Wednesday, May 31, 2023

30 Days in May Bonus: No. 31, John Mahler, 1972 Harbor Fuel Oil McLaren/Offy

Welcome to our monthlong countdown celebrating notable drivers and cars from the Indianapolis 500!

Photo credit: Indianapolis Motor Speedway/Penske Entertainment
John Mahler started 29th and finished 22nd in the 1972 Indianapolis 500.


We wrap up the Month of May with John Mahler, who was one of eight rookies in the starting lineup for the 1972 Indianapolis 500. He actually qualified for the 1971 race but was “bumped” by his car owner, Dick Simon.

Mahler had qualified Simon’s back-up car in 1971, becoming the fastest rookie in 500 history in the process. But then Simon was bumped, so he took over Mahler’s ride for the race.

So began what was to be an interesting, colorful Indianapolis 500 career for Mahler, who made four starts from 1972 through 1979. In 1973, he was part of the Champ Carr Enterprises team with Sam Posey. Mahler likely would have made the race had he completed either of his two qualifying attempts, both of which were tracking toward an average fast enough to make the field.

Jim McElreath jumped in Mahler’s car and hustled it into the field, bumping Tom Bigelow late on the final day of qualifying. Posey then was bumped by George Snider.

Mahler’s best finish was in 1977, when he was credited with 14th after getting some relief help from Larry “Boom Boom” Cannon. He almost squeezed into the 1983 lineup, accepting a speed that was some 27 mph off the pole speed with the hope that rain would curtail qualifying. The gamble almost paid off, but Mahler was knocked out by Dennis Firestone, who completed his run as showers hit.

In 1972, Mahler wound up 22nd, sidelined by piston failure after 99 laps. A highlight film produced by Channel 6 in Indianapolis indicates that Mahler had to pull in before the green flag because he forgot his gloves.

Thanks for reading. See you next year!

 

#ThisIsMay #Indy500 @IMS @IMSMuseum @IndyCar

Tuesday, May 30, 2023

30 Days in May: No. 30, Arie Luyendyk, 1990 Domino’s Pizza Lola/Chevrolet

Welcome to our monthlong countdown celebrating notable drivers and cars from the Indianapolis 500!

Photo credit: Indianapolis Motor Speedway/Penske Entertainment
Arie Luyendyk started third and won the 1990 Indianapolis 500.

It’s hard to believe that it’s been more than 30 years since Arie Luyendyk won his first Indianapolis 500 (and first IndyCar race) after starting third. Domino’s chose the number 30 as a tie-in to its “30 minutes or less” delivery guarantee, a slogan that eventually was abandoned in the interests of safety. The Flying Dutchman added another 500 win in 1997 and still holds the one-lap and four-lap qualifying records, which he set in 1996.

#Indy500 @IMS @IMSMuseum @IndyCar @ArieLuyendyk

Monday, May 29, 2023

30 Days in May: No. 29, Pancho Carter, 1987 Hardee’s March/Cosworth

Welcome to our monthlong countdown celebrating notable drivers and cars from the Indianapolis 500!

Photo credit: Indianapolis Motor Speedway/Penske Entertainment
Pancho Carter started 29th and finished 27th in the 1987 Indianapolis 500.


Pancho Carter, the 1974 Rookie of the Year, was a steady presence in the 500 lineup through 1991, missing only the 1988 race. His big day came in 1985, when he won the pole with a Buick-powered machine. The “TT” indicates this car was a backup to a backup, the result of Carter taking a "header" in practice in 1987 in his primary car, then withdrawing his backup car to qualify this one.

Carter was the first to win USAC championships in Midgets, Sprint Cars and Championship Dirt Cars (as these series were known in the 1970s and 1980s).

During the 1980s, the Hardee’s restaurants in the Indianapolis area gave out trading cards of IndyCar drivers if you made a certain purchase.

#Indy500 @IMS @IMSMuseum @IndyCar

30 Days in May: No. 28, Ryan Hunter-Reay, 2014 DHL Dallara/Honda

Welcome to our monthlong countdown celebrating notable drivers and cars from the Indianapolis 500!

Photo credit: Doug Mathews/Indianapolis Motor Speedway/Penske Entertainment
Ryan Hunter-Reay's "pass in the grass" entering Turn 3 was one of the
highlights of the 2014 Indianapolis 500. 


Ryan Hunter-Reay became the first 500’s U.S.-born winner since Sam Hornish Jr. in 2006 when he held off Helio Castroneves to cap a thrilling duel. Hard, clean and precise racing in the closing laps made the 2014 race one of the most memorable.

Photo credit: Doug Mathews/Indianapolis Motor Speedway photo.

#ThisIsMay #Indy500 @IMS @IMSMuseum @IndyCar @RyanHunterReay @FollowAndretti

Saturday, May 27, 2023

30 Days in May Bonus: No. 93, Johnny Parsons, 1975 Ayr-Way WNAP “Buzzard”

Welcome to our monthlong countdown celebrating notable drivers and cars from the Indianapolis 500!

Photo credit: Indianapolis Motor Speedway/Penske Entertainment
Johnny Parsons started 12th and finished 19th in the 1975 Indianapolis 500.

 

Cars entered in the Indianapolis 500 certainly have had interesting, colorful names. One of my favorites was the Ayr-Way WNAP “Buzzard” from 1975. This name may not make sense today – especially if you’re not from Indianapolis – but it was definitely a product of the times.

