30 Days in May: No. 18, Mike Mosley, 1983 Kraco March/Cosworth

Welcome to our monthlong countdown celebrating notable drivers and cars from the history of the Indianapolis 500!

Photo credit: Indianapolis Motor Speedway

Mike Mosley appeared to be a good bet to win the pole for the 1983 Indianapolis 500
until rookie Teo Fabi set "A New Track Record" in qualifying.

30 Days in May: No. 18, Mike Mosley, 1983 Kraco March/Cosworth. Along with Bobby Unser and Johnny Rutherford, Mike Mosely was one of my favorite drivers as a young boy. Unlike Unser and Rutherford, Mosley never found the right combination to vault him to Indy glory. It wasn’t due to lack of determination (twice he was badly injured at Indianapolis from crashes caused by mechanical failure) or certainly driving talent. Twice Mosley started last in IndyCar races and won, both at Phoenix and Milwaukee, considered “driver’s tracks.”

In 1983, Mosley was consistently among the fastest in practice and appeared to have the pole locked up until an unknown rookie named Teo Fabi stunningly broke the track record. In what was to be his last 500, Mosley wound up a fitting 13^th after a spin and contact in Turn 1.

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30 Days in May: No. 17, Willy T. Ribbs, 1991 Cosby/McDonald’s Lola/Buick

Welcome to our monthlong countdown celebrating notable drivers and cars from the history of the Indianapolis 500!

Photo credit: From the 1991 Indianapolis 500 Yearbook

Willy T. Ribbs drove in the Indianapolis 500 in 1991 and 1993.

30 Days in May: No. 17, Willy T. Ribbs, 1991 Cosby/McDonald’s Lola/Buick. Willy T. Ribbs had a devil of a time qualifying for his first Indianapolis 500 because the ever-temperamental Buick engine would fail after only a handful of laps. In the last hour of qualifying, Ribbs shoved aside the frustration, shelved any jinxes and put it in the show, bumping Ton Sneva in the process. The mechanical gremlins returned on race day, however, and Ribbs lasted only five laps and finished 32^nd.  

Like many others, I highly recommend the documentary “Uppity: The Willy T. Ribbs Story” to learn more about Ribbs’ career.

Photo credit: 1991 Indianapolis 500 Yearbook published by Carl Hungness.

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30 Days in May Bonus: No. 93, Johnny Parsons, 1975 Ayr-Way WNAP “Buzzard”

Welcome to our monthlong countdown celebrating notable drivers and cars from the history of the Indianapolis 500!

Photo credit: Indianapolis Motor Speedway

The Ayr-Way WNAP cars were certainly among the most colorful at the track in 1975.

30 Days in May Bonus: No. 93, Johnny Parsons, 1975 Ayr-Way WNAP “Buzzard”: Cars entered in the Indianapolis 500 certainly have had interesting, colorful names. One of my favorites was the Ayr-Way WNAP “Buzzard” from 1975. This name may not make sense today – especially if you’re not from Indianapolis – but it was definitely a product of the times.

Ayr-Way was spun off L.S. Ayres, one of the top fashion stores in Indianapolis. Ayr-Way was a department store similar to Target – in fact, many of the Indianapolis locations became Target stores after Ayr-Way folded in the late 1970s. (Squint hard enough and maybe you can see the old Ayr-Way flower where the Target bull’s eye is now at some stores.)

We often shopped at the Ayr-Way on Lafayette Road because it had just about everything – even a garden center. WNAP was a hard-rock station teeming with many interesting personalities; the buzzard was the station mascot. It was at 93.1 on the FM dial, so that’s why it was Car 93.

Because I was only 7 years old, I didn’t listen to WNAP. My parents were strictly WIBC (1070 AM), which was fine because WIBC covered qualifications and had updates from the track that I would listen to when I got home from school while allegedly doing my homework.

This was very much an Indianapolis-centric team. In addition to the two local sponsors, driver Johnny Parsons lived in central Indiana for many years. He’s the son of 1950 winner Johnnie Parsons (note the different spellings) and originally was from California but moved to Indiana to jump-start his racing career.

The chief mechanic (remember those?) was Bill Finley, who basically built race cars out of his garage in Eagledale, a subdivision within earshot of the track. (My first house was in Eagledale: 3031 Fuller Drive. Carl Wilde School 79 represent!)

The team also had a second entry: Car 94, driven by Mike Hiss.

Race day wasn’t the greatest for either driver. Hiss spun out on Lap 39 and finished 29th. Parsons ran as high as fifth before transmission woes sidelined him after 140 laps. He finished 19th.

Ayr-Way heavily promoted its involvement with the 500. In addition to buttons (see below), there were posters, large ads in the Indianapolis papers (there were two of them back then) and even a timing and scoring chart with Parsons’ likeness.

Today, interestingly, WNAP’s old FM spot is occupied by WIBC.

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I came across this button on eBay
a few years ago and had to add it to my collection.

