YOUR FAVORITE INDY 500

Folks-
In your opinion, what was the greatest Indy 500 ever? I can accept if you gotta list more than one, since I must.
1987-Mario dominates, Guerrero burns the clutch, and Al Sr. takes a show car to the win.
1992-Cold tires lead to lots of parts scattering, and Al Jr. barely outruns Scott Goodyear.

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Permalink Reply by Pete Banchoff on September 20, 2009 at 11:58pm

I can't recall the year, but the 500 when Gordy gave Rick Mears the driving lesson of his life. Rick was a much better driver after that. Another one was 1967 when the Wooshmobile ran away and hid from the field but the race was won by AJ coming through a wreck on the frontstretch.
Pete

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Permalink Reply by Bill Hupp on September 21, 2009 at 7:11am

Pete Banchoff said:

I can't recall the year, but the 500 when Gordy gave Rick Mears the driving lesson of his life. Rick was a much better driver after that. Another one was 1967 when the Wooshmobile ran away and hid from the field but the race was won by AJ coming through a wreck on the frontstretch.
Pete

Ah Pete, old men and their memory eh? The year you want is 1982, which also featured the incident at the start between Cogan, Foyt, and Mario.

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Permalink Reply by Pete Banchoff on September 28, 2009 at 10:07pm

Yeah Bill, the memory kinda comes and goes. I can usually remember an image, but a date, Forget it!!!
Your buddy,
Pete

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Permalink Reply by Perry Allen Wood on September 29, 2009 at 7:33pm

1977 - A. J. Foyt wins his fourth 500 when Gordy Johncock breaks down with victory in sight. It was also the last 500 for Tony Hulman.

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Permalink Reply by Bill Hupp on September 30, 2009 at 5:31am

And also the year Janet Guthrie shattered the gender barrier. Good pick Perry!

Perry Allen Wood said:

1977 - A. J. Foyt wins his fourth 500 when Gordy Johncock breaks down with victory in sight. It was also the last 500 for Tony Hulman.

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Permalink Reply by Pete Banchoff on October 1, 2009 at 9:55am

Bill, I know the 1965 race wasn't earth shattering by any means, but I was fortunate to be in the stands. Jimmy Clark led 190 laps and no one was even close from what I saw. His car was crewed by the Wood Bros. with their lightning pit stops. It was the first car to win that was rear engined. It was my one and only trip to the race.
Pete

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Permalink Reply by Bill Hupp on October 1, 2009 at 8:30pm

I have to say 1965 was indeed earth-shattering, Not only for the historical significance, but for the crop of rookies that year, including Mario Andretti, Al Unser, George Snider, Gordon Johncock, Jerry Grant, and Joe Leonard.
You were fortunate to witness a truly pivotal moment in Indycar history.

Pete Banchoff said:

Bill, I know the 1965 race wasn't earth shattering by any means, but I was fortunate to be in the stands. Jimmy Clark led 190 laps and no one was even close from what I saw. His car was crewed by the Wood Bros. with their lightning pit stops. It was the first car to win that was rear engined. It was my one and only trip to the race.
Pete

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Permalink Reply by Bill Hupp on October 2, 2009 at 7:50pm

You know the more I think about it, the 1965 rendition had to be the most history changing of all. Think about it. Now that rear-engine was the way to go, sprints were no longer the way to go, due to differences in driving style. A closer skill set was, guess what, road racing. Therefore, since road racers now made better Indycar candidates, eventually it created a European and South American influx, since that is where most of the great road racers come from (no disrespect to IMSA or the SCCA).
So now instead of Foyt, Rutherford, and Unser, it's Castroneves, Kanaan, Wheldon, Dixon, all with those "funny accents". Some bitch about so few Americans in an American series, but as soon as Clark, and Colin Chapman, changed Indycar design, the future was set in stone.
It might have been similar if NASCAR had morphed into an American touring car series. Bring in what the Europeans are used to, you'll attract Europeans.