Saturday, May 3, 2014

Indianapolis 500 Memorabilia of the Day: A Textbook


The cover of this book immediately grabbed my attention. Number 0? Based on the helmet, this has to be Swede Savage getting ready for a practice run in 1973. Did the “4” fall off somewhere? (Also, I love the Wheel Horse tractor behind the pit wall.)

The cover isn’t the only intriguing thing about this book, however. This is a textbook, or at least was intended to be – there are no school district markings inside, only a stamp from the Oconee County Library in South Carolina.

The book is filled with photos from the 1972, 1973 and 1974 events, including some pretty rare ones. Besides the STP “0” Eagle, there also are a few shots of Graham McRae practicing in the No. 60 STP Lola in 1973. A shot of Peter Revson in a Formula One car snuck in as well.

From an academic standpoint, this book is designed to build vocabulary and reading ability. A list of 20 follow-up activities is suggested in the back.


All and all an interesting bit of Indianapolis 500 memorabilia.

1 comment:

  1. The "0" Eagle in '73 originally was a back-up car for Team Patrick, later fitted for Graham McRae and became the "60". Swede must've been doing a shakedown during practice.

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