Indy 500 Weekend

[Siseneg]

I usually (well, pretty consistently ... well, almost always ... well .. religiously) watch the Indy 500 if I can't actually go there. Born and raised in Indy, the race was an annual family event and I've been to maybe 30 or so races. Today I was watching some of the 'race week' activities (today is traditionally called "carb day" because it's the last chance to dial in the engines. They had the pit stop challenge (a short drag race to the pits, four tires and simulated fueling and short drag race out: a pretty intense 13 seconds) and they ran the Firestone Indy Lights 100. These aren't the cars going to run Sunday, but nonetheless it was an amazing show ... especially the last 3 minutes!

2013 Firestone Indy Lights Close Finish! Freedom 100 4 Wide Finish

 

[tubebender]

When I was a young my Dad would take me to watch the 500; at the time it was shown in theaters.
Years later he took me to the California 500 at Ontario. I thought it was really boring.

Little did I imagine that later on in life I would actually participate in the Greatest Spectacle, which I did as a mechanic on 2 different teams from '93 to '95.

This was at the height of the CART days and I have to say, the first pit stop of my first Indy was one of the most intense 30 seconds of my life. As you wait for the car to stop in the stall, you look up and realize that thousands of people lining both sides of the front straight would see if you screwed up. Talk about being under some pressure!

I'll be watching this weekend and paying special attention to Connor Daly 'cause back when I first met him, he was just a baby!

 

[Dallara]

When I was a young my Dad would take me to watch the 500; at the time it was shown in theaters.
Years later he took me to the California 500 at Ontario. I thought it was really boring.

Little did I imagine that later on in life I would actually participate in the Greatest Spectacle, which I did as a mechanic on 2 different teams from '93 to '95.

This was at the height of the CART days and I have to say, the first pit stop of my first Indy was one of the most intense 30 seconds of my life. As you wait for the car to stop in the stall, you look up and realize that thousands of people lining both sides of the front straight would see if you screwed up. Talk about being under some pressure!

I'll be watching this weekend and paying special attention to Connor Daly 'cause back when I first met him, he was just a baby!

Ah, yes... As you and I have discussed before, Carl, we have many of the same feelings and experiences about the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

My Dad took me to my first Indy 500 in 1964, and we continued to go for years after that. The early years when we couldn't go in person, like you, we went to a local theater to watch on "closed circuit" telecast. And once more paralleling your experience I never imagined I would participate in the Indy 500, but then in 1993, there I was, standing on the grid looking up into the stands. I think that was the first moment I really and truly believed I was actually *there*... When they were playing the National Anthem, and suddenly there were tears in my eyes. That's when the whirlwind of all the long hours and hard work suddenly cemented into reality, and I realized it really wasn't a dream.

And we continued to have a car on the grid there, in the 500, right through the year 2000.

So many memories... Our first pit stop. Seeing our car number at the top of that pylon for the first time. "Calling" my first race there. The good finishes, as well as the "bad"... And all of them, as well as many more, some of the greater highlights of my life.

So many wonderful people, too, and I still get goosebumps any time I drive through the Turn 3-4 tunnel into the place.

Dallara



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[Siseneg]

Went to the 100th Anniversary, and will go back for the 100th running. Such a privilege to even be a spectator. My wife had never been to anything like it when we went 2 years ago, and while she's not a racing fan, or even much of a fan of loud noises and crowds, it still caught her up. The pageantry and pomp and circumstances so deeply entrenched in tradition is impossible to match.

I was there in '64 as well, 3rd row back from the wall within feet of the Sachs-McDonald impact point. Just a kid, I can still hear, feel, and smell those moments and it stands as one my top-ten life moments. Later, I "extra'd" in the part of the film "Winning" shot at the track (got a few cool autographs that week

Indy's been a part of my life since as far back a I can remember.

http://indymotorspeedway.com/500d-64.htm

Eddie Sachs and Dave Mcdonald Fatal crash at Indy '64

 

[Dallara]

Went to the 100th Anniversary, and will go back for the 100th running. Such a privilege to even be a spectator. My wife had never been to anything like it when we went 2 years ago, and while she's not a racing fan, or even much of a fan of loud noises and crowds, it still caught her up. The pageantry and pomp and circumstances so deeply entrenched in tradition is impossible to match.

I was there in '64 as well, 3rd row back from the wall within feet of the Sachs-McDonald impact point. Just a kid, I can still hear, feel, and smell those moments and it stands as one my top-ten life moments. Later, I "extra'd" in the part of the film "Winning" shot at the track (got a few cool autographs that week

Indy's been a part of my life since as far back a I can remember.

http://indymotorspeedway.com/500d-64.htm

Eddie Sachs and Dave Mcdonald Fatal crash at Indy '64

Like you I remember all too well the Sachs-McDonald crash... with Dave McDonald driving one of Mickey Thompson's "Funny Cars" and Eddie Sachs in a conventional Watson Roadster. We were sitting just outside of turn 4 and I can still remember it all like yesterday. The noise, the fireball, and the smell of all the burning. We weren't sitting nearly that close, having seats further up in the grandstands, but even up there, and at my young age, I knew something very bad had happened. It turned out it was the very first time in my life I had actually seen any sort of fatality.

Unfortunately it wouldn't be the last I saw at the Speedway...

Dallara



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[Dallara]

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Congratulations, Tony Kanaan!!! ::012::

Now there's a guy who deserves the win! ::008::

Great job to Tony, Jimmy, and especially Dave, along with the rest of the whole team!!! ::003::


Dallara



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