Ayr-Way was spun off L.S. Ayres, one of the top fashion stores in Indianapolis. Ayr-Way was a department store similar to Target – in fact, many of the Indianapolis locations became Target stores after Ayr-Way folded in the late 1970s. (Squint hard enough and maybe you can see the old Ayr-Way flower where the Target bull’s eye is now at some stores.)

We often went to the Ayr-Way on Lafayette Road because it had just about everything – even a garden center. WNAP was a hard-rock station teeming with many interesting personalities; the buzzard was the station mascot. It was at 93.1 on the FM dial, so that’s why it was Car 93.

Because I was only 7 years old, I didn’t listen to WNAP. My parents were strictly WIBC (1070 AM), which was fine because WIBC covered qualifications and had updates from the track that I would listen to when I got home from school while allegedly doing my homework.

This was very much an Indianapolis-centric team. In addition to the two local sponsors, driver Johnny Parsons lived in central Indiana for many years. He’s the son of 1950 winner Johnnie Parsons (note the different spellings). Johnny was from California but moved to Indiana to jump-start his racing career.

The chief mechanic (remember those?) was Bill Finley, who basically built race cars out of his garage in Eagledale, a subdivision within earshot of the track. (My first house was in Eagledale: 3031 Fuller Drive. Carl Wilde School 79 represent!)

The team also had a second entry: Car 94, driven by Mike Hiss.

Race day wasn’t the greatest for either driver. Hiss spun out on Lap 39 and finished 29th. Parsons ran as high as fifth before transmission woes sidelined him after 140 laps. He finished 19th.

Ayr-Way heavily promoted its involvement in the 500 with buttons,  glasses, posters, large ads in the Indianapolis papers (there were two of them back then) and even a timing and scoring chart with Parsons’ likeness.

Today, WNAP’s old FM spot is occupied by WIBC.

Majeske Collection
I found this artifact on eBay a few years ago. 


 

#Indy500 @IMS @IMSMuseum @IndyCar

30 Days in May: No. 27, Janet Guthrie, 1977 Bryant Heating and Cooling Lightning/Offy

Welcome to our monthlong countdown celebrating notable drivers and cars from the Indianapolis 500!

Photo credit: Indianapolis Motor Speedway/Penske Entertainment
Janet Guthrie started 26th and finished 29th in her first Indianapolis 500 in 1977.


Janet Guthrie was still a rookie in 1977 after trying valiantly the year before to make the race in a Vollstedt that was, to put it kindly, a bit long in the tooth.

Updated equipment made a big difference for Guthrie the next year, as she made the field comfortably on the last day of qualifying. Mechanical woes doomed her to 29th place. She made the race the next two years, with a best finish of ninth in 1978. It wasn’t until 1992 that another woman, Lyn St. James, qualified for the 500.

Bryant was a sponsor at Indianapolis dating back to the invention of the furnace and air conditioner (just kidding). More recently, the firm was an associate sponsor on Tony Kanaan’s cars, but I’m not sure if that relationship has continued.

#Indy500 @IMS @IMSMuseum @IndyCar

Friday, May 26, 2023

Front Rows of the 1970s: 1979

In addition to the usual Month of May countdown, we’re also recounting the front rows of the 1970s, which included some of the most accomplished drivers in the history of the Indianapolis 500.

 

Photo credit: Indianapolis Motor Speedway/Penske Entertainment
Rick Mears won the first of his record six poles in qualifying for the 1979
Indianapolis 500.

1979 Indianapolis 500 front row: Rick Mears (pole), Tom Sneva (middle), Al Unser

How it started: 3 Indianapolis 500 victories (All by Al Unser)

How it ended: 9 Indianapolis 500 victories (Rick Mears 1979, 1984, 1988, 1991; Tom Sneva 1983; Al Unser 1970, 1971, 1978, 1987)

About the 1979 race: The year 1979 was one of transition and controversy in major open-wheel racing. A new group, Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART), sprang up in the off-season. Featuring almost all the big-name drivers and teams, it held events at familiar tracks (like Phoenix and Trenton) that once were the purview of the United States Auto Club (USAC), the sanctioning body of the Indianapolis 500.

The Month of May was basically one giant headache, with lawsuits, shenanigans during time trials and an added session of qualifying – the day before the race, no less – all part of the “fun.” You can read my retrospective here.

From a competition perspective, the big news was Al Unser’s beautiful and futuristic Pennzoil Chaparral/Cosworth, one of the first “ground-effects” cars in Indy racing. No other car looked remotely like it. Not surprisingly, Unser set fast time in qualifying before Tom Sneva, going for a record third-straight pole, nudged him over one spot in his Sugaripe Prune McLaren/Cosworth.

Then, dramatically, Rick Mears, with the final pole run of the day, knocked Sneva off his perch for the first of what would be a record six Indianapolis poles, all with Penske.

Al Unser dominated the first half of the race before retiring with a bad transmission seal after 104 laps. That left it to brother Bobby Unser, who replaced Sneva at Penske. Bobby Unser looked like a sure three-time winner in his Norton Spirit Penske PC7/Cosworth before his top gear failed, something that almost never happens.

Unser tried his best to hold on, but faded. Mears, driving the older PC6/Cosworth, rolled home in the Gould Charge for the first of his record-tying four Indianapolis 500 victories.

Front-row starters Mears, Sneva and Al Unser all would notch at least one Indianapolis 500 victory in the 1980s. The 1970s were truly a remarkable decade featuring some of the greatest drivers of all time. During this competitive era, all but one of the 12 front-row starters at Indianapolis won an IndyCar race during their careers. The exception was Mike Hiss, who started third in 1974.

 

 

#Indy500 #ThisIsMay @Team_Penske @IMS @IndyCar @IMSMuseum