Podcast: Al Jr's 1989 Indy 500 near-win

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emailBy: Marshall Pruett | 59 minutes ago

Two-time Indy 500 winner Al Unser Jr joined Marshall Pruett in May to discuss the 1989 race where he came incredibly close to earning his first victory before a clash with Emerson Fittipaldi sent his Galles Racing Lola-Chevy into the Turn 3 wall. The incident, and his unfathomable response to Fittipaldi after climbing from the battered car is, as he shares, no less remarkable 30 years after it took place.

 

First wings at Indy, with Mario Andretti and Bobby Unser

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emailBy: Marshall Pruett | 10 hours ago

Racing legends Mario Andretti and Bobby Unser take us back to Indianapolis in the late 1960s where wings were first allowed at the 500. Uncle Bobby would win his first of three Indy 500s in 1968, the last year without wings, and Andretti followed in 1969, winning 50 years ago while making use of wings for the first time.

Both men, starting with Andretti, discuss the development of airfoils and the introduction of meaningful downforce to the Indy 500, which went through a rapid series of developments into the 1970s and early 1980s, where Unser scored his final Indy 500 win.

It’s the testing, trials, and failures of bringing wings to Indy, as told by two of the most technically savvy icons the sport has known.

 

Indianapolis 500. 1955

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7.65K subscribersItem Number: F2012.142.01 Color film footage of the 1955 Indy 500 race with Bob Sweikert winning
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de Ferran, Guthrie, Page join Indy HOF nominees

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emailBy: RACER Staff | 4 hours ago

A former winner, a pioneer and a distinctive voice are the latest to be nominated for the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Hall of Fame class of 2020.

Gil de Ferran (pictured above), Janet Guthrie and Paul Page joined the list that already includes Danny Sullivan, Eddie Cheever, Pancho Carter, Wally Dallenbach, Jacques Villenueve as well as NASCAR stars Dale Earnhardt and Dale Jarrett, Formula 1 champ Michael Schumacher, mechanic/official Mike Devin and car owners Mike Boyle and Carl Haas.

De Ferran’s hard-fought 2003 Indianapolis 500 win was notable for its close finish, in which the Brazilian denied Team Penske teammate Helio Castroneves an unprecedented third consecutive “500” victory. His other career highlights behind the wheel include consecutive CART IndyCar series season championships in 2000 and 2001, finishing second and third, respectively, in the IRL IndyCar Series season championships in 2002 and 2003. Today he’s heading the Arrow McLaren SP IndyCar effort.
Guthrie finished ninth at Indy in 1978 with this Wildcat-DGS. Image by IMS

Guthrie became the first female to qualify for Indianapolis in 1977 and returned in 1978 to finish ninth after starting 15th. Her Indy performance was enhanced when it was revealed she drove with a broken left wrist.

Page began covering Indy for WIBC radio in 1968, moved over to the IMS Radio Network in 1974 and then replaced legendary play-by-play man Sid Collins in 1977. Page served as “Voice of the 500” on radio until 1987, then joined veteran drivers Bobby Unser and Sam Posey in what would be a popular broadcast team for the ABC television network’s Indianapolis 500 coverage. Page covered thousands of events for ABC and ESPN until 2012, then returned to the IMS Radio Network anchor position for 2014-15.

Ballots for the 2020 IMS Hall of Fame class have been mailed to the Selection Committee, which is comprised of more than 140 distinguished media and racing officials. The 2020 IMS Hall of Fame class will be announced the morning of Friday, February 14 — the “100 Days Out” milestone leading up to the 104th Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge. The inductees will be honored at the annual IMS Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony/Indianapolis 500 Oldtimers Club banquet on Thursday, May 21.

IndyCar

 

IMS Museum Will Proceed With Restoration of Dan Gurney’s Indy 500 Lotus

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EmailINDIANAPOLIS, IN — The Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum announced yesterday (Jan. 16) that the support of more than 140 donors has fully funded the museum’s restoration project for the groundbreaking 1963 Lotus 29/1 that Dan Gurney qualified and drove in the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race.
Photo: IMSThe goal — while subject to change — is to debut the Lotus 29/1 during 2020 Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge activities in May. Incredible progress has already been made as noted auto restoration expert George Lyons is returning the car body to its original, white-and blue paint livery while the IMS Restoration Department is completing engine and suspension work, and new wheels have been sourced from the United Kingdom. Watch a video update from Jason Vansickle, IMS Museum Curator of Vehicles.

