that of Salt Walther. His car had gone out of control, hit a couple other cars, got airborne, landed upside down, skidd a long distance, and then caught fire. It was a miracle that Salt escaped with his life, but he was taken to a hospital and his condition was described as serious but stable. Some of the other drivers also had injuries, but only minor ones. Thirteen spectators were also injured by flying debris from Walther’s car.

As the crowd sat or stood and waited in shocked disbelief, dark clouds appeared again and a couple minutes later, another heavy ran covered the area. This was the coup de grace to a miserable day and sent thousands of the spectators heading for the exits as they knew the chances of seeing any more racing for the day were nil. It continued raining steadily as the debris was being cleared from the track.

Bobby and dad packed some of our equipment and went back to the house, but I stayed to see if there were any further developments. It was about half an hour later when I decided I might as well leave. As I walked behind the pit area, I looked up and down the straightway, and it was a sad scene. There was only a trickle of people left, both in the stands and in the pit area, and that, along with the constant rain and bad start of the race, caused a feeling of pensiveness to come over me.

The traffic going through the tunnel was not moving so I walked south to the end of the Tower Terrace section and was able to walk across the track to the area between Grandstands A and B. This was the area of the wreck and there were visible marks on both the outer and inner walls. I took some movie and still pictures of the straightaway and then continued on my way.

It was about 4:30 when I arrived at Bray’s. We visited with Mrs. Bray for a while and then put our equipment in the car and got ready to leave. It was about 5:00 when we left Brays. I was tired of waiting in the long line of cars on Crawfordsville Road as we had done every year, so this year I decided to try a different and hopefully quicker way of leaving the city. I drove north on Auburn Street for several blocks until I came to a street that had one way traffic going west. I moved into the flow of traffic and it moved quite well for several blocks and then slowed somewhat. It was faster than Crawfordsville Road and gave us some new scenery to see. We arrived back at Crawfordsville Road at the end of the shopping center and the traffic moved a little faster than in usually does. A few minutes later, we reached I-74 and started getting somewhere.

It was 7:45 when we reached the U.S. 36 junction at Chrisman. We stopped at the Colonial Kitchen for a good supper. There were several other frustrated race fans there and I’m sure the good hot supper tasted good to all of us. We hadn’t eaten a meal since 7:00 in the morning so we were ready for a big supper. We ate all we wanted and took our time doing it, and when we left at 8:30, we felt much better.

We arrived in Decatur about 9:45 and, as it is every Memorial Day night, Eldorado Street was alive with activity. It always seems to be a speedway for the young crowd. Not quite an hour later, we arrived at Dalbey’s. I helped Bobby and dad unload their equipment and then drove home.

It was the most frustrating and disappointing of all my trips and certainly a sad way to celebrate my twentieth year at the Speedway. I would have to wait another year and hope that everything would be better.

EPILOGUE

On Monday afternoon, the race was rescheduled for 9:00 Tuesday morning. 9:00 came and so did the rain. It wasn’t until 10:15 that Tony Hulman again gave the signal “Gentlemen, Start Your Engines.” Before the cars could get through the third turn of the pace lap, rain began falling again and by the time they reached the front straightaway, the red flag was out to stop the cars. It was about 2:00 when Harlan Fengler announced that the race had been postponed until 9:00 Wednesday morning. It was the first time in the history of the race that it had been postponed for two consecutive days by rain.

At 2:10 Wednesday, the race started again. I listened to it in the living room of my house. I was home recuperating from a chiropractic treatment I had received a couple hours earlier. Rain had delayed the start until afternoon. Many of the big-name drivers were out of the race before it was half finished. This included Mario Andretti, Lloyd Ruby, A.J. Foyt, Al Unser, Mark Donohue, and Bobby Unser.

On his 59^th lap, Swede Savage was involved in one of the worst crashes in the history of the Speedway. As he was coming through the fourth turn, the car somehow got out of control, crashed almost head-on into the inside retaining wall, and exploded into dozens of pieces which were thrown as far as 300 yards from the point of contact with the wall. It was an impossible sight to believe, even to those persons who have seen many wrecks in many years at the Speedway. The race was stopped immediately and rescue equipment was at the scene in a few seconds. Swede was taken to Methodist Hospital in Indianapolis immediately and was still conscious but in critical condition. Once again, this year the race had been plagued by tragedy.

Within seconds after the crash, one of Swede’s pit crew members stepped onto the pit apron to see the crash scene and was struck from behind by a rescue truck rushing to the accident. He was rushed to a hospital and died less than an hour after he was hit.

It took about an hour to clean the debris from the wreck scene and make the track usable again.

Swede Savage remained in critical condition for four weeks, although at times he seemed to be improving slightly. During the fifth week, his kidneys began malfunctioning and on Monday, July 2, he died from the malfunctioning and the complications of his other injuries.

Al Unser was leading the race at the time it was stopped and continued to lead when it was resumed. He led until the 73^rd lap when Gordon Johncock took over the lead. Gordon maintained the lead until the 131^st lap when, once again, rain started coming down. Two laps later, Chief Steward Harlan Fengler ended the race as the rain gave no indication of stopping and it was now after 5:30.

Johncock was declared the winner and the remaining first ten positions went to Bill Vukovich, Roger McCluskey, Mel Kenyon, Gary Bettenhausen, Steve Krisiloff, Lee Kunzman, John Martin, Johnny Rutherford, and Mike Mosley. Gordon completed 133 laps for 332.5 miles at an average speed of 159.020. It was the shortest “500” ever run at the Speedway.

When starter Pat Vidan waved the red flag to end the race, it signaled the end of the most frustrating, disappointing, and certainly one of the most tragic years in the history of the race. It was one of those years that many persons would like to forget and erase from the record books, but of course that can’t be done.

The combination of the deaths of two popular drivers and a pit crew member and the troubles caused by the uncooperative weather were almost too much for many persons to incur in one year.

As was to be expected, there was much controversy and discussion about what caused all the trouble and what should be done to prevent its recurrence in future years. During the summer, the length of the rear wings on the cars was reduced and the gas tank capacities were also reduced. There were also changes made to the race track. The outside retaining wall was raised fourteen inches, the pit area was extended further northward, and the inside retaining wall on the fourth turn was removed. Nobody will know until next year whether these changes will be beneficial.

Another subject that will be discussed is whether Gordon Johncock could have maintained his lead for the remaining 67 laps if the race had gone its full distance. This is impossible to know because there are many situations that could have developed to change the course of the race. Auto racing is one of the most unpredictable activities in the world and this race is an excellent example of that statement.

This will be a year to remember for several reasons. It was the first year I went to the Speedway by myself, it was the first time at a house other than Kramers, and it was the first time I subscribed to an Indianapolis newspaper during May.

As I look to the future, I hope that my third decade at the Speedway will begin much better than the second on ended…

Pace Car – Cadillac Eldorado

500 Festival Queen – Cynthia Foster