Friday, March 30, 2012

Indianapolis 500 Postcard of the Day: 1975 Front Row


The 1991 front row of Rick Mears, A.J. Foyt and Mario Andretti is considered by many the greatest front row in the history of the Indianapolis 500. Hard to argue. But this one from 1975 is pretty good, too. A.J. Foyt has the pole, which he wrestled away from Gordon Johncock late in the day during the first day of qualifying, with Bobby Unser on the outside. I think this was the first time the front row was made up of former winners. This was the second 500 I got to attend, and I can still remember my delight when my mother brought out the tickets after dinner one night in early May and said we were all going.

Unfortunately, the seats Mom obtained weren’t the greatest – Stand C (which is OK), Row D (which isn’t). This very low seating arrangement – and we might have actually sat in folding chairs – afforded us great sight lines … of helmets and rear wings. It also was extremely hot, so we ran through all our drinks and were sucking on ice cubes before the start of the race. Fortunately (?) an epic rainstorm hit the track, cooling us off, but also drenching us. Still, glad I went because I (sort of) got to see Bobby Unser, who was one of my favorite drivers, win.

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