Will Power led the just completed first practice with a lap of 1:09.2 seconds. He edged Spencer Pigot who led the session until a red flag for Helio Castroneves halted the session with just over two minutes left. Castroneves’ car stopped in turn 10. After his car was cleared, the field was allowed to take one more hot lap. Power once again showed who owns this road course.
Results:
At last the Indianapolis Motor Speedway is open for racing. Today is practice and qualifying for the Indycar Grand Prix. The sixth running of this race begins the NBC network television era. Fans are looking forward to how the network will cover this race and the 500.
While some fans don’t care for this event, it has served its stated purpose, which is to attract a bigger crowd than the opening day of practice or even qualifying would have. Four days of qualifying is no longer necessary, which leaves an open weekend that needed to be filled.
It is cool and cloudy as Indycar’s first practice begins in 15 minutes. It will be interesting to see how much running happens in this session. Back after practice with results.
Indianapolis Motor Speedway has made many necessary changes over the years for various reasons. The track usually doesn’t handle the changes well at first.
Two personal notes:
First, The Pit Window turns 3 today. I want to thank all the readers who were with me May 9, 2016, when this all started. i also want to thank all who have come on board since then. I have had tremendous growth the last 16 months. It has been very humbling to do something I love and hear how much others enjoy it.
Second, I chose this Bump Day because it was the first day I ever went to IMS. I was 10 and I’ve never forgotten it. The cars were loud and seemed very fast. I still remember the sound of the cars driving over the quarter mile stretch of bricks on the front stretch. It’s a part of Speedway history gone forever. i am glad I got to see it. Okay, enough about me.
Indianapolis Motor Speedway has made many necessary changes over the years for various reasons. The track usually doesn’t handle the changes well at first. There is confusion which sometimes leads to chaos. 1957 was no exception. Wild qualifying led to a crazy race start and a post race protest.
The second year of United States Auto Club sanction was the first year for for the pit wall and the Master Control Tower, which replaced the old Pagoda erected in 1926. With the pits separated from the track, officials decided to begin the race with a parade lap and a pace lap, perhaps to help the drivers orient themselves to the new setting on race day. There would be two years of chaotic starts with confused drivers with the new configuration.
Bump Day 1957 was one of the busiest Bump Days ever. Twenty- one cars qualified and nine were bumped. The field was filled by 2:30 pm, leaving lots of time for bumping.. As always, the drama didn’t end until the gun went off.
1950 winner Johnnie Parsons went out first despite the high winds. His Agajanian team figured the winds would continue all day. His average of 138.975 put him in the field. They thought that time would be hard to beat with the high winds. Of course, around four o’clock the winds died down. As usual, it was the sign for cars to line up to attempt to get in the field.
Rookie Bill Cheesbourg had just been bumped. He lined up another ride with help from Jimmy Bryan. Cheesbourg bumped Parsons from the field. Later in his career Cheesbourgh became adept at putting cars in the field at the last minute or hanging on to the last spot.
In an attempt to get back in the race, Parsons turned some practice laps in the Jones and Maley Special. He pulled into the pits and said he wasn’t comfortable in the car. Parsons suggested Bob Christie try to qualify it. Christie had been bumped by Chuck Weyant.
He went out with just a little time left and made the field as the gun sounded. Christie had bumped Billy Garrett by 0.43 seconds. Garrett was driving one of three federal engineering Special cars. The team, managed by former driver Russ Snowberger had both cars bumped on this Sunday. they would be the first and second alternates. The third car had been badly damaged earlier in the week and was not repaired.
Sunday ended with a former winner on the sidelines in a wild day of action. But there were more strange happenings to come before the race the following Thursday. It was almost as wild as Bump Day.
On Sunday night the Speedway ruled that with the new pit configuration, the alternates would not be allowed to be on pit lane Race Day morning unless something happened to one of the starters before Thursday. If the 33 qualifiers presented themselves to their pit stalls on race morning, the alternates would not be allowed to start.
Monday night Dick Rathmann, who qualified 17th, was attacked by a group of teen agers who threw rocks at him. He was examined by track doctors Thursday morning and not cleared to race. Johnnie Parsons got the ride. In a strange ruling the car stayed in its original grid spot. I’m not sure why. I will have to research that more. Parsons finished the race in 16th place, three laps behind the leader.
