Waxing Fondly of IMS Past

The ratings are out for Sunday’s IRL opener at Homestead. The numbers, as they say, don’t lie. The spin doctors over at IMS do however.First of all the race drew a .6 rating. Broken down that means that roughly 736,000 people were tuned in to ESPN or ESPN 2. 736,000; seems like a decent number but wait. We must compare these numbers to other similar events and then decide if they are good or not.NASCAR, that 800 pound gorilla, drew 14,780,000 for the Daytona 500. For the race the following week at Fontana, they drew 8,621,666 viewers. Last year, the Indianapolis 500 drew just over 5 million viewers and the season opener last year drew almost a million.Now before I get accused of saying the sky is falling I must say that Daytona is in a unique and enviable position. First of all it is the big enchilada for NASCAR. Their granddaddy, their Super Bowl, the top dog and the biggest payday. It also has the enviable position of really being the first race of the season after a 3 to 4 month layoff. Race fans are thirsting for something and along comes the Daytona 500.Now my problem is not necessarily with the .6 rating for the IRL. In fact, if you listen to the spin coming out of 16th and Georgetown you would think the ratings are actually up. They are claiming that in their key demographic of 18-34 and in their key markets, including LA, Indy, Las Vegas and New York ratings are up. I’ll be honest with you; I don’t know a soul in the 18-34 age group in Indy that knows a damn thing about the IRL or Indy Car Racing. So for the spin to try and tell me that things are hunky-dory is a joke.My problem is with the entire feeling around Indy and Indy Car racing. Or I guess to be more precise, the complete lack of feeling.May will be here soon and I am already making plans to go to the track. But I think I am the only one. What was once the most anticipated weeks of the racing season have been reduced to an afterthought on the sports calendar.I’m going to wax nostalgic for a bit so bear with me if you will. My first memories of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway go back to those warm May afternoons. Jeff Miller’s mother would take me and Jeff out to the track after we got out of school. We’d get there at 3:30 and stay until 6:00. I remember leaving the track and seeing the Shell gas station out at 465 and Crawfordsville Road that had the S knocked out of one side of it and giggling about seeing the word HELL up there.Jeff used to like Arnie Knepper. I was a Lloyd Ruby fan way back then. I remember the different way the cars looked. The tubby turbine, the smaller rear engine cars and the low slung, but ugly cars that seemed a throwback to a time just before I was there.The sound and the color were all great, but it was always the speed. I can hardly remember a time when I didn’t have a stopwatch.I remember my pop taking me to the 1968 race. My first time. I was hooked for sure. I rooted for Joe Leonard in his wedge shaped turbine. The beautiful STP car that had no choice but to catch a youngster’s eye. I remember that damn Bobby Unser winning in the, what I thought at the time was ugly, Rislone number 3 car. The bastard! For the record, when I see that car nowadays and it practically brings tears to my eyes. The car that won the first 500 I ever went to.In 1969 I even rooted for Mario, and he won. It was a cloudy day, but it never mattered. We always sat in the Paddock and were safe in case of rain. In 1970 and 1971 I rooted against that Al Unser, but the Johnny Lightning Specials were just that.In 1972 my sister got to go to her first race. She was hooked! We watched as one of the all time great race car drivers won. But Mark Donahue almost was beaten by his team mate Gary Bettenhausen. In the navy Sunoco McLaren’s both drivers were the class of the field. Well Jerry Grant may think otherwise, but he cheated. Gary B in the 68 was dominant until his car broke. Mark in the 66 went on to take the victory in what was the best day ever for me at the Speedway at that time.In subsequent years I saw AJ win his fourth. My grandpa got to go to that one. I saw JR win three with his dominating performance in 1980 as complete a victory as I have ever seen at Indy. Gordy and Rick in 1982 dueling for the win, and Gordy being a less than popular winner. Scott on the silent bus going home getting everyone riled up.I saw all four of Rick's wins and how dominant he was at Indy over his career, all of which I had the privilege to witness. I was there the day AJ retired and took his final lap around the Speedway on a beautiful Saturday morning after Crash Gordon wrecked his 20th car of the day. I saw all of Big Al's wins. Emmo's duel with Little Al. Arie's record setting day. Tom Sneva contending for the pole every year it seemed.The sponsors; STP, Miller High Life, Sugaripe Prunes, Leader Card, Bowes Seal Fast, The Texaco Star, Beatrice Foods. The owners, mechanics and crew chiefs; Andy, then Vince Grannatelli, A.J. Watson, George Bignotti, Jim Hall and a whole host I am sure to be leaving off.Salt Walther's terrible crash in 73 only to be topped two days later by Swede Savage. The lesser known drivers who were always there. Some whose days had come and gone, some who never achieved any measure of success at Indy, but came back every year. Lloyd, Grant, Lee Kunzman, Mike Mosley, Wally Dallenbach, Bob Harkey, John Martin, Mel Kenyon, Sammy Sessions, Eddie Pimm, Josele Garza, Roberto, Geoff Brabham and who can forget topsy-turvy Pancho Carter.Then of course there were the sons of former Indy greats. Billy Vukovich Jr and Jr.s son the III both tried to recreate their fathers glory. Each year they would come in from California for the race. Billy