The Official Blog of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway

Arie Luyendyk 1985

He holds the top three speed records at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and has two victories.

One qualifying lap – 237.498, 1996
Four-lap qualifying average – 236.986, 1996
500 miles – 185.981, 1990

And Arie Luyendyk figures his 500-mile mark will stay for a while – it’s already stayed 22 years.

“That (500-mile) record will stay there for a long time,” said Luyendyk, 59, now living in Fountain Hills, Ariz. “Back then we didn’t have a pit speed limit. Now it takes time.”

But for qualifying?

“They could change the cars to make that happen,” he said. “The fans want to see it (broken). Those records are there, but I would like to see someone break them.”

He wasn’t always an ovalmeister, starting with when the Dutchman came up with the former Provimi Veal team.

“We had a small team, and there wasn’t one guy who had worked with a car on an oval,” Luyendyk said. “When I started in ’85, we had a little help from Lola, but no one had worked on a car for an oval. The big change came when I got with a team that could prepare a car for an oval. That started in ’87 with Dick Simon when I got with Larry Curry. You change your attitude and confidence. I had good races with Simon.”

But the 1990 victory at Indianapolis was his first in Indy cars – and Luyendyk could feel it coming.

“I really did feel good about it,” he said. “The whole month went well, qualified third and after some really good days, I thought we could be right there. The communication was good between me and Doug Shierson (the car owner). It was good and professional. We didn’t change that much during the race. Teams like Penske and Newman-Haas knew we were fast.

“I didn’t feel that confident in 1997 (with Treadway Racing). I had the pole, but I was always on the edge. Going into that race with that feeling isn’t good. We worked on the car during the whole race.”

Everything didn’t always work fine. In a race at Texas Motor Speedway in ‘97, scoring had Billy Boat winning in A.J. Foyt’s car, but Luyendyk thought he had won and also went to Victory Lane. An argument ensued, and Foyt pushed/hit Luyendyk into a flower bed. Video of the incident played on sports shows all week.

Eventually, a scoring audit showed Luyendyk to be the winner. After the first day the next weekend at Pikes Peak, Luyendyk came back to the hotel and said: “A.J. and I were talking out on the pit road, and you should have seen it. There must have been 50 photographers there.”

And at Christmas, Texas Motor Speedway promoter Eddie Gossage outfitted his whole staff in officials’ uniforms and the track’s Christmas card showed them all in Victory Lane, Gossage in front with a whistle.

It was rumored at the time and has been confirmed by some that Foyt still has the trophy for that race … he didn’t give it back.

Luyendyk is still in the sport, sharing some INDYCAR race control, rookie coaching and two-seater driving duties. He also said he is “playing around with some real estate.”

“In race control, it really opens my eyes on what goes on there,” he said. “Dispatching safety vehicles and calling cautions. If you’re an active driver, you don’t see it.”

In 1990, a friend of Luyendyk walked on to the pit road on Opening Day at the Speedway and went through Victory Lane, which was, at the time, at pit center. He looked down and saw a coin. It was a Dutch dime. He put it in his pocket and forgot about it.

After Luyendyk won, the friend glued the dime to a block of wood and gave it to Luyendyk the day after the race, telling him the story.

“Oh, that’s spooky,” Luyendyk said at the time.

Earlier this month, the Dutchman was asked about it. Even after 23 years, Arie said, “I still have it.”

1983 Steve Chassey

He drove a car called the Genesee Beer Wagon. He drove for a rookie woman car owner. He is one of two Vietnam War veterans to make a “500” field. He sold insurance to teams for on-track crash damage.

Steve Chassey made his mark at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway with three starts in the hallowed Indianapolis 500 and has stayed involved in different ways through the years.

He had a best finish of 11th in 1983, but he took a lot of different cars to the line, innovations, like the two-tone blue Jet Engineering Eagle, one of arguably the prettiest race cars ever to run on the 2 ½-mile oval.

