Welcome to our monthlong countdown celebrating notable drivers and cars from the history of the Indianapolis 500!
.JPG) |
Majeske Collection It was great to see the 1972 Antares featured in an exhibit in 2022 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum. |
As chronicled in some of our other
entries, 1972 was a year of dramatic change at Indianapolis. This change
included how cars were built. Antares Engineering, Inc., based in Troy,
Michigan (a city where I used to work), jumped into Indy car construction with
cars for both the Lindsey Hopkins and Patrick-Michner teams, according to the
Indianapolis Motor Speedway’s 1972 Press/TV/Radio Fact Book.
A supposed advantage of the Antares was that it was
purported to be completely designed by computers and telemetry, which was a
radically new concept. A key distinguishing feature was the boat-shaped front
end to help aerodynamics.
Unfortunately, the Antares performed better in the lab than on
the track. McCluskey, a capable veteran, qualified 20th and finished
24th, exiting with valve trouble after 92 laps. Trivia time: This
was the last time someone other than A.J. Foyt, or a Foyt driver, used the No.
14 at Indianapolis.
.JPG) |
Majeske Collection The 1972 Antares featured an unusual nose. |
The Hopkins team abandoned the Antares after Indianapolis in favor of a McLaren, which McCluskey drove to victory in that year’s California 500 at Ontario Motor Speedway. McCluskey used a McLaren quite successfully in 1973 as well, winning the USAC national championship.
 |
Photo credit: Indianapolis Motor Speedway/Penske Entertainment Roger McCluskey started 20th and finished 24th in the 1972 Indianapolis 500. |
The Antares continued to pop up as the alleged chassis in Indianapolis 500 entries for the rest of the decade. In 1979, Eldon Rasmussen heavily reworked an Antares, then called a Manta, and qualified for the race – a tremendous testament to his talent as a builder/fabricator and skill as a driver.
#Indy500 @IMS @IMSMuseum @IndyCar
No comments:
Post a Comment