The Official Blog of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway

This week was an exciting one for IMS! Dan Wheldon was here with the 2012 INDYCAR for a few days of testing. It’s always an honor to have Dan at the speedway, but it was an even bigger honor to have him here in the 2012 INDYCAR. The IMS oval has had the rare opportunity of seeing the complete evolution of the INDYCAR race over its famed 2.5 miles – think about how the cars have changed over the years. The sleek 2012 model looked great crossing the yard of bricks.

2012 INDYCAR

Dan had great things to say about the new car, and the testing program this year. “The evolution lately, over the last few tests, has been phenomenal,” Dan says about the new model.

It was great to see the 2012 INDYCAR on our oval, and we can’t wait to see a field of 33 race around the track next May. What do you think of the new model? Thoughts, opinions, concerns?

Aerodynamics have been a part of the Indianapolis 500 since Ray Harroun designed the first rear view mirror on a race car in 1911. The “wedge shaped” contraption that would eventually be used on almost every automobile built was shaped like that to eliminate the drag of a flat piece sticking up from the car.

Even before that the shape of the Marmon Wasp, built in 1910, had a sleek shape compared to other race cars of the day.  The 1937 winner of Wilbur Shaw was an aerodynamic piece itself.  In 1955 2 cars entered (and almost a 3^rd car for Bill Vukovich, winner of the past two 500’s) that were called, back in the day, “Streamliner”.  The yellow Belond Miracle Power Special designed by Quinn Epperly and the blue and white Sumar Special designed by Frank Kurtis and Chapman Root started out as “fendered” cars.

The Sumar had full fenders and the both cars had enclosed cockpits. Jimmy Daywalt, driver of the Sumar car did not like the fact that he could not see the front tires and complained of being claustrophobic with the “bubble” installed.  After the 1^st day of practice, the team took the “fenders” and the cockpit bubble off of the car.  Jimmy Qualified the car 17^th and finished 9^th. In 1956, Marshall Teague failed to qualify the car. In 1959, the body was put back on the car and taken to Daytona to attempt a “Land Speed Record” run with Teague.  After taking the car up to over 171 mph early in the trials, Teague crashed the car attempting to break the 180mph mark and was killed.  The car was not raced again. It is still in the Root family.

The #33 Belond car driven by Jim Rathmann used fairings rather than a complete body. It also started out as a covered canopy on the cockpit but that was taken off early in the month.  Rathmann qualified the car 20^th and finished 14^th.  It did not qualify in 1956.

The Keck “Streamliner” was designed and being built by Norman Timbs, Quinn Epperly, Jim Travers and Frank Coon and was to have first a Novi motor.  When Lew Welch would not sell the motor to Keck, he wanted to have Leo Goosen build a new V8 Supercharged Offenhauser for the radical new car.  When it looked like the car would not be completed in time for the ’55 race, Keck released Vukovich to drive for owner Lindsey Hopkins. The rest is history.

The Keck Streamliner never arrived or raced in Indy although according to Jim Travers, the car was scheduled to be driven at Indianapolis in 1956 by Jack McGrath.  McGrath was killed in a racing accident in Phoenix in November of 1955. The Keck Streamliner was not completed until 1985 and it never raced.

My dad woke mom and I up early in 1956 and said we were “going for a ride” .  As we neared the area of 16^th and Georgetown, I realized we were headed for THEE RACE.  I do remember the traffic and my dad was not really looking forward to getting his year old Ford all dinged up so I was quite surprised when we actually turned into the infield and pulled up to the 1^st turn infield  area (front row actually).  The rains the week before and up to early raceday morning left the ground a bit soggy but I didn’t care…we were at the track.  It was a good day!

