#1- 100 to 1

Well ladies and gentleman we managed to make it. Over the past three months I set myself the challenge of chronicling 100 individual moments over 100 years of the Indianapolis 500, and whilst I have been unable to keep up to my goal of posting every day of this countdown I have remained committed to this project and have the privilege of posting the final update today, and I hope that everyone who has tuned in for these write-ups throughout the past three months have enjoyed reading them as much as I have enjoyed writing them.

 If we remember the first update of this project I wrote about the origins of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, of how Carl Fisher helped to turn a former farm just on the outskirts of his home city into the Motorsport Mecca that stands before us today. With the first update of our countdown focusing on the first running of the race, it should be appropriate that we end by looking at its most recent, a compelling and high-speed battle of Indy’s elite crowned off by one of the greatest comeback drives ever seen at the Brickyard.

Heading into the month of May, most of the discussion surrounding Gasoline Alley had surrounding the controversial introduction of aero-kits to the Brickyard. Developed as part of Dallara’s ICONIC chassis project, the new aero-kits had been introduced to the series for the 2015 Indycar season, with both Honda and Chevrolet presenting their own respective designs, with Chevrolet holding a slight competitive edge over their Japanese counterparts after 4 races of the campaign. With the 500 marking the first race for the oval variants of the kits, hopes were high that the new systems would help the field reach some of the highest speeds seen at the Brickyard in the post-split era. However, a series of high speed blow-overs involving Chevrolet entries, as well as a season ending accident for James Hinchcliffe led to safety concerns being raised at the Brickyard, forcing all of the teams to run qualifying with their race setups, and creating further resentment between the Chevrolet and Honda outfits heading into next weekend’s race.

Safety concerns for the 2015 Indy 500 were raised following a series of blow-overs relating to Chevrolet’s aero-kit introduced for the race, Helio Castroneves being the first to suffer this fate on the Wednesday prior to qualifying.

At the start of the race itself however pole-sitter Scott Dixon led the field into turn one, followed by a chasing pack including Penske team-mates Will Power, Helio Castroneves and Simon Pagenaud with 2013 winner Tony Kanaan rounding out the top five. Behind them however an accident involving Sage Karam and Takuma Sato brought out the race’s first yellow flag, and with Conor Daly suffering an engine fire on the parade lap had already reduced the field to 30 cars before the fast lap had even been completed.

As the field prepared to take the restart on lap seven of the race, the fourth Penske machine of Juan Pablo Montoya was rear-ended by Simona de Silvestro, damaging de Silvestro’s left-front wing and Montoya’s right-rear bumper and forcing both machines into the pits to repair their respective damage. For Montoya, the incident had been the latest in a long-line of issues which had befell the Colombian throughout the Month of May, while the rest of his team-mates had occupied three of the top five starting slots on the grid Montoya had struggled for pace throughout practice, forcing him to settle for a 15^th placed starting slot and with subdued expectations heading into the race itself. Although Montoya was able to return to the race the accident dropped him back to 30^th and last place, and facing an uphill battle to salvage a strong result when the race finally did get back underway on lap 13.

A collision with Simona De Silvestro forced Montoya to make an unscheduled it stop on lap seven of the race, dropping the Colombian to 30th in the field. Note the damage to the right rear of Montoya’s car caused by the collision.

For the first half of the event, the race became a three-way battle for the lead between Scott Dixon, Tony Kanaan, and Simon Pagenaud, with veteran drivers Helio Castroneves and Will Power also remaining ever-present threats in the top five. The power-house Penske and Ganassi outfits had been best equipped to handle the aero-kit changes implemented by the speedway before qualifying, and at half distance had already been set to turn the 500 into a five-car shootout amongst themselves. Further down the field however Montoya was desperately attempting to cut his way through the field, taking advantage of brave driving and pit-stop strategy to slowly move into the top 15 by the time a collision between Ed Carpenter and Oriol Servia on lap 113 brought out the race’s third caution of the day.

With just 50 laps remaining in the race Penske and Ganassi continued to dominate, the Chevrolet powered teams continuing their competitive edge over their Honda counterparts and rendering the Japanese powered machines as comparative also rans entering the later stages. On lap 153 however Tony Kanaan lost control of his machine shortly after making a green-flag pit-stop for a wing adjustment, forcing the 2013 winner out of the race and bring out the race’s fourth caution at the expense of one of the race’s strongest competitors. 23 laps later another contender would suffer similar misfortune, when Simon Pagenaud suffered front wing damage attempting to pass the slow-moving Andretti machine of Justin Wilson, creating a concertina effect through the field that would claim the cars of Jack Hawksworth, Sebastian Saavedra and Stefano Colletti in the biggest accident of the day. The series of caution periods had begun to play firmly into the hands of Montoya, the Colombian fully recovering from his early race collision to run third when the race restarted for the final time on lap 184.

For the next 13 laps the lead exchanged hands four times, as Montoya, Power and Scott Dixon all took turns at the front of the field, but as the run continued it became clear that the Ganassi machine was struggling to keep up with the performance of the Penske duo, and by the final ten laps had been forced to give up third place to Charlie Kimball, who had recovered from a 14^th placed starting slot to become the lead Ganassi threat in the dying stages of the race. With just four laps remaining, Montoya moved to the outside of Power to take the lead of the race, and now in clear air was able to hold a controlled lead over his team-mate as the race entered the final lap. Coming into the start-finish straight for the final time, Power attempted to slip-stream Montoya for the win, but the Colombian was able to hold on to claim his second 500 victory.

Montoya’s win marked the 16th Indianapolis 500 victory for Roger Penske, as well as the eighth occasion that a pair of team-mates had finished first and second in the 500.

The win proved to be a record-breaking one for Montoya on two separate levels; Having previously won the race in 2000 the Colombian broke the record for the widest gap between a driver winning two separate 500 events, whilst his comeback drive from 30^th place was the lowest that a 500 winner driver had been positioned before going on to win the race. And with this second win adding to success in both NASCAR and Formula One reaffirmed Montoya’s place as one of motor-racing’s top all-rounders.

And for those that need a reminder, here are the highlights of last year’s race.

And with that, this trawl through Indy history has reached its end, 100 years of some of the quirkiest, outlandish, heart-warming and controversial stories that has helped to make the Greatest Spectacle In Racing what it is today. Once again I say thank you for reading, and here’s to the next hundred years of Indy.

#3- Rocket Rick

To win the Indianapolis 500, a driver must weather months of preparation then two stressful weeks of hype leading into “The Greatest Spectacle In Racing.” When the race actually begins, every driver is tested on skill, talent, luck, strategy, endurance and perseverance. It’s one of the hardest races in the world to win, and those who have sipped the milk in victory lane treasure the Indy 500 more than any other event. To win the race once in itself is an amazing achievement, but to do it four times over 13 years, and with six pole positions to boot, takes a driver of premium quality, one that is truly deserving of being the subject of attention in today’s 500 countdown.

Born in Kansas, but moving to Bakersfield California by the age of four, Rick Mears grew up with motor racing firmly rooted in his veins. His father Bill had been a keen club competitor during the 1940s, using the funds gained from his family owned construction business to help fund his weekend racing activites. From an early age, Rick had begun to show signs of following his father into the world of auto racing, racing toy slot cars by the age of 11 and during his teen years turning his attention to off-road races in the California desert, firstly on a dirt bike before switching to an off-road quad built by his father. By the time he left high school Rick was one of the most feared competitors in the local dirt track scene, dominating events at the local Ascot Park course including winning 14 out of 15 races in a single season alongside elder brother Roger (who would later join Rick in competing at the Indianapolis 500 in 1982).

