Ten years after Tommy Milton won his second Indianapolis 500, another driver joined the two time winners club. Louis Meyer, who won in 1928, took the lead on lap129 and neverb looked back. He beat Wilbur Shaw by six minutes. Meyer completed the distance at an average speed of 104.2 miles per hour, breaking the record Fred Frame set the previous year.
1933 was a year of innovation and tragedy. Chet Gardner was the first driver to use a two way radio. His riding mechanic communicated with the pits during the race. Gardner finished fourth.
Two drivers, Mark Billman and Les Spangler, were fatally injured in the race, along with Spangler’s riding mechanic G. L. Jordan. Driver Bill Orem and riding mechanic Hugh Hurst were killed during qualifications.
New rules went into effect for the 20th 500. Qualifications increased from four lps to 10 laps. Each car started the race with six gallons of oil and could not add oil during the race.
A record 42 cars started the race. Fourteen cars completed the 200 laps. Bill Cummings won the pole and led the first 32 laps. Fred Frame and Babe Stapp exchanged the lead until Meyer took charge on lap 129. Cummings, Frame, and Stapp all dropped out with mechanical issues.
Meyer prevailed over a strong grid which featured four former winners and four future winners. 1933 was Mauri Rose’s rookie year. Meyer would go on to win a third 500 in 1936. Tommy Milton drove the pace car that year and witnessed Meyer mo ahead of him with the most wins in 500 history.
After a crash in the 1939 500, Meyer retired from racing. He formed a partnership with Dale Drake to take over the Offenhauser engine company. Meyer-Drake Offenhauser engines powered Indianapolis 500 winners into the 1960s.
From yesterday-
1923-Tommy Milton Becomes the First Multiple 500 Winner
Yesterday Juncos Hollinger Racing revealed the livery for car 78 for the 107th running of the Indianapolis 500. Augustin Canapino will drive the car which is atribute to Argentina’s World Cup champions.
This car is a stunner in my view.
The release from Juncos Holliunger:
MAY 3, 2023
Juncos Hollinger Racing’s Agustín Canapino will proudly carry the colors of the Argentine flag on his #78 Dallara-Chevrolet when he goes into battle at the INDY 500 later this month (May 28).
The stunning blue and white livery is expected to be one of the stars of the show at the sixth round of the NTT INDYCAR SERIES and reflects the colors of Agustín’s home country flag.
The livery is the result of a strategic partnership between the Argentine Football Association (AFA) and Juncos Hollinger Racing (JHR) – with the collaboration of Visit Argentina, the international tourism promotion brand of Inprotur.
As well as honoring the Argentine flag, the livery will also feature design elements that celebrate Argentina’s success at the 2022 World Cup.
Claudio Tapia, President of the AFA, said: “Generating actions such as the ones we are celebrating today highlight the union between Argentines through sport. To be able to unite two great passions such as soccer and motor racing in a foreign territory is a demonstration of teamwork. The AFA is proud to support an Argentine driver in the iconic INDY 500 race and wishes the best of luck to Agustín Canapino and the Juncos Hollinger Racing team.”
Ricardo Juncos, President and Co-owner of JHR, said: “As an Argentinean, I am proud to have the colors of my country and the Argentinean Football Association with us for this edition of the INDY 500 race. To be able to bring together the two greatest passions of Argentines, together with the AFA and Agustín Canapino, in the most important and oldest event in the history of world motorsport, the 500, is a dream come true. I believe it will undoubtedly be a historic event for the sport in our country, which beyond any result will remain in everyone’s memory.”
Since the 1960s fans have become used to seeing a driver win the Indianapolis 500 more than once. Rodger Ward, A. J. Foyt,Booby Unser, Al Unser, Sr., Johnny Rutherford, Rick Mears, Emerson Fittipaldi, Al Unser, Jr., Dario Franchitti, and Helio Catroneveshave all won at least twice since 1962. In the early days of the race, multiple winners were rare.
The 500 did not crown its first two time winner until the 11th race 100 years ago this month..It would be another 10 years before the race saw its second double winner.
Tommy Milton won the 1921 500 starting from 20th and led the final 90 laps after Ralph DePalma once again dominated the race but dropped out with mechanial failure. Only 23 cars started the race.
Milton started and finished 24th in 1922. Fuel Tank issues put him out of the race after 44 laps.
In 1923 Milton won the pole and led 128 laps. The race was the most competitive 500 to date with 28 lead changes in a 24 car field.
Tommy Milton in the HCS Miller after his second 500 win.
Milton began racing on dirt tracks near his hometown of St. Paul, Minnesota, in 1914.He began racing nationally in 1917. In 1919 he won five of the nine championship races. In 1921 Milton won the national championship.
He drove in his last 500 in 1927. His Indianapolis career included four top five and five top 10 finishes.
Milton had no vision in his left eye and limited vision in his right eye. He would fail a driving physical today. Drivers in his day were more concerned with Howdy Wilcox’s diabetes.