The Lotus 29 represents one of the greatest technological revolutions in motorsports history; it ushered in the “rear-engine revolution” at the Indianapolis 500 after the race had been dominated by front-engine cars from the dawn of racing.

Team Lotus founder Colin Chapman brought three Lotus 29s to IMS for the 1963 race: one for Jim Clark, a second for Gurney, and a third as the test “mule.” The 29/1 was the mule, but Gurney crashed his primary car, the Lotus 29/2, during practice and the mule quickly got a promotion. Gurney qualified the car 12th and finished the race in seventh place, while Clark started fifth and finished second to Parnelli Jones in the Lotus 29/3 to earn “Rookie of the Year” honors.

Scotland native Clark, a two-time Formula One World Champion with Lotus during his Hall of Fame career, took the pole position for the 500 in 1964, and with the new Lotus 38, delivered the first Indy victory for a rear-engine car in 1965.

 

The bravest Andretti

Tom Pidgeon/Getty Images for NASCAR
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emailBy: Robin Miller | 10 hours ago
John’s racing career was as fly-by-night as it was diverse. Yes his last name was Andretti but father Aldo didn’t have the money necessary to send him up the ladder so he went from midgets to sprints to Indy cars the old fashioned way – he earned it.
“John drove my midget for two years, then he ran part-time and we were in Belleville, Kansas one night, just the two of us, and we were struggling,” recalled Rollie Helmling, whose Harold’s Super Markets funded his racing before he became president of USAC.
John aboard one of Rollie Helmling’s midgets. Image by Ken Hopkins

“He got a call from Cary Agajanian who told him that Mike Curb had just fired Tom Sneva and they wanted him to run the Skoal Bandit Indy car at Road America,” Helmling added. “They sent a contract and John was reading it and said he wasn’t sure about a couple of things and I screamed at him: ‘John, we’re in the middle of Kansas, you need a job and it’s Dan Gurney’s car – now sign that thing.’ He did, I was the witness and that got him going.”

Andretti finished sixth in that 1987 IndyCar debut, then drove for Curb full-time in 1988 before going with Vince Granatelli and then Derrick Walker in 1990.

“John drove our Porsche (pictured below) with Teo Fabi and he was such a good guy and put a lot of effort into his racing,” said Walker. “He had a great sense of humor and not a malicious bone in his body and I never saw him use the Andretti name to get him anything. He was not a silver spoon driver — he worked hard to find sponsors and was always focused on his career.”



His lone IndyCar victory came in 1991 for Jim Hall at Surfers Paradise and following a couple of Indy 500 drives for A.J. Foyt, Andretti headed south. He became a NASCAR full-timer in 1993 and had a good decade in stock cars – winning for Richard Petty and Cale Yarborough.

His 12th and final Indy 500 start came in 2011 yet he never severed his ties with the charity he started in 1997 – The Race for Riley – a go-kart race with proceeds for Riley Children’s Hospital which has raised over $4 million. Even in his weakened condition last October he was in Indianapolis to present a check to the kids.

“John was so caring and sharing and it amazed me how he could endure what he did and still smile through the pain and be so thoughtful,” said Helmling. “These last few months have been so tough and Michael (Andretti) flew him up here in November and I spent an hour with him and he knew he was headed for hospice but he still had such a spirit. That’s the ultimate courage.”

There have been better racers than John Andretti but I never met anybody who faced death with as much grit, heart, benevolence and dignity. In this fast, famous family he should always be remembered as the bravest.



John Andretti, IndyCar, Insights & Analysis, NASCAR

 

RETRO: Foyt wins the Astrodome

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emailBy Robin Miller | 11 hours ago

Fifty years ago this week A.J. Foyt won a USAC midget race, which wasn’t that newsworthy except for the fact it was in his hometown. In the Astrodome. In front of more than 20,000 people. And he wasn’t declared the winner until the next day.

