Today we go back in time a bit when motors weren’t specified by the sanctioning body, yet one was so dominant there was nearly no competition with it for decades.
When power was king and reliability his queen, the racing countryside was ruled by the ‘house of Offenhauser’. From the mid-1930s through the 1970s, the nearly bulletproof Offy dominated the American midget and sprint car scenes and also won the Indianapolis 500 27 times; 1935, ’37, ’41, ’47-’64, ’68, ’72-76. It remains to this day the all-time leader in wins at Indy.
Its design lineage is traced back through the early 1920s in motors (and chassis) produced by Harry Miller, also famous for his wins at Indy. Miller’s cars and/or engines won 12 times in Indianapolis; 1922-’23, ’26, ’28-34, ’36, ’38, Miller’s design was based on a successful Peugeot motor design that won Indy back in 1913, ’16, and ’19. Personal bankruptcy forced Miller to sell his assets and Fred Offenhauser (Miller’s ‘understudy’) bought the rights and continued to develop the motor with the help of shop designer and draftsman Leo Goosen.
Now with the tangible bits of its racing heritage fading, I thought it would be great to hear that sound again. That wonderfully majestic rumble and deep staccato of the four (yes, just four massive) cylinders of over 1 liter in displacement EACH and double-overhead cams that frighten with noise, leaving no doubt as to the power that lies within. Ever-popular with gearheads and collectors to this day, many still exist and are refurbished to working (racing) condition from midgets to collectible race cars that parade at festivals such as Goodwood.
Here’s a video which reproduces the signature engine sound quite well, but honestly, nothing beats hearing them (and smelling them) burn methanol in person. For extra fun, put on some quality headphones, turn the volume up, and enjoy a trip back to the Kingdom of Offenhauser…
Here’s a nice bit of history I found on the interwebnettubes: an audio recording (with slide show of 60s-era cars) of the start and first laps of the 1963 race. If you must (he said begrudgingly) skip the golden voice of Tom Carnegie, Tony Hulman’s Command, and the parade laps, then go to the 6:50 moment to hear the field of 33 (26 Offys, 3 Novis, 2 Fords, 2 Chevys) coming at you in full song which certainly tell a race fan they were in the right place…
Currently the rights the Offenhauser legacy and many Offy rebuilds are held by Van Dyne Engineering in Huntington Beach, CA. A nice tribute site to the Miller-Offy legacy also exists here, with a concise racing engine history of Harry Arminius Miller here.
Anyone else care to dream about the moonlight on the Wabash tonight? I know I will.
Author: DZ-groundedeffects
Zip Line Fever
Lots of talk around the ol’ Twittersphere since the great party thrown by Indianapolis for Superbowl XLVI and especially the Superbowl Village where the Zip Line was an instant hit. Many have called for IMS to do likewise beginning with the Indy 500 season. I happen to agree 100% that this needs to happen.
During my lunch-hour today, my wheels (and mouse and Google Earth and photoshoppery) got the best of me and I threw out on Twitter some ideas (based on my experience at numerous Indy 500 weekends) of Zip Line locations that seem on surface to be quite feasible given the ‘lay of the land’.
Some traverse the garage areas, some over the fan village and Carb Day concert zone, some at the north end incorporate the New Snake Pit and Miller Lite Party Deck, and some are merely for fun. I hate to rule anything out until they can be examined anyway…
Below I offer some ideas of fun (and seemingly feasible) locations for a Zip Line at IMS:
I will go ahead and say that they’d have me 4 days in a row over Indy 500 weekend regardless of location but ESPECIALLY if the 750′ (green) option were to materialize. I’d pay my daily IMS entrance fee PLUS a reasonable Zip Line fee to shuttle into the place over 16th Street, the short chute, and end up in the Hall of Fame Parking Area. Are you kidding me?! What a memory THAT could create! While I understand that version is likely to never happen, I can’t help but wonder anyway…
What would be your Zip Line ideas?