In 1936. Milton drove the pace car for the race, ironically won by the race’s second multiple winner, Louis Meyer. It was Meyer’s third win. Milton suggested the winner receive the pace car, and that tradition continues today.
Tommy Milton served the Speedway as Chief Steward from 1949-1957.
BELOIT, Wis. (May 1, 2023) — The stars and stripes of the No. 14 AJ Foyt Racing Chevrolet is ready not only to race in the 107th Running of the Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge but to raise awareness — and donations — for Homes For Our Troops (HFOT). The nonprofit builds and donates specially adapted custom homes for severely injured post 9/11 Veterans, providing them with the opportunity to rebuild their lives and once again become highly productive members of society.
ABC Supply Co., Inc., the sponsor of the Indy car driven by Santino Ferrucci in this year’s “500,” will match all donations made to HFOT — up to $1 million total — from Monday, May 1, through Wednesday, May 31. Donations can be made directly to HFOT by visiting www.hfotusa.org/donate.
As a longtime supporter of AJ Foyt Racing, ABC Supply is proud to continue its sponsorship of the team while simultaneously shining a spotlight on HFOT. Nearly 90% of the donations received go
directly toward rebuilding homes, which means HFOT rarely advertises and relies on word-of-mouth awareness. To date, HFOT has built over 350 specially adapted homes nationwide, with the goal of building a home for every Veteran who qualifies.
Last year, ABC Supply donated the eye-popping patriotic design of its Indy car to HFOT and participated in a 10-day fundraising effort as part of its sponsorship. The company met its $1 million match goal, with those funds helping to amass a final donation total of over $2 million.
The same star-spangled livery will be featured on the car this year, and with a full 31 days to donate, ABC Supply is excited at the chance to best 2022’s multimillion-dollar impact and continue to raise awareness of HFOT’s mission.
“We are thrilled ABC Supply will spotlight Homes For Our Troops for another year during the 2023 Indy 500,” says HFOT President and CEO, Brigadier General (Ret) Tom Landwermeyer. “In addition to generating revenue with a generous $1 million match, the initiative will raise much-needed awareness about our mission throughout the country. ABC Supply’s incredible enthusiasm and patriotic commitment to our mission enables us to get even more injured Veterans and their families into the specially adapted homes they need and deserve.”
“ABC Supply has supported HFOT since 2020, with their Core Values resonating deeply with who we are as a company,” says Mike Jost, chief operating officer of ABC Supply. “We’re honored to continue raising awareness for this organization alongside our friends at AJ Foyt Racing during this storied and prestigious race.”
“Racing has given us many wonderful opportunities, but being part of the Homes For Our Troops campaign to raise awareness and help our troops who have suffered such severe injuries is a true privilege,” said A.J. Foyt, the first four-time winner of the Indianapolis 500. “We’re proud to partner with ABC Supply to support this very worthy cause.”
About ABC Supply
ABC Supply Co., Inc. is the largest wholesale distributor of roofing and other select exterior and interior building products in North America. Since its founding in 1982, ABC Supply’s sole focus has been serving professional contractors and “making it easy” for them to do their jobs by offering the products, support and services they need — including myABCsupply, which allows them to place material orders and manage their account details from anywhere.
ABC Supply is a 17-time Gallup Exceptional Workplace Award winner and a two-time recipient of Glassdoor’s Employees’ Choice Award for Best Places to Work and is committed to hiring military veterans.
Headquartered in Beloit, Wisconsin, ABC Supply has over 900 locations across the U.S. and Canada. More information is available at http://www.abcsupply.com. Contractors can find resources for growing and improving their businesses on ABC Supply’s blog and the company’s LinkedIn page.
About AJ Foyt Racing
AJ Foyt Racing, headquartered northwest of Houston, has been competing at the top levels of motorsports since December 1965, nearly 60 years. With A.J. Foyt driving, his team won two Indianapolis 500s and three national INDYCAR championships. Since Foyt’s retirement from driving in 1993, the team has continued to win, claiming two more national titles and the 1999 Indianapolis 500 with driver Kenny Brack.
About Homes For Our Troops (HFOT)
Homes For Our Troops (HFOT) is a publicly funded 501(c) (3) nonprofit organization that builds and donates specially adapted custom homes nationwide to severely injured post-9/11 Veterans, to enable them to rebuild their lives. Most of these Veterans have sustained life-altering injuries including multiple limb amputations, partial or full paralysis, and/or severe traumatic brain injury (TBI). These homes restore some of the freedom and independence our Veterans sacrificed while defending our country, and enable them to focus on their family, recovery, and
rebuilding their lives. HFOT builds these homes where the Veteran chooses to live, and continues its relationship with the Veterans after home delivery to assist them with rebuilding their lives. Since its inception in 2004, nearly 90 cents of every dollar spent has gone directly to our program services supporting Veterans. For more information, visit http://www.hfotusa.org.Post not marked as liked
In no particular order, here are some of my thoughts on today’s race. I haven’t seen the replay yet.