The command was given and the cars started rolling on what was not the first of two laps before the green flag. Elmer George hit the tail of Eddie Russo’s car, ending the day for both before the green flag. George had qualified 9th and Russo 26th. Why they were near each other on the parade lap is curious.
The race finally started. Sam Hanks got to the lead on lap 36 from his 13th starting position. He led 136 laps en route to a then record average at 135.601 mph. In an emotional Victory Lane interview, Hanks retired from racing. Some thought he might become Speedway president. Tony Hulman had done a decent job after Wilbur Shaw’s death, but some believed a former driver would be better suited for the task. Hanks became Director of Competition for USAC instead.
End of story? No. The Federal Engineering team filed a protest stating that because of the George/Russo incident their cars should have been allowed to start the race. The protest was denied. The Speedway had made clear in their Sunday ruling that the alternates would not run if the qualifiers presented their cars race morning.
Another note about 1957: Wednesday, the night before the race, the first 500 Festival Parade was held in downtown Indianapolis.
Look for my Grand Prix Preview on Wildfire Sports tomorrow. I’ll be back later today with some developments that made me say “Hmmmm.”
Of course there is nothing special about the current Indycar. They are all the same except for the engines.
It had to happen. This may seem like a “get off my lawn” post. I have been thinking the last couple of days about the names of cars and how I miss the term “Special” in the name. A Special added the air of romance to the race. The car name gave a hint of its personality. The Bardahl Special sounds like a mean machine. Travelon Trailer Special? It had to be a sleek cruiser.The Bowes Seal Fast Special just rolls off the tongue.
Of course there is nothing special about the current Indycar. They are all the same except for the engines.
Cars in the 500 weren’t always called specials. From 1911-1919 the car was just the manufacturer’s name. There were no company sponsors. The first instance of the term special I found was in 1920, when John Boling drove the Richards Special to an 11th place finish. In 1923 all top 10 finishers’ cars carried Special in the cars names.
In 1924 all cars in the field were Specials. While not every car in following years was a special, the majority of cars were. In the era in which I grew up, which was the 50’s and 60’s, it seemed as if every car was a “Special.” The term made sense as each car was individually built by people who had their own ideas of how a winning Indianapolis car should look.
In 1959 Roger Ward won the 500 in the Leader Card 500 Roadster. This smal drip away from Special was barely noticed. In 1961 jack brabham brought his rear engine Cooper-Climax to the race. We were back to just the car maker as the name. In 1963 Jim Clark entered the race with the Lotus powered by Ford. Dan Gurney entered his Eagles and then McLaren joined, all with thesponsor and car manufacturer name instead of Special.
Mark Donohue won in 1972 in the Sunoco McLaren. The term Special was still on some cars up until around 1990. Now the name has completely disappeared.
It’s understandable, since the cars are spec. When Special first began disappearing, however, cars were still produced from several sources. Somke manufacturers like Swift, March, P,enske, Foyt, March, and Lola began making cars.
What I mostly miss are the great sponsor names that Special just seemed to fit at the end of. My all time favorite car names- Bowes Seal Fast Special, Travelon Trailer Special, Thermo-King Special, Dean Van Lines Special, and Wynn’s Friction Proofing Special.
I’d like to hear what your favorites from the “special” era are. Send them to me in the3 comments section and I’ll do a follow up column next Wednesday. I know I’m forgetting some.
Reminder- The mildly popular Bump Tales returns tomorrow.
In a surprise to no one, Kyle Kaiser today was confirmed as driver of Juncos Racing car 32 for the 103rd running of the Indianapolis 500. Kaiser drove for Juncos this season at the Indycar Classic at Circuit of the Americas. The 500 will be just the second race in the NTT Indycar series this year for Juncos. More races are not confirmed at this time.
Kaiser won the 2017 Indy Lights championship driving for Juncos and it was assumed he and the team would move to Indycar full time. Kaiser shared he car last year with Rene Binder and Alfonso Celis, Jr. This season, Juncos began a DPi program in IMSA. Kaiser has been one of the drivers for the sports car program.