F1 Declares 2012 ‘Year of the Platypus’
The rule changes in F1 for 2012 have created an apparent boon for the automotive plastic (carbon actually) surgeons who all appear to have learned from the same internet school of nose modification. In the name of safety, the noses must be lowered by 7.5 cm to a specified maximum height of 55cm which will help restrict the dangers of a protruding proboscis in a car-to-car incident.
So while Ecclestone continues to reshape the (over-4000 year-old) Chinese Zodiac to suit his legislative agenda, check out this lineup of F1 (ahem) “Beauties” only Bernie could love, in this, the Year of the Platypus:
Wait a tick… what do we have here?!
A non-duckbilled auto for 2012?! I give you the GroundedEffects (unrivaled) BEST Looking F1 car of the 2012 season…
Thank you McLaren for doing what seemed impossible by all other designers. If for not other reason but this, I commend you and shall be cheering for your chrome carriage this season.
Godspeed oh pretty, shiny McLaren, but beware, for the platypus is not only ugly by most standards, but also a venomous mammal that will ruin your Sunday given the chance.
Which of the above contraptions above do you see as ‘beautiful’?
A Personal Appeal from Indycar Uberfans
OK, so most everyone has seen the mighty Rubens Barrichello in the appetite-whetting video of his test in Sebring with the ever-present GoPro cameras, mobile devices, Facebookery, and Tweetering which documents all sorts of action and going-on these days.
A fair bit of radio and print news has also emerged from the trickles and gushes of information from this ‘private’ event. We’ve even seen heretofore unofficial and highly (but not really, apparently) classified performance information from various sources on site in Sebring.
We fans go ga-ga for this stuff, especially on the heels of the demi-official start of the 2012 racing season, The Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona. Our juices have been flowing already this off-season with thoughts of the potential for new juggernauts (or at least some getting-to-know-you drama from learning new equipment).
My point is (and I do have one) that we “uberfans” LOVE (bold,underline,italics) this information!
My fear is (and I do have one) that despite all the assumptions of privacy during private testing, we’re on the verge of seeing a ban on Twitter use (or other such similar outlets) by league and league-related peeps.
Dear Powers-That-Be,
Please don’t.
Sincerely,
FansWhoRespectAndEnjoyTheseRaysOfIndycarSunshineDuringTheOffseason
Man Do I Ever Miss This Guy…
Seems funny to say it out loud since in some ways he was but a blip in the statistics of Indianapolis 500 Mile Sweepstakes compared to the legends whose tales we so frequently regale.
A racer who never really threatened to win at Indy, and so much so that he was the subject of a spoof song by radio personalities Bob and Tom back in 1987. The female singer laments drawing his name (or ‘pulling Dick’ per the lyric) in the Indy 500 office pool every year.
When I look back, however, I have to consider him very underrated both as a driver and car owner. Written in 1994, this article by Jim Murray reminds us of how it used to be and also how time has a way of allowing us to forget some of the more “un-Penske-like” everyman racers who appeared each year on the grounds of IMS.
Often driving in ‘second-tier’ equipment, he showed up every year to contest Indy, largely because he loved it so and because, in his words, “It is the most visible championship in all of sport”. ‘Effervescent’ and ‘never-say-die’ are words that seem associated with him frequently, his annual also-ran status notwithstanding. Such is the passion that so many who have wrenched, raced, or even just watched experience but perhaps none so much as an owner than Dick Simon who, in 1994, had a record SIX cars in the race. His top qualifier Raul Boesel finished fourth under two questionable stop-and-go penalties that kept him from winning.
A favored interview as a car owner because of his passion for Indy, perhaps none captured better than by Gary Gerould on Pit Road in 1993 moments after the the traditional build-up and command had been given and the cars begin to pull away…
Some minor internet research would indicate you signed the 100th anniversary Marmon Wasp Dallara last summer and your thoughts are still with Indy now and again.
Cheers to you and yours Mr. Dick Simon, racer. I hope to see you again one day in May, making your way around IMS somewhere if only to shake your hand and say ‘thank you’ for reminding us all how special it is ‘just’ to be at Indy.
Racing/Automotive Graphic Embellishments (RAGEs) for your Entertainment, provided without comment, week ending Jan. 7, 2012
Looking ahead to 2012…
It’s that time of year my professional line of work (construction) tends to wind down a bit due to weather and, as the snowflakes fall, I want to recall a warmer, more enjoyable time of the year… Late-May.
Looking to Mays both past and ahead, just 168 days remain to departure for the 2012 Indy 500 trip. I begin to think about details and planning and improvements to the previous trip which leads to that monumental answer to the annual question that I cannot pose soon enough…
WHO IS THE CARB DAY BAND?!
Monumental stuff to be sure as I have a fair group of people who are able only to come down for Carb Day and overnight, not the whole of the weekend.
Plans must be made. Budgets combed through. Proper food and accommodation must be arranged. I take my trip and my hospitality VERY seriously. I also realize the band is very likely not selected at this point, so if the decision-makers are in the house, I’d like to offer my annual suggestions for Carb Day band selection, in no particular order…
On the heels of what was, in my opinion, a (maybe shouldn’t be, yet very surprisingly) great show by ZZ Top in 2010, my standard is found in a veteran touring band with musical chops, extensive catalog and popularity, and ability to easily rock the 19-49 year-old demographic equally.
I submit for your consideration three HUGELY popular bands currently available in mid-2012:
1. Red Hot Chili Peppers
2. Pearl Jam
3. ABBA
OK, so the third option was facetious but the point could be made that ABBA is equally attractive as your crapcore bands such as Papa Roach or other infamous representative markers of a genre, depending on the audience you are attempting to attract. A broad appeal is always better if sheer volume of traffic is your goal, HOWEVER…I would like to propose an idea which isn’t totally original yet would seem to be a great way to appeal to a more broad spectrum – adopt a single-day/festival approach.
Instead of a single headline Carb Day band with smaller bands during the Month of May schedule, (of which most have a minor audience), bring that variety of bands (much as you have already) but allow them all to play on Carb Day. Two separate stage areas – one larger stage as we have today, and a smaller one down near the Turn 3-4 area. Have each of 4 to 6 bands play 60-75 maximum minutes with the two stages going concurrently.
Two bands on the larger Miller Lite Stage is really no different than what exists today, with more popular (read: current) bands, one skewing to the younger set and one to the older demographics. On the smaller stage, incorporate other popular styles such as Jam Bands or other bands representative of different eras (read: Big Bad Voodoo Daddy as swing, etc.). IMS is certainly large enough to house two stages in this manner and the result is very likely a win-win as I see it.
The Indianapolis Motor Speedway has a rich and extensive history. To honor the many traditions and eras as possible on Carb Day would seem to make it a richer experience for more attendees, and also could very well be more lucrative for IMS by charging the paltry sum of $40-50 (or double what was charged in 2011 and 4 times the 2009 rate) for an ‘all-you-care-to-experience’ of Carb Day in the future.
Indycar Slang Dictionary
As it has quite possibly been well overdue to become reality, (and since some insist that silly season isn’t really in full-swing yet) we here at the Ground(ed) Effects blog hereby provide an open space for Indycar fans to participate in (what I believe to be) the first ever Indycar Slang Dictionary.
Your valuable assistance will help reduce the painful embarrassment thousands of newer or lesser informed Indycar fans may be forced to endure every day around their workplace, home, forums, or Twitter accounts, by not having the best slang or popular reference associated with the sport of Indycar. Please help us all keep abreast of the current and past lingo associated with the wildly popular Indycar Series by submitting today.