Despite his high levels of success, Rick would start his tenure at Indianapolis on a low note, failing to qualify this Art Sugai machine for the 1977 running of the race.

By the mid-seventies, Rick had shifted his attention to closed circuit racing, claiming victories in the Formula Vee and Super Vee SCCA championships on his way to being named as the USAC Rookie of the year for the 1976. Garnering high accolades from both his peers and the sport’s top brass, Rick soon began attracting attention from the top level of the sport, and in 1976 was offered his first Indycar opportunity driving an aging Eagle chassis for Bill Simpson at that season’s California 500, Mears finishing the race multiple laps down on the leaders in eighth place. For the following season, Rick agreed a deal to drive for car owner Art Sugai, but a lack of funding from the World War II veteran led to Mears languishing in the mid-pack during the early stages of the season, the situation coming to a head at that season’s Indy 500 when Rick failed to qualify his pink machine for the Memorial Day event. Choosing to leave the team following his Brickyard humbling, Rick found refuge driving for Theodore Racing, and immediately saw an upturn in form that saw him pick up four top ten finishes in six races, including a best ever finish of fifth at the Michigan 500. Although he only finished 20^th in points, Rick’s promising performances in spite of his poor equipment saw him attract the attention of Roger Penske, who offered the 27-year-old a part-time drive for his team as a relief driver for Mario Andretti, who was continuing to split his time between Indycar racing and a full-time schedule in Formula One.

After an encouraging season which saw him pick up three wins in his 11 races with the team, Rick was offered a full time drive with Penske for the 1979, setting him on the path to a career that would see him become one of the all-time stars of the sport. In only his second Indianapolis 500, Rick was a foreboding presence, claiming his maiden 500 victory from pole position on his way to a first Indycar championship at the end of the season. Two more championships would follow in 1981 and 1982, where Rick continued to remain a threat when it came to the Brickyard; In 1981 he was in contention for the victory when a pit-stop fire left him with severe burns to his face and hands, while the following year saw him just miss out on the win to Gordon Johncock in what was at the time the closest finish in 500 history.

By the time of his second win at the Brickyard in 1984 Rick had cemented his place as a superstar of the sport, winning the race with an average speed of 163.612 mph and leaving his nearest rival, Roberto Guerrero, two laps behind in one of the most dominant 500 triumphs in years. With Rick beginning to enter his physical prime and Penske continuing to lead the way in technical innovation the stage looked set for the Bakesfield driver to establish his place at the head of the sport for the next decade. But with Mears at his peak, his career almost came to a crashing conclusion. During a practice run on Sept. 7, 1984, at the Sanair track outside Montreal, Mears clipped Bobby Rahal’s car and rammed into a guardrail, suffering two broken feet in the process. Initially, doctors’ reports went as far to suggest that Mears may have been forced to lose his right foot due to the damage sustained in the accident, but after three months of extensive rehabilitation and hospital visits Mears was able to return to the wheel of an Indycar in time for the 1985 Indy 500. Although his return to the track was greeted with much praise and respect from the paddock, the crash had a profound effect on Mears’ competitiveness on circuits that required heavy breaking, turning the Bakersfield driver into something of an oval specialist throughout the remainder of his career.

Mears (nearest to camera) leads a Mount Rushmore front row of AJ Foyt and Mario Andretti to the start of the 1991 Indy 500. The front row is statistically the most successful ever assembled in 500 history.

After three lackluster seasons by his own standards, fueled by his continued rehabilitation and a downturn in the fortunes of Penske, Rick returned to form with aplomb in 1988, claiming a record equalling fourth pole position before coming back from two laps down to take victory in the race itself, this coming after falling two laps behind early in the race due to an unscheduled pit-stop to relieve handling issues. It was in 1991 however that the Bakesfield native would achieve his finest triumph; following a rare accident in that year’s practice session, Mears bounced back to take a record breaking sixth pole position at the speedway, heading a Mount Rushmore front row of AJ Foyt and Mario Andretti at the drop of the green flag. After running with the lead pack for the majority of the race, an engine failure to Danny Sullivan saw Mears inherit the lead after leader Michael Andretti used the caution period to make a necessary pit-stop, and when the green flag resumed to restart the race Andretti used his fresher rubber to move around the outside of the Marlboro machine heading into turn one. Immediately after the pass Michael began to pull away, but Mears reeled him in turn 4. At the end of the main stretch, not to be upstaged, Mears pulled the same move, passing Michael on the outside of turn 1 to re-take the lead. And after Andretti’s handling started to fade Mears was able to ease into a comfortable position at the front of the field on his way to a record equaling fourth 500 triumph.

By 1992 however, a succession of heavy accidents combined with the lasting effects of his Sanair crash saw Rick announce his retirement from the sport at the comparatively young age of 41, moving into a senior position with Penske racing that he would hold on to for nearly two decades, during that time helping to nurture the careers of racing superstars including his Penske successor Paul Tracy. Despite his high levels of success Rick remained a humble and approachable figure throughout his racing career, and even though statistics can often be misleading when it comes to a sport like auto racing, there is an argument to make that he can be considered the greatest ever to grace the Brickyard.

In today’s video we showcase a feature on Rick Mears broadcast just before Rick’s final 500 in 1992. Sam Posey is our narrator:

#5- Hornish At The Last

It is often said in life that one man’s loss is another man’s game, and as we have seen over the last hundred years this analogy can very much be applied to Indy, with the crowning moment of one driver’s career often coming at the expense of a less fortune competitor, and for many modern fans of the sport there is no stronger an example of this then Sam Hornish Jr., Marco Andretti and the 2006 Indy 500.

By 2006 there had been very little that Sam Hornish had achieved during his Indycar career. The Ohio native had first entered the sport back in the year 2000, and quickly moved to establish himself as one of the first true home-grown stars of the still burgeoning series. After making his debut driving for the upstart PDM outfit, Hornish made the move to Panther Racing to drive the No. 4 Dallara IR01-Oldsmobile Aurora L47 V8 for the 2001 season. During the next three seasons Hornish went on to become a dominant force in the sport, picking up 11 wins over the next three seasons on his way to picking up two successive series championships. A move to Penske racing followed in 2004, where Hornish continued his fine form with a further three victories on his way to a third place finish in the standings back in 2005.

Despite his level of success in the series however, Hornish found himself as something of a tainted figure when it came to Indianapolis, with the Ohio native facing the unenviable record of having failed to finish in each of his seven previous attempts at the Brickyard, but backed by the Brickyard nuance of Roger Penske, and his reputation as one of the top oval racers in the series, Hornish entered the 2006 running of the race determined to put an end to his poor record in the Hoosier state.

Prior to 2006, Hornish had been noted for his terrible luck when it came to Indianapolis. An accident with Darren Manning bringing a premature end to his race in 2004.

Much like Danica Patrick had done 12 years previously however, Hornish and the rest of the 500 field found themselves upstaged by a young upstart rookie going into the month of May. At just 19 years old, Marco Andretti entered Indianapolis as one of the youngest drivers ever to compete in the race, having enjoyed an encouraging start to his racing career that had seen him claim a Barber National Championship as well as three wins from six races in the Indy Lights Championship in 2005, and in the process encouraging father Michael to hand the newcomer a drive for his team for the 2006 Indycar season. Although Marco had endured a somewhat difficult start to his Indycar career, having failed to score a top ten finish in his first three races, his junior formula success combined with his famous last name made the Nazareth native a centre of attention when it came to the 500, and with grandfather Mario watching from the pit wall, and his father competing alongside him, the 19-year-old was more prepared than ever in his bid to finally break his family’s curse at the Brickyard.