“I was pretty proud of that,” he said of his ’83 finish. “In ’83, we finished the race with a stock block (engine).”

That was the Genesee Beer Wagon, fielded by Dick Hammond.

The whole experience at the Speedway is something Chassey treasures.

“Growing up in open-wheel  racing, that was the pinnacle of racing,” Chassey said of the Indianapolis 500. “In our careers, it’s what we all looked for. I love the Speedway. They treat me nice.”

Chassey built stock cars, then went into the service. He was scheduled to go to Vietnam as a communications specialist, but that changed and he became part of a howitzer battalion as a sergeant E-5. Pete Halsmer is the only other Vietnam War veteran to make the show at Indy. He was a helicopter pilot.

When Chassey returned to the United States from the war, he started racing sprinters, on his way toward the Midwest and Indy. In 1981, he drove for female car owner Lydia Loughery, but they failed to qualify for the Indianapolis 500.

Chassey started the “500” in 1983, 1987 and 1988. After he retired as a driver, he went into the racing insurance business for on-track physical damage. Generally, at that time in the late 1980s, teams figured about a crash and a half per season in their budgets.

“At one time, we had 16 to 18 cars insured,” Chassey said. “There’s not one of the teams now that I know of that is insured for on-track crash damage now. They look at the premium and say, ‘I can buy a whole car for that.’ But what if you knock off the same corner four or five times during the season?”

Chassey moved from Indianapolis to Glendale, Ariz., in October. He was elected a year ago to serve on the Board of Directors of the Indianapolis 500 Oldtimers organization.

He would get back into insurance if he found a company that wanted to get involved in motorsports. And he’ll certainly be at the Speedway this month.

Billy Boat 1998

Billy Boat went through some trials and tribulations before he grabbed the pole position for the 1998 Indianapolis 500.

“We crashed in practice right before qualifying,” Boat said. “I knew we had the speed, but we had some other issues. I knew we had an awesome race car.”

The pole came when the legendary A.J. Foyt gave Phoenix native Boat his shot at Indianapolis.

But mechanical problems in the race kept Boat from Victory Lane that year. But the pole was quite an achievement, and kitchen magnets featuring his picture appeared the next year.

“Any time you can see the leader with 25 laps to go, you’ll have a shot to win it,” Boat said. “We had the best car in ’98.”

In 1999, Boat finished third, his best in seven starts at Indy.

“The third behind Kenny (Brack) was a great accomplishment,” Boat said. “In the heat of the moment, you always want to win.”

Boat joined IndyCar at a time when opportunities opened up for sprint and midget drivers around the country.

“That was always my goal,” he said. “I was at the right place at the right time. I was happy to be there. I did my own team with Cary Agajanian and Mike Curb in 2001 and 2002. But for 2003, the budget was going to go from $1.8 million to $3 million, so we just couldn’t do it.”

Boat was operating an automotive exhaust business in Phoenix before he came to the Speedway.

“I started Billy Boat Performance Exhaust in 1990,” he said. “Since then, I’ve taken a more active role in the company. We work on Corvettes, Camaros and BMWs, high-end performance cars.

“My son Chad was only 8 or 9 when I was racing Indy cars, and I’ve taken an active role in his racing. Now he’s living in North Carolina. He’s going to be 21, and he’s been running some NASCAR and ARCA. He hopes to be in the Nationwide Series next year.

“My brother Mike is still here doing sales for us. My daughter Trisha works in the social media department for Chip Ganassi in Charlotte. My other two daughters, Emily, 17, and Brooke, 18, are into cheerleading, and Brooke goes to Arizona State next year.”

Boat said his IndyCar Series victories at Texas were rewarding, and he was in Victory Lane with Foyt in ’97 when a scoring question arose and Arie Luyendyk came to Victory Lane with his team to protest. A.J. promptly shoved Luyendyk into a flower bed. Through a long audit, Luyendyk was declared the winner.

