Indy 500 Thought of the Day: Opening Day

If you live in a baseball-crazed city, particularly in the Midwest or East, Opening Day is a big deal.

Optimism abounds. Fans see hope in the green grass and flowering plants after a long winter. The possibilities of spring and all that.

I wonder if Opening Day at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway will ever create that vibe.

Last year, despite sunny skies and what one would assume to be a fair amount of anticipation around the 100^th anniversary of the Indianapolis 500, the turnout was, well, tepid. To be fair, the action on the track – at least early on – was equally so. A few cars roared out after the first green flag dropped, took a few laps, then came in.

From a practical standpoint, the mileage limits on engines, restricted supply of tires and dearth of entries means a full week of practice is no longer necessary. Maybe open the track during the week and see if an even more condensed schedule ramps up the activity and therefore some excitement because, frankly, a quiet racetrack is a boring racetrack.

Another way to boost interest would be to have some sort of exhibition race during the week. This race would pit last year’s winners and pole winners in a 25-lap sprint using previous-generation chassis and unbranded engines. You’d need a sponsor to foot the bill for the equipment and the purse, but such a concept opens the door to invite drivers from other series to compete as well because it would be just a one-day commitment.

Back to reality. I’m eager to see the new cars and engines on the track. I just hope they’re out there early and often on Saturday.

Indy 500 Driver of the Day: Jigger Sirois

The story of Jigger Sirois is so often told that Donald Davidson declines to discuss it anymore on “Talk of Gasoline Alley.” For those not familiar with what may be the ultimate hard-luck story in Indianapolis 500 history, Jigger went out for a qualifying run on the first day of time trials in 1969. At the time, the pole winner was the fastest driver on the first day. Period.

Jigger’s crew waved off the run, thinking it was going to be too slow to make the race. Then it rained before anyone could go out and qualify.

The pole went down the drain, and so opened another chapter in Indianapolis 500 lore.

Jigger didn’t even qualify that year (as it turned out, if he had maintained his speed, he would have made the race) - or any other.

The driver who endures the toughest month of May is honored (if that’s the right word) with the Jigger award.

For most, that’s where the Jigger Sirois story ends. My good friend William LaDow sought to tell Jigger’s story beyond what happened on that fateful day more than 40 years ago. Please visit his website, www.speedwaysightings.com, and  search “Jigger Sirois” or go to http://wp.me/p4awY-o for this well-researched article.

Photo credit: Indianapolis Motor Speedway

Indy 500 Memory of the Day: The Goodyear Blimp

I miss seeing the Goodyear blimp during May. It usually arrived before Pole Day and of course was on hand during the race, meaning residents of Indianapolis had about a good two weeks of blimp watching. The engines of the blimp have a distinctive sound - similar to a lawnmower, but a little more “whiny.” During May here in Michigan when I hear what I think is that sound, I still gaze skyward, searching. Logically I know it’s a neighbor cutting his or her yard. I guess I’m hoping to see the Goodyear blimp floating majestically, another sign that 500 time is upon us.

Photo credit: Indianapolis Motor Speedway

Indy 500 DVD of the Day: The Big Wheel

Just like “A Christmas Story” or “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” are required viewing during Christmas season, so too is “The Big Wheel” a May must-watch.

Starring Mickey Rooney (!) as a wannabe hotshoe determined to win the big dough at Indianapolis – even if it means “driving right over” fellow drivers – this black-and-white production is by turns corny, ridiculous and, yes, endearing.

You might even find yourself calling people “knothead” or “speedy” for a couple of days after watching.

Donald Davidson wrote what has to be the definitive piece on this cinematic masterpiece in the 1984 Carl Hungness yearbook. It’s definitely worth a read.

The movie is readily available from sources over the internet (Amazon, eBay, etc.)

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