In 2018, Kaiser qualified for the 500 in 17th, but did not finish due to mechanical issues.
Kaiser is the 35th confirmed driver for the May 26 race. The 77 entry of Arrow Schmidt Peterson has yet to confirm who will drive what should be the final driver slot.
The photos of a very young Mario Andretti like the one above jolted me back to 1965 when this rookie showed up for the Indianapolis 500. He was fast and became an instant fan favorite. Andretti earned Rookie of the Year honors and won his first Indycar race later that summer.
In honor of the 50th anniversary of his 1969 Indianapolis 500 win, the Mario Andretti ICON exhibit now on display at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway takes visitors on a tour of Mario’s racing career from sprint cars to his final race. His many stops include Formula 1 and the 1978 World Championship and a victory in the Daytona 500 in 1967.
I really like the special exhibits the IMS Museum has done- A. J. Foyt, the Unsers, and now Mario. One thing that does disturb is how many of the cars on display I saw race. You’d think I was old or something.
The car that fascinated me the most was the Ted Horn Offenhauser sprint car which Andretti drove in four United Racing Club events in 1961. These races were the beginning of his sprint career. The car’s new owner put a Cadillac engine in it. Andretti had three top 10s in the four races in this car. The car as seen in the museum is as it was when Horn drove it in the post war forties.
The exhibit recalls what to many was the Golden Age of Racing. Drivers drove any type of car any time. It goes beyond the cold statistics of Andretti’s career and presents us a versatile driver who could win no matter what series he drove in. I think that is something sorely lacking today.
The room where other exhibits had memorabilia displayed was closed for a private event. I hope there are more items than the dozen or so displayed in the north hall. Below are a few photos. This is a must see exhibit which I’m not sure my descriptions have done justice.
I just received this message from the IMS Museum:
Photo of Bobby Rahal from the 1993 Indianapolis Motor Speedway Official Program
Drivers don’t normally like seeing rain on a track day at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, but Bobby Rahal was happy to see it. As Bump Day 1993 began Rahal had the slowest speed in the 33 car field. His backup car was ready if needed, but early on it didn’t look as if anyone would run this Sunday.
The rain stopped, the track dried and was opened a little more than an hour late. 33 mile an hour winds persisted for much of the afternoon. No one wanted to take a chance of bumping Rahal and putting themselves on the bubble. On Saturday Rahal watched as his time fell to the bottom of the speed ranking as four cars bumped their way into the field, leaving him on the bubble. Late in the day the winds died down and the qualifying line began to form.
Didier Theys bumped Mark Smith from the field. To this day a driver with the last name of Smith has not driven in the Indianapolis 500.
Eddie Cheever and Mark Smith bumped each other out of the field Saturday, and both were prepared to get back in the race. John Menard offered Cheever a Lola Buick for Sunday. Cheever took to the track at 5:10 and turned three laps good enough to bump Rahal. Menard waved the run off, surprising everyone. He thought they could go faster.
At 5:40 Cheever returned to the qualifying line. This time he completed the four laps at 217.599 to beat Rahal’s 217.140. The time was slower than the run he waved off, but still good enough to get in.
As 6 o’clock approached, Rahal got on track in his backup Miller Genuine Draft Special . His first lap was not good enough, and when he lost two miles an hour on lap two, his chance to make the field ended. Four years earlier, former winner Johnny Rutherford failed to qualify for the 500.
Miller made an attempt to buy a ride for Rahal, but did not succeed. Rahal’s statement after qualifying seems relevant in light of the recent qualifying controversy today. This clip is from The Indianapolis Star, May 24, 1993:
Rahal and Carl Hogan abandoned their cars and purchased two Lolas to run the rest of the season.
The race was one of the most competitive 500s I’ve seen. Emerson Fittipaldi won his second Indianapolis 500 when he and Arie Luyendyk went past Nigel Mansell on a restart with 15 laps left.
Rahal would return to the race in 1994 and 1995, finishing third in each of his final two 500s after starting 28th and 21st respectively.
Thirty six cars and 34 drivers make up the entry list released today. We are still waiting for announcements from Juncos and Arrow Schmidt Peterson for the 32 and 77.
The Pit Window by Mike Silver 