But Boat confirmed something that has floated around the paddock for a long time: A.J. still has the trophy.

Every Memorial Day a flood of memories comes back to me.

I grew up on the west side of Indianapolis. In high school we would skip school and go to Carb Day and have a blast. We really didn’t watch much of the track action to be honest. There was too much to watch in the infield!

I remember walking through the infield and seeing Mario Andretti’s transporter and watching them load it.   We started talking towards the guy standing by the transporter and realized it was Michael Andretti himself!  This was before he raced at Indy and he was working for his dad. He was a very nice guy, he answered all our questions. You would have never guessed he was racing royalty. It was just like talking to my neighbor. This was back when the Coca Cola field was filled to capacity days before the race.  In the mid to late 80′s.

Balloons on Indianapolis 500 Race Day

A few years after high school I met my girlfriend,  her grandfather was a car owner. Most of her family was involved with the team. Her brother and dad were members of the pit crew.  It was also interesting to hear the gossip going on behind the scenes. They would always chat about what they were struggling with to get the car setup and ready to compete. The guys basically lived at the track the whole month, sometimes working around the clock. It was pretty intense. A few times when I was at the shop I was asked to help them load the transporter before they headed out to a race. I remember bracing myself to pick up a rear wheel as if I was picking up something heavy and the wheel practically flew up in the air. I was amazed something that big could be so light.

The whole month of May was special. Lots of energy in the city, tons of nightlife, race parties etc.  Nonstop fun.  It wasn’t uncommon to see celebrities out on the town during the month of May.

Years later I was forced to move from Indianapolis after being laid-off from my job. Since then I have traveled all over the country as a computer consultant for the last 12 years. I try to make it back to the 500 every chance I get. It always reminds me of all the great times I had when I was younger. When the balloons fly and the fighters fly over – there is no way you can resist being proud to be American. To this day, the spectacle of the Indianapolis 500 is one of the most electric things I have ever witnessed.

I’ve been to the 500 several times since I left Indy. I always park in the same complex that I lived in back in the day and walk the same path I did back then. I love taking in the sights and sounds of the race. Of course I have to pick up some White Castles and some King Ribs to make my trip complete. I can’t explain it, but my eyes always tear up during the invocation. I will always miss it. Sitting in the stands, getting burnt to a crisp. And having not a care in the world.

When I am unable to make it back to Indy for the 500, Memorial Day is filled with mixed emotions.   It’s just not the same watching it from 1000 miles away. I remember when I was a little kid we would sit out in the back yard listening to the cars engines roar in the distance (probably 10 miles away) and listening to the race on the radio.

It was a great time to grow up in Indianapolis. Thank you for the memories and giving me one more thing to be proud to be a Hoosier and most of all, an American.

- Chris

Gary Bettenhausen 1980

It was a family affair that lasted for several decades, and the Bettenhausen clan became legendary at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

It was also a sport that wasn’t kind to them. The family patriarch, Melvin “Tony” Bettenhausen, died in a practice accident in 1961 at Indianapolis.

Gary Bettenhausen followed in his father Tony’s footsteps to Indy and made 21 starts in “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing.” His favorite race wasn’t 1972, when he led 138 of the 200 laps and fell victim late to mechanical bugaboos.

It was 1980.

“Probably more so,” said Bettenhausen, 71, from his Martinsville, Ind., home. “We took a 5-year-old car, started in the last row and finished third. We changed two tires the whole race, had no radios, so we used hand signals. It was an old Patrick car that Wally Dallenbach had driven.

“Sherman Armstrong already had four cars, and we really didn’t have any time in it. We changed the fuel injection and other things for Race Day, and it ran like a rocket.”

That was his best finish at the Speedway.

Bettenhausen was handicapped by a left-arm injury from an accident on the dirt mile at Syracuse, N.Y., but it didn’t stop him.

