101st Indianapolis 500 Countdown

It's just 9 Days till the 101st Running of the Indianapolis 500!

Qualifying is just a day away!

 

To catch all the action at the track go to the Indycar website and check out Race Control.
You'll be able to see all the practice and action live each day the that the track is open.  Generally noon to 6pm.

or

 

Check out the Gasoline Alley Cam to watch all the comings and goings in the garages at the great Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Josef Newgarden GP of Indianapolis 2017

Josef started 3rd in his 4th GP of Indianapolis,

but finished 11th
after two penalties for pit speed violations late in the race.

It was his highest finish ever in the Indy GP, but the lowest finish since he started driving for Roger Penske this season.


Josef's comment on the race:
Quote: "I don't know what happened. I think we ran into some sort of glitch and they dinged us two times for speeding on pit road. It was a tough day for us. We had a really fast Hum by Verizon car. We really didn't struggle with much today. We started a little slower than we had hoped, but at the end the car was a rocket. I’m disappointed for our guys because we did everything right and we had great stops, we just had a little glitch there. We had a great racecar and just couldn't capitalize. I think we had a car that could have been a podium car, maybe even a second-place car. We just didn't capitalize today. Congrats to Will though. He was strong all weekend long."



Josef is still 3rd in Indycar season points leading into the Indianapolis 500 on May 28th.
He is looking to improve on his third place finish in last year's 500.

Our thoughts and experiences: Indy 500, 100th running

The Indy 500 was amazing!!!
 

We would have loved to see a shootout between Josef Newgarden and Carlos Munoz, but it came down to really amazing fuel strategy by Alexander Rossi.  It may not have been the side by side for the win finish that we were expecting, but we got plenty of excitement during the race!

In the opening ceremonies, 'Back Home Again in Indiana' was sung by Josh Kaufman.  He sounded really good but we're still getting used to not having Jim Nabors sing it like he had for so many years.

The bald eagle that was released during a song was a really neat touch,  it was really beautiful.  We got to see it up close when it was being taken through the crowd earlier in the morning and it had a little mask over it's eyes so that it didn't get upset around all the people.

We parked in the Speedway Trails parking a few blocks from the track.  It was the first time in years that we didn't park inside the track, because although we had a pass we didn't want to wait in the extra long line of traffic to get inside this year.  It was good because instead of getting up at 4:00 we actually slept in till 4:45 and were able to easily get to the track from downtown by 6:15.

We got our 100th anniversary milk that was being handed out by the Indiana Dairy Association and kept it in our coolers till after the race when we drank it while Alexander Rossi was drinking his milk in Victory Circle. 

It was 81 degrees, so we were hot, but luckily there were some dark clouds that gave us a break once in a while and thanks to our 100 SPF suntan lotion we didn't even burn a bit.  The same could not be said for many of the people sitting around us.  :)

The one-hundredth running definitely had, as Mario Andretti said, more pizzazz.  The stands were packed with people no matter where you looked and the grounds were teeming with fans whenever we ventured down from our seats.   You could feel the extra excitement in the air during every moment of the race.

The Program was $25 for the 100th running, but was by far my favorite one that I've ever read.  (and we have a lot, some dating back to the 60's).   It had all the drivers and all the Indy 500 winners dating back to 1911, plus tons of different facts and articles.  It's really cool, and really thick, so I am still trying to finish reading through it.

The pre-race activities were especially fun this year, too.  The video about the history and progression of the most famous words in motorsport was really neat, and all the old cars and driver legends that they had on the track.  We were in our seat from 8:30 until after Alexander made his victory lap and kissed the bricks because there was constantly something going on to watch!

The day after the race we went back to the Speedway to renew our tickets for next year!

Our Carb Day through Pictures

We saw Arie Luyendyk (winner of the Indy 500 in 1990 & 1997)signing autographs outside the car inspection tent.  We were going to get our photo taken with him, but then Josef walked past and we got sidetracked.

Alex is happy because we got to see Josef's car close up and take good pictures.  She was even happier when she got to see and talk to him (and get a hug) on Legends Day.

We saw Sam Schmidt's specially designed car
(he drives it using just his mouth and head motions)

Alex is three weeks too young to go into the garages,
so she stood outside the fence, longingly gazing in at the action.

We got to see a steering wheel in the car. 
I guess drivers have to memorize which buttons do what...



This tires used in this years Indy 500 had the names of the previous 99 Indy 500 winners all around it's edge.
Very cool.

The Starting Lineup for the 100th Running on the Indy 500

The Indy 500, 100th running, is only a few days away!

Starting Lineup

1. James Hinchcliffe  Hollywood couldn't make up a better story.  After his near-death crash at IMS last year, it's great to see him sitting on the pole for the 100th running

2. Josef Newgarden We readily admit that this is our favorite driver.  We'd love to see him win, although Alex is hoping for it the most.  Watch for her Josef update post for her view on it

3. Ryan Hunter-Reay Looking to become a 2-time winner after his battle for the win with Helio Castroneves in 2014

4. Townsend Bell  Only races in the Indy 500 each year, and has his best shot ever at the win this year, with Andretti Auto sport

5. Carlos Munoz  Always exciting to watch at Indy, came so close in his rookie year, finishing 2nd in the 2013 Indy 500

6. Will Power  Waiting for his chance to win an Indy 500 for Roger Penske

7. Mikhail Aleshin  No one was more exciting in qualifying as he drifted through all the corners

8. Simon Pagenaud  Looking to continue his 3-race win streak this season

 