For the majority of the race however, the day had belonged to reigning 500 champion Dan Wheldon. The Ganassi driver had taken the lead from pole-sitter Hornish on the first lap of the race, and proceeded to stamp his authority on the event during the race’s early stages, building up a 19-second lead over the next nearest competitor, and after 65 laps had lapping twenty-five of the other cars in the race, including all five of the other former 500 winners, leaving only eight cars on the lead lap. By the 75% distance mark Wheldon continued to make the running at the front of the field, whilst both Marco Andretti and Sam Hornish beginning to fade as they struggled to keep to the pace of the Ganassi driver up front.

On lap 149, Al Unser, Jr. precipitated a caution period after spinning down the back-stretch and crashing in turn 3., forcing the remaining lead lap cars into the pits for what was anticipated to be the penultimate time in the race. During the stops, Sam Hornish, Jr. started to pull out of his pits with the hose still attached, ripping the hose from its fuel housing and forcing to lose valuable time as the crew attempted to remove the damaged system. Still under caution on lap 155, the field was preparing to go back to green when Jeff Simmons wrecked in the north chute, causing the caution to be prolonged. Running at the tail end of the lead lap, Hornish (along with Michael Andretti) used the extended caution period to return to the pits on lap 160, gambling that enough further caution periods would be thrown to allow them to make it to the end of the race without the need of another pit stop.

While Michael Andretti and Hornish struggled at the tail end of the lead lap. The leading pack of Dan Wheldon, Dario Franchitti and an emerging Marco Andretti began to enter the pits for their final round of pit-stops, as Marco entered the pits on lap 190 Felipe Giaffone crashed in turn two, bringing out the yellow. Marco Andretti (legally) slipped by the pace car exiting the pits, avoiding losing a lap in the process and lining up in third place behind his father and new race leader Tony Kanaan. After Kanaan was forced into the pits to make his final stop the two Andretti’s lined up first and second on the restart, with Sam Hornish running behind the duo in third place.

Hornish’s pass on Marco for the race win marked the first time that the 500 had been decided by a last-lap pass, whilst also making the result the second closest in 500 history after the 1992 race.

When the race restarted with four laps to go, Marco pulled outside of his father down the front-stretch, and passing the elder Andretti for the lead going into turn one. Marco began to pull away from his father, as he began to take a more defensive approach to his driving, taking up a blocking role in a bid to protect his son’s lead. Down the back stretch, Michael tried but failed to hold off the charging Hornish, as the Penske driver moved to second place and in pursuit of the 19-year-old leader. With two laps to go, Marco led Hornish by a half second, with Michael still in third. Down the back stretch, Hornish tried to squeeze past Marco as they approached turn three. He was pinched down, and ran out of race track, and had to back off. Hornish lost his momentum, and Marco pulled out to a 1-second lead at the start/finish line with one lap to go. On the final lap, Marco held his lead down the back stretch. In turn three, however, Hornish began to reel him in, and as the two cars exited turn four, Hornish executed a slingshot pass in the final 400 feet of the race, beating out Marco to the finish line in what was the second closest finish in 500 history, causing hysterical scenes in the team Penske pit and leaving a bemused and sullen Mario to rue yet another missed opportunity for his family at the 500.

Afterwards, Hornish commented on his last-second pass, “I figured I came all this way, I ought to give myself one more shot at it. I kind of looked at it as, I was going to drive over him if I had to. For Marco to come as a rookie and drive like that he should be proud no matter what.” Third-place finisher Michael Andretti meanwhile had high praise for his son: “I felt so bad for Marco, but I’m so proud. He drove a hell of a race. I drove with him a hell of a lot in that race. He drove like a champion. He drove like he’s been out there 10 years.” But Marco wanted more: “I do not want to wait until next year. I have to take advantage of everything because second’s nothing,”

For both Marco and Hornish, the race would be something of a turning point. Hornish would use his 500 victory to propel him to a third Indycar championship later that year, by which point the Ohio native had begun to turn his attention to other ventures, and after another strong campaign in which he finished fifth in the standings agreed a deal to drive for Penske’s NASCAR sprint cup team for the 2008 season. Although he had been a power-house of the series during his time in Indycar, Hornish struggled with the heavier stock car machinery, and after three seasons in which he recorded a best points finish of 28^th was dropped by the outfit following the 2010 season. Marco meanwhile continues to remain an ever-present threat when it comes to the 500, with four podium finishes over a ten year period and with hopes that one day lady luck will be on his side to finally give his family that long overdue second 500 triumph.

For today’s video we have the closing stages of what has been described by Rusty Wallace as the most exciting Daytona 500 ever 😉

#7- …And He’s On It

 

For most forms of motor racing qualifying is a relatively simple task; a no-limits hour long session where those with the fastest times are rewarded with stronger starting positions for that weekend’s race. When it comes to Indianapolis however, the qualifying format can often turn into a two-week battle of endurance with as much drama, intrigue and lore as the race itself, and with today being pole day for the 2016 running of the 500, it should be apt that we talk about the quirks, trivia and idiosyncrasies that come with qualifying at the Brickyard.

The first novelty of qualifying for the 500 can be traced back to the very first running of the race back in 1911. Although participants were forced to adhere to a 75mph minimum speed in order to be allowed to compete in the race, the starting grid was determined by the order that entries were received by the top brass of the Speedway, with New York based racer Lewis Strang having the privilege of claiming the pole for the inaugural running of the event. A keen racer during the early 20^th century, Strang had been inspired to compete in the 500 when he passed by the site of the speedway whilst it was still under construction, famously being pictured standing above a scaled outline of the speedway that came to be known as ‘The Vision’. For the next three years, the speedway continued with using postal entries as a means of dictating the starting order, but after overseas competitors voiced complaints about their entries arriving in the mail later than local entrants, thus unfairly starting them deep in the grid, a compromise was made such that the grid was determined by a blind draw a few days before the race.

New York based driver Lewis Strang holds the privilege of being the 500’s first pole position winner, a feat he managed to achieve by being the first person to make a postal entry to compete in the race!

Starting in 1915, the qualifying format was simplified so that starting positions would be determined by speed during practice for the race. Intially, speed would be measured over the course of one flying lap of the course, before being extended to a 10-mile, four lap format which is still in use at the speedway to this day. Though multiple days were allotted for qualifying (often referred to as “elimination trials”), drivers were known to wait until the last minute to qualify. Even though the track would normally be made available for practice beginning on May 1, many teams chose not to even arrive until just before elimination trials. The Speedway reacted by setting up a slightly retooled format in 1916 such that the first day qualifiers lined up first in the grid by speed. The second day qualifiers would line up behind the first day qualifiers, and so on, regardless if drivers on subsequent days were faster than the first day qualifiers. This system created the possibility the possibility of the fastest car in the field being forced to start in the middle of the pack come the 500 itself, a feat most recently seen with Sweden’s Kenny Brack in the 2005 running of the race. This format stayed in place until 2014, when an additional ‘knockout format’ was introduced to the final day of time trials in which the fastest nine drivers in the field competed between each other for pole position for the race.

With such a unique and intriguing format, it should come as no surprise that qualifying at Indianapolis has thrown up a number of surprises over the years, with many of the sport’s underfunded outfits and long shots for victory finding themselves at the centre of attention with a strong run in time trials. In 1950, Walt Faulkner became the first rookie ever to qualify on pole for the race, putting his Kurtis-Kraft machine into the field at a speed of 134.343mph on his way to a seventh place finish in the race. Teo Fabi and Tony Stewart would later repeat Faulkner’s feat in 1983 and 1996 respectively, only to see their races come to a premature end thanks to mechanical issues.