Please submit (either via email to groundedeffects@gmail.com or simply as a comment below) your Indycar slang words with part of speech, definition, and an example of how the word is used. While this space is meant to be fun and not an official product of Indycar, IMS, or Hulman & Co. branding in anyway, we also do not aim to violate any copyright laws, so…
NOTE: If your word is an unregistered trademark, unlicensed service mark, or registered trademark, please do not submit. If you want are unsure of the origin is trademarked, please refer to The US Patent and Trademark Office registry or if the owners of such items wish to submit for reference, we will accept them here.
Again, we are searching primarily only for slang or popular references. If you only have only a word of reference, we will attempt to complete the definition as best we can. Further, we will attempt to continue to compile ad infinitum for posterity (or at least until people quit submitting/ceases to be fun).
Some early submissions include:
Visoed
King Hiro
chrome horn
Conweezy
jawn
TGBB
crapwagon
Offy
Cossie
Princess Sparkle Pony
lump
Milka
Please feel free to throw words here for submission. I’ll review them and contact you with any questions. Many thanks for you assistance!
A family I never knew I had.
It’s been a little less than a week since the tragedy of the Wheldon accident and I’ve been a bit surprised about a few things and the following thoughts have become apparent.
The Unexpected Grief: I don’t know the Wheldons personally in anyway, yet felt much more grief and loss than I may have expected if and when the day came that an Indycar driver died while racing. Just by using the word ‘if’ in the previous statement makes me realize what a false sense of security had existed when it comes to Indycar racing. I’ve seen too many very ugly, flipping, twisting Indycar wrecks, only to have the vast majority of drivers escape with relatively minor-to-moderate injury and certainly life not threatened.
The Lack of Editorial Decorum: By both mainstream media and by other newer forms, much of what was thrown out by a relatively uninformed majority of media that reported on this event was largely wasteful (reporting of others reporting), harmful (endless replays of the crash footage), and opinion-based drivel. I will not link to the specific evidence here, suffice to say that NBC, CNN, Wall Street Journal, ABC’s ‘The View’, and GOOD magazine/blog, were all ignoring their significant lack of knowledge and leveraging the tragedy for little more than their own sensationalist gain. The reprehensible nature of this ‘death porn’ coverage shows zero respect for those most affected and the responsibility lies with those persons and their editors/producers who choose how and what the story is to fit their own narrow agenda. So far from quality journalistic reportage this was that my distaste for those certain media outlets is greater than ever before. In the wake of this putrid and trashy coverage, I would be seriously remiss if I didn’t mention that genuine and respectful reportage was done by some who chose to report the facts as they came, and not sensationalize the event. ABC/ESPN’s live race coverage was immediately and appropriately highly concerned and their follow-up reporting was proper by all accounts of those who follow this sport. ‘Beat’ writers such as Nate Ryan of USA Today, Marshall Pruett of SpeedTV, Ryan McGee of ESPN, and Jenna Fryer for AP all contributed in appropriate manners and their approaches are to be commended, but again, they are familiar with this sport whereas the poorest of coverage comes from outlets who have admittedly no knowledge of the sport, yet feel compelled to spew forth with sweeping opinion and scornful declarations which do nothing but more damage.
The Social Media Family: Twitter and, to a lesser degree, Facebook have enabled a tighter Indycar community through rapid and voluminous communication. In the case of this tragedy, events can be openly discussed and the goodness of human nature was made evident with tremendous immediacy. So much outpouring of help and goodness toward the Wheldon family as a result of this tightness reminds us all of how a community (despite the lack of geographical bounds) is to respond in troubled times. In some ways, I believe we all have a basal need for community and now more than ever there are multiple avenues to achieve it. This, in my view, is a good thing and just being in ‘conversation’ via Twitter, blogs, Facebook and the like have allowed us all to better handle the grieving process we feel as the dedicated followers of this sport.
That last item has been especially helpful in the wake of Wheldon’s death as it is a surprising and newer dynamic to me. Very much in line with most familial dynamics, we can fight and bicker among ourselves, yet when an ‘outsider’ attacks our kindred, we are quick to band together against the ‘invader’ as was seen with our replies to the ill-informed opinions which called for many things to ‘correct’ the wrongs of our sport. I grew up in a very small family. Two parents and me. Many cousins, mostly distant whose sharing of live essentially only came at annual holiday gatherings or major family events.
So it with some surprise I found a deeper appreciation for this Indycar ‘family’ which, by one view, is made up of little more than strangers who are bound by enthusiastic common interest and adept electronic communication. What I’ve found though, behind the facades of blogs and Twitter accounts and Facebook groups and Flickr albums, are people.
People who are generous, funny, kind, sad, concerned, happy, involved, angry, creative, old, young, wise, naive… people.
I’m glad to get to know you all (in varying degrees) and appreciate all of our interactions. I hope we help each other more than we know. I aim to do my part to continue making this Indycar family a positive place for years to come.
Am I not a fan anymore?
edit: As of October 27, 2011 the title of this post was changed from statement; ‘I’m Not a Fan Anymore’ to question; ‘Am I Not a Fan Anymore?’. I felt the need to amend this title to better reflect the intent of the article rather than imbue a tone for the reader.
Dan Wheldon’s violent end was an unwelcome punch that caught me already reeling from other jarring events recently which only gives me further pause to wonder just what in this world is of true value.
As an ardent follower of Indycar, I of course feel grief for Dan’s death, his family, children, and wife he leaves behind, but in my case, it comes on the heels of other head-shaking and tragic events.
Some nine days ago, in my relatively benign little piece of Indiana, another violent end of life came in the form of an inexplicable home invasion of a well-loved, local college professor in which the (still at-large) attacker critically wounded the wife and mother of three, then turned his attention to the husband who had come to fend off the attacker. In a scant matter of moments, the lives of the survivors violently altered and the life of the husband and father brutally taken from him by circumstances beyond their control.
I feel that in many ways Wheldon’s death was similar in that circumstances conspired ruthlessly and tragically to deal a swift, unexpected, and horrible end to a life, and yet different in that I feel a level of responsibility for Dan’s death that I couldn’t possibly for a random murder.
On Sunday morning, I was a fan of Indycar. A fan of the speed, thrills, color, legend, pageantry, and excitement that one could only get from this form of auto racing. I supported it with my dollars, energy, and enthusiasm. On Sunday evening, I have decided to not be a fan of this anymore. By my assessment, there is simply no need significant enough to justify the cost of life and limb.
I assign no blame to any specific person, place, or thing for Sunday’s events, mind you, I simply choose to not revel in sports such as these any longer. I am saddened for the crews, drivers, fans, and many others who have given their lives for this sport. As a husband and father, I am especially saddened that the hole left by Dan’s death is irreparable for his wife and two young children left behind.
It all became very clear to me when my 7-year old son last night (while tucking him into bed) asked if Dan Wheldon had children. “Yes”, I said, “two boys, a 3 year-old and a 7 month-old”. My son’s reply was all too lucid, …”and they will never know their father”. It was all I could do to not cry then and simply hug and kiss my boy. I said a silent prayer that he never has to deal with that sort of loss.
I don’t consider my decision to be any sort of vindictive or misplaced assignment of blame, and it’s not just Indycar I am forced to consider. Any form of commercialized ‘sport’ where maiming and killing occurs under the guise of entertainment, applies. Most sports actively work toward preventing incidents such as these, however, there is a constant and violent undercurrent that remains and I question the commercialization of these sorts of activities. It sickens me that the reason some ‘sports’ exist today is built solely on the attraction of their brutal and sometimes horrific nature.
While I can understand (and have experienced) that incredible attraction and exhilaration of seeing death-defying feats, I have no more love for it.
I elevate my love for life and will treat it with even more respect and dignity.
I fully expect the sport to go much as planned in 2012, but I for one won’t be celebrating it they way I have before. I simply can’t.
Ground(ed) Effects 