The Official Blog of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway

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.”

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.

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.”

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.

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

If you happen to get a hold of a copy of the 1988 Carlmont High School yearbook from Belmont, Calif., turn to the section for seniors and look me up.

You’ll find an entry in my hand-written senior will that reads “Look for me at Indy in 10yrs,” which, despite its nerdy undertones,  proved to be rather prophetic.

I grew up at my father’s shop “Pruett’s Olde English Garage” in the San Francisco Bay Area, and with his background as an amateur racer and race car mechanic, it wasn’t long before I was filled with visions of driving and turning wrenches.

I’d grown up with a passion for motor racing, and the Indy 500 in particular. With my father and grandfather constantly regaling me with tales of Jim Clark, Jackie Stewart, Dan Gurney and Mario Andretti at the Speedway, they became instant heroes.

We’d listen to the “500” on the radio in the late 1970s—wish I could say why it wasn’t televised where we were—and to be honest, it added to my reverie for the race. Hearing the announcers describe the races was a far better experience than seeing it live. My imagination took over and conjured my own version of the races. What a blessing.

A few years earlier, one of my earliest memories involves being dragged to races with my dad in 1973—sitting in the unpaved upper paddock section at Sears Point (about where the first two or three pit boxes are now located near Turn 1)—and helping him pick rocks from his racing tires. I loved helping him, enjoyed being useful, got a thrill from being around racing cars and that experience, even at such a young age, crystalized something inside of me.

I was soon promoted to using Windex and paper towels to clean things, and by my teens, my cleaning talents were being shopped to a local pro racing team.

By the time I turned 16, I’d become a “gofer” for an SCCA Pro Super Vee team, which involved my first stint on the road attending races. I was underage; you had to be 18 to get into the pits, but that wasn’t a limiting factor—not with Super Vees serving as a regular support series for the CART Indy car organization… I wanted to be there and found a way to skirt the rules.

While I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone else, I would not have changed a thing.

Having started out in an open-wheel training series, I worked my way up the ladder as a mechanic from Super Vee, adding stops in F2000, Formula Atlantic and Indy Lights through the 1996 season. Met a couple of Brazilians guys who came to America to race Lights that year…some Castro-Neves dude and his pal Antoine Kanaan. Not sure where they ended up…

It took the Genoa Racing Atlantic and Lights team to partner with one of its former drivers, Greg Ray, to put together a program to compete in the first season of the new-look Indy Racing League for me to get my shot at the Indy 500 in 1997.

The team, which was based in the Bay Area, bought a Dallara IR07 chassis from A.J. Foyt (he bought Dallaras, then decided he liked G-Forces a bit better and ditched the Italian-made cars), acquired Oldsmobile engines built by NAC out of Chicago, and, as simple as it sounds, a new IRL team was up and running.

Forget struggling to get an engine lease, spare parts prices or any of the other concerns that face IndyCar Series steams today. Bought a car. Bought two engines. Did a deal with our old friends Al Speyer and Joe Barbieri from Firestone—folks we’d known from Indy Lights, and out little Lights team was now an IRL program headed for its series debut…at the ’97 Indy 500!

Ray was brimming with confidence, our team manager/engineer Thomas Knapp was also never short on confidence, and with an exceptional (but small) team of mechanics and crew, we were fast right out of the box. Dallara, with help from Andrea Toso and Sam Garrett, were incredibly helpful with setup suggestions and data.

As our assistant team manager and data engineer, I multitasked just like everyone else and shared in the collective disbelief that a little band of Lights veterans could rock up to 16th & Georgetown and play with the big boys.

It was, by no means, the most beloved era of racing at IMS, but it helped launch a lot of careers like my own and a lot of teams that otherwise would never have been allowed onto the premises.

We broke a water pump and didn’t last long during the race, then came back in 1998 and made a name for ourselves by qualifying on the middle of the front row in a sponsor-less car.

Our sponsor, who’d promised to deliver a check for $250,000 before the start of practice, failed to deliver, and with the team loaded into the garages, our only hope was to run hard and try to attract attention.

We’d continued to use NAC engines…which failed on a regular basis and made minimal horsepower, but it ended up being just what we needed during the first few days of on-track activity.

Knowing we had limited laps available with our engines, we worked hard at perfecting the Dallara’s handling. Our lap speeds were abysmal, and whatever we did in the corners, the car did down the straights.