Bobby Rahal became on of the speedway’s most high profile victims of qualifying when he failed to make the race in 1993. Rahal also came close to missing the event in 1994, before leasing a year-old Penske to qualify in 28th place.

On the adverse however, the format can also prove to be the undoing of many big names in the series, with mechanical gremlins, poor setup or misfortune with the weather seeing some of the sport’s powerhouse competitors either mired at the back of the pack or even suffering the embarrassment of even missing the race altogether. In 1995, Team Penske became the highest profile victims of this fate, when chassis issues with their machines forced former 500 champions Emerson Fittipaldi and Al Unser Jr. to miss out on competing in the race, in a sequence of events I looked at in much more detail in entry #34 of this countdown. Reigning Indycar series Champion Bobby Rahal became another high profile casualty of the system in 1993, when the Ohio native’s insistence of getting his in-house Rahal Hogan chassis up to speed saw him miss out on the race at the expense of last minute qualifier Eddie Cheever. In 2011, the previously dominant Andretti Autosport outfit faced the prospect of four of its five entered machines missing out on the race, with lead driver Marco Andretti having to bump team-mate Ryan Hunter-Reay out of the field in order to make the Memorial Day Classic.

For most Indy fans however the king of qualifying at the Brickyard comes in the form of Rick Mears. The California based driver came to be known as a specialist on Pole Day, claiming a record six pole positions throughout his 14-year career as well as a run of six successive front row starts between 1986 and 1991. At the height of his career, Mears found himself as part of a unique Indianapolis 500 achievement, when he and Penske team-mates Al Unser Sr. and Danny Sullivan became the first team ever to lock-out the front row in qualifying for the 1988 race, one that Mears went on to dominate on his way to a third victory at the Brickyard.

For this year’s running of the 500 however, the field will be lead to the green flag by veteran driver James Hinchcliffe driving for Schmidt-Peterson Motorsports. The 29-year-old claiming his third front-row start at the speedway in five years, and in the process becoming the first Canadian to claim pole position for the race since former SSM driver Alex Tagliani achieved the feat in 2011. With Hinchliffe’s achievement comes the publicity and hype one would expect with leading to field to green in the biggest race of the year, but it also serves as a reminded that the undercard of the month’s activities has come to an end… and that the main event of the race itself is just around the corner.

#9- Grid Girls

The perception of females in motor racing has always been one which has urged on the side of negativity, with most archetypal views of females in the sport often being reduced to that of a glamorous marketing ploy rather than having a strong purpose in the mechanics of the sport. In reality however females have been a significant element of the sport ever since its inception in the nineteenth century, with the Indianapolis 500 playing its own part in showcasing women in the sport in the best possible manner.

Although trailblazing figures such as Dorothy Levitt had been a part of the European racing scene since the start of the 20^th century, the first real high-profile female figure in the Indianapolis 500 didn’t come until the 1920’s, when Philadelphia-based businesswoman Maude Yagle agreed a deal to purchase a rear-wheel-drive car formerly owned by former Indianapolis 500 champion Frank Lockhart. Lockhart had used the machine during a land speed record attempt that tragically claimed his life, but Yagle used her investments to restore the machine, entering it in the 1929 Indianapolis 500 under the pseudonym ‘M.A. Yagle’ to avoid any criticism that a woman was invading the all-male world of auto racing. With rookie driver Ray Keesh behind the wheel, Yagle’s Miller Simplex Special went on to dominate the 1929 race, and in the process making Yagle the first and only female team boss ever to claim victory at the Indy 500.  Gender equality rules enforced at the speedway at the time however meant that Yagle was never allowed into the pit area to allow her to celebrate her team win, instead choosing to keep an anonymous eye on her machine as a grandstand spectator.

Owned by Maude Yagle, Ray Keesh’s victory in the Miller Simplex Special marked the first and only time that a female team owner had won the Indianapolis 500, and marked the first great progressive step for female involvement at the Brickyard.

Bowing to the pressures to the growing public mood at the time, speedway officials began to ease many of the restrictions of females at the Brickyard during the 1960s, and in 1971 allowed female figures including team members and journalists access to the pit complex of the Brickyard for the first time. In 1974, Johnny Rutherford’s wife Betty scored for him in his team’s pit area. It was perhaps one of the first driver’s wife to spend the entire race in the pits. Rutherford won the race, and Betty’s presence drew some media attention, leading many other wives to follow suit in future years.

Two years later, Janet Guthrie became the first female to arrive at Indianapolis looking to attempt to qualify for the race. After failing to qualify for the 1976 running of the race due to mechanical issues, Guthrie returned to the speedway the following year to become the first female ever to qualify for the 500, competing in three races over the course of her career with a best finish of 9^th in 1978. During her career, Guthrie received a mixed welcome amongst the competitors and fans but was mostly viewed in a positive light by the media. Her experiences were at times frustrating, as setbacks and difficulties ranged from engine troubles to the lack of female restrooms in the garage area at the time. Former Formula One Driver Desire Wilson was next to try her hand at the Brickyard, making three qualifying attempts driving for Hong Kong millionaire Teddy Yip between 1982 and 1984. Despite running the fastest laps ever recorded by a female driver in practice, Wilson failed to make the 500 field on each occasion, with her 1982 at the speedway tainted by a horrific accident that claimed the life of Wilson’s team-mate Gordon Smiley during that year’s qualifying session.

15 years after Janet Guthrie’s first appearance at the speedway, Lyn St. James made the first of seven appearances in the 1992 500. Here she poses after record-breaking sixth placed qualifying effort in 1994.

Following Wilson’s exploits, it would take another decade until another female driver would emerge at the Brickyard, when Lyn St. James first attempted to qualify for the 500 driving a car prepared by journeyman team owner Dick Simon. After struggling to get up to speed during the month’s early practice sessions, the former endurance racer leased a backup car from Philippe Gache in a bid to make the race, turning her fastest laps of the month on the final day of qualifying to safely make it into the race in 27^th place, becoming not only the second female qualifier for the event but also at the age of 45 the oldest rookie in the race’s 76 year running. In a race of attrition, St. James ran a cautious race to come home in 11^th place, winning her rookie of the year honours in the process. Despite running a limited Indycar schedule for the rest of her career, St. James became a regular figure at Indianapolis, competing in 7 races between 1992 and 2000 with her highlight coming in the form of a sixth placed starting spot in the 1994 edition of the race, out qualifying former Formula One champion Nigel Mansell in the process.

As the new millennium commenced, the number of women competing in motor sport had started to grow significantly, with the new influx placing a profound effect on the number of female drivers taking part at the Brickyard come Memorial Day Weekend. In 2000, 19-year-old Sarah Fisher made her first appearance at the speedway, joining St. James in the field for the race in a car prepared by Derrick Walker. With 9 successive appearances in the race, Fisher currently holds the record as the most prolific female entrant in the race, before retiring at the end of the 2010 season to focus her attentions on team ownership, with her eponymous guiding Josef Newgarden to championship contention in 2015.

By the late noughties female competitors at the Indy 500 had become a regular occurrence. Here, drivers Milka Duno, Sarah Fisher and Danica Patrick pose with Lyn St James and tennis trailblazer Billie Jean King prior to the 2007 running of the race.

