Let's return to 1969

[pwd72s]

For the Indy 500...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BNJvoxScBaE&ab_channel=IndianapolisMotorSpeedway

[Evans, Marv]

As a kid 12/13 years old (mid 50s) my dad took me a couple of times to watch films of the Indy 500. Since they only went around the turns in the same direction, I'd clamp down on one side of my jaw as they went through the turns. At the end, my jaw would be fatigued and aching.

[URY914]

I was 10 years old.

Back when the cars were different from each other.

That Camaro pace car is just iconic.

The size of the crowd was crazy.

The great Chris E. with the interviews. Sticks the mic in his face before Joe even takes his helmet off.

Next Saturday is the 24 Hours of LeMans!

[herr_oberst]

Boy, talk about a snapshot of Indy in transition between eras.

Penske's first year
Tires are still treaded, (siped, really) but boy are they wide!
The Turbine is still legal
Wedge-shaped car bodies and 4WD chassis' still being experimented with
One stock block engine in the field, humongous turbochargers hung out in the wind
Long lines of cars trying to qualify
Safety on the track and pits not even a twinkle in the eye of the participants yet (Lloyd Ruby's fuel just pours out of the broken connector, no attempt to contain or dilute it.)
Pitstops with no tire changes! 40 or 50 seconds to fill with fuel, but tires just inspected!
Winner laps the field many times. (Thankfully no longer a thing, It was a regular occurrence in Indycars and Nascar backintheday.)
Those shots from the front illustrating the ground clearance were great.
That interview of the winner in the convertible with his legs wrapped around the car owner was cringe-worthy.
Imagine how bad those uprights must have been for Colin Chapman to reject them!! (slight sarcasm)
Jim McKay is a little fellow! Never really noticed that before.
Race coverage on tv has come a long, long, long way. I don't need Economaki finding out how the driver feels, I want to know where my favorite driver is on the track, and who has and hasn't pitted yet.

I was ten.I'm glad it was important to me even back then; it made me nostalgic a little, and there's a tinge of regret for not trying harder to pursue a life around racing cars in some capacity.

[IROC]

I lived in Speedway, Indiana (1.3 miles from the track!) from 1973-1977. It was a whole different world back then. Driver's would stay in apartments or in people's houses in/around Speedway. I met Gordon Johncock that way. He stayed in the apartment building next to mine and I remember me and my Dad striking up a conversation with him in the parking lot.

My Dad met Salt Walther and knew Bob Harkey. I met Larry McCoy (stayed in the house next door to my best friend). Not big names, but they were drivers and I as 10 years old so I thought they were gods...

[cockerpunk]

1:53 was the margin of victory in 1969.

2015-2022 every race the margin of victory as under 5 seconds. and with the exception of rossi in 16 ... under 1 second.

[herr_oberst]

Originally Posted by cockerpunk

1:53 was the margin of victory in 1969.

Hah, I watched it last night in bed; I guess the last thing I remembered was that with a few laps to go he was a couple of laps ahead. There must have been pit stops with ten laps remaining while I sort of dozed on and off. (Feel free to correct anything else in that list that's not accurate! )

[cockerpunk]

Originally Posted by herr_oberst

Hah, I watched it last night in bed; I guess the last thing I remembered was that with a few laps to go he was a couple of laps ahead. There must have been pit stops with ten laps remaining while I sort of dozed on and off. (Feel free to correct anything else in that list that's not accurate! )

its very often we look back on racing with rose-tinted glasses, thinking it was like today, but with more variety.

and the reality is that a lot of old racing, wasnt very good racing actually. at least wasnt very good if the fun part for you is two drivers going wheel to wheel to win ... there was a lot less of that back in the day. margins of victories in everything from le mans to F1, and even NASCAR could be whole laps. there might only be 2 or 3 cars on the lead lap at the end of these races. reliability, pitstops, and just bad driving to be honest ...

the reality is, that often the racing today is far better. far closer than it ever has been.

and at the end of the day, id rather the drivers on the track determine the outcome of the race, rather than the money off the track. and id rather have two drivers pushing to the absolutely limits within tenths of each other trying to win, than have variety of chassis (ie, most chassis suck then).

[pwd72s]

Safety on pit road? What's that? Yes, I enjoyed the trip back...