With the reality of packing up and going home becoming a very real proposition, I flagged down Indianapolis Star reporter Curt Cavin, who kindly did a story for the next day on our team being broke and close to heading home.

The next morning, a Yellow Shirt came by and handed me a $20 bill. “It isn’t much, but buy the boys some sandwiches with it” was his instruction. He also gave me his business card.

I had a dumb idea that I hoped would stretch his $20 bill a lot farther. Knowing that most photographers walk along the outside of each pit box at Indy—the right side of the car, I took his card and the cash and used clear tape to affix it to the top of the sidepod.

My hope was that the shooters passing by would see the strange combo of an Indy car and cash on display, take a photo and hopefully ask what it was all about. By chance, it worked. More stories ran—from the Associated Press to local TV stations – and the dollars started to flow in.

We were able to upgrade to Brayton Engineering-built Oldsmobiles which, after all of our setup work, transformed the car into a rocket. It was a beast in the corners and shot like a rocket down the straights.

Ray held onto the car for four laps of qualifying that were well over the limit—a desperation act of the highest order—and placed the car second on the grid.

I spent the next few days fielding calls from sponsors from coast to coast, and come Race Day, the black No. 97 didn’t have a lot of real estate left to sell.

Ray led before a gearbox issue halted our march. It was the high-water mark for me at Indy—a year where everything went wrong before it went right. I’d return for three more “500s,” my last coming in 2001 as part of Sam Schmidt first year as an entrant with driver Davey Hamilton.

I’d retire from a solid 15 years on the road (and I use that term loosely) at the end of 2001, went to college, met and married by wife, tried working a normal job but could not resist the allure of racing. My last act at Indy from a team perspective was engineering a Lights car at the 2005 Firestone Freedom 100, and since then, my annual visits to the Brickyard have been as a writer, reporter and photographer.

That 1998 Indy 500 was amazing—almost surreal, but if I’m honest, I’m enjoying myself more today as a member of the media than I ever did as a crew member.

I’d have never guessed it at the time, but being able to work with the entire paddock—drivers, mechanics, owners and officials—rather than the small field of responsibility that comes from working on a team is simply invigorating.

Oh, and remember the part where I predicted I’d make it to Indy in 10 years? I was wrong—I did it in nine.

With Halloween around the corner, many people are thinking about their Halloween costume for this year.  Some are even making suggestions for their favorite athletes and celebrities.  What costumes do you suggest for the stars of the IZOD IndyCar series?

To help you with your suggestions, we have some never-before seen photos of many of the drivers from Halloween 2004.  In 2004, the year-end IndyCar Championship Celebration was held on a 3-day Disney Cruise.  The cruise ship was still at sea on Halloween night, the day after Tony Kanaan and his Andretti-Green Racing team celebrated their season championship.  For the on-board Halloween party, most of the drivers and team owners were in costume.

The stars of the party were series champion Tony Kanaan and his AGR teammates (Dario Franchitti, Dan Wheldon, and Bryan Herta) who all dressed up as women.  Here they are along with 2-time Indy 500 winner Arie Luyendyk who was dressed as Hugh Heffner.

 

 

Team owner Sam Schmidt got in the spirit with his Crash Test Dummy costume.

 

 

Team owner Michael Andretti was Batman, the Dark Knight.  Here he is along with Arie and Arie Jr.

 

 

One of the more creative costumes was 2-time Indy 500 winner Al Unser Jr. who was dressed as Beetlejuice from the Tim Burton movie.

 

 

The drivers weren’t the only ones to dress up.  Here is Ed Carpenter as Joe Dirt along with his wife Heather.

 

 

And here is 1999 Indy 500 Rookie of the Year Robby McGehee who was placed under arrest by his wife Norma.

 

 

Now that you have seen this crazy and fun side of your favorite drivers, what other costumes would you recommend for them?

It’s easy to think back and recall Dan Wheldon’s greatest moments on a race track.

Scoring Honda’s long-sought first win at its home track of Twin Ring Motegi in Japan in 2004.

Taking a dominant victory in his first race for Target Chip Ganassi Racing, in 2006 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

And of course those two classic wins (and a few near-wins) at the Indianapolis 500. Wheldon’s 2011 triumph, when he won for the comparatively small Bryan Herta Autosport team against the might of the Ganassi and Penske organizations, ranks as one of the great David vs. Goliath stories in the century-long history of the Greatest Spectacle in Racing.