9. Helio Castroneves Taking his 7th shot at becoming a four time Indy 500 winner

10. Oriol Servia  Racing in his 8th Indy 500

11. Alexander Rossi  Missed being int he Fast Nine by about .04 seconds, highest qualifying rookie

12. Takuma Sato  How great would it be if one of AJ Foyts drivers won the 100th running?

13. Scott Dixon    It's been 8 years since his Indy 500 win, would love to  win another.  Won four championships

14. Marco Andretti  An Andretti winning the 100th running of the 500...Wow.

15. JR Hildebrand  He's due a Indy 500 win after crashing so near the finish, last turn, last lap, in 2011

16. Charlie Kimball  His best Indy 500 finish is 3rd.  He's looking to be on the top of the podium, instead of the bottom

17. Juan Pablo Montoya  Will be racing to make his Indy 500 wins a 3 out of 4 starts

18. Tony Kanaan  One of the most popular drivers in the sport, especially after he finally got an Indy 500 win in 2013.

19. Sebastien Bourdais  Racing in his 6thh Indy 500

20. Ed Carpenter  2-time Indy 500 Pole winner, looking to win the race this time

21. Gabby Chaves  This is his best Indianapolis 500 start, and his second year as an Indycar driver

22. Max Chilton  The rookie from   England has taken well to the super speedway

23. Sage Karam  One of our two hometown drivers.  Had a fantastic rookie 500, didn't make it through the first lap in his second due to a crash.  How will he fare this year?

24. Conor Daly  He's a hometown favorite, and after a fire last year on the parade lap, he hope to make a comeback

25. Pippa Mann  After two crashes this month, she hopes she has better luck in the 500

26. Graham Rahal  Would love to win on the 30th anniversary of his dad's Indy 500 victory 

27. Matt Brabham  He becomes the 3rd third-generation to race in the Indy 500

28. Bryan Clauson  Accomplished USAC driver starting in his third Indy

29. Spencer Pigot  2015 Indy Lights champion.  Hopes to finish good and get a full time Indycar ride

30. Stefan Wilson  Is racing to honor his late brother Justin Wilson

31. Jack Hawksworth  Has been with AJ Foyt since last year, and is starting his 3rd Indy 500

 

32. Buddy Lazier  Is the 1996 Indy 500 winner, great to see him back again

33. Alex Tagliani  His best Indy 500 start is 1st, and his best finish is 10th

1971 Indy 500 Program

1971 Al Unser Sr. won the second of his four Indy 500's and became the first back to back winner since Bill Vukovich in 1953/54.

 

 

Some great names starting the race.

A.J. Mario, the Unsers, Donahue,  Ruby, Rutherford...)

 

Turn 1

 

 

 

 

 

 



1996 Indianapolis 500 program



The 1996 Indy 500.
Won by Buddy Lazier who will start 32nd in this year's 100th Running of the race.

NASCAR driver Tony Stewart started first in the race. 
1998 Indy 500 winner, Eddie Cheever (who will be commentating the 100th Indy with ABC),
started on the inside of Row 2.

Scott Brayton won his second Indy 500 Pole in a row,

before being fatally injured in practice 

when his tire blew going into Turn 2.

 

 

1996 marked the first year of the IRL/CART split.

Tony George, grandson of Tony Hulman,

ran the Indy Racing League.

 

100th Indy 500 Qualifying Day 1

Technically, the first day of qualifying for the 100th running of the Indianapolis 500 yesterday didn't mean much.  There were no points given out, no money paid, and with only 33 cars trying to fill a field of 33 there was no concern over not being able to make the show.

However, there was the opportunity to make the Fast Nine and have a shot at qualifying on the pole for the Indy 500 next Sunday, and that made it entertaining.

 

 

It was great to be able to watch all of practice or qualifying on the Indycar site or on ESPN3 on our computer and then on ABC and ESPN News.  Sure, we had to switch around a lot, but it was as close as we could get to being there. 

There was rain which switched up the whole schedule and although the teams didn't get as much practice time, they did extend qualifying for an extra hour till 7pm.  That led to cooler temperatures, a faster track and lots of drama of who would get in the Fast Nine. 

With just a few minutes left Marco Andretti bumped out his teammate, Ryan Hunter Reay, who immediately went out and qualified second fastest for the day and bumped Marco back to tenth.  Then, with a second left Mikhail Aleshin got on track as the gun ending qualifying went off, and in his fourth run of the day he was 8th fastest, That bumped another Andretti Autosport car, driven by rookie Alexander Rossi out of the Fast Nine. 

Wow!

 

And the best story of the day, James Hinchcliffe topping the charts with a four lap average of 230.946!

 

 

Going for the Pole

for the 100 Running of the Indianapolis 500

(it would be the first Indy 500 pole for 8 of the 9 drivers. 

Helio will be going for his 5th)

 

1.  James Hinchcliffe - A great story if he wins the pole after nearly losing his life practicing for the Indy 500 last year.

2.  Ryan Hunter Reay - The 2014 winner would look good on the pole this year.

3.  Will Power - With 43 career Indycar poles it's hard to believe he has never won the pole for the 500.

4.  Helio Castroneves - Would be great to see him go for his 4th Indy 500 win starting from his 5th pole.

5.  Townsend Bell - Indy 500 only driver, how super if he could win the pole.

6.  Josef Newgarden -  In his fifth Indy 500 it would be fantastic to see our family's favorite drive sit on pole.

7.  Mikhail Aleshin - Arguably the most exciting qualifier yesterday sliding his car through the corners it'll be great to see what he can do going for the pole.

8.  Carlos Munoz - the youngest driver going for the pole, has been exciting at Indy since finishing second his rookie year in 2013

9.  Simon Pagenaud - Has won the last 2 poles this season, will he continue his win streak.

 

1984 Indy 500 Program

1984
Rick Mears took home his second Indy 500 win. Michael Andretti (5th place) was co-rookie of the year with Roberto Guerