View Indy Innovations
“Greatest Spectacle In Racing?”
How About an Innovative Indy 500 for the 2011 Centennial?
By Gregg Leary
PART ONE
Category:Auto Racing -> Indy Car
Dave Despain’s “Wind Tunnel” “My Take” from June 7th got me thinking. What happened to innovation at Indianapolis? It USED to be the “cradle of automotive innovation.” Now it’s a spec series. What happened?
1909: The Speedway itself was built as an automotive test track…there were not suitable roads in the United States that were capable of properly testing automobiles at speed. The track was envisioned as an aviation proving ground as well. The first “race” is a balloon race on June 5, 1909. “Cannonball” Baker wins an August 1909 motorcycle race .Louis Schwitzer wins the first auto race at the track The track conditions were appalling. Three million, two hundred thousand bricks are laid over the crushed rock and tar surface to make the racing surface much safer.
1910: The Speedway is utilized for an aviation meet which includes the Wright Brothers.
1911: The first Indianapolis 500 is scheduled. The track opens on May 1 so teams will have the entire month to test and practice their vehicles before the race. First use of rear-view mirror (Ray Harroun #32 Marmon Wasp eliminated the need for a heavy riding mechanic to look for traffic.)
Pace car (Carl Fisher drove the Stoddard-Dayton to pace the field for the first mass rolling start in automobile racing.)
1916: Eddie Rickenbacker experimented with a helmet at Indy.
1917-18: Aviation maintenance battalions are housed on the IMS infield. It becomes an aviation refueling spot and experimental aircraft are tested there.
1923: Three Mercedes entries are the first in the 500 to carry superchargers.
1925: The first front-drive car in the 500 finishes 2nd with Dave Lewis and Bennett Hill
1929: Louis Chiron wears a “crash helmet” in the 1929 race.
1931: A Cummins diesel (Dave Evans #8) completes the entire 500 miles on 31 gallons of crude oil at a cost of $2.55 without making a pit stop and finishes 13th.
1932: 4-wheel drive is tried for the first time in the 500.
1934: The field size is limited to 33 cars, for safety sake. 45 gallons of fuel is the entire allotment for 500 miles.
1935: Six green and yellow warning light stations are installed around the speedway. The steep outer lip is removed from the turns and a new outer retaining wall installed.
1937: A V-16 Marmon rear-engined car shows up at the Speedway but does not make the race. (Modeled after the German Auto Union Grand Prix cars.)
1938: Riding mechanics are no longer used. Single-seaters from here on.
1939: George Bailey is the first to drive a rear-engined car in the 500. He starts 6th and finishes 26th in car #17.
1946: Paul Russo qualifies the twin-engined Offy #10 (one engine in front and one in rear) four-wheel-drive 2nd but finishes last after an accident.
1948: Billy Devore drives the 6-wheel “Pat Clancy Special” in the 500 and finishes 12th.
1952: A Cummins diesel driven by Freddie Agabashian wins the pole for the 500. (#28)
1957: A wall is erected to separate the pit lane from the main straightaway.
1961: Jack Brabham finishes 9th in a rear-engined Cooper. (#17). It was branded a “funny car.” All exposed bricks but the “yard of bricks” were paved.
1962: Dan Gurney practices in John Zink’s rear-engined Boeing turbine-powered car. The car is withdrawn before qualifying. (# 52)
1964: Smokey Yunick’s “side car” debuts, but fails to qualify. AJ Foyt wins the final Indy 500 in a front-engined car. The tragic Sachs/MacDonald accident leads to major changes in the sport.
1965: A tire war between Goodyear and Firestone begins. Jim Clark leads 190 of 200 laps to win in the rear-engined Lotus Ford. 12 different chasses, 3 different engines. (Ford, Offy, Novi) Methanol replaces the explosive gasoline. Goodyear and Firestone combine for a safer fuel cell. Drivers begin wearing Nomex suits. Parnelli Jones tries fireproof cream used by movie stuntmen. The NASCAR Wood Brothers did the pit work for winner Jim Clark.
1966: Graham Hill wins the 1966 Indy 500. Jim Clark is 2nd and Jackie Stewart 6th. It is the biggest “British Invasion: since The Beatles. The three will win 7 F1 World Titles.
1967: Parnelli Jones leads 171 laps in the STP Turbine (#40). A $6 bearing fails with 4 laps to go costing him the victory. “The Whooshmobile” truly became “Silent Sam.”
1968: USAC rules outlawed the 1967 turbine but Lotus entered four wedge shaped 4-wheel drive turbines that complied with the new rules. Joe Leonard won the pole and was leading with 9 laps to go when a fuel shaft failed on his turbine.
1973: After Swede Savage’s fiery crash and Salt Walther’s launch into the catch fencing, on board fuel was reduced from 75 to 40 gallons and could only be carried in left side tanks. Right side tanks would be filled with energy absorbing material. Turbo boost was restricted and governed by popoff valve. The outside wall was raised from 36“ to 54”. Some box seats closest to the track along the main straightaway were removed. The pit entrance retaining wall was altered. A new starter platform was erected for a better view.
1974: Due to OPEC oil embargo the government asked for a 10% reduction in racing activities. Opening week of practice was eliminated and qualifying was limited to two double Saturday sessions. Lloyd Ruby is the last man to wear goggles and an open-faced helmet in the 500.
1976: The entire track is paved in asphalt for the first time after the 1976 race.
1977: Turbo boost increased. Tom Sneva breaks 200MPH barrier in qualifying. Janet Guthrie becomes the first female to qualify for the 500/ AJ Foyt is the first four time winner. Tony Hulman dies.