It would be the arrival of Danica Patrick however that would have the biggest impact on female drivers competing at the Brickyard. The Roscoe, Illinois native had come into Indycar racing amid much fanfare following success in Formula Ford and the Toyota Atlantic championship, and quickly set about re-writing the record books for female drivers competing in the sport. In her first 500 appearance in 2005 (looked at in more detail in #16 of this countdown) Patrick became the first female ever to lead the race on her way to a fourth placed finish, breaking previous best finish of ninth set by Janet Guthrie in 1978. During a further six attempts at the race, Patrick went on to claim top ten finishes on five occasions, including surpassing her 2005 record by finishing third in the event in 2009. By this point however Patrick found herself as one of many females competing in the race. 2007 saw Venezuela’s Milka Duno competed in the event for the first time, whilst the arrival former Toyota Atlantic race winner Simona De Silvestro and Brazil’s Ana Beatriz Figuereido saw a record four participants in the race in 2010, a number which would be repeated in 2011 and 2013. For 2016 however, the flag for female drivers in the race will be flown by the sole figure of Dale Coyne Racing’s Pippa Mann, the London born driver making her fifth successive 500 start.

For today’s video we feature a documentary produced by Versus in 2009 looking at Danica Patrick’s first four years in Indycar racing. Although a divisive figure in the sport it is hard to argue the impact that Patrick had on the sport during that time:

#11- The Toughest Loss

For every great success story seen in the Indianapolis 500 over the years, there are multiple examples of drivers, teams and crew chiefs who found themselves on the verge of glory on Memorial Day weekend only to have it snatched away from them at the last minute. But whilst some Indycar fans will look at the misfortunes of JR Hildebrand and Paul Tracy as high-profile examples of robbed 500 wins the most heartbreaking of them all may have come from 1912, when an heroic drive from a 500 trailblazer would end in both despair and Brickyard infamy.

After it’s inaugural running in 1911 proved to be an unprecedented success, expectations for the 1912 Indianapolis 500 was high from both local fans as well as the burgeoning motoring community, and speedway officials including owner Carl Fisher attempt to capitalise on the hype in a bid to turn the burgeoning race into a national institution. Despite the success of the previous year, speedway officials made the decision to implement new regulation changes prior to that year’s event. Whilst the minimum qualifying speed of 75 miles per hour was retained, drivers would no be forced to hold on to that speed for a full lap of the circuit, in the process helping to eliminate some of the more casual entries from the field and increase the competitive level of the remainder of the field. The other major rue change saw riding mechanics become mandatory for the race, in the process outlawing any driver from repeating the solo heroics of Ray Harroun and his Marmon Wasp from the previous season. With Harroun standing by his decision to retire from the sport following his victory in the inaugural running of the race, 16 veterans from the 1911 running of the 500 returned to the Brickyard the following season, with last season’s runner up Ralph Mulford and fastest qualifier David Bruce Brown amongst the early favourites for the event.

Another driver who entered the race with high expectations however was 30 year old Ralph DePalma. Born in Biccari, Apulia, Italy, DePalma’s family emigrated to the United States in 1893, and after finding work delivering vegetables and working as a hairdresser as a youn man soon began to develop a passion for bicycle racing, competing in regional events in his native California with mixed success. At the age of twenty-two he began racing motorcycles before switching to the automobile dirt track racing circuit in 1908, where he would quickly make a name for himself by winning three successive AAA championships between 1908 and 1910. In 1911, DePalma was one of 40 drivers who competed in the inaugural running of the Indy 500, finishing on the lead lap in sixth place having led four laps, but having made a high profile switch to drive for the Mercedes car company, DePalma was upbeat about his chances of claiming victory in the 500 come Memorial Day weekend.

Known for his good sportsmanship, DePalma competed at the Indy 500 until 1925, claiming two pole positions as well as victory in 1915.

Starting the race in the fourth starting spot due to the grid being lined up in order of entry into the race, DePalma moved up to second at the start behind the #3 machine of Teddy Tetzlaff, before surpassing the FIAT driver entering the third lap and building a imposing over the rest of the field unlike any seen at the speedway before or since.  DePalma’s domination of the event is total, building up a five-and-a-half lap lead over the field with an advantage of over eleven minutes of second placed Joe Dawson. The two laps led by Tetzlaff at the start of the race had been the only time DePalma had not been in front throughout the race, and such was the level of dominance that many spectators in attendance had began to leave the speedway believing that a DePalma win was a formality.

With three laps to go before the end of the race however, DePalma’s Mercedes began misfiring and slowing on the main-stretch at the conclusion of the lap. Nursed on the 198th lap by DePalma at reduced speed, the car finally loses all power at the end of the backstretch on lap 199, as a broken connecting rod rips a hole in the crankcase. The car’s momentum allows it to carry on through the fourth turn, before coasting to a halt just at the start of the front straightaway with the finishing line within sight. Believing that he is on the final lap of the race, and with over ten minutes in hand over his fellow drivers, DePalma and riding mechanic Rupert Jeffkins then enter themselves into motor racing lore, climbing from the vehicle and begin pushing it down the five-eighths of a mile main-stretch toward the start-finish line, sparking cheers and appreciation from the near 80,000 people in attendance for the race.

Following DePalma’s misfortunes, Joe Dawson would lead the final two laps of the race to claim victory in the 500, in the process holding the record for the least laps lead by a winner of the race for almost 100 years.

As the Mercedes duo push their 1.3 tonne car slowly towards the line, Joe Dawson in the Blue and White National machine has began to eat into DePalma’s lead, finally passeing the Italain midway down the main stretch to assume the lead for the concluding two laps, with Teddy Teztlaff claiming second and Hughie Hughes coming home third. DePalma meanwhile would face double heartache as he finally made it to the finish line; despite the efforts of him and his riding mechanic, speedway rules required drivers to complete all laps of the race under their own power, rendering DePalma’s lap void and still leaving the Italian one lap short of the race distance.

With 196 laps led throughout the entire race, DePalma still to this day holds the record for the driver to have led the most laps in a 500 without going on to win the race, whilst Dawson two laps in the lead would the least for any 500 winner until Dan Wheldon surpassed that record in dramatic fashion with his last lap pass on JR Hildebrand in the 2011 500. Although DePalma would continue to remain a superstar of motor racing into the early 1920s, including claiming victory in the 1915 running of the 500, his failure to win the race in 1912 remains the moment that defined his racing career. One that best comes to demonstrate the desire, determination and resilience that go into every 500 effort up and down the field.

#13- Mario is Slowing Down

Despite the growth of sports science, data analysis, nutritional wisdom and technical know-how, the dark art of superstition still pollutes the minds of many followers of world sport, with many fans believing the failures of their chosen teams and athletes is a result of outside intervention as opposed to more logical reasoning. This belief in sporting curses has also been translated to the Indianapolis 500, and in the process helped to turn the legacy of motor racing’s first family into a 50-year tale of hard luck and misfortune.

There is very little that Mario Andretti failed achieve throughout his 30-year racing career, with victories in the Indianapolis 500, the Daytona 500 as well as a Formula One World Championship just some of the many racing highlights of a man considered by many to be one of the greatest natural talents ever to grace the sport. For all of the achievements and plaudits delivered his way however, Mario’s later career became somewhat tainted by history of misfortune when it came to the Indianapolis 500. In the 29 times in which he contested the race, Mario was only able to claim victory at the Brickyard on one occasion in 1969, and despite remaining competitive throughout the remainder of his career was unable to ever claim a second win to add to his early career triumph, whilst other Brickyard legends of the era including AJ Foyt, Rick Mears and the Unser family would go on to record multiple victories in the 500 at the expense of Andretti, and such was the level of notoriety surrounding Mario at the speedway that some local book-makers were known to take bets from fans on which lap Mario would drop out of the race.

Team Owner Andy Granatelli kisses Mario Andretti after the Italian wins his first and only Indy 500 in 1969. Many superstitious fans consider this as the moment when the Andretti Curse at Indianapolis first began.

