Indy 500 memories (The Cart years)

[marcus]

Hi folks , seeing as next weekend is the Indy 500 weekend I thought I'd get some memory threads happening.

In the IRL forum I have started a thread for people to post their thoughts on their greatest memory of the 500 during the IRL years here

Feel free to pop over and have your say about your best memory from 96 onwards


But what about the glory days of Indy when Cart ran there ?

Whats your favorite year ?

were you at any of these races ?

was it danny sullivan's spin and win ?

of jacques fantastic win in 95 ?

or possible one from earlier times ?

get posting and revive old memories of a great era gone by

P.S This will not be a Cart V's IRL thread , please feel free to discuss the cart years here or the IRL years in the Indycar forum.

[William Dale Jr]

If I remember nothing else about the 500, I will always remember the opening sequences put together by ABC for their broadcasts. The ones that used the theme from Delta Force. Always a great way to start the coverage

As for the racing, the waning laps of the '91 500 were marvellous, weren't they. Youth versus experience; Michael Andretti taking on Rick Mears to try and score his first 500 win. Michael passing Rick down the outside into Turn 1 for the lead. And then Rick returning the favour a lap later...what a master he was

The '92 race I'll never forget, but they aren't happy memories (well, apart from the finish). That whole month was cursed, wasn't it. One of the most tragic 500's in history

[Amar7605]

I remember the epic battle between Little Al and Emmo. What a finish! But I felt so sad for Al, so I was happy to see him win a couple of years later, narrowly beating Scott Goodyear. As those were the days!

[JohnSSC]

Gordo Johncock winning in '82 was a terrific late-race battle. Gordo fighting a car that was deteriorating badly and holding off Rick Mears.

Foyt's 4th win in 1977 was special just because it was number 4.

Donahue in 1972 was cool because I really liked him and Bobby Rahal's win in '86 was an emotional one as his long time sponsor/mentor/friend Jim Trueman was in the last stage of his battle with cancer.

Of course, Mario winning in '69...wow! The Granatelli kiss!

[JohnSSC]

Although Jim Clark in '65 and Graham Hill in '66 may be the single biggest win (if you get my meaning) as they were the first rear-engined, small engine/lightweight chassis arrangement that won. Previously it was the front-engined cars with the Novi/Offenhauser engines that were so dominant from year-to-year. Those wins truly changed the face of The 500.

Now THERE were some races!! Pre-CART/USAC split, run whatcha brung - oh yeah!!!!

And sorry marcus - I was not sure where this one "belonged" - the Almighty help me I just got carried away thinking about good racing - probably should be in "Historic" but since this was the precursor to the cars we loved so much during the CART years I beg your indulgence.

Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa!!!

[marcus]

they certainly were historic wins John , allthough i wasnt around to see them of course but they are etched in history for all time.


Of course I must say even though ive listed the thread as "The Cart years" I didnt exclusively mean from 79 (I think thats when cart was formed) onwards , basically I guess from 1911 right through to 1995 , so your post is perfect my friend just my mistake on the idea I put across

[Jordi]

I think Jacques' two attempts were quite good... 2nd (or first in the non-Penske class in 1994) and 1st, that's pretty good!

[enemy-ace]

I think remembering CART's history is quite important. It's sad that Champ Cars are no longer at Indy, so memories are all that some of us have. Maybe one day they will be back, though to me I would rather see them at Michigan or Fontana.
Having said that I think JV's win at Indy is my greatest memory. Great comeback! Nobody saw that coming, especially Scott Goodyear's crewchief. Poor Scott, for somebody so good at that track it sure doesn't like him.

[macdaddy]

1991 and Rick Mears' fourth victory.
1992 and the epic Unser/Goodyear battle.
1994 and Penske's dominance, Emmo trying lap Al late-race and finding the wall instead.
1995 was a race decided by the officials, and of course a superb drive from Jacques.

It would seem that my memory begins fading after a decade! I've watched the races since the mid-70's, but simply can't recall much!

Was it 93 or 94 when Dennis Vitolo decided to ask Mansell for a piggyback ride out of the pitlane? That is something I'll never forget, much like Stan Fox's opening-lap wreck in 95.

[JohnSSC]

That may have been '94 macdaddy.

enemy-ace I agree with you on Scott Goodyear: he showed a lot of speed at Indy, qualified well, raced well and like Michael Andretti has no wind to show for it! He has had some terrific races there only to have something quirky happen.

I think his career would have really taken off if he could have converted one of those close finishes to a win.

[Jordi]

1994 that was, macdaddy. Remember Mansell's antics when he got out of the car...

[marcus]

1992 was a scary race , cars were flying off the track everywhere.
but an amazing finish followed , i was cheering on Goodyear but it wasnt to be.

it was just one of those races that you wished never happened really , alot of guys got badly hurt that day I guess it sticks in ones mind because of all that happened.

[Flatspot]

1977 - AJ Foyt won his fourth, Janet Guthrie was the first woman to race, and most memorable for me is that Tom Sneva was the first to qualify at over 200mph. Quite an eventful year.

It was also the first race, and the first thing, I ever taped, on my brand new "BetaMax". Now that was cool.

[Brian W Keske]

My most favored memory was Rahal winning for one very sick Jim Trueman in '85, who soon passed away following the win.

