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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