But today, on the one-year anniversary of Dan’s passing, the folks at the Speedway asked me to share some memories of the other side of Dan Wheldon – the side that the public doesn’t get to see on television, or read about in the stories I write.

The relationship between journalists and the subjects they cover is often tricky. By definition, we are supposed to remain objective, and not get too close so we don’t end up playing favorites.

I’ve been in this business for twenty years, and if you cover a single racing series over that length of time, it’s inevitable that as a writer, you’re actually going to be come friends with a few of the drivers.

Although I knew him since 2001, I don’t think I ever reached that point with Wheldon. Our relationship kind of reminded me of my high school days: He was one of the popular kids – a jock, if you will – and I was just a wallflower who was flattered when guys like Dan paid attention to me.

We may not have been outright friends, but IndyCar is a small community, so we were certainly more than acquaintances. And just seeing the way Dan developed as a person (as opposed to a race car driver), I’m pretty sure we would have ended up being friends, swapping stories about our kids or our latest racing memorabilia acquisition.

Here are a couple of stories that illustrate the kind of relationship I had with Dan – stories that really bring out his personality within the IndyCar community – the people he interacted with on a daily basis.

 

It’s well known that Dan was very self-conscious about his teeth. Let’s face it, the British are often dentally challenged, and it you look at pictures of Wheldon celebrating victories up through his 2005 championship season, you’ll note that his mouth is rarely open.

Prior to the 2006 season, Wheldon had a reported $40,000 worth of dental work done that turned his smile into a radiant row of gleaming white Chiclets. No longer unwilling or afraid to smile, Wheldon’s new grille literally lit up a room.

IndyCar’s 2006 preseason media day was held in conjunction with an open test at Homestead. Throughout the day, Wheldon and all the other drivers were shuttled between stations for print and television interviews and photo shoots. About half a dozen photo agencies set up portable studios to capture ‘hero’ shots of the drivers fully kitted out in their new uniforms.

Near the end of the shoot schedule, I wandered into LAT Photo’s studio to visit friends. When I walked in, Wheldon’s teeth were obviously the point of discussion; in fact, a pair of Wheldon’s countrymen – Laurence Foster and David Malsher of RACER Magazine – were preparing to wind him up about the new choppers. They were doctoring a banana peel to insert over their own teeth to poke fun at their pal.

Spying a stack of white Styrofoam cups, I realized they could do better. I tore off a piece of the cup and inserted it on my teeth. Laurence exclaimed, “Oreo, that’s brilliant!” and set about drawing lines on my ‘teeth’ with a black Sharpie marker.

You know what happened next. Almost as if on cue, in walked Wheldon, completely busting us as we prepared our ‘teeth’ gag. Looking back now, several years later, it’s not surprising that Wheldon didn’t get upset, but in the heat of the moment in early 2006, that’s what we expected. Instead, he just laughed along with us.

A few hours later, after the cars had run a night practice session on the Homestead oval, I was walking through the paddock to chase down an interview. Around the corner walked Wheldon; we were the only people within 30 yards. I was worried that Dan was upset about our earlier gag, but instead, he shouted out, “Hey Oreo, where’s your teeth?”

“Uh, they’re back in my hotel room, soaking in some Polident,” I stammered. And we both slapped a high-five and had a good laugh before we went on about our business.

In those days, Wheldon didn’t have the smoothest relationship with the media – as my next story will illustrate. But that moment – when I saw that Dan actually had the ability to step back and laugh at himself, and he realized that the media really wasn’t out to get him – was a turning point in our professional relationship. And we always got along just fine after that.

***When Wheldon won the 2005 Indianapolis 500, he didn’t earn a place on the cover of Sports Illustrated. Instead, the driver who finished fourth in the race stole the spotlight, and that infuriated him.

Wheldon dominated the 2005 IndyCar season, but it was the Summer of Danica, and every other driver, no matter how much success they achieved on the track, was cast in a supporting role. And Wheldon didn’t like that.

Like SI, RACER magazine made the snap decision to feature Patrick on the cover of its post Indy 500 issue. At the time, RACER also published IndyCar Series magazine, and Jeff Olson was the main Indy writer for both publications. Through a miscommunication, Wheldon thought he was going to be featured on the RACER cover, and when it didn’t happen, he took out his frustration on Olson.