Trueman was an incredible person, racer, owner, and ambassador to the sport.

Went to many many 'pole day' qualifying rounds, and the race a couple. An amazing place I have yet to return to since the split.

[TimD]

In my living memory, I enjoyed Danny Sullivan's win the most - 1984, wasn't it? This after doing a complete 360 coming onto a straight and carrying on.

I've got footage of the Jim Clark/Graham Hill years too. Very special times those must have been.

[rustyfan]

Originally posted by TimD
In my living memory, I enjoyed Danny Sullivan's win the most - 1984, wasn't it? This after doing a complete 360 coming onto a straight and carrying on.

Sullivan's "spin & win" was actually in 1985 - Rick Mears won the 1984 race, his second of what would eventually become four Indy 500 victories.

[racer69]

What about 1987!

Mario Andretti absolutly dominates the race, then with what, 25 or so laps to go, grinds to a halt.

Roberto Guerrero inherits a comfortable 1 lap lead and comes in to make his last stop, has trouble getting away and eventually stalls. He restarts in 2nd a lap down, and drives like a mad man to get back on the lead lap, but never really any serious threat for the lead in the remaining laps.

The man inheriting the victory was Al Unser. After not even having a drive at the start of the month, replacing the injured Danny Ongais after Ongais crashed during practice, Unser won using a year old show car with a Cosworth (as opposed to Chevy which the other Penske's were using), and then nearly getting taken out at the first corner by Josele Garza.

A truely great race

[Tim Northcutt]

Of the many Indy 500s during the CART years:

1981....Johncock and Mears battling wheel to wheel in the final laps...the closest ever Indy 500 finish until...

Little Al's first win in 1992, when he edged Scott Goodyear by a nose at the one yard of bricks.....but the story line would have been even better if Goodyear would have won it....he would have been the first driver in Indy 500 history to go from 33rd on the starting grid to win it....


In 1985, I was in the 2nd Turn when Sullivan spun and caught it, then went on to win the race....incredible stuff!!!!

I also enjoyed the Mears and Andretti battle in the early 1990s in the final laps....I believe that was Rick's fourth and final Indy 500 win....

and how about Emmo and Little Al (1988 or 89???) going side by side into Turn 3 on the final lap, with neither driver backing off, and Emmo winning and Little Al hitting the wall.....

as Emmo drove by, Little Al was applauding him as he stood by the wrecked car, and said after the race that "it was just the way racing is at the Indy 500 when you have a chance to win it....he didn't back off, and I would never back off in that situation...."

all great races....

[Brian W Keske]

Then Rahal's win musta been 1986....I'm getting old

[Down F0rce]

Originally posted by Tim Northcutt
and how about Emmo and Little Al (1988 or 89???) going side by side into Turn 3 on the final lap, with neither driver backing off, and Emmo winning and Little Al hitting the wall.....

as Emmo drove by, Little Al was applauding him as he stood by the wrecked car, and said after the race that "it was just the way racing is at the Indy 500 when you have a chance to win it....he didn't back off, and I would never back off in that situation...."

That was 1989. I remember reading in a novel about the Indy 500 ("Indy", by Bob Judd) in the prolouge that the novilist had spoken to Little Al after the race, and had said what a sportsman he was after applauding Emmo. "Yeah"; he said, "It broke my heart".

[rustyfan]

Originally posted by Tim Northcutt
1981....Johncock and Mears battling wheel to wheel in the final laps...the closest ever Indy 500 finish until...

That would actually be the 1982 race you are thinking about (Bobby Unser won the 1981 race)

The commentators were going nuts when Mears started to close in right behind Johncock those last few laps. Great race that one - not so great lead-up though, with Gordon Smiley's terrible crash in qualifying.

[Tim Northcutt]

I was at both races, and for some reason, I confuse the years...

The 1981 race was one of the "memorable" ones for another reason...

They still had the "Yellow Pace Lights" at that time...and everybody would cheat on them...and they also had an ambiguous "blend rule" for cars that were returning to the track after pitting on a yellow...

Unser rejoined the field from a yellow-flag stop and had allegedly passed a number of cars illegally....

Bobby won the race, but when the "Official Results" were released, Mario Andretti was declared the winner due to the aleged violation by Unser...

The result was applealed by Penske and ultimately went to court...and won....

To this day, long-time fans are split on whether Unser's move was Illegal, as the IMS officals said it was, and that Mario should be the true winner.....or that the courts did the right thing by reversing the ruling and giving the win to Unser...the guy who they felt earned it on the track, and had meerely used an ambiguous rule to his advantage....





Unser had pitted

[JohnSSC]

Can't comment here as Bobby was my least favorite of the Unsers and of course this was Mario we are talking about!

I felt after watching the replays that IMS had made the correct decision but would be curious to see it again and see if time and a little less "personal" feelings about both drivers would leave me making the same conclusion.

[JohnSSC]

'82 was a sweet win for Gordo - I think he was way underated as a driver on ovals and he acquited himself fairly well in the road courses he ran on before retirement.

He did a fabulous job of protecting his position with a car that was pushing badly. Mears was all over him and to this day I cannot figure out how he managed to not get 'round Gordon. Great stuff though and a fitting way to end that race - Gordon Smiley was a talented guy and as they all are, a terrible loss.