May 1st always brings back a flood of Indy 500 memories for this writer. Born in raised in Kokomo, Indiana, in the 70’s and 80’s, how could I NOT become an Indycar fan. I remember hearing the roar of the motors from my grandmother’s house from the Kokomo Speedway on the north side every Sunday evening. It was destiny for me. Thank goodness for the local library because I would check out whatever racing and Indy 500 yearbooks they had in a rotation every June through April. It’s really all we had.
Where does that love come from? My grandfather worked security for the Speedway when he was in the National Guard long before the Yellow Shirts were created. My great uncle built race cars and along with driver Walt Shaver, won the 1955 championship at the Kokomo Speedway. He’s the person we blame for our love of the Indy 500. Both of my parents went to Indianapolis back in the day. My mom was present when Parnelli Jones broke the 150 mph barrier. Dad, he went to the race from 1964-1968. He was sitting on the inside of turn four in 1964 and witnessed the crash that took the lives of Dave MacDonald and Eddie Sachs. By the time I came around in the 1970’s all that need for speed was pretty much out of their system
I always knew of Indy, and knew my slightly older cousin was really into it. I remember listening to the 500 for the first time in 1981 because he had gone. The controversy surrounding that race I didn’t understand, and I don’t really remember much other than the Danny Ongais crash. When May of 1982 came around it was completely different. I had pledged allegiance as a Mario Andretti fan after the 1981 race. Not too smart of a move coming from a family of A.J. Foyt fans.
Getting news from IMS was totally different then. There was a full two weeks of practice and qualifying back then. Growing up in Kokomo you could see what had happened every evening on the local news out from the Indianpolis stations. Before ESPN got involved the only way to get news was the TV affiliate’s WRTV, WISH and WTHR. WRTV was the local ABC station so they ran an segment called Trackside 6 where they would report from the speedway every evening at 5:45. They would have interviews, show crashes or blown motors, and give you a glimpse of the last few minutes of practice every day.
WIBC also gave hourly speed reports every day. ABC never seemed to show qualifying so you would have to listen to it on the radio. Honestly nothing compares to hearing a qualifying run courtesy of Tom Carnegie. I can still hear John Totten with the play by play “He’s just above the white line going into turn three with a medium exit.”
There was a one-hour pole day wrap up show hosted by Chuck Marlowe and Gary Lee, who both worked for the IMS Radio Network, on WTTV Channel 4. They would also show a tape delayed and edited show of the pit stop contest from Carb Day. The local channels would have 30 minute specials throughout the month about drivers. The local paper had good coverage and sometimes we could get a copy of the Indianapolis Star or the Indianapolis News.
In fact, the local paper would have this neat 20-30 page insert with all of these stories and photos from Indianapolis. I have quite a bit of those still in my racing collection. The Star’s coverage was unprecedented, and it is just a shell of what it used to be. There were always race special inserts with spectacular stories and pieces from the late Robin Miller. ESPN later covered practice and time trials but only the last few hours a day. The VCR allowed me to record and wear out those copies I recorded of those Legends of the Brickyard episodes shown late at night.
Race day we relied solely on the radio. There was no television broadcast for us in the local television bubble. Every affiliate had a race wrap up show with one called “The Roar is Over”. While everyone around the country was watching the race in prime time, we didn’t have that luxury. Hoosiers waited for two weeks, and wait for the race to be shown AFTER the 10 o’clock news. Luckily, we were allowed to stay up. Of course, that all changed in 1992 when the local affiliate began showing with delayed same day coverage. It’s been that way ever since.
My first trip to the speedway was in 1984 when I went to the museum with my best friend’s family. Dad would never take us. He was over fighting the crowds and fighting traffic, so it took me awhile to get there on my own, or with family. Pole day would easily have 100.000 people in attendance. My lawn mowing jobs funded my month of May and I never got help from my parents, which I was fine with honestly.
I didn’t get to see on track action until 1986 when I saw Rick Mears set a new track record with laps over 217 mph. A broken leg kept from going to the race until 1987. We had backstretch bleacher tickets and they cost $15.00. Hey, we were there, and we’ve had tickets ever since. We’ve upgraded a few times and now sit way up high in turn two. Outside of a few years of the split, we went to Michigan in 1996, and I didn’t go back until 2001, we have been every year.
I feel fortunate to be able to witness what I was able to witness. There was a new track record every year. I’ve seen different chasses manufacturers. I heard the scream of a Cosworth, and the throaty Chevy V-6. There was a Pontiac motor one year, and you can’t forget the Buick, later Menard V-6 either. I saw the legends drive. Mario, A.J., Big Al, Gordy, Sneva and Mears. I was able to watch the careers of Michael Andretti and Al Unser Jr. come to fruition. I saw Al Unser Sr. win his fourth Indy 500. There was witnessing wins three and four for Rick Mears. The Mercedes “209” was something special to witness as well.
I’m not saying that things were better back then. It was just different. Those cars were really something. Every year there were driver injuries. It was just part of the show. It was so much better than the 50’s and 60’s when deaths were the common thing. ‘
Maybe because there was less distraction. It still has a special meaning to me it’s just a different feeling The television coverage is like none other. I always see those on social media complaining about having to pay to watch Indy 500 practice. I’d have gladly paid my parents the $5.00 a month out of my lawn mowing money back in the day to watch uninterrupted practice coverage. If I could take a trip back in time with Doc Brown in a DeLorean or in Mr. Peabody’s Wayback Machine I’d go back to Indy in the 80’s. I would love to relive those Indy 500 memories a second time. Thank the racing gods that we have YouTube and the Carl Hungness Indy 500 Yearbooks so we can relive those memories whenever we choose.
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