According to most reports, the origins of the Andretti Curse at Indianapolis date back to 1969, when Mario first struck a deal with colourful team boss Andy Granatelli to drive his team’s Brawner Hawk chassis for the 1969 season. Although Andretti had failed to finish in three of his first starts at the 500, the young Italian immigrant was held in high regard by many within the Indycar paddock, after qualifying for the race in second on the grid (at the time the most common source of 500 winners) Mario quickly emerged as one of the standout contenders for victory when Memorial Day weekend finally arrived. During the race itself Mario went on to dominate, getting the jump on pole-sitter AJ Foyt at the start before cruising to victory in comfortable fashion to claim the first victory for both himself and team-owner Granatelli. During the post-race ceremonies, Granatelli broke with tradition and joined Andretti in victory lane, pulling the 28-year-old over towards him before delivering a joyous kiss onto his left cheek, and in the minds of many helping to instigate the curse that would befall the Italian driver during his next 25 attempts at the Brickyard. Another theory, put forward by veteran motor racing journalist Robin Miller, suggests that the origins of the curse actually stemmed from 1970, when Granatelli and co-owner Clint Brawner were involved in a feud over the day to day running of their operation, with Andretti choosing to side with Granatelli when the two decided to go their separate ways at the end of the season. Upset at what she saw as betrayal, Brawner’s wife Kay supposedly put a hex on Andretti and Granatelli, promising an Andretti would never win the 500 again.

In the defence of his title in 1970, Andretti finished in sixth place after suffering handling problems throughout the race, before going through an alarming run of results that would seem him complete just 17 laps in the space of four races, with an accident taking him out of the 1971 race after 11 laps before mechanical issues would bring about a premature end in both 1973 and 1974, whilst his 1972 appearance saw him run out of fuel with six laps to go whilst in contention for the race win. Such was the level of misfortune that Andretti suffered at the Brickyard, that it wouldn’t be until 1981 that Mario would next be able to complete the 500 on the lead lap, finishing eight seconds behind winner and former teammate Bobby Unser to claim second after starting the race from the back of the grid. After Unser was penalised for passing cars during a caution period however Andretti was declared as the winner of the race, even going as far as posing with the Borg Warner trophy in the traditional post-race photos and attending the post-race gala as the guest of honour following his perceived triumph. Unser and car owner Roger Penske however appealed the race stewards’ decision, and four months after being declared the winner Unser’s penalty was rescinded and forced Mario back into second place. An attempt to redeem the controversial finish in 1982 also came to nought, when Andretti was caught up in a start line crash involving Kevin Cogan, putting Andretti out of the race before the race had even begun.

One of the biggest examples of Mario’s poor luck at Indy came in 1987, where he dominated the month of May only to suffer a broken engine spring whilst leading in comfortable fashion.

By 1987 talk about the hoodoo surrounding Mario had begun to enter the mainstream, with ABC running a segment prior to that year’s running of the race over whether Mario did have a curse placed on him at the Brickyard. Ironically it would be in that race that Mari would suffer one of his biggest strokes of misfortune; after dominating both the race and the entire month of May Andretti led the race comfortably heading into the later stages, and began backing off the throttle in a bid to conserve his engine for the remainder of the race. The decreased pace however caused a harmonic imbalance in the engine, resulting in a spring failure which dropped him out of the race with just 23 laps remaining. Further mechanical issues would follow in 1988 and 1990, before his final Indy 500 would come to a premature end when he was forced out of the race following his first pit-stop of the race.

In 1984, Mario’s eldest son Michael made his debut at the speedway, and despite an encouraging start to his career in which he finished in the top six three times in five years soon began to be struck down by the misfortune that befell his father during the race. Whilst Mario’s ill-luck at the speedway stemmed from mechanical failures that put him out of the race in the early stages, Michael seldom dropped out early, and was in contention numerous times. His career being peppered with more near-misses than out-and-out failures. The most tragic of which came in 1992, when Michael had emerged as the dominant force throughout the entirety of the race, taking the lead from sixth place on the first lap on his way to leading a race-high 160 laps, only for his fuel pump to fail with just 11 laps remaining to hand the win to family rivals the Unsers for an eighth triumph. During the race, both Mario and younger son Jeff would both suffer accidents in the race, with Jeff’s injuries being so severe that it would all but curtail his Indycar career in the process. In his autobiography Andretti, Mario described the day, which saw him laid up in a hospital bed, witnessing his youngest son’s serious injury, and then woke up to hear the news that his other son Michael had lost, as the “worst day of my life.”

By 2008 Michael too had retired from driving, taking with him the dubious honour of leading more laps at the speedway then any other driver yet to win the race, and leaving Mario’s Grandson Marco as the sole family rep competing in the race. Although Marco has yet to suffer the extreme unreliability of his grandfather, his tenure at the Brickyard has been littered with a number of high profile failures, losing the race on the start finish straight to Sam Hornish Jr in 2006, and coming extremely close to missing the race entirely in 2011 after he and the entire Andretti team struggled for speed throughout the month of May. Despite this however, as of 2016 Marco has the best finishing record of all of his family when it comes to Indianapolis, and with the 100^th running of the race just around the corner there would be no more an appropriate time for Marco to put the family curse behind him and his family once and for all.

In today’s video Mario, Michael and Marco speak about their ill-luck at the Brickyard:
https://vimeo.com/126632287

#16- Lady and the Champ

As we touched on when speaking about Arie Luyendyk in our last update, the Indianapolis 500 has an ability to transform the career of a racing driver unlike any other motor sport event, with a good run on Memorial Day weekend helping turn even the most journeyman driver into a celebrated motorsport figure almost overnight. In recent years, no race has come to symbolise this better than the 2005 running of the 500, where a dramatic late-race finish and unprecedented pre-race hype helped turn two of the race’s competitors into global superstars both on and off the track.

Heading into the month of May, Dan Wheldon was a driver brimming with confidence. The Buckinghamshire native had begun his racing career at the age of 4, competing in karting events with funding from his father, developing through the junior ranks of the series where he developed a fierce rivalry with future Formula One Champion Jenson Button in the process. After a spell in Formula Ford failed due to a lack of funding, Wheldon made the decision to pursue his career in America as opposed to Europe, winning the US F2000 series in 1999 before finishing as runner up to Townsend Bell in the 2001 Indy Lights Championship. In 2002, Wheldon made his debut in the Indycar series competing in two events for Panther Racing, before being hired by Michael Andretti to drive for his upstart team during the 2003 season. Over the next two years, Wheldon quickly emerged as a potential star of the series, picking up his first win in the series at Motegi on his way to a second placed finish in the Championship, and after claiming three wins in the first four races of 2005, Wheldon approached Memorial Day weekend as one of the leading contenders for victory.

During his days in karting, Wheldon enjoyed a friendly rivalry with future F1 champion Jenson Button. Here the two pose before a Formula Ford event in 1998.

Despite his achievements however, Wheldon found himself upstaged heading into Indianapolis by a 23-year-old rookie by the name of Danica Patrick. Like Wheldon, Patrick had plied the early days of her racing career at a karting level, before moving to Europe at the age of 16 at the advice of former Indy 500 winning team owner John Mecom. It was during this spell that Patrick first burst into the public lime-light, taking second placed at the prestigious Formula Ford festival at Brands Hatch, the highest ever finish for an female driver in the race’s 30-year history. Upon returning to America citing homesickness, Patrick moved to the Toyota Atlantic Championship under the guidance of future Indycar team boss Bobby Rahal, emerging as a regular podium finisher in the series on her way to a third place finish in the 2004 championship, and doing enough to encourage Rahal to promote the Roscoe, Illinois native to his Indycar team for the 2005 season.

