View My First Indy 500
My First Indianapolis 500
By Gregg Leary
Category:Auto Racing -> Indy Car
In 1977 I was living in Jefferson, Ohio. I had just graduated from Wittenberg University in Springfield, Ohio and was about to begin a teaching position. I had no money but felt the time was right to attend an event I had dreamed about and listened to on the radio since I was a little kid…”The Greatest Spectacle in Racing,” the Indianapolis 500. Indy was 375 miles from my home. No problem…I’ll hitchhike to the race. During my college years I had thumbed nearly 40,000 miles through 36 states and 10 European countries so a 750 mile round trip was no big deal.
I grabbed my backpack. It was decorated with the patches of the countries I’d visited. It looked much like a racecar adorned with decals of contingency sponsors along the cowling. I made three signs that I would flash to passing freeway traffic. One read: “Indy 500” with a checkered flag drawn underneath. The second said: “Go Janet!” since Janet Guthrie had qualified as the first female to race in the Indy 500 that year. The third: “Anywhere But Here” if I got stuck at a poorly traveled exit where a passing motorist with a sense of humor might give me a ride.
On Saturday I hitched 240 miles and spent the night with college friends in Springfield. I was up at dawn, grabbed a breakfast at Denny’s and hit the I-70 ramp. Indy was about 135 miles away and I had several hours to get to the track. Traffic was sparse and I spent far too much time waiting on the side of the road. Short rides to Dayton and Richmond, Indiana followed. Things were getting tight for the 11:00 start.
A motorcycle picked me up just east of Indianapolis and worked his way down 16th Street on the shoulder and between lanes of bumper-to-bumper traffic. We arrived at the hallowed intersection with Georgetown Road in what I felt was a losing effort to see the drop of the green flag. I had forgotten about the one hour I had gained due to the time difference between Indiana time and Ohio time. Thank goodness. I WAS going to see the start of the race. There was no way I could afford a scalped ticket so I think I paid five or ten dollars to walk onto the Infield. The “keys to the kingdom” were opened to me for such a minimal investment. I took a spot on top of a grassy knoll next to the Museum in the short chute between Turn One and Turn Two just as Jim Nabors began singing “Back Home Again in Indiana.” Timing is everything.
I bought an Official Indianapolis 500 Program for $3. It featured prophetic cover art of A. J. Foyt’s famous #14 and a picture of Tony Hulman at the microphone. No one said “Gentlemen, start your engines,” any better than Tony. But this year Janet Guthrie would force him to change his command to: “In company with the first woman ever to qualify at Indianapolis, gentlemen start your engines.” Classy.
The racetrack was extremely fast. It had just been repaved in its entirety for the first time ever after the 1976 race. The last time the entire surface was put down at the same time was in 1909 when the bricks were laid. Tom Sneva had run the first official 200MPH lap in qualifying. (45 seconds around the 2½ mile rectangle.) The “Gas Man,” who should have been called “Methanol Man,” had sent a message. He was the pole sitter. Foyt started fourth, on the inside of the second row. Janet Guthrie qualified 26th.
The parade lap with 33 beautifully painted road rockets was a breathtaking sight. I clicked a couple pictures. The crowd of 300,000 plus saluted their heroes and heroine with a thunderous cheer and the waving of countless caps and programs. Many offered a toast with their beverage of choice. The field picked up the pace noticeably on the pace lap. I snapped several more photos.
Tom Carnegie announced the start in his inimitable style. The roar of the crowd and scream of the cars was overwhelming. Flashes of color streaked through my viewfinder so quickly that my shutter finger had no chance to react quickly enough. My first several shots at race speed were blank until I was able to pan the cars like a shooter leading his target. Unbelievable.
Al Unser rocketed into the lead. Last year’s winner, Johnny Rutherford was the first car out with gearbox problems. He’d gone from first to worst in only one year. Indy can be cruel. Janet Guthrie was a fan favorite but her day ended early after only 27 laps with a timing gear issue.
Gordon Johncock dominated the race, leading 5 times for 129 laps. Foyt seemed out of contention when he ran out of fuel on Lap 92. However, Johncock’s engine puked on lap 184 and Foyt took the lead and never relinquished it. A. J. became the first four time winner of the Indianapolis 500, surpassing Louie Meyer, Wilbur Shaw and Mauri Rose. A.J. invited Tony Hulman into the pace car with him to take a “lap of honor.” Sadly, Tony would pass away less than five months later. I had witnessed A.J.’s history making run first hand and saw with my own eyes the end of the Tony Hulman era at the Brickyard.
If you have never seen the Indianapolis 500 live, be sure to put it on your “Bucket List.” There is absolutely nothing like it. It’s the world’s largest single day sporting event and even though diminished in scope due to the CART/IRL split it is unquestionably one of the most outstanding events in all of sports.
1977 was my first of 24 Indy 500s. The only thing greater than the race was the fact that when I put my thumb up outside the Speedway I got a 370 mile ride in a plush motor home. It dropped me off five miles from my house in Northeast Ohio. More than three decades later I still remember the thrill of “My First Indianapolis 500.”