Indy Memories, side by side with some F1

[bo bruce]

i was asked to share my experiences of Indianapolis in the late 60's.
i've posted this at other Forums so some of you may have already read this.

altho they took place nearly 40 years ago, the sights, sounds, smells are all as fresh in my mind as though they happened last weekend. along with the joys... and the sadness.

for your reading enjoyment, i submit these 'memories' and hope you will smile, or nod your head or read wide eyed in disbelief - but in any case, let me know what you think.

i'd like to read 60's memories too!

[Wizzo]

Absolutely top stuff Bo!  and welcome to our humble site. I see our PR team have plumped up the cushions to make you feel right at home.

You have an impressive autograph collection and hopefully you will be able to add to this with one of our many competitions. If you have any questions then please feel free to contact me at anytime.

Wizzo.

[Steven Roy]

I have read those comments before on another site Bo but i can't think which one.  They are still great stories the second time around.

[Dare]

I have read those comments before on another site Bo but i can't think which one.  They are still great stories the second time around.

You saw them here Steven,Awhile back I saw
them on a Grand Prix Legends forum  and asked
Bo's permission to post them here.

[bo bruce]

i don't mind them getting posted around, they're great memories, and for the younger set that only know of them as "old time racers" when they have a tendency to become less real, or 'touchable' - my sharing hopefully adds a little light on these drivers. i only wish i had paid more attention to them at the time. like Clark... i knew i standing next to a World Champion, someone that raced in form of Racing that i had only been able to read about..but what do you say to that person? when he is besieged by hundreds (just like me) wanting a piece of him.. an autograph, when what i really wanted was to tell him i followed F1 , and knew of his successes, and that i wasn't like all the others 'just' wanting an autograph, but to be close enough to talk racing.
all the while a part of me knew he was reluctant and shy - and who the hell was i anyway? someone without a clue what it was all about 'really'...  a passing moment in the sun.

i think the other element that stands out in those experiences is the accessibility. when i went to the USGP a couple years back, i stood behind the paddock/garages just to get a glimpse of these modern drivers. no longer striving to get an autograph, just SEE them in the flesh. Alonzo, Rosberg, Barrichello... they move so fast and often in a screen of mechanics or possibly guards to keep the fan at a distance.  i was only aware of how tiny they all were.
Stand and have a chat? are you kidding?  well at least not at Indy. there you stand in line for autographs. and each driver has a set amount. so you could see Schumacher's line was the shortest. Why not go stand in that line? there were only 25 people there... because that was his LIMIT!  where Christian Klein's line was 200 deep.  then when you got to p1, there was a table between you and the driver. time to move along.

maybe population and popularity are smothering personality. Surely today's driver would love to have a chat with a random fan, same as Mike Spence did back then.

i'm not bitter. only sad for today's racing fan. Maybe its different at the European circuits? i hope so.

[cosworth151]

Great stuff, Bo. It brought back many memories. One of my favorites was Jim Hurtubise. Jim was the last driver to race a front engined roadster, named The Mallard, in the 500. Several years later, he rolled the old roadster up to the qualifying line just before the final gun on Bump Day. When the gun sounded, he removed the car's hood (bonnet, to you Brits). In place of the engine, there was a large cooler of his long-time sponsor, Miller High Life Beer!

While some of the current F1 drivers are totally unapproachable, I've found other very friendly and quite willing to stop and talk. Trulli, Kubica, Vettel, Webber, Montiero and several others come to mind.

[J.Clark]

Absolutely fantastic.
I grew up in Columbus, which you know to be 35 miles south of Indy and Speedway.
My uncle was a reporter for the Indianapolis Star and with his press pass, got me into all of those places and introduced to most of the drivers in the mid-1950s when I was about 10.  We went to the first weekend of qualifying every year and were there other times during May and of course, the race.

I had pictures of me in Roger Ward's car with him crouched down next to the car the first year he won the race.  The year escapes me now - having a senior moment I guess.

Reading your notes took me back there - Thanks.

I once had (mom tossed it when I went off to the Navy) the 1956 "Official" program, autographed by all drivers - not just the 33 who qualified, but other 15 or so who didn't make the field, some car owners and so on.

[bo bruce]

Rodger's first win was '59   

i always wonder when i read a note like yours, if somewhere down the road - after this life, we could see a record of where we went and all the people we later came in contact with, and see if we ever bumped elbows or something ~

[cosworth151]

I grew up in Columbus, which you know to be 35 miles south of Indy and Speedway.

I know it well, J.Clark. I was born on the Camp Atterbury army post just outside of Columbus, IN.

You might like sportscaster Jack Arute's book, Tales of the Indy 500. It's short stories of his personal experiences at the track going back to his youth.

[J.Clark]

I'll have to look for that book.

I guess it was '59 then. I was 14 at the time.
I met a lot of those guys, all very friendly and liked my uncle. 

[masudkarim]

Sounds like the race announcing business had it's tough side too! ..... This is
the first time I remember seeing some images on TV (just a few seconds of
Johncock ...... My earliest Indy 500 memory was the 1992 race. ...