30 Days in May: No. 16, Lee Kunzman, 1973 Ayr-Way/Lloyd’s Eagle/Offy

Welcome to our monthlong countdown celebrating notable drivers and cars from the history of the Indianapolis 500!

Photo credit: Indianapolis Motor Speedway

Lee Kunzman was a second-day qualifier in 1973. He started 25th, but his four-lap
average of 193.092 mph ranked an impressive 11th.

30 Days in May: No. 16, Lee Kunzman, 1973 Ayr-Way/Lloyd’s Eagle/Offy. Lee Kunzman was considered a rising star in the USAC ranks before his career was derailed by some serious crashes. In 1973, he joined the Lindsey Hopkins team and moved up from 25^th to finish seventh in the rain-shortened race. This was a very good year for Hopkins as three of his cars were in the top 10: Roger McCluskey was third and Mel Kenyon fourth in addition to Kunzman in seventh. After his driving career, Kunzman was part of Ron Hemelgarn’s operation for many years.

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30 Days in May Bonus: No. 71, Rick Mears, 1978 CAM2 Penske PC6/Cosworth

Welcome to our monthlong countdown celebrating notable drivers and cars from the history of the Indianapolis 500!

Photo credit: Indianapolis Motor Speedway

Although it was a couple of years after the Bicentennial, each car on the Penske team
sported a red, white and blue color scheme for the 1978 Indianapolis 500.
This included rookie Rick Mears and his CAM2 ride.

30 Days in May Bonus: No. 71, Rick Mears, 1978 CAM2 Penske PC6/Cosworth. After trying unsuccessfully to qualify for the 500 as a rookie in 1977, Rick Mears caught the eye of Roger Penske and was offered a ride in races that Mario Andretti could not compete in due to Formula One commitments. Mears eagerly accepted the offer, which also included the Indianapolis 500. The Bakersfield, California, native justified Penske’s confidence by grabbing the outside spot on the front row, setting a rookie qualifying record in the process.

Race day wasn’t great, as Mears forgot to buckle his helmet at the start and then had his engine let go just after halfway and finished 23^rd. Still, the outstanding performance in time trials helped Mears earn Co-Rookie of the Year with Larry Rice. Mears’ number, 71, is rarely used at the Speedway, but I think the reason why Penske used that number is because his other entries were 7 (Andretti) and 1 (Tom Sneva), so he just combined the two. (Dick Simon had 17 that year, in case you were wondering.)

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30 Days in May: No. 15, Peter Revson, 1973 Gulf McLaren/Offy

Welcome to our monthlong countdown celebrating notable drivers and cars from the history of the Indianapolis 500!

Majeske collection

Peter Revson finished 31st in the 1973 Indianapolis 500. Sadly, it was his last race at Indianapolis.

30 Days in May: No. 15, Peter Revson, 1973 Gulf McLaren/Offy. A front-row starter the previous two 500s, Peter Revson was the first qualifier for the 1973 race. He wound up starting 10^th and finished 31^st after crashing coming out of Turn 4 after only three laps. That year, I remember my mom taking me to a drug store in the Speedway Shopping Center to meet Revson, who was promoting Rev-Up vitamins, and get an autographed picture, which I still have.

Majeske collection

I was delighted to "reunite" with Peter Revson's 1973 Indy 500 car in 2018. Well, sort of.
According to oldracingcars.com, the whereabouts of that car are unknown.
Nevertheless, this is an outstanding restoration and it was nice to get close to a Gulf McLaren again. 

Majeske collection

My late mother made this for me many years ago. It's a bit worse for wear now,
but you can see the autographed photo mentioned in the story.

30 Days in May: No. 14, A.J. Foyt, 1973 Gilmore Racing Coyote/Foyt

Welcome to our monthlong countdown celebrating notable drivers and cars from the history of the Indianapolis 500!

A.J. Foyt was still working out the bugs in his new Coyote/Foyt at Indianapolis in 1973.
No surprise, Super Tex figured it out. The Coyote/Foyt combination won the pole in 1974
and 1975 and got Foyt his  record fourth Indianapolis 500 victory in 1977. 

30 Days in May: No. 14, A.J. Foyt, 1973 Gilmore Racing Coyote/Foyt. Amazingly, A.J. Foyt was close to the bubble for the 1973 500, as his speed average of 188.927 mph was 32^nd-fastest (or second-slowest). Not surprisingly, the 1973 race was one to forget for Foyt. His Coyote dropped out after 37 laps, then Foyt took over teammate George Snider’s car, which wound up 11^th.

Why Foyt had so much trouble in time trials in 1973 is hard to fathom because Super Tex usually was an excellent qualifier. Consider this: In 1991, 33 years after his 500 debut plus coming off devastating lower-leg injuries suffered in a gruesome crash at Road America and at age 56 (!) no less, the amazing Foyt earned a front-row stating position – between Rick Mears and Mario Andretti. Many consider this the greatest front row in Indianapolis 500 history. And it has to rank as one of the greatest feats (no pun intended) in Foyt’s amazing career. 

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