Today’s race was an above average race for Barber. The different strategies kept the outcome in doubt, and two asses for the lead in the last 25 laps is about as good as you’ll get on a road course.
The only thing that could have made this race better is if it therebwer no cars on a fuel save strategy. At leastfive cars did not have enough fuel to complete their cool down lap. hen Grosjean pitted on lap 59, I thought it would be a stretch for him to finish the race.
St. Pete Deja Vu– Romain Grosjean and Scott McLaughlin fighting for the lead as McLaughlin comes out of the pits. Fortunately, Barber has a lot more room to battle tham St. Pete did. I hope we see more great fights between these two this season.
How did Grosjean have no push to pass left? He shouldn’t have needed to use much since he led 57 laps.
Grosjean now has five second place finishes in his career. Only two other drivers have had more runner up finsihes without a win. Vitor Meira was an eight time runner up and never won. I think Grosjean’s time is coming,perhaps as soon as May 13.
I watched the race from the turn 15-16 area. there were many close battles for position, some wheel banging, groups of cars all day long.
I am happy to see Will Power on the podium. I was starting to think he had lost his competetive fire.
A nice job by Christian Lundgaard. His sixth place finish is the nbest for a Rahal Letterman Lanigan driver this season.
The drive of the day goes to Felix Rosenqvist. He dropped back quickly to the back at the start from his ninth place grid spot, but fought back to finish eighth.
Josef Newgarden has two finishes of 15th or worse. Like last year he will need to come on strong with a lot of victories to be in contention for the championship.
Honda and Chevy have each won two races. The engines seem more equal this season than they did in 2022 when Chevy seemed to be the better power plant.
Thanks for following along this weekend. Tomorrow is May 1. I might have a couple things to talk about for the next 30 days or so.
Good morning from a coolish Barber Motorsports Park. The forecast looks sunny and dry for the start of the race, with temperature of 68 degrees at the green flag.
Today’s schedule: Times are Central
Gates and all fan activities open at 8:00am
8:00am – 8:40am Porsche Sprint Challenge North America – Cayman (Race #2)
8:55am – 9:35am Porsche Sprint Challenge North America – GT3 (Race #2)
11:00am – 11:30am NTT INDYCAR SERIES Warmup Peacock, Indycar Radio
12:00pm – 12:55pm INDY NXT (Race) Peacock
2:00 pm – 5:00pm NTT INDYCAR SERIES (Race) NBC, Peacock, Indycar radio
The green flag will fall at 2:30 Central time.
The big question today is: Can Romain Grosjean put a complete race together?Grosjean has yet to convert a pole into a victory. St.Pete was his best chance, and today will be another great opportunity for him.
The Children’s of Alabama Grand Prix is traditionally a low incident race. Few yellows occur during the race, and generally they come early. Pit strategy and starting positon are the keys to the race outcome.
I still like Pato O’Ward to win from third. The winner usually comes from the first five starting positions.
I expect another podium from Scott Dixon. It would be nice to see him finally win at this track.
Keep an eye on Christian Lundgaard today. He starts sixth, the best for a Rahal Letterman Lanigan driver this season. Can he maintain or improve his position. Will we see another charge through the field from Graham Rahal?
The last two Barber winners, Alex Palou and Pato O’Ward, start second and third.
I’ll be back with starting tire choices. Enjoy the race.
Romain Grosjean too the pole for tomorrow’s Children’s of Alabama Grand Prix at Barber Motorsports Park, turning a lap of 1:05. 8396. Grosjean edged Alex Palou by 0.0734 seconds in winning his second pole of 2023 and third career pole position.
Andretti Autosport has won three of the four poles this season. Kyle Kirkwood won the pole at Long Beach.
Five teams put cars in the Fast Six. Only Chip Ganassi Racing had two cars in the final round.
Quick Thoughts
Is tomorrow the day Grosjean finally converts a good starting spot into a victory? St. Pete was in his grasp until the incident with Scott McLaughlin.
Pato O’Ward has qualified in the top six of every race in 2023.
If Kyle Kirkwood can stay on track during qualifying, he will win a ton of poles. His spin today was the secon incident in qualifying this year.
Nice to see some success for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing. Christian Lundgaard will start sixth.
Despite a strong team showing in practice, Scott McLaughlin was the only Team Penske car in the Fast Six.
All time career pole winner Will Power has an average starting spot of 10.5 this season.
Today’s crowd was good, although it seemed a bit down from previous Barber Saturdays.
Alex Palou got a clean lap with about 12 minutes to go in the morning practice and it was good enough to lead the session by two tenths if a second over Josef Newgarden and Scott
The Penske duo of Newgarden and McLaughlin led most of the session.
Practice ran clean until Helio Castroneves spun and stalled on track with 45 seconds left. Only a couple of cars went out to complete the time.
The Pit Window by Mike Silver 