Indy 500 Good News of the Day: Jim Nabors

The news that Jim Nabors will sing “Back Home Again in Indiana” before this year’s race is music to my ears. Click here for the press release from IMS.

Photo credit: Dave Edelstein/Indianapolis Motor Speedway

Indy 500 Commentary: 32 is Just a Number

I’m trying to be angry that it appears there won’t be a full 33-car field for this year’s Indianapolis 500.

I’m trying to be frustrated while comprehending the math that shows that three times as many engine manufacturers than last year actually means fewer engines.

I want to seethe, rant and shout.

Instead, I shrug, sigh and groan.

This is what happens when you’re kicked in the stomach too many times. You reach a point where it doesn’t hurt anymore.

I’m not interested in who the villains are behind all this nonsense or who’s to blame for ending up at a point where people would rather not compete in the Greatest Spectacle in Racing. That winning the Indianapolis 500 is devalued to the point that it makes more sense – business or otherwise – to not try.

And that’s sad. From a practical standpoint, the Indianapolis 500 has survived two world wars, economic upheaval, disputes, changing tastes and everything else for the past 100 years. Having 32 starters this year matters little in the grand scheme of things. Yes, that last row, with only two cars, will look strange on the parade and pace laps. But 10-15 laps into the race – if not sooner – that missing starter will be forgotten as the drama of the day starts to unfold. Hey, it’s not as if 33 cars finish the race anyway.

So, no big deal, right?

Wrong. It’s the latest example of 500 traditions – like multiple weeks of practice, two weekends of qualifying - that have steadily eroded in the name of … progress? Reality? Necessity? Survival?

By the time you read this, maybe everything will be resolved and by race day there will be a full field. In any event, I’m eagerly anticipating  taking my 9-year-old son to the track next Saturday for opening day, watching him run down to the fence in the infield of Turn 2 to get a better look at the cars roaring by or eagerly pursuing drivers around Gasoline Alley or the motorhomes in search of autographs.

And I’ll wonder if someday he’ll have to explain to his son why there are only 28 cars in the Indianapolis 500. Or 26. Or …

Indy 500 Program of the Day: Talk of Gasoline Alley

If Sid Collins is considered the all-time Voice of the 500 and Tom Carnegie the Voice of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, then Donald Davidson surely is the Voice of May. One of the benefits of growing up in Indianapolis was being able to listen to Donald on WIBC each night as he recited all manner of fact obvious and arcane as well as minutiae connected to the Indianapolis 500.

When I lived in Springfield, Missouri, and would travel back to Indianapolis for the race or qualifying, I would seek out WIBC as I drove in on Interstate 70. Once I heard his familiar voice near the end of this (about) 500-mile trek – the signal usually picked up around Terre Haute – that’s when I started feeling I was back home again in Indiana (so to speak).

The advent of streaming radio means his program, The Talk of Gasoline Alley, can be heard around the world through www.1070thefan.com starting Wednesday night from 8-9 p.m. Eastern, according to the program schedule. Though it’s still more than another week before the track opens, Donald’s stories are really what get the month of May started.

Photo credit: Indianapolis Motor Speedway

Quick IndyCar Thoughts from the Couch: Brazil

1.) Will Power does it again. That’s three out of four this season, and this one was his most dominant performance, in my opinion. Click here for the press release from IndyCar.

2.) No fireworks between Marco Andretti and Graham Rahal. No nothing, actually.

3.) Still not sure what defines “avoidable contact,” especially after Mike Conway speared Dario Franchitti. In my view, Beaux Barfield decided to swallow the whistle on Sunday and let them play. This happens in other sports (football, basketball), which doesn’t necessarily make it right.

Photo credit: Shawn Gritzmacher / Indianapolis Motor Speedway

Indianapolis 500 Item of the Day: View-Masters

It’s hard to explain to a child of today what exactly View-Masters are. Simply, they are slides you looked at through a special, uh, viewer. Three reels, with seven photos each, came in each package.

View-Masters might still be around – I bought a few for my kids when they were younger – but I suspect the low-tech approach to entertainment just doesn’t resonate today. On the other hand, if you grew up in the 1960s and ‘70s, you definitely remember them, probably fondly. Maybe you even had talking View-Masters.

Just about any subject was ripe for the View-Master treatment, including the Indianapolis 500. This set chronicles the ill-fated 1973 race. It has some great pictures, like of the old main gate (with a red Pinto poised to travel onto the grounds of the World’s Greatest Race Course), the old museum (remember having to stand in line outside to wait your turn?) and some of the top cars of the day.

Indianapolis 500 DVD of the Day: 1974

I don’t need much of an excuse to pop in a DVD or video tape of Indianapolis 500 highlights. A cold and gray day, like we’re having in Southeast Michigan today, provides as good a reason as any. These films are a product of a bygone era when companies such as Firestone produced promotional films for use at schools, churches, Boy Scouts, Kiwanis and so forth. For kids in Indianapolis, these popped up quite a bit on rainy days in May when we couldn’t go outside for recess. I can remember seeing both the 1971 and 1964 highlight films while in elementary school, and I’m sure I saw others.

Each film was about 25 minutes, and the Speedway used to sell VHS copies in the gift shop.

Fortunately, the folks at Rare Sportsfilms have been transferring these films onto DVDs. Today’s selection from 1974 includes three titles for a running time of one hour, 13 minutes. Rare Sportsfilms has most of the races from post World War II into the early 1970s, and hopefully they will add more (1972 and 1975 are at the top of my wish list).

You can find the titles on eBay or by going to www.raresportsfilms.com.

Indianapolis 500 Post Card of the Day: Tom Sneva

It’s hard to believe that Tom Sneva won only one Indianapolis 500. The “Gas Man” was a top contender for about 10 years during the mid to late 1970s into the mid 1980s. He won the pole three times - 1977, ’78 and ’84. Each time, Sneva set the track record (remember those?). He also was the fastest qualifier in 1981. “Snively” finished second three times as well. In 1980, he had qualified 14^th, then totaled his car during practice. He was forced to go to a backup, started 33^rd and finished runner-up to Johnny Rutherford.

Sneva is perhaps best known for being the first driver to officially lap the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in excess of 200 mph, which he did in 1977 in the Norton Spirit, pictured here. Sneva’s lone Indy victory came in 1983, giving George Bignotti his final 500 victory as a chief mechanic.