“A whole half of my career was with one arm, and I won the dirt title twice,” he said. “My first race back was a 100-lapper indoors at Fort Wayne, and I won it. I got smoother, and that helped me. The first couple years, I couldn’t drive it down the straightaway. As the years went on, it got stronger. For a while, I actually used Velcro on my glove to hold my hand on the wheel. I learned how to compensate.”

In 1992, the paddock was buzzing before the month of May even started. Bettenhausen was hooked up with Nelson Piquet as his teammate. Everybody wondered what stories would come out of the matchup of the sophisticated former Formula One road-racing champion paired with the master of the American dirt oval.

It was surprising. There weren’t any stories.

“It was quite an experience,” Bettenhausen said. “It took about five minutes to decide we liked each other. He’s a fun guy to be around. He called on my birthday or around Christmas two years ago out of the blue. His son is running NASCAR’s Nationwide series, and I watch him all the time.”

Gary B said he doesn’t miss racing in Indy cars.

“Nope,” Gary said, “not the way it is today with all the computers. Half the fun was getting a car set up.”

His brother Merle, who also raced, retired last year as marketing manager for auto dealer Ray Skillman. Sadly, his youngest brother, Tony Jr., was killed in a plane crash in 2000.

Gary’s twin sons, Cary and Todd, started a health-care business and patented an innovative tray that allows surgeons to have tools in exactly the right places when they come out of a sterilizer.

Sadly for his legions of fans, Gary said he doesn’t come by the Speedway anymore.

“It’s too hard on my legs and back because I’m not walking very well,” Gary said.

But the fans never will forget the popular Gary B.

Although I grew up in Alabama, my father was a Hoosier.  In fact, you could say that he was a Hoosier’s Hoosier.  My great uncle once told me that the definition of a Hoosier was a guy dribbling a basketball around the Brickyard looking for mushrooms.  Could have easily been my Dad!  Anyhow, when he and my Uncle returned from WWII, they started attending the Indy 500.  For many years they watched from the infield, because they could not afford bleacher seats.  I remember vividly hearing of one race where they moved around the infield and everywhere they stopped to watch, a wreck happened!  They definitely felt like “The Flying Dutchmen” that day!

1967 Indianapolis 500

For some years they worked on the safety crew because, by this time, my uncle was the fire chief of Bainbridge, IN.  When they finally achieved some affluence they started getting reserved seats.  They basically saw every race between 1946 and 1970, and missed in 1971 only because my sister graduated from high school in Alabama during race week.  They were back again in 1972 but missed again in 1973, when I graduated.  The two of them had practically photographic memories from races and could describe details of individual races with such precision that you’d swear you had been there yourself.

As I was growing up, attending the 500 with my dad and uncle was a rite of passage for all of us kids, and 15 was the magic number.  On May 29, 1967, however, the night before the race, my dad told me that I was going to get to go the next day.  I was only 12!  I didn’t sleep a wink that night and watched the race get called for rain with Parnelli Jones beginning to dominate the field in the #40 STP Turbocar from Sec 20, Row LL, seat 5 in the Paddock.  We were back the next day to watch the race resume and I’ve been hooked ever since.  While I was in college, several times we would leave Chattanooga, Tennessee, drive all night, drive into the line to park, watch the race and then drive back to Chattanooga to go back to school!  For many years, I watched from the infield and even took my new wife to the race on our honeymoon.

For the most part, the only races that I’ve missed since then were because I was stationed overseas with the army, from 1981-84, 1991-1994 and 2000-2003.  I can vividly remember being on duty in Germany and listening to Rick Mears winning his second race on the Armed Forces Radio Network in 1984.  When we returned from Germany in 2003 I took my son to his first race in 2004: Paddock, Box 63, Row H, Seat 1.  I’m now 57, and I hope to see every Indy 500 until I die and when I’m buried, there will be two tickets to the race in my breast pocket.  It runs in my family and it’s in my blood.

