Tag: Indy 500

The Greatest 33

Being a product of my heritage (analytical Germanic-type), my time (1967-current), my geographical upbringing (Indiana), and my primary hobby (sports appreciation), my Greatest 33 drivers at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway is better than yours.


OK, I don’t really believe the previous statement and a subjective list such as IMS has created will certainly stimulate arguments and debates on not only the list itself but how the participant’s list was assembled. By no means is there a perfect system but I would contend that to not primarily rely on statistics allows for a fairly significant bias against drivers in the first half of IMS’s century of racing who most of us never saw (i.e. pre-1960). 

As is typical with me, I employed some simple statistics to assist in selecting and ranking from hundreds of drivers. Cool, unemotional, unsympathetic numbers will tell a vast majority of what I needed to know and after a bit of deliberation, I settled on a formula which weighed wins, laps lead, number of poles, number of races, and top-5 finishes, to varying degrees. 

For me this eliminated a great deal of debate about drivers who were in the top 25-28.  The remaining 5-8 spots would require some subjectivity as there were many drivers with 1 win and some drivers with no wins who fell in very close proximity via the statistics. In an homage to the Indy Press Corps’ Last Row Club, the final row of 3 was reserved for the 3 greatest drivers to never have won. All other inclusions had at least one win to their credit.

Without further ado, I submit my Greatest 33 to have raced at the Indianapolis 500:
1-Al Unser   2-AJ Foyt Jr.   3-Rick Mears
4-Wilbur Shaw   5-Bobby Unser   6-Johnny Rutherford
7-Mauri Rose   8-Louis Meyer   9-Mario Andretti
10-Gordon Johncock   11-Helio Castroneves   12-Emerson Fittipaldi
13-Bill Vukovich   14-Rodger Ward   15-Arie Luyendyk
16-Al Unser Jr.   17-Ralph DePalma   18-Parnelli Jones
19-Tommy Milton   20-Tom Sneva   21-Dario Franchitti
22-Jim Clark   23-Dan Wheldon   24-Jim Rathmann
25-Bill Holland   26-Billy Arnold   27-Bobby Rahal
28-Scott Dixon   29-Jimmy Bryan   30-Jimmy Murphy
31-Michael Andretti   32-Rex Mays   33-Ted Horn

The group of tightly-scored drivers who just missed making the list were: Danny Sullivan, Buddy Lazier, Eddie Cheever Jr., Sam Hanks, Peter DePaulo, Mark Donohue, Bill Cummings, Pat Flaherty, Troy Ruttman, and Howdy Wilcox.

Of course I don’t really think my list is better than anyone else’s, however I will say that a fair bit of thought and bias-reducing consideration went into the making of the formula which produced a majority of my list. 

I would love to hear what you see as major misses or unsavory inclusions that populate my list…

Favorite Cars of Indy part IV

As is typical in the spring, my business responsibilities took me to Indianapolis this past week and I again made time to hit the IMS Museum and Gift Shop. Also took the bus tour for the first time.  


The museum was in the process of setting up the new 100th Anniversary Race display of only winning Indycars which includes 67 chassis from (and including) the first race in 1911. Amazing memories came back from races I’ve attended or merely watched on TV.  I also got the chance to see up close several cars I hadn’t prior. Some truly legendary machines there and it got me thinking about my favorites.  Today’s favorite is not necessarily known for it’s dominating performance or unique engineering as much as how it became legendary…



The display wasn’t complete when I visited so to see the complete display, I’ll be visiting again in May when I return for race weekend or during a practice day. 


If you are in the Indianapolis area sometime in the next 3 months, I highly suggest a trip through the museum, the bus tour, and catch the 25-minute movie in the museum as well.  Total admissions will set you back $10 for an immense amount of American automotive racing history that won’t be all together like this possibly ever again.

The Curious Case of Sam Hornish

Much ado will probably be made over the next several days and weeks regarding one Mr. Sam Hornish, Jr. and his future in racing.  Much more will likely be made again about a return to Indycars and specifically, the Indy 500.


I’m not going to pretend that just because we’re both from the humble, rural midwest that this writer has any particular insight into his current state of mind, BUT, honestly, it’s almost as if Sam needs the advice of a trusted friend who might suppose he just didn’t need a break from it all. 


Playing third-string on a team can be taxing, especially when you consider he’s been the first-string all-star on the upward trajectory for a vast majority of his career.  First-string until he stepped into a stock car that is. A new challenge is precisely what he got when he traded wings for fenders, but I’m guessing being support for, first one, then two, other drivers was not the dream job he was looking for. 


Understanding that ‘taking a year off’ in sports most often leads to the severe decline in career opportunities (and performance), the reluctance to step back from it for a second is without question. Yet in review of his career path, one has to wonder if a year of doing something different (ALMS, Grand-Am, Rally cars, Sprinters) or whatever, just for the fun of it, might not be a panacea for his driving malaise. 


Again, this is pure speculation by a rank amateur whose only credentials in driving are a current and valid Indiana drivers license and has driven the wonderful Indy Racing Experience car for 4 laps at the hallowed IMS.  Still, one wonders if this is less a racing issue and more an issue ‘between the ears’. Most true fans would certainly only hope he does what’s best for him and that it helps his journey in racing for the long-term.  

Bringing Back the Mystique (rambling alert)


I sense the mystique and allure of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway (and progeny racing form) is all but gone – victim of the erosion of time.

I associate the Speedway’s allure and mystique with its relative greatness; a greatness which, at its best provided generations with a powerful symbol of optimism and confidence, at its worst reminded us of our own mortality, but always seemed to give an accurate sense of place and time. I think it valuable to maintain this asset and believe it is possible to retrieve and reintroduce it to the many people who’ve yet to fully experience it which brings me to the genesis of this post – answering the question of ‘how to best communicate the experience of the Speedway’. In my thinking, the answer to the question could serve to be a catalyst for gaining followers and fans for the Speedway and thereby, the Indycar Series.

This whole thought process began while watching a video interview on YouTube of one of my favorite skiers, Glen Plake, talking about the original ski documentaries communicating the experience of skiing to those who’ve never been, revealing to me a similarity in how the visceral experience of the Speedway and Indycars can be. I’ve always had a difficult time putting in words what the experience is like other that to always end by saying, “you just have to be there in person”.  My thought became focused on how an extremely well-done documentary film on the Speedway and the early racing forms which inhabited it would serve well the current Speedway and also to a lesser degree, Indycar racing (anyone have Ken Burns’ phone number and how has he not already done one on the Speedway?).

The feeling I have can maybe (perhaps too dramatically) be best described as reminiscent of the Terrence Mann speech from Field of Dreams. A summary history of my experiences related to the Speedway (which exist in the origins of this blog), and of the vast Speedway lineage serve to support this feeling, but not explain it. I’ve enjoyed every single trip I’ve ever made to the Speedway and arriving at its open gates reminds me of those previous trips. Open gates… racing’s Valhalla is open to the public from 8-5 most every day of the year, so it seems nearly inexplicable that the place isn’t teeming with all sorts of racing pilgrims.

Giving the public who have never been, a genuine and visceral experience of being there could make them want to experience in person and possibly again and again.

Or perhaps, one can argue the relatively decreased mystique and allure of Indycars and the Speedway is just another accurate reflection of the times – one with little regard for the appreciation of history and experience versus one with more regard for the ‘I, me, my, now’ world of finger-snap solutions and immediate gratification.

I’m afraid the latter is more true and that trend seems to often continue at the expense of many great things which already exist.

(Not) Too Much Time on My Hands

As I am currently scurrying about finding this and packing that, I leave a brief post following my qualie predictions and a ‘sayonara‘ until after the race. 
One bit of perfection. One perfect pick out of 33 plus. If you read my previous post you’ll find I had Alex Lloyd pegged into the 26th spot. Nailed it.
The rest of the field? Ahhhh… not so much.  Missed the pole sitter, missed 4 of the First 9, had 3 missing the field that actually made it, had 3 making the field that missed, and ended with 32 drivers in the wrong position. Stellar.
Regarding the trip, all seems to be going to plan and the weather has changed dramatically since a week ago.  The sultry 80s have returned to Indiana with high humidity, bringing with it the increased chance for pop-up thunderstorms. Still, the preliminary forecasts show mostly sunny all weekend long and moderate cooling in the evenings. Very temperate, very excellent for the campers, very excellent for me.
I wish you all a great Memorial Day weekend and hope you’ll be near a TV, Radio, or XM Radio to catch all the happenings of the Greatest Spectacle in Racing, live. 
One of my favorite parts of the run-up to the Green Flag is the Invocation which requests that God watch over the drivers, the mechanics and the crews (in several languages). So, in the words of Archbishop Daniel Buechlein (fractured and spelled as phoentically as I could decipher froma n audio file) I bid you… “Calebundu ba abec du, mega gote siebe gleiten, ku me ten, vayee con dioose, kamigo noga kigoka aryu mat so gan, dio de guida, vaya con dios, godspeed.”