“Hell yes I remember. It was a lot of fun,” said the 85-year-old legend from Houston, where he’d just climbed off a bulldozer on Wednesday. “Had a big crowd and a big purse and I guess it got a little wild at the end.”

That was the second year in a row USAC staged a race at the world’s first multi-purpose, domed sports stadium dubbed the “ninth Wonder of the World,” and the inaugural show in 1969 was the richest, best-attended and most star-studded midget race of all time.

Twenty years before the Chili Bowl began, the Astro Grand Prix got big results from the smallest cars in USAC’s four divisions.

It was the brainchild of Bill Marvel, who has done just about everything in motorsports during the past seven decades. The man who worked for USAC, Pocono and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, among others, was employed by Sports Headliners at the time.

“USAC had no PR man back then so Charlie Brockman (president of USAC) asked if I would go to Houston and put the thing together,” recalled Marvel, the most active 91-year-old man on this planet. “I spent six weeks working on it and didn’t sleep a few days because there was so much to do.

“But I got 26 Indy 500 drivers to agree to come race and that helped sell a lot of tickets.”
A.J. was just the tip of the spear in the star-studded Astro GP fields. Image by John Mahoney

Marvel, who also wrote and published the Charger racing newspaper and promoted races at Indianapolis Raceway Park, assembled a Who’s Who of open-wheel racing among the 63 entries. He had A.J., Mario, Johnny Rutherford, Lloyd Ruby, Bill Vukovich, Gary Bettenhausen, Mel Kenyon and the Unser brothers.

Pace Management rented the Astrodome, built a quarter-mile dirt track and went with 100-lap feature races on Saturday night and Sunday afternoon. It was a big enough deal that Sports Illustrated sent its motorsports writer, Bob Ottum, to cover it and it drew 31,000 and 18,000, respectively, as Gary B. and Lee Kunzman triumphed and Tom Bigelow earned $7,650 for his team as the overall winner.

Foyt had to start last as a promoter’s option in the first race but stormed through the 26-car field to finish second.

In 1970, Bruce Walkup, Dave Strickland, Vuky and Foyt waged a war for the first 50 laps — trading slide jobs and the lead — before they started diving under the tires in Turns 1 and 3. The track got so tiny and dusty that USAC officials threw the red flag on Lap 66 to try and restore some semblance of order.

“It started out as a quarter mile but by then the leaders were running around the wooden stand inside the infield and it was crazy,” said Merle Bettenhausen, who had dropped out of the feature along with his brother and was watching from the infield. “We thought we might get run over.”

When the race restarted, A.J. and Vuky took turns cutting inside each other until the second-generation star was black-flagged.

“To be honest, I don’t remember too much other than me and A.J. had a good battle,” said Vukovich, who was one of the best midget racers of his era.

“We were cutting each other pretty good,” said Foyt, who barely fit in his non-caged car even back then. “But it was good, hard racing, we just shortened up the track a little bit.”

Afterwards, several drivers and owners protested the finish and the results weren’t official until the next day.

“I had the trophy and I wasn’t giving it back,” said Super Tex with a chuckle. “But I don’t think anybody was going to try and come get it.”

 

IMS Museum closes in response to coronavirus threat

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emailBy RACER Staff | March 13, 2020 2:57 PM

The Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum will close for a minimum of two weeks from Saturday, March 14 as part of widespread efforts to limit the spread of the coronavirus.

A message posted on social media by the Museum read in part:

“IMS Museum officials implemented an aggressive, daily cleaning and disinfecting plan to ensure all Museum assets are safe for public use due to the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, we have elected to close for a minimum of two weeks in the wake of President Trump’s declaration of a National Emergency, in order to further assure the health and safety of our guests.

“At this time, the March 27 “Fuel Up Friday” with NTT IndyCar Series driver Sage Karam has been postponed. The April 1 Distinguished Speaker Series event with Robert Wickens remains on the calendar, but this and future events will be evaluated daily as the country’s response to the pandemic evolves.

“We encourage IMS Museum members, race fans and the public at large to check the Museum’s social media feeds over the next two weeks for educational content and updates.”

IMS Museum, Industry

 

MILLER: A call with Uncle Bobby

Images courtesy Robin Miller
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emailBy Robin Miller | 11 hours ago

OK, we’re all stuck in lock-down hell – no racing, no sports, no social gatherings, no traveling and nothing to do but browse the internet, read a book or Facetime friends and family.

But wait. There is a ray of sunshine in this pandemic: it’s the perfect time for a phone call to Robert William Unser.

The three-time Indianapolis 500 winner, four-time loser at love, self-taught engineer, king of Pike’s Peak and outspoken leader of one of motorsports’ most decorated families is always fun to talk to, but is just getting warmed up at 30 minutes.

So what better window to ring Uncle Bobby than now, when all anyone has is time on their hands? At 86, he’s not getting around without his motorized chair and he has trouble hearing on occasion, but his mind and memory are still plenty sharp.

And, thankfully, he’s still that uncensored treasure who always says what’s on his mind, regardless of the fallout – just like his old rivals Foyt, Johncock and Jones.

We spent an hour discussing the golden era of IndyCar racing: the heroes that are gone, and the ones still kicking that we idolize. So sit back and enjoy the world according to Uncle Bobby as he expounds on the warriors he raced against…

A.J. FOYT: “At one time, he was my hero, for sure. He was a good friend in the beginning before he became a bully. I don’t care for the way he acts sometimes but nobody could say he wasn’t an exceptional racer. Maybe not the best, but damn good in everything he drove. And a really good chassis and engine man. A hard-charger and clean. But being a bully made his racing look better.”

MARIO ANDRETTI: “First of all, I’m happy – and I hope he’s happy – that we’re friends again. We were great friends for a long time and then mad (at each other) for many years; but now we’re good. He was so good. He was born with that spoon in his mouth for being (a) great racer. Just a natural and exceptionally talented. He came along at the right time and stayed with it. He became a hero.”
Bobby on Mario: “I’m happy that we’re friends again…”

PARNELLI JONES: “One of best that ever came down the road, if not the best. It was amazing what he could with a racecar, and he didn’t even have to try hard. But he hung it up way too early. He was too good to quit at that age. He’ll get mad at me for saying it, but he shouldn’t have quit at age 34.”

DAN GURNEY: “Only ran against him for a little bit, but he was very good, very clean and very bright. [The] guy had a one-track mind; learned a lot from those English guys and then put it to use over here. So smart on the mechanical stuff – roll centers, camber curve, you name it, he knew it. We made a great team.”

AJ UNSER SR: “He was untouchable if he wanted to be. If his car was right, he was going to win. He had everything you needed to win races. He wasn’t untouchable, no, but really, really good. I liked the way he drove.”

JOHNNY RUTHERFORD: “Johnny was a good race driver, more like a gentleman race driver, and finally got good results with McLaren. He needed that to get him going. He was a charger and crashed a lot in his early years, but he was fast. Really good on ovals but pretty poor on road courses.”

GORDON JOHNCOCK: “A good, natural-born racer; good on the high banks. He could make a lot of guys look like dummies because he could go so fast, but he didn’t know how or why. He knew where the steering wheel was and that’s about it. But as good as he was, I never thought Gordy had his heart in it. I don’t think he liked racing like I did.”

LLOYD RUBY: “Too good, too fast, and it’s sad day that he never got to drive a car like mine. Nothing would have stopped him from winning Indy many times if he had better equipment. He’s the best guy that never won. He didn’t achieve based on his abilities. But he didn’t know how to help himself. He had no mechanical ability, just a lot of feel.”

ROGER MCCLUSKEY: “Good at times, but not all the time. Good racer and a smart guy, but he didn’t know chassis. Helluva sprint car driver. One of my best friends.

JIM HURTUBISE: “Could have been one of the greats – a lot like McCluskey. One of the best in the early ‘60s before he got burned, and he was sooooooo brave. But he didn’t like rear-engine cars, got stuck on roadsters, and that was his downfall.”

DON BRANSON: “Oh, ****, Pappy was so good. For sure he was one of the strongest on dirt. You couldn’t get rid of him on dirt. He would win a sprint car race and then tell you he was sorry you didn’t win. And damn good on the pavement as well. What a wonderful person.”
Bobby on Branson: “Pappy (at right) was so good — one of the strongest on dirt.”