-E.J.

Jack Hewitt 1998

USAC short-track legend Jack Hewitt was excited when he got to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, excited while he was there in 1998 and is still excited now that he has participated in “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing.”

When he reached the Speedway in 1998, he was more than moderately on top of the world.

“I only grew up 100 miles from there,” he said. “When you set goals in life … I wanted to drive sprint cars, wanted to race in Australia, which I did for 11 winters, and wanted to run the Indianapolis 500. That was my final goal. The first time I drove around the Speedway, I was thinking, ‘I have to be blessed.’”

Hewitt, from Troy, Ohio, was the “purest” of race drivers. He would drive anything, anywhere, all the time.

“I probably ran 150 features one year,” Hewitt said. “That’s the most I’ve ever done in a year. If I could’ve squeezed in a couple more, I probably would have.”

Two-time USAC Silver Crown National Champion Hewitt, now 61, drove the PDM Racing car in 1998 at Indianapolis as a 46-year-old rookie. He got a lot of help.

“I think I was in with a good bunch of guys,” Hewitt said. “Al Unser, Gary Bettenhausen … a lot of my heroes were there to help me. Johnny Rutherford took me around and told me it was a lot like Winchester. After he told me that, we picked up speed. Paul Diatlovich (owner of PDM) was showing me on the computer what I was doing and I was able to understand it better after JR talked to me.”

The first “500” Hewitt remembers was in 1963, when he walked past his father, who was listening to it on the radio. Parnelli Jones won that year and carried No. 98. Hewitt and PDM carried No. 98 at the Speedway in 1998.

Hewitt’s Indianapolis 500 career started ominously. He crashed on the first day, and the PDM crew rebuilt the damaged machine. He was back on track Wednesday.

“You never give up from your dream,” he said. “I got to hang out with Florence Henderson and Jim Nabors. I was so paranoid about pit stops because I didn’t want to kill the motor. If you’re a race driver, I don’t think it makes a lot of difference what you drive. It’s just another style of racing. In my whole career in sprint cars, I was smooth and patient.

“It was a dream come true. You have goals, and racing in the Indianapolis 500 was one of them. It’s just amazing how many get to do it. I got to be a part of it, and I got to race there. Basketball, baseball … a lot of people didn’t reach their goals. I’ve led a fantastic life.”

On Race Day, many of Hewitt’s fans from short tracks around the Midwest were on hand. Hanging signs from the grandstands is discouraged at IMS because they block the view of other ticket holders, but that didn’t stop Hewitt’s Heroes from hanging a huge bedsheet from the railing of the upper deck at the end of the front straightaway that sported the words, “Do It Hewitt,” a phrase frequently heard over the public address at American short tracks.

Hewitt became the oldest rookie starter in Indianapolis 500 history, a record surpassed only last year by Jean Alesi, 47. Hewitt started 22nd and finished a respectable 12th in the Parker Machinery entry, completing 195 laps.

“It was such a Hollywood script,” Hewitt said. “I ran all day.”

The year 1998 was a big one for Hewitt in another way as well. In the 4-Crown Nationals at Eldora, he won the midget, sprint Silver Crown and modified features.

“It was the most unbelievable achievement in the history of motorsports,” said USAC executive Dick Jordan. “Absolutely incredible. In four different cars … he even wore four different helmets.”

Hewitt suffered a neck injury in 1993, and a second injury in 2002 caused him to retire.

“I’ll be 62 in July,” he said. “I’ve had a wonderful career. I’ve been blessed. I’d still be racing to this day if I hadn’t gotten hurt.”

He developed a two-seat sprint car that he takes to various races so customers and VIPs can experience the thrill of short-track thunder.

“I’ve got a 5-year-old grandson and my son, Cody, who’s 29, ran a sprint car all last year and for having one arm, he did really fine.”

Buzz Calkins and crew.

Buzz Calkins will always be in the record books.

He won the Indy Racing League’s first race in 1996 at Walt Disney World when he held off Tony Stewart. It was the first IndyCar race for both, and there aren’t that many drivers out there who can say they beat “Smoke” in a competitive scenario on a racetrack.

“It was one of those days when everything was pretty much good all day.” Calkins said. “My engine was overheating, but we overcame that.”

Calkins always looked toward the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, where he made six starts, led four laps and had a best finish of 10th in 1998 for his family-owned Bradley Motorsports team.

“When I went there for the first time in 1987, when I walked into the place, I knew it was something I wanted to do,” Calkins said. “My dad bought me a go-kart when I was 14 years old, it started going well, and the rest is history. When I started out, it was my ambition to race in the Indianapolis 500.”

Calkins was always popular with the fans and those in the paddock.

At Indy for his first race there in 1996, he was talking to an INDYCAR official just outside the garage area, and the official suggested he go out to pit road and sign a few autographs.

“That’s where I’ve been for the last two hours,” he said with a smile.

After the duel with Stewart at Walt Disney World, Calkins asked public relations rep Jim Dinsmore if he and Tony had anything in common, that he’d like to get to know him better. Dinsmore knew both played pool, and the result was a charity 8-ball game at a casino in Las Vegas.

“That’s the thing I liked the most was the people,” Calkins said. “You guys, officials, mechanics, drivers. That’s something I’ll always look back on. I miss the people as much as anything.”

Calkins, from Denver, shared the first Indy Racing League season title with Scott Sharp. But he treasures the experience at Indy.

“I don’t think anything compares to it,” he said. “I don’t think anything compares to the first five laps and all the people who come out for it. I don’t think you can prepare yourself for it. It’s hectic, and I can’t think of too many things in life that can top it.”

He’s “retired” now although he said he runs a charity race every once in a while. Instead, Calkins  has gone from the track to the boardroom and family life.

“I got married and have three girls,” he said. “Bradley is 8, Marin is 6, and Harper is 3.” Two years ago, he was named president of Bradley Petroleum, a 100-year-old family-owned company.

“I won’t wear ties, but I wear a lot of different hats,” Calkins said. “When there’s a need someplace, I’m in it. I’m pretty much running the gas business, and we just signed a deal to build 12 Dunkin’ Donuts facilities in the next five years. That and real estate. It’s challenging and interesting.

“Between family and work, I don’t have time for anything else. I try to come back every year for the race. I’ve thought about (being a car owner), but with time constraints and I’d want to do it right.

“Maybe (in the future) I’ll have more time.”

It was a long journey in a short time.

Coming off the fourth turn in the Silver Crown race in the 1997 Copper World Classic, veteran Chuck Gurney had the lead. But unknown Jimmy Kite jumped under him and beat him to the line for the prestigious victory.

After he got out of his car, Kite came running down the frontstretch at Phoenix International Raceway to the delight of the crowd because he was looking for Victory Lane – and didn’t know where it was.

“Before that race, no one knew about that 20-year-old kid,” Kite said, “but afterward, everyone knew.”

Six months later, he was in an Indy car at Pikes Peak. And in May 1998, he came to the Speedway in search of his first “500” berth. But it didn’t start out well.

“It was the first year they condensed the schedule,” Kite said. “We tried to get as much running as we could. I crashed three times that week, the last on Pole Day. So I had to watch my crew rebuild the race car again and it was my first Indianapolis 500, and I wanted to make a good showing.”

Even after the crashes that first year, Kite finished 11th and made four more starts in the prestigious race. He was hooked up with PDM Racing for a time, but bad luck struck again.

On Bump Day in 2002, Kite and the PDM machine were fast enough. But they got caught at the head of the line when rain came and didn’t get a chance to qualify. For three hours, pictures and video were being shot of Kite, umbrella over his head, sitting down against the right front tire of his parked race car.

His last start at Indy came in 2005. He failed to qualify in 2007 with PDM.

But Kite still has no regrets and still aspires to compete in “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing,”

“I’ve got five (starts) and always will,” Kite said. “I told Davey Hamilton, who was 47 at the time, I wanted to run again and I was 37, so I figured I had 10 years left. It’s not like I’m not staying in shape. If you can get around Winchester in 13 seconds, you’re ready to step in an Indy car.”

Racing the Indy 500 was one of his goals as a youngster growing up in the Midwest.

“Every year, my dad would take me to qualifying day,” Kite said. “Then he got some suite passes for Race Day. I told him, ‘No, I’ll go to the Indianapolis 500 when I’m driving in it.’

“My first impression, it was a clear day, and I came off Turn 4 thinking ‘Man, that’s a long straightaway.’ I still get excited thinking about Turn 1. You go into Turn 1, it’s a handful.”

As a rookie in 1998, he was the target of the usual pranks.

He walked into a restaurant one night and saw a bunch of people. He stopped to talk, and one of them said: “Hey, you have to go talk to those two people at the end of the table. They have a ride for you.” So Kite hurried down and approached the people. Everyone started laughing.

The two people were Dr. Richard Burmeister and Starre Szelag of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race.

Kite has kept very busy, running with ARCA and NASCAR’s truck series on occasion as well as the USAC Silver Crown and Sprint cars. The sprinters will be his May concentration with the Little 500 at Anderson and Winchester on the schedule.

But Indy is the place for Kite, now 37.

“I’ve been the last couple years, and I’ll definitely be there this year,” he said.

The memory that stands out to me most, is meeting Dan Wheldon at Bump Day on Sunday May 23rd 2011.

I had to miss the Indy 500 to attend an out of town wedding. It was the first race I’d missed in about 10 years. Luckily, I had the privilege of obtaining hospitality and suite passes for qualification weekend. I immediately agreed on going since I knew I couldn’t make it to the race that year.

This was the first time I had ever had pit passes for an IndyCar race so it was the first time I got the chance to walk up and down the pits. It was the most incredible experience. I even got to meet drivers Charlie Kimble, J.R. Hillderbrand, and legend Arie Luyendyk that day as well.

A photo in the 2012 Indy 500 program of Andrea hugging Dan Wheldon

But my favorite moment of the day, and of all my time at the IMS, was about to come.

I was sitting on the wall by Helio Castroneves’s pit looking down pit row, and I saw a silhouette of a man standing near the scoring pylon dressed in white. I immediately jumped off the wall and ran down pit lane while yelling to my friends “Oh my god there’s Dan Wheldon!”.  I took off like a bullet leaving my two friends behind me saying “What is going on?”.

I, like so many others, have been a Wheldon fan since his first Indy 500 win in 2005.  It didn’t hurt that he was English and gorgeous as well.  My girl friends and I stood at the entrance of Gasoline Alley trying to say hello to Dan and get his attention.  He smiled and waved. We waited patiently to see if we could get an autograph.

It began to rain and all the drivers and crews started heading for cover, Dan started to walk away, and then stopped, turned, smiled, and headed directly our way. I asked if I could give him a hug, and he said “of course” and he gave me a big hug! It’s sort of fuzzy after that because I believe I briefly lost consciousness for a moment.  My friends and I got our picture with him, wished him luck at the race, and then I proposed marriage to him and he said “you have to talk to my wife about that” and laughed.  He was the nicest, sincerest person.

I listened to the race on the radio and watched the finish on TV, and when Dan won I cried and ran outside screaming that he had won the race!  My favorite driver won the anniversary of the Indy 500!  AND I got to meet him for the first time ever the weekend before!!!

His untimely death broke my heart and many others in the racing community, but I was very fortunate to have met him.  Last year, in the 2012 Indianapolis 500 program was the picture of me hugging Dan. That moment will live forever in my memory and will always resonate within the walls of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

- Andrea