III lost his life racing like his grandfather. Jr. was never to taste any real success. The Bettenhausens, with father Tony who finished 2nd in 1955, to Gary who really told Roger Penske to fuck off by refusing to quit racing on the dirt, to Tony Jr. who was a team owner when he perished in a plane crash a few years ago.Of course there are the Andretti’s with Mario and sons Michael and Jeff competing and experiencing so much pain and hard luck. Nephew John who seemed to be just a good guy. The Unsers. Jerry who lost his life at Indy. Bobby and Al who were so good for so long. Al Jr, who won two 500’s to Robby and Johnny who both made the field in the past few years.I remember being at the track when Gordon Smiley died. I was there when Art Pollard perished. I remember listening to the radio the day Scott Brayton died. Being at the track when Jovy Marcelo was killed.The great days at the track have to include plenty of boobs and more. The infamous banner day, ruined by the late Tim Richmond. Funky Bob passing out in the sun (bad idea), Jeff Frye's 16 for 19 chugging day and the wild 1980 race. The 1979 race when pop was just out of the hospital and couldn't get tickets. I don't think me and Erik saw a car all day, but we managed to lock the keys in the car twice. If there is a dead center to the track, we were there. Me and Timmy heading in early one morning and parking in the crew lot. A happy start to the day AJ called it quits.The overnighters before the race and qualifying. Tabby passed out under Jay's truck on Carb Day.But ultimately it was always about the race and talk swirled for months about who would win. Scott may think it's an invalid argument, but it had meaning and NOT EVERYONE HAD A CHANCE TO WIN! besides, it was all part of the drama that was the Indianapolis 500.I remember going to the track on race morning. I could never sleep the night before the race. For a while we went to Aunt Stella’s and parked in her yard in Speedway. Years later we’d load up the car, head downtown and hop on the bus. It was so civilized getting down there, but coming back was crazy. I remember going into the bus through a window for the ride back. I remember pop hiring a helicopter to take us to the track one year. So cool. Free food and beer for many years made it so nice to go.Qualifying days were great. Skipping school to go to the track a blast. Nothing however, compared to race day. Getting to the track early. Watching the bands and the police on their motorcycles. The cars being pushed out onto the track. The intermittent sounds of engines coming to life. Gomer singing Back Home Again, which I admit still brings a tear to my eye. Tony Hulman, dressed so nice, saying those four famous words as he made his “turning key” gesture.Those practice and qualifying days when the action on the track cooled and the action behind the stands picked up. But those were the exception unless it got real hot. There were so many cars every year. It was a big deal. A really big deal. And while I am still a huge Indy fan, even a die hard like me has to admit it is no longer what it was.Maybe I am just living in the past and things can never stay the same. The track certainly has changed. The Snake Pit is gone. The turbulent Turn 4 is gone. Everything is new and modern and nice, but it has lost a lot of character. But when the owner has no character, what would you expect?These days there is talk every year concerning the number of cars that will be at the track, but it isn’t about how much bumping, it is whether or not 33 will even be here. The purse is down in proportion to other events. Let’s face it, the Brickyard 400 is a bigger deal. That sucks.Tony George has made some improvements to the physical stature of the track, but he has ripped the very soul out of the Indy 500. I am tired of people trying to say how wonderful the IRL is, when it is failing miserably. It is nothing more than club racing at this point. Don’t get me wrong, CART, OWRS or whoever they are this week is nothing either. But when CART was running Indy Cars and their drivers made up the bulk of the 500 field there were always plenty of cars. Pole day meant something. There would be 100,000 people at the track. The whole Paddock Penthouse was full as were the first and fourth turns. It was in effect the second biggest race of the year in the world. Only the 500 itself was bigger. It was bigger than Daytona, bigger than Monaco, bigger than anything. IMS was the center of the universe when it came to racing. The holy land if you will. It was THE GREATEST SPECTACLE IN RACING. Having the title of Indianapolis 500 Champion was your ticket to the elite club. Now, people like Buddy Lazier and Eddie Cheever have that title. It is no longer special. Foyt, Unser, Andretti, Lazier? I don’t think so. And Erik, this is not about Buddy. I like the guy and Eddie too, but as race car drivers they aren’t exactly what I call the real deal.While the 500 is still exciting, it is no longer what it was. Practice time has been reduced even further this year. Strange new qualifying procedures are in place in a last ditch effort to revive interest. It boggles my mind how one guy could have screwed this up so bad, but he has. All in the name of power. He didn’t like that he couldn’t have a seat on the CART board so he started his own league. Millions of dollars of “investment” later the league is a commercial nightmare and the 500 is a shadow of its once glorious self.Can the 500 be saved? Many think it can not. I’m not sure myself. I will be writing more articles on what I think is the best hope for restoring the glimmer to one of my favorite things. If anyone reading this has any suggestions, feel free to forward them to me,