Lasting memories of the Indy 500

[buckaroo]

Time is near for the big race and it made me think of the more memorable moments of this race. I'm sure there are memories that other people will never forget, but there are three memories that I always remember when this race comes around. I think the first thing that comes to mind is the "Spin to Win" by Danny Sullivan. What a trip that was and it's just so special that I'll never forget it. Next is a memory that isn't so good. I'll never forget the sight of Salt Walther's legs protruding out in his canope after that first lap wreck many years ago. That was the worst wreck that I've seen at that track. I don't remember any of the other drivers that were involved, just the sight of Walther's car spinning and his legs. I hope that I never see anything like that again. And lastly for me, one other memory comes to mind each year at this time. It was before the race was televised, a time that I always enjoyed, listening to the race on the radio. I love the race televised, but those old radio days were kind of special in it's own way. Anyway, I will never forget the year that Swede Savage was killed and the way they announced his wreck. Yes, there are other memories of the race, Little Al winning his first one, AJ and his wins. Bobby Unser, Johnny Rutherford and one of my old favorites, Gordy Johncock and his win. There are of course a thousand memories that one could have, but those three memories that I wrote are always the first to come to my mind.

What are your most memorable moments from the race?

 

[wilson89]

Im still pretty young but i been watching the Indy 500 every year that i know of. The one i remember the most had to be 92. I was young and i remember watching the race with my dad, and it was great to see Mario, and AJ still in it and racing against the new generation at the time. But there was just something differant about that whole race from the others i have watched. I remember being a big Roberto Guerro when i was young and when he had the pole i felt it was his year but as it always seemed to be bad luck bit him. His car just broke lose and spun into the fence on the pace lap and i felt bad for him since the track nearly took his life just a few years before. All the big names where there, Unsers, Foyt, Rahal, Sullivan, Andretti's. I remember Mario and Michael had probably the two best cars that day but the old Andretti luck did them in. Including a horible crash late in the race that ended Jeff Andretti's young career. As the race got down to the end and there was about 12 laps to go i seen Michael had about a 10 second lead and all of a sudden his car just slowed, I remember the announcers screaming Andretti is slowing down. From there the race was left to two cars Little Al the sun of one of the greatest drivers in Indy history and Scott Goodyear a driver who was relativly unknown. As the laps closed Goodyear stayed right on his bumper the entire time, as they went down the front stretch the final Goodyear swung left to make a last second pass on Little Al just as he got along side the camera switched to the view of the flag man and showed him wave the cheeckered flag. I didnt know who won till the announcers start yelling Al Unser Jr.

As i said im young so i didnt get to see the great races of the 80's or 70's although i have watched all of them on video, the sadest moment i remember was in 96 when Scott Brayton beat Arie Lyundkye as the fastest qualifier in history but was killed in a practice crash a couple days before the race. Another sad moment had to be the Stan Fox crash where he crashed nearly head on into the first turn of the race. When his car came to a rest his body was almost completly exposed and the car was stopped by his feet.

 

[SlowNeasy]

back when i was a teenager there were a couple of local boys that were brothers, barbers and midget racers. steve cut my hair a couple of times, which actually qualified him as probably the guy that actually cut my hair the most (me being a long-haired hippie) and we always talked about larry's (boom-boom cannon) last or next indy run. larry didn't have much success at indy but heard some great stories. the race seemed much *bigger* back then.

 

[racepix]

My Indy trip

I've been to Indy 3 times, all before the split.
I lived in Tulsa, Ok. at the time of all of these so it wasn't just a hop skip and jump to get there.
I was at work the Saturday before the first trip and told one of my co-workers (who was also a race fan), we ought to hop in the car after we get off and head up to Indy. We were friends with the late Phillip LaVere, and he lived a couple of blocks from the speedway at the time. We called and he said just to park in his driveway, and walk on over.
So at 6 p.m. off we headed with our camera stuff and some Cola and snacks.
We talked all night about the race while driving, and what we hoped to see.
We arrived at 4:10 a.m. grabbed our stuff and headed for the track. We got to the gate just as the artillery went off at 5 opening the gates.
I would like to say we headed where we wanted to go, but in reality the crowd kind of propelled us. We ended up in turn 4, the old snake pit.
Boy the people in area shared all sorts of, uh, herbs and some even danced in the buff on platforms they built.
You know its a fun place when the vips being taken around the track prerace by the pace cars were taking pictures of US.
After a few laps we wondered over to turn two. We saw people passed out in the trunks of cars and others so sunburned it hurt us. It took us about 40 laps to get there and we arrived just as A.J.'s car lifted the front end and spun into the inside wall. It was during this caution that we saw a squirrel sitting on the track taking it all in.
When the green flew again, Al Sr.hit the squirrell and caused a lot of damage to his left front wing, and was no longer in contention.
About 20 laps later this nice golf cart comes by and the guy in it asks my friend and I if he could share a beer with us. It seems like we were the only ones that were real fans, since no one else came over for the next 15 or 20 minutes as we shared a couple of beers with none other than AJ Foyt. He told some stories in between sips, then said he had to head over to the hospitality suite, and "tell those SOBs that I tried as hard as I could to win."
Now remember I'm a racing photographer, had three cameras on at the time. I turned to my friend and asked, "did you get a shot of him?" Neither of us did, but it was some of the best 15 minutes I've ever enjoyed at Indy.
To try and shorten this up, I had no credentials or anything for the race, since we had just decided to drive up the night before. I ended up talking my way past one guard and just plowing past one as I headed behind Rick Mears pits as he won his fourth 500. I did get pictures of that.

 

[Restrictor Plate King!]

you guys are all luckier than me. i myself have never had the honor of stepping into the indianapolis motor speedway, but i have been watching the race on TV since the mid 80's. i gotta tell ya that for the longest time I thought Indy was the only CART race of the season cause it was the only one i had ever seen on TV, i'm from NASCAR country down in the Carolina's & we didn't hear a whole about it. my finest memory of Indy though has got to be 1991 because that was the year Mears, my favorite CART driver of alltime, won his fourth. but it wasn't just that he won the race, he made a move on Micheal Andretti at the end on the outside that normally he probably would not have made but it was Indy & he had to go for it just like anyone else who understands what it means to win there. then there was Al Unser's substitute win there in 87 & Danny's spin & win in 85. I guess worst memories are 1995 the first few laps when Stan Fox I think it was got caught up & went flying, ****pit broke in half & legs danglin. Mario in 1987 when he sat on the pole & led all those laps in the new Chevy engine & then it failed right at the end. ironicaly 5 years later the exact same thing would happen to his son only minus the pole, he led nearly the entire race only to slow with a handful of laps left. Al Jr's crashing into the wall in 89, man that sucked. then Emmo in 94 crashing with only a handful of laps left when he had a one lap lead. i think though the moment that made me the most sick of all was the 2006 500 when Marco got passed by Sam right at the line. although i am not much of an Andretti fan, i did wanna see the youngest of their clan win that race and finaly end this curse. i find it mindboggling that-that family only has one win on that track when Mario & Micheal won sooo many races everywhere else...

 

[VaDirt]

One memory I have wasn't even actually an Indy memory, but definately related. For the 1996 Indy 500, Tony George had made the first 26 spots available only to those teams that had commited to a full season of Tony's new Indy Racing League. Well, CART decided to get a new ball and play in thier own court and have their own league. They even decided to go head to head with the Indy 500, having the US 500 at MIR on the same day as the most important race in the world. Well it was fiasco, with 12 drivers crashing before the green flag.

The split put a black eye on Indy, but Indy lives on, and will live on for a looong, loong time. CART's decision to go up against the greatest spectacle in racing did nothing for the sport, and the resulting embarrasment of so many cars crashing before the green flag (along with ther decision to allow everyone a complete restart with backup cars) pretty much ensured that CART wouldn't last.

 

[foehammer111]

The split put a black eye on Indy, but Indy lives on, and will live on for a looong, loong time.

I wouldn't be to sure of that. The Indy 500 might be around for a while, but in what form? Ratings and attendance have been declining. It's seen a surge again since IRL and CART reformed, but even Tony George has said IRL wont be around past 2013 without some serious help.

George has been trying to support the IRL series just on the popularity of the Indy 500. He's sank millions into the series, and it still struggles. There's a severe lack of talent, the cars are ****, and 90% of the interest in the sport centers around Danica Patrick. Who's only got one win in four years. Now she's thinking of jumping to NASCAR, and the US F1 team as expressed interest.

Unless the IRL makes a huge turn around, it's got at most 5 years left. More than likely, the Indy 500 will continue as an independant race. Which is where I think it's at it's best.