RODGER WARD: “He was my hero in a lot of ways. The guy could drive better than he was getting credit for in his last days. He didn’t want to race anymore by the mid-1960s. But he was amazing in the late ‘50s and early ‘60s before I came along. Unbeatable on the mile dirt tracks. I know A.J. and Rufus thought very highly of him. Rodger treated me really well and helped me when I came along.”

WHERE DO YOU RANK ON THE ALL-TIME LIST? “I don’t know. Got my learning from Parnelli Jones. I probably belong in the Top 5. I outdid a lot of guys, made a lot of big changes in my career. Sprint cars did a lot for me. It could have been disastrous, but it worked out. I led a lot of laps and never cared about second place. It was a wonder I was able to quit when I did. Think about how much I loved racing.”

BEST CAR? “A toss-up between the 1972 Eagle and 1981 Penske. Never remember a close call in either one of them, and just a delight to drive. I could have lapped the field in that ’72 Eagle while picking my teeth. And nobody had anything for me in ’81 with Roger’s car; it was in a class of its own.”

WORST CAR? “That Huffaker. Honest to goodness, father, that thing was really evil. No knowledge on how to fix it. I liked Joe (Huffaker) but his car was trying to kill me. Sent me the steering wheel from 1966 after I went under the guardrail at Phoenix.”

BEST WIN? “Had to be in 1968 at Indy because it changed my life. I beat the turbine and people started paying attention to me.”

FAVORITE TRACK? “Has to be Indy for obvious reasons. Indy makes your life. It made my life.”

FAVORITE WIFE? “I had two. The one I’ve got now (Lisa) and Marsha.” (Editor’s note: Lisa Unser has spent 20 years putting up with Unser and deserves the Silver Star, Nobel Peace Prize and a two-week vacation to Maui by herself.)
Unser at his Indy 500 debut in 1963.

DID YOU LIKE SAM POSEY? “You know, I did like Sam. Everybody misconstrues it. He was a nice person and always polite. I had to correct him a lot on the air but it wasn’t mean-spirited. He just needed some educating. And sometimes some deodorant.”

GIVE US A STORY NOBODY KNOWS: “Back in the ’60s when Foyt and I were buddies, we went to Ascot Park for a midget race. He was driving for A.J. Watson. On the flight to L.A. I got him drunk and A.J. wasn’t much of a drinker so it was pretty funny. We got to the track and Watson was livid. ‘You got my driver drunk!’ he screamed. Well, Foyt wins the feature and is waving at me on the cool-off lap. I swear he was drunk before that race started, but he sure was impressive when they dropped the green flag.”

WHO WILL LIVE LONGER? “Me and Ruf are the oldest at 86. Foyt is 85 and should have croaked years ago with all the things he’s battled, but he’s a tough old bird. I’d like to think Ruf and I will live longer but all I know is that all three of us have had great lives and careers. So has Mario, Johncock, Rutherford and my brother. We’re damn lucky.”

AJ Foyt, Bobby Unser, Indianapolis 500, Mario Andretti, IndyCar, Insights & Analysis

 

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emailBy Robin Miller | 7 hours ago

He qualified for 18 consecutive Indianapolis 500s and ran up front countless times, but Lloyd Ruby’s legacy will be all the ones that got away.

‘Ol Rube led 126 laps during his two decades at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway but never the one that counted as he was cursed by mechanical gremlins and human error. Most consider him the greatest driver to have never made it to Victory Lane. In 1966, he held the top spot for 68 laps and looked poised to take the checkered flag when his engine expired with 34 laps left.

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In 1968, he led 42 laps and was battling Bobby Unser and Joe Leonard when a long pit stop dropped him to fifth place at the finish. In 1969, he was out in front at the halfway mark when a routine pit stop turned disastrous. He was waved out before the fueler could uncouple the hose and Rube’s tank split open — and tore his heart out again. In 1970, he stormed from 25th to take the lead just as his engine started to expire and he was given the black flag.

Twice he won the Daytona 24 Hours and once he captured the 12 Hours of Sebring, but the one race he truly desired always got away from him.
Lloyd Ruby, IndyCar, Videos, Vintage Motorsport / Historic