PS  I will stand by a prediction made prior to qualifying despite his not starting from where I thought. My prediction for the win (aka kiss of death for the victory) goes to Mr. Graham Rahal, from the inside of Row 3, not Row 4 as I had earlier predicted.
Godspeed indeed,
DZ

I’m better than ESPN

I’m better than ESPN.

I’m better than ESPN or ABC or Speed or any other mainstream media outlet because I’m willing to stick my neck out and make grand predictions regarding qualifications for the 2010 Indianapolis 500 with nothing to gain and everything to lose regarding my intelligence and credibility. In the odd case that I get that one thing in eleven correct, I will tout my brilliant soothsaying but I will also temper it with the cold, hard, facts of my percentage.

At any rate, here’s my analysis of the top 25 of 38 current qualifiers IN ORDER and BEFORE it all goes down.  Remember, you heard it here first: 

Top Shelf (9):

The Pole (AKA Master of the Obvious selection) – Penske car, I’ll go with…  Briscoe.

The Top 9 – Briscoe, Dixon, Castroneves, Franchitti, Kanaan, M. Andretti, Power, Wheldon, Moraes.

Mid-table Obscurity (16):

Rahal, Matos, Tracy, J. Andretti, Wilson, Scheckter, Mutoh, Patrick, Carpenter, Bell, Hunter-Reay, Fisher, Hamilton, Conway, Meira, Viso.

And here is where it becomes interesting…
Perhaps the tension of who will not make the show is more compelling than who wins the pole, but simple math will tell you that with the current 38 entries, 5 will be bumped.

I have grouped 13 entries that fall below the ‘level of comfort’ in terms of recent experience, skill, equipment, Karma, or whathaveyou, placing them in jeopardy come next Sunday, ranked in order of most likely to least likely to be bumped. 

Danger Drives (5):

1.  98/98T unknown – CURB/Agajanian/3G – A wily veteran will drop in on the second day to surprise a few folks and sneak into the field? Only if it’s Rick Mears. Nahhh, nevermind.
2.  18/18T Duno – Dale Coyne – This will be the beginning of the end for this driver in IndyCar.
3.  29/29T Saavedra (r) – Bryan Herta Autosport – some experience via the Firestone Lights, but this is the team’s initial race effort on the biggest stage no less – tall order.
4.  36/36T Baguette (r) – Conquest – simply not enough experience and team has no major sponsor to assist with ‘motivation’ on qualifying day.
5.  34/34T Romancini (r) – Conquest – also a Lights grad, but will just miss the field.

———- Bump Line ———- 

Bump Day Drama Queens/Kings AKA Survivors (8):

6.  25/25T Beatriz (r) – Dreyer/Reinbold – similar to other Lights grads, better team.  Will be close, but just enough to squeeze into the field.
7.  66/66T Howard (r) – Sarah Fisher – Will survive by the skin of his teeth (as long as he keeps it off the wall).
8.  78/78T DeSilvestro (r) – HVM – Simply enough talent on a decent team to survive a nervy rookie qualifying weekend.
9.  33/33T Junquiera – FAZZT – Karma sees this man through into the field this year, provided Tagliani survives first day qualifying safely. This ride could evaporate if rumors about funding are true.
10. 41/41T Foyt IV – Foyt – Will appear fairly safe on second day, but time will slide down the charts, a bit too near the precipice for his liking.
11. 5/5T Sato – KV – Is a rookie like the Lights grads are ‘rookies’, but with a better team and skill. Must keep it off the wall this week.
12. 77/77T Tagliani – FAZZT – Was in last year only because the team owner installed him in Junquiera’s qualifier. Will be determined to not be that close ever again. Still will be too close for his liking.
13. 19/19T Lloyd – Coyne – The former ‘Pink’ will have some work to do without a teammate capable of assisting when things get tight. Experience will see him through. 

Qualie Caveats:

A. Any car in the above list that ends up in the wall will place extreme pressure on that driver. In that case, I’d drop a driver 3 places closer to the bottom in the above ranking.

B. Sponsors who’ve written big checks hate to not make the show, so often another driver is brought into a struggling seat in hopes of making the race. We know that the 98 machine will need a driver, and I wouldn’t be surprised if another driver steps into one of the Conquest cars at a minimum.

The pool of quality drivers with recent experience isn’t terribly deep: Servia, Doornbos, Sharp, Phillipe, B. Lazier, Simmons, Bernoldi, Rice, Camara, J. Lazier, and Manning are among the most recent.

Well that’s pretty much it.  I leave judgment to the march of time. Best wishes for the remaining month and I will likely have just one more post before signing off and heading to Indy for the race.