Although women drivers competing in the 500 was nothing new at this point, with the race having at least one female representative since 2000) Patrick marked the first time that a woman driver was seen as a legitimate threat to win the 500, and after the 23 year found herself at the top of the time-sheets throughout the month’s practice sessions media interest and hype surrounding the Rahal Letterman driver began to increase by the day. In qualifying itself however, a bobble entering turn one on her first lap forced Patrick to settle for fourth on the grid, whilst struggled during his pole day run to claim a 16^th placed starting slot, well adrift of team-mates Tony Kanaan and Dario Franchitti starting first and sixth respectively.

As of 2016, Patrick’s second place at the 2000 Formula Ford Festival remains the best finish by an American driver in the event to this day, helping bring Patrick to the interest of the racing elite both in America and overseas.

At the start of the race itself it was Kanaan that led the field going into turn one just ahead of Sam Hornish Jr and former 500 pole-sitter Scott Sharp. Patrick meanwhile slipped back to sixth at the start, and ran with the lead pack for the majority of the race’s early stages, becoming the first woman ever to lead the race on lap 56 when she stayed on track a lap longer during a series of green flag pit-stops. Wheldon meanwhile had began to slowly work his way through the field, and by the 400-mile mark had moved to the front of the pack just ahead of Vitor Meira in second place.

On lap 155 however Patrick was involved in an incident that nearly ended her race. Running in eighth place, the Rahal Letterman driver suffered a half-spin going into turn three, collecting the cars of Tomas Enge and Tomas Scheckter in the process and forcing Patrick to dive to the pits to repair the damage suffered to her Panoz machine. Although the incident dropped Patrick to the tail-end of the lead lap, it also allowed the team to move off-sequence on pit-stops compared to the rest of the field, with the team returning to the pits shortly afterwards to top off the car’s fuel tanks in the hope of making the race without the need for another pit-stop.

Patrick leads Wheldon heading into the later stages of the race. Wheldon would go on to lead 30 laps at the Brickyard with Patrick claiming 19.

With 30 laps remaining in the race, Roger Yasukawa brought out the yellow when his car blew an engine down the front stretch, forcing the lead-runners to pull into the pits for a final pitstop and allowing Patrick, along with fellow early stopper Bryan Herta, to cycle to the front of the field to the delight of the crowd. Upon the race’s restart Patrick pulled out a one second lead over Herta at the front of the field, but with concerns beginning to emerge over saving fuel for the end of the race, and causing the chasing pack, now led by Wheldon, to hunt the Rahal Letterman driver down entering the closing laps, taking the lead on lap 186 just before a Kosuke Matsuura accident brought out the race’s seventh caution.

There was however to be another twist to the tale. Heading into the final restart of the race Patrick got the jump on Wheldon coming out of turn four, taking the lead with just ten laps to go, generating an electric atmosphere unlike anything seen at the Brickyard for many years. Patrick would lead the next three laps of the race, but concerns about the level of fuel in her Panoz machine still remained prevalent, allowing Wheldon to retake the lead with seven laps to go whilst Patrick attempted to conserve fuel to make it to the end of the race. With three laps remaining, Vitor Meira and Bryan Herta both passed Patrick for second and third place remaining, before a Sebastian Bourdais accident with two laps to go brought out the race’s final caution, locking the field in place and crowning Wheldon as the winner of the race under yellow flag conditions, becoming the first British driver since Graham Hill in 1966 to win the 500. Patrick meanwhile would hold on to fourth place to claim the best ever finish for a female driver in the race’s 89-year history.

Patrick’s fourth place finish in the 2005 500 saw her gain significant mainstream attention. Something Dan Wheldon was quick to make light off in the races following Indy.

The race would go on to have a profound effect on the careers of both Patrick and Wheldon. The victory for Wheldon helped to cement his place as one of the stars of the series, picking up another two wins on his way to claiming that year’s series championship, and acting as the catalyst for a high profile move to the prestigious Chip Ganassi outfit for the 2006 season, claiming victory in the 2006 24 hours of Daytona in his first event with the team. A spell with Panther racing would follow for Wheldon in 2009, before the Bucks native claimed an historic second 500 victory in 2011 driving for Bryan Herta Autosport. Patrick’s fourth place meanwhile turned her into a global superstar, becoming one of the most marketable females in world sport and sparking a new wave of fans to sport in a phenomenon dubbed Danicamania by the motoring press. The result also helped the 23-year-old on the track, finishing 12^th in the standings on her way to winning that season’s rookie of the year honours before making history in 2008 with victory at Motegi in 2008, the first and only win for a female driver in Indycar series history. Patrick would later break her 500 record with a third place finish in 2009, before moving to NASCAR in 2012 where she remains a much discussed figure within the sport.

For today’s video we have a 20 minutes highlights package of the 2005 500, and thankfully for us no Todd Harris in sight:

#17- Breaking The Barrier

It has often been said that sports are ahead of society when it comes to hot-button issues, and nowhere has this been seen more evidently then in the way that sport has helped to break the colour barrier throughout multiple disciplines, be it Jackie Robinson’s contract to play for the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1945, through to the inclusion of Black players in the 1995 South African Rugby team following the end of Apartheid five years earlier. With a history of progressive attitudes throughout its 100-year history, it should be no surprise that the Indianapolis 500 has also played its part in breaking down the racial barrier, thanks in part to the trail-blazing heroics of Willy T. Ribbs in 1991.

Born on the 3^rd of January 1955, William Theodore Ribbs grew up in San Jose, California as one of five children in a middle-class family. His father William “Bunny” Ribbs, Sr. was a plumbing contractor and amateur sports car racer, and was friends and neighbours with Indy Car driver Joe Leonard. As a teenager, Ribbs would take his car out in the California mountains at high speeds, frequently stopped by police for reckless driving. Ribbs proceeded to enter a racing school at the age of 21. Following his graduation from high school in 1975, Ribbs moved to Europe to compete winning the Dunlop Championship in his first year of competition. In 1977, he competed in the Formula Ford Series in England, winning six races in eleven starts before returning to the United States in 1978, where he spent the next seven years competing in the Formula Atlantic series before turning his attention to Trans-Am racing in which he won five races in his debut season on his way to claiming that season’s rookie of the year honours.

Prior to Indycar, Ribbs enjoyed a sucessful spell competing in the SCCA Trans-Am series. Here Ribbs leads a chasing pack of Wally Dallenbach Jr, John Johns and Eppie Weitzes at Mosport Raceway.

In 1985, Ribbs’ made his first attempt at the Indianapolis 500 driving a year-old March for AMI racing, making him the first African American man to attempt to qualify for the 500 in the race’s 74 year history. Despite financial support from the likes of boxing promoter Don King, Ribbs’ first attempt at the Brickyard ended in controversy, when during testing for the race itself he topped out at 170 miles per hour while other rookie drivers were running laps above 200 miles per hour. Forcing Ribbs and his team to withdraw from the event following Rookie Orientation Practice. Scarred by his Brickyard failure Ribbs turned his attention to NASCAR, running three races in the #30 Red Roof Inns car owned by DiGard Motorsports, claiming a best finish of 22^nd in his debut race at North Wilksboro Raceway. Later that year, Ribbs became the first black person to drive a Formula One car, when he tested for the Bernie Ecclestone-owned Brabham team at the Estoril circuit in Portugal. In 1990, Ribbs returned to Champcar racing running a part time schedule with Raynor Motorsports, in which he claimed a career best finish of tenth at Vancouver on his way to a 26^th placed points finish. Despite the less then stellar performance in his rookie campaign, Ribbs was approached by upstart team boss Derrick Walker about driving for his team following season, and providing the California native with his first attempt at the 500 since his humbling failure to make the race in 1985.