1956 Indy 500

What a thrill to actually be at the RACE and while the pre-race hoopla was exciting, nothing could beat the sound of those 33 cars as they came barreling into the 1^st turn.  You could pick the Novi’s sound out from all the Offys immediately as Paul Russo came through the 1^st turn.  Then, on lap 21, we heard a loud pop and the red Novi was sideways through the turn and against the wall.  I was relieved as Russo climbed out of the car and walked to the inside of the track.   As the race progressed the clear favorite for me had to be the white and pink car of Pat Flaherty.  As he entered the turn, I could see that green shamrock on his helmet. Flaherty ended up winning the event that year and for me, my 1^st race was a memorable experience.  I have only missed 2 since then while in the Army in 1966 & 67.

Novi Vespa

Another favorite of mine, Tony Bettenhausen did not fare as well.  The beautiful blue and gold # 99 Belanger Special ended up on the South Short Chute with a hard hit, ending Tony B’s day.  Future winners including Sam Hanks, and Rodger Ward along with past winners, Johnnie Parsons and Bob Sweikert finished in the top 10 that year. But oh, the sound of that Novi…………..

JR Hildebrand thought he was walking into the Panther Racing garage for just another morning full of meetings, little did he know a huge surprise was in store for him. The conclusion of the 2011 Indy 500 for JR Hildebrand was a rough one, but he never let it show and Panther Racing wanted to reward JR for his professionalism. When John Barnes (Panther Racing co-owner) ran across JR’s dream car in perfect condition, he knew it would be the best way to show his appreciation.

JR has been storing a Trans-Am he got from his dad in high school at the Panther garages. The team told JR they had “fixed it up” and wanted to show it to him. They unveiled the Trans-Am (not in any better condition) to JR and he laughed, realizing it was a joke but still not knowing exactly what was going on.

The "fixed-up" Trans-Am

Just as Hildebrand got a good look at the Trans-Am, the garage door in the back of the shop opened and in came his 1966 Chevelle SS in mint condition. He kept taking off his hat and scratching his head; he seemed to be in disbelief. “This is the greatest thing that has ever happened,” I overheard him say.

JR checks out his new Chevelle

After JR had a chance to sit in the driver seat and get a feel for his new bright red dream, he spoke on the surprise and his Indy 500 experience. He explained that he finds it “silly” that he has received so much attention for his behavior because no matter the outcome of the Indy 500 he would have carried himself the same way. At the same time, he is happy for the positive impact it has had for the team and the National Guard. “This is the coolest thing ever,” he said about his new Chevelle.

What’s your dream car?

Indianapolis Motor Speedway Historian Donald Davidson has been the expert on the history of the Racing Capital of the World since he arrived in Central Indiana in the mid-1960s. Now 2010 Auto Racing Hall of Fame inductee Davidson is answering your questions periodically in this blog!

Q: With the Red Bull Indianapolis GP MotoGP race approaching, I find myself wondering if any Indiana-built (or even Indianapolis-built) motorcycles ever raced or were tested at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

—Scott Smith, Brownsburg, Ind.

A: It turns out that there were actually several motorcycle companies in Indiana in the early days, but as with the majority of the automobile firms, they were short-lived, typically lasting only a year or two. Certainly none ever was tested at the track in the early days, the only makes participating in the seven events held during the one and only day of actual competition—Aug, 14, 1909—being Indian, Harley-Davidson, NSU, Excelsior, Reading Standard, Peugeot, Merkel, Minneapolis and Thor.

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Sleeping at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway??!! Despite the action around him, we’ve dug up this photo of Johnnie Parsons taking a nap at the IMS and have an IMS prize pack ready for the best fan photo caption.

So what do you say, how should this photo be captioned?

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Your Caption Here

A year out of high School and living in my 1^st place on my own, ½ of a double 1 house off of Crawfordsville Road and Gerrard (for racing fanatics, behind what would later become Hurtubise’s Muffler Shop) I was close to what I called Utopia, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.  Along with my best friend Dave, whose family had connections to the longtime car owner Lindsey Hopkins, we approached May with great anticipation.   In our hands ( our 19year old hands I might add), were 2 season Gate Passes, a Garage Area Pass each AND 2 great tickets to the race in the grandstands (yeah, like 2 nineteen year old testosterone loaded boys could sit still for 4 hours in a grandstand seat when the infield Snakepit was loaded with gorgeous cuties) and we couldn’t wait until Opening Day.

As I recall (and a LOT of time has passed since then), all days possible were spent there at the track.  As Race Day approached, my main entry (Crawfordsville Road) to my “digs” on Gerrard kept loading up with race fans and revelers and soon my 1 room studio flat became a “crash house” for other friends old and new.

Hopkins & Marshman

We partied for 3 days and on race day we had, of course, sold our great tickets and headed for the infield (with new general admission ducats acquired from another source).  We had a great time until the big crash and drifted through the rest of the race in stunned silence (we were race fans too!). I still remember the silence of the crowd and the PA announcements that day………

AJ Foyt - Winner of the 1964 Indy 500

AJ Foyt won the race, the last winning front engine car to do so, for his 2^nd win.

Little did I realize what the Speedway would become to me and the career I would make of it.

Old time residents of the Town of Speedway and historians like Donald Davidson tell stories about Indy 500 drivers staying at houses in Speedway during the month of May.  This tradition lasted into the 1980s.  I am not sure if any Indy 500 drivers stayed at my house prior to me purchasing it, but I can now say that Dan Wheldon’s uniform slept at my house the night he won the 100th Anniversary Indy 500.  Let me explain…

My cousin’s daughter, Emily Jones, is interning this summer with Bryan Herta Autosport.  During her internship, she is staying at my house.  As an intern for a smaller IndyCar team, she experienced a wide range of duties during May.  Some of her duties included carrying Dan’s helmet to the pits when he headed out on the track, assisting in the entertainment of guests at the team’s suite, helping hand out several thousand William Rast Racing Team hats and t-shirts, and picking up guests and team members at the airport.  As a member of the team, she was included in the team’s qualifying photo, victory lane photo, and victory dinner photo. On the night of Dan’s historic win, as the intern on the team, she was asked to take Dan’s uniform and wash it so that it would be clean for the winner’s photo shoot on Monday.  The uniform was stained with milk, champagne, and possibly some other mysterious fluid.  Since Emily is staying with me, she brought the uniform to my house to wash it.  The uniform spent the night hanging to dry in my basement.  It was then ready for the Winner’s Photo Shoot on Monday morning. I know this is not quite as exciting as some of the other stories Speedway residents have about Indy 500 drivers staying at their house, but I can now say that the night he won the 100th Anniversary Indy 500, Dan Wheldon’s Uniform slept here. (P.S. – The milk bottle Dan drank from after winning the race magically appeared on my kitchen counter a few days later.  Don’t worry, the bottle is now safely in Dan’s possession.)

The Novi engine in 1964

Throughout its 100-year history, there have been many great cars that have competed in the Indianapolis 500 – cars that ranged from cutting-edge innovation to legendary performance. But it’s likely the most popular car in Indianapolis 500 history is one that never won the race – the Novi.

Ask any longtime fan that has come to the Indianapolis Motor Speedways in the last 60 years, and they will never forget the Novi. That’s because it was so loud it would leave the spectators ears ringing long after the race had concluded.

“It was a one of a kind car – it had a sound to it that never ended,” said famed Novi car owner Andy Granatelli. “The Novi had such a sound to it that whether there were 32 other cars in the race you could hear it above all the other cars. When the other cars were on the backstretch, you couldn’t hear them at all, but you could hear the Novi. The Novi had a sound to it that you wouldn’t believe. People would hear that car and say the hair on the back of their neck would stand up. It was unbelievable. I was in love with the Novi, which is why I bought them.”

The Novi was ahead of its time in many ways. It was a double-overhead cam V8 with a bigger bore and a shorter stroke that made its first appearance in the 1941 Indy 500 when Ralph Hepburn drove the Bowes Seal Fast Special to a fourth-place finish.

“That was 20 years before Detroit even thought about that and 50 years before they built the double-overhead cam so that was way ahead of its time,” Granatelli said. “The other cars turned 4,000 or 5,000 rpm, and the Novi turned 10,000 rpm.” [More]

Indy 500 weekend is officially here (yes, I start my weekends on Thursday) and I don’t know about you but I’m ready to get this party started! While the race may not be until Sunday, there’s plenty of action to check out between now and then. Here’s a rundown of the events on my schedule. You’ll also find information about each event as well as their Twitter handle if available and of course you can follow my weekend on Twitter too (@lesalina)!

Where will you be?

Thursday, May 26

Jocktails at the 500 / Jocktails After-party

7 pm – 10 pm Invite Only Event

10 pm – 3 am After-party, open to the public

Jocktails at the 500 will feature some of the biggest names related to the Indy 500, and other local celebrities using their star power to raise money for this year’s beneficiary, Racing for Cancer (www.racingforcancer.org). 100% of the tips raised from the event will be donated to the organization. While the event may be by invite only, the after-party is open to all and will be hosted by yours truly!

Info: Jocktails Celebrity After-party Hosted by Leslie Bailey, Blu Lounge, 240 S. Meridian St.
Indianapolis. Visit http://www.facebook.com/pages/Jocktails/131277730281798?v=info for more information.

Follow this event on Twitter: @Jocktails, @RacingForCancer

Friday, May 27 – Carb Day

Firestone Freedom 100

12 pm

One happy Carb Day fan

Don’t miss the 9^th Freedom 100 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. This is your chance to witness the future stars of IndyCar in action! And it’s only 40 laps which means you’ll have plenty of time to get to the rest of the Carb Day activities.

Info: Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Miler Lite Carb Day Tickets: $20

Follow this event on Twitter: @IndyCar

Miller Lite Carb Day Concert featuring Staind with Special Guests Papa Roach

3:30 pm

Remember them? This concert is free with Carb Day admission so get your beer and prepare for a flashback to the 90’s. Grab yourself a beer and enjoy! (Please drink responsibly. Nobody likes that guy at a concert.)

Info: Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Miller Lite Card Day Tickets:$20

Saturday, May 28

IPL 500 Festival Parade

12 pm

CNN anchor Anderson Cooper leads the two-mile procession of floats, marching bands and all 33 competing drivers. Fun for the whole family! If you’re not purchasing reserved seats, make sure to arrive early to get a good spot as you will be joining more than 300,000 spectators for this 54 year tradition.

Info: Pennsylvania and North Streets, Reserved seats are $14.50; $18 and $32. Visit http://www.500festival.com/parade/ for more information.

Follow this event on Twitter: @500Festival

FANtasy 500 Race Party

9 pm – 3 am

The 4^th annual FANtasty Race Party will be hosted by television personality Catt Sadler, recording artist and actress Christina Milian, and CNN’s ‘Morning Express’ host Carlos Diaz. Held at the historic Columbia Club on Monument circle, this event is sure to be the hottest party of the night.

Info: The Columbia Club, 121 Monument Circle, Indianapolis, IN, Tickets: $75 General Admission/$100 Moet VIP Lounge. Visit http://www.fantasy500party.com/ for more information.

Sunday, May 29 – Race Day

The Centennial Indianapolis 500

12 pm

The green flag drops

Celebrate one hundred years of history on the track as 33 drivers race for the checkered flag. Personally, I’m looking forward to the Hot Wheels Fearless at the 500 World Record Jump Attempt at 10:40 am and watching the National Anthem performed by David Foster, Seal & Kelly Clarkson during the pre-race festivities, but nothing – I mean nothing, beats the sound of those famous words and hearing the engines roar.

Info: Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Tickets: $30 and up. Visit http://www.indianapolismotorspeedway.com for more information.

Follow this event on Twitter: @IMS