Jeff went to interview Dan a couple weeks later for an IndyCar Series magazine cover story, but still stinging from the RACER cover snub, Wheldon decided not to cooperate. Jeff tells the story much better than I ever could (it’s his story, after all!), but the end result is that within the space of 24 hours, Wheldon cooled down and gave Jeff an outstanding and revealing interview, and finally got his cover story.

Fast forward six years to 2011: I’m sitting with Dan at the Honda hospitality area during Wheldon’s endless summer. He had won the Indianapolis 500, against all odds, really, earning the cover of RACER Magazine in the process (but alas, again not Sports Illustrated). But at the time, that was the only race he was scheduled to drive all year, and while chasing a full-time ride for 2012 and beyond, he kept coming to races, sometimes doing television commentary for NBC Sports, and sometimes just hanging with his friends at Honda.

TE McHale, the manager of motorsports public relations for American Honda, burst into the tent with a box of books. “Honda’s Challenging Spirit: Adversity and Success at the Indianapolis 500” was literally hot off the presses, and TE distributed copies for all to see.

Any author knows that at least one mistake inevitably finds its way into print. As I leafed through the book, authored by my friend and colleague David Phillips, I noticed a doozy: The cover photo, featuring Dan in the #10 Target Ganassi entry leading a group of cars at Indianapolis, was incorrectly captioned, identifying his teammate Scott Dixon instead. The photo was also used on the last page of the book, with the same error in the caption.

As diplomatically as possible, I pointed out the error to TE. Muttering curse words under his breath, he stormed into the motorcoach to try to get the problem sorted. Left alone at the table with Wheldon, I turned to him and said, “Well Dan, it looks like you got a cover you weren’t expecting!” And we both had a hearty laugh.

Although I am not an autograph collector, when Dan offered to sign my book, I quickly accepted. His only question was what number to add to his signature…26? 4? 98? We decided on 26, because the photo across from the title page that he signed was from Victory Lane at Indianapolis in 2005.

He wrote: “To Oreo, Enjoy the book my friend!”

And that’s how I will remember Dan Wheldon.

***

• “Honda’s Challenging Spirit: Adversity and Success at the Indianapolis 500” by David Phillips is available from the Honda Racing Store. http://hondaracingstore.com/accessories/hondas-challenging-spirit-book/

• A prior book extensively documents Honda’s history at Indianapolis from 1993-95 – “A Winning Adventure: Honda’s Decade in CART Racing” by Gordon Kirby and John Oreovicz is available from David Bull Publishing http://www.bullpublishing.com/shop/item.asp?itemid=46

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.

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?

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.

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.

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?

Ok, it is a job, a hectic job sometimes at that, but I wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world. As Director of Photography for the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the INDYCAR Series through the years, I have seen countless races, travelled the world and got to do many things in my career. I’ve met many people from all walks of life from movie personalities, the sports world and world leaders.

Some stand outs are Presidents Ronald Reagan (whom I was named after) and Jimmy Carter (before he was President), Ex-Beatle George Harrison who was contemplating coming to Indy to be on my staff for 1994, Arnold Palmer (who chipped golf balls over my head as he filmed a Pennzoil Commercial here at Indy), Mohammad Ali, Payton Manning, Medal of Honor winner, Col. Bruce Crandall (who waved the Green Flag at the Indianapolis 500 this year) and countless others.

I’ve walked through the pits with Joe Walsh, guitarist for the Eagles, been hit with the green flag at the start of the race by Jack Nicholson (and the one rule I tell the honorary starters before the start of each race is “…don’t hit the photographer!!!”).

I will have to give the year 2003 a nod as one of my most memorable years. 1st in April, I rode the 2 seat Indy Car with Ed Carpenter driving, around the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Then, a couple of months later, I was allowed to drive a Competition class rail dragster for 6 passes at Muncie Dragway 1/8th mile strip (yes, at speed). Then a test at Indianapolis Raceway Park (it was still called that then) for the Indy Racing Experience in a single seat Indy Car.

Then, at the 2nd Texas race, I was afforded a chance to ride in the Klein Tool Stunt Plane on a practice run doing all of the stunts they do, prior to the pre-race show. The pilot would not let me bring a camera in case I passed out (which I did not). It was the time of my life and I didn’t get sick or dizzy!!! All in all, a great year.

Who says you can’t have fun at your job?