Securing his drive for the event comparatively late, Ribbs was only able to pass his Rookie Orientation Test during the second week of practice, but found his hopes for making the race blighted by a succession of engine failures that hampered his attempts to get his Buick powered machine up to speed. By the time bump day arrived, Ribbs’ best lap up until that point was at a speed of 213.230mph, and most figures in the paddock agreed that unless a drastic improvement was seen overnight it was all but certain that Ribbs would be forced to once again view the 500 as a spectator rather than as a participant.

Ribbs’ qualifying speed of 217.358 miles an hour was the fastest that the Californian had run throughout the entire month of May, allowing him to make the field for the 500 at the expense of former 500 winner Tom Sneva.

When bump day finally arrived Ribbs found himself once again on the back-foot, a turbo charger failure had caused his car to come to a stop during that morning’s practice session, and left the team scrambling and negotiating with other teams for replacement parts in a desperate attempt to put together a qualifying effort before the 6pm deadline. With just under one hour remaining, Ribbs put his hastily assembled car in line for a last-ditch qualification attempt. With much anticipation from fans and the media, Ribbs miraculously completed the four-lap qualifying run at a speed of 217.358 mph, the fastest laps he had run all month. On his cool-down lap, an ecstatic Ribbs hoisted himself partially out of his seat, waving and cheering with both hands out of the cockpit as he pulled into the pits. Ribbs bumped former winner Tom Sneva, and was comfortably in the field in 29^th place.

Although his race would come to a premature end, with an engine misfire forcing him out of contention after just five laps, Ribbs’ heroics in simply making the race remains one of the Brickyard’s great underdog stories, as well as propelling the Californian driver into a trailblazing figure for black drivers within the motorsport community.

In today’s video Indycar historian Donald Davidson talks us through Willy’s historic qualifying attempt.

#18- The Flying Dutchman

When Indianapolis Motor Speedway was first conceived in 1909, it’s quad-oval design was specifically chosen to all for the drivers and their machines to reach their highest possible performance level across the 2.5-mile course. From that moment on, speed has remained an integral part of folklore at the Brickyard, with the aura that comes with track records and fastest laps coming close to surpassing the prestige of victory in the 500 itself, and it was during the sport’s peak of the 1990s that one man’s speed achievements during the month of May saw him earn a deserved place in 500 folklore.

Born on the 21^st of September 1953, Arie Luyendyk first came to prominence in the racing community competing in European junior formula events throughout the 1970s, winning a number of national championships in his native Netherlands before claiming victory in the European Super Vee championship in 1977. Following a failed spell competing in Formula Three, Luyendyk turned his attention to competing in America, where he repeated his European success at Super Vee level by winning the American version of the series in his first year in the states. The success of Luyendyk soon began to attract the attention of countryman Aat Groenevelt, who began to sponsor Luyendyk under the Provimi Veal banner.

With the help of Groenevelt, Luyendyk made his debut in Indycar racing in 1984, when he piloted a year old March to an encouraging eighth place finish in a one-off drive at Road America. A full season with Groenevelt followed in 1985, where Luyendyk continued to demonstrate his potential with a seventh placed finish at the Indianapolis 500, earning Luyendyk that season’s Rookie of the Year honours in the process. For the next four years however Luyendyk began to earn himself a reputation of something of a series journeyman, enduring short-lived spells with Ron Hemelgarn and Dick Simon Racing in which he was often hampered by out-dated and under-funded machinery. Despite this however the Dutchman was still able to demonstrate some signs of potential through those barren years, giving Ron Hemelgarn his best ever finish with a third placed result at Phoenix in 1987 before finishing a career best second at Portland in 1988, and leading many to believe that the Dutchman could be a regular threat if provided with the right equipment.

Prior to his 500 success, Luyendyk’s best Indycar finish had been a second place driving for Dick Simon in 1988. Here he poses with Simon’s machine ahead of the 1988 Indy 500.

Following a 1989 campaign in which he finished 10^th in points, Luyendyk was approached by team owner Doug Shierson to drive his iconic Dominoes Pizza machine for the 1990 campaign. Shierson’s outfit had previously claimed a second placed finish in the championship with Al Unser Jr. in 1985, before taking third place in the Indianapolis 500 with Raul Boesel in 1989. Armed with a new version of the all-important Chevrolet V8 engine, and with Shierson’s previous pedigree in the series, Luyendyk came into that season’s Indianapolis 500 quietly confident of an encouraging result. After showing strong pace throughout the month of May, Luyendyk placed the Dominoes machine third on the grid, and during the first half of the race remained part of a four car breakaway pack that included Bobby Rahal, Al Unser Jr and the long-time race-leading Penske of Emerson Fittipaldi.

When Fittipaldi was forced to make an unscheduled pit-stop to replace a blistered rear tyre, Luyendyk moved up into second place, and as new race leader Rahal began to struggle with handling issues Luyendyk was able to close the gap to the 1986 winner, and on lap 168 dove up the inside of the Galles Racing driver heading into turn number three. From that point on Luyendyk didn’t look back, continuing to stretch his lead over Rahal lap after lap to claim victory by over 11 seconds. The victory was the first ever of Luyendyk’s Indycar career, and at an average speed of 185 miles an hour broke the record for the fastest 500 ever completed (a record that would stand until Tony Kanaan’s victory in the 2013 edition of the event). Following his 500 triumph, Luyendyk found his life transformed both on and off the track, being named as one of People Magazine’s 50 most attractive people of 1991, and seeing the former journeyman as one of the most sought-after drivers in the series in particular when the Month of May arrived. A third placed finish for the Granatelli team in 1991 was followed securing the first Indianapolis pole position for himself and Chip Ganassi Racing on his way to a second placed finish in 1993.

In 1996, Luyendyk became the most high-profile driver to choose to compete in Tony George’s Indy Racing League, signing a deal to race for Rick Treadway’s upstart outfit for the three-race including the Indianapolis 500. With former winners Emerson Fittipaldi, Al Unser Jr and Bobby Rahal all part of the CART boycott of the event, Luyendyk earned the title of the only former winner competing in that season’s race, and from once being an overlooked journeyman in the series was soon the undoubted man to beat heading into qualifying.

After being found underweight during Pole Day, Luyendyk was forced to make the 1996 Indy 500 as a second day qualifier, qualifying 20th. His performance in the session being so strong that his average speed was 14mph faster then 19th placed Jim Guthrie.

On that Sunday, Luyendyk was the first driver to take to the track, using the circuit’s cool surface to provide him with the opportune conditions to extract the most speed from his year-old Reynard. Armed with new turbo boost regulations for that year’s race, Luyendyk produced four laps that saw him enter 500 history, setting one and four lap records with a top speed of 237.498 mph on his fourth and final lap of his qualifying attempt, a record that still stands at the speedway even to this day thanks to changes in engine regulation may likely not be beaten for a long time to come. Despite his heroics in qualifying however, Luyendyk’s effort came on the second day of practice, forcing the Dutchman to start 20^th on the grid and behind those that made it into the race on pole day. In the race itself Luyendyk quickly worked his way through the field to lead the race entering the middle-stages, only to suffer suspension damage in a collision with Eliseo Salazar exiting the pit-lane, and forcing the Dutchman to retire from the race on lap 149.

Arie Luyendyk may have struggled to make a name for himself in the early stages of his career, but through hard work and a little fortune was able to show the potential and skill many saw in him during his time in Holland, and doing it with the bravery and speed that has defined many a great champion of the 500 in years past. And as long as his four lap average remains at the Speedway he will always remain and icon when it comes to the Brickyard and the Memorial Day classic itself.

For today’s video Luyendyk speaks about his two speed records at the Brickyard: