Indianapolis 500......Bigger, Better,and FOREVER

FINALLY, IRL/Champ Car are together!! This should make May in Indianapolis bigger and better than it usually is. Anyone care to share some of their great experiences and or favorite races at The Speedway to help the thousands of incoming fans get revved up for The 500?

Indianapolis 500......Bigger, Better,and FOREVER

Ahhh. Favorite memories of the 500 ...

My two favorites are from qualifications:

1. Going to Pole Day with my youngest brother on the day Sneva broke 200. The stands were PACKED (as they usually were for Pole Day back in the 60%26#39;s/70%26#39;s/early 80%26#39;s), and the crowd was on edge each time a top driver hit the track. We were in the upper deck, right by the old start/finish line and I had him over 200 on my stop watch and Tom Carnegie verified it 1/2 lap later - the place exploded! (think it was later in the day - which was a little odd)

2. Again, Pole Day with my parents when Andy G. had the STP turbines (the second year, with the wedge turbines - Graham Hill %26amp; Art Pollard or Jim Malloy were the drivers, I%26#39;m not sure about Pollard/Malloy - I think there were 3 turbines then too, anyways ...), the stands were packed and the crowd was absolutely into each and every four lap qualification run. Very exciting, and I remember the ';WHOOOSH'; (only) of the turbines as they streaked around the track, the bright orange wedges seemingly unbeatable.

My favorite races (I have no idea of the years of these races):

1. any race won by Bobby Unser (at the time, Bobby was the man, and I couldn%26#39;t stand his brother Al - have no idea why now, as Al later became one of my favorites),

2. the race won by Bobby Rahal - which was Kevin Coogan%26#39;s, Coogan had driven a GREAT race making the most spectacular pass I%26#39;ve ever seen (passing two cars going into turn three) before surrendering the lead on a last lap restart to Rahal.

3. Emerson Fittipaldi%26#39;s win after he and Little Al got together in turn 3 late in the race.

4. Little Al%26#39;s win over Scott Goodyear in an incredibly close finish

5. Scott Goodyear%26#39;s heartbreaking loss after ';passing the pace car'; on a late race restart - a horrible decision on the part of IMS officials IMO - it had been a great race up to that point, and Goodyear DID restart after the designated spot on the track - the pace car just slowed WAY too early entering the pits (he passed the pace car when it was deep in the pit lane entrance, but before it was across the start finish line). One of the few NASCAR like IMS screw-ups in my memory.

There are so many race memories, these are the ones that jumped out of my head first (I also remember Roger Ward winning when I was a very little kid, my kindergarten teacher was his neighbor, and he%26#39;d visited our kindergarten class before the race - the first turbine race where Parnelli was blowing the field away and failed with a few laps to go with a gearbox problem - a $1 part if memory serves - and then the tragic ones too - %26#39;64 %26amp; the awful Swede Savage race - probably the WORST 500 in my memory due to the awful crash on day one, the multiple weather delays, the death of the pit crewman right in front of where we were sitting in the Tower Terrace, and Swede Savages awful crash - was won by one of my favorite drivers, but I%26#39;m sure Gordon Johncock would just as soon forget that one).

Indianapolis 500......Bigger, Better,and FOREVER

My first race was 1979. I was 21 y.o and me and a friend decided to head to Speedway from Greenwood to check out the activities the night before. Somehow we didn%26#39;t make it ome til 5 a.m. race day. M dad had FREE tickets in the Penthouse and a free place to park. We were suppossed to leave at 5:30. My dad said no time to shower, eat, etc. I had on jeans, a long sleeve shirt, cowboy boots, and a hangover. The FREE parking spot was two miles east of he Speedway and wouldn%26#39;t you know it, it got hot that day. I was ready for the rce to end at 8 a.m. Thankfully my mom had packed a cooler of food and SOFT drinks. Once the race got started t was great. A.J. Foyt battled for the lead and finished second to a pretty much unkown driver at the time named Rick Mears. %26#39;ve been hooked ever since despite the blisters on my feet the next day. I was also lucky enough to work for a team. I was the ';sprayer'; which is the pit crew member that sprays the fuel hose with water when it%26#39;s pulled from the ';buckeye%26#39; after fueling. Jerret Schroeder finished 13th and was never in the hunt but it was a great experience. Being on the track when the gentlemen start their engines is awesome!!! as it is when your in the stands with 250,000 plus fans

LOL - I can%26#39;t believe I typed ';Coogan'; for Kevin Cogan - - of course, fans of the Indy 500 will remember A.J. Foyt famously berating ';that damned COOGAN'; after he spun his left rear tire on accelerating to the green flag at the beginning of the race, spinning out and collecting A.J. and Mario - and several other top drivers - before the race even started ... I guess he%26#39;s just jammed in our memory as ';Coogan'; ever since.

Sorry Kevin ...

I thought you meant to do that. Actually he was a pretty good racer, but, will forever be remembered for that incident. Just thnk what could have been in Rahal wouldn%26#39;t have been able to get him on that restart. Oh well, t%26#39;s happened to better. Remember Nigel Mansell getting the same hing done to him?

Good point about Mansell - he was one of the greats who never won too (along with Dan Gurney - the two greatest drivers to compete but never win the 500).

Nigel had a great chance his first year - blew the restart, but nearly caught Emmo - brushing the wall twice scraping his way back into striking distance - but too late.

Cogan was not one of the greats - but I thought he was very deserving of that race (what a great pass ...) if not for the bad luck of having a caution with just a few laps to go. That%26#39;s racing ...

Very excited indeed. It%26#39;s been what 13 long years since really competive racing. No offense. My early 500%26#39;s 1980 winner Bobby Unser. Great race beautiful day 1984 winner Rick Mears. One of my favorites as a kid. He was sooo fast and a gentleman. 1990 winner Arie L. Great day for a race beautiful. 1994 winner Little Al Not so exciting but lots of drinking. 1996 through 2002. As you can tell those years were just OK. IN my opinion. As a kid the race was soooo Huge on race day. All the excitemnet leading up the race. Getting up at the crack of dawn or before just to wait to get in line to get a parking spot. It seems so not so exciting. That is what I miss the most. Qualifying weekends were a big deal. Not anymore. All it is about is stupid Carb Day Party. Don%26#39;t get me wrong but haven%26#39;t we lost the point of what it%26#39;s about. Just my opinion. Used to be a race fan.

To little to late, I%26#39;m afraid. This a classic example of what can happen when a spoiled child is left to run wild, Tony Hulman saved the speedway only to have his grandson exploit it to bring top level open wheel racing to the brink of extinction.

When the board of CART refused Tony George a seat on their board because he did not own a team the fate of the series was sealed. CART deserved better, They had worked hard to build a strong series with Indianapolis as it%26#39;s center piece. TG and whoever is pulling his strings decided to take over the series by what ever means required. They knew that without the speedway CART could not survive. To many event hounds could not tell you the name of another race in the series but everyone knows about the 500.

Am I bitter? you bet. I don%26#39;t care about other sports. But I loved CART and I never missed a race.

I hold Tony George Personally responsible for it%26#39;s destruction.

My favorite memory? The glory days of CART. The late 80%26#39;s and early 90s. It was a time when great drivers from around the world came to America to prove their versatility on Road Courses, Street Circuits and Small and large ovals.

Did I mention that I loved CART?

I agree, Indy car racing was never the same after the split and possibly too much time has passed for the glory type years to ever come again. Very sad if that is the case. I started going to the 500 when I was 20 yrs old and now I have kids that are married so my racing days started many, many moons ago!

Open wheel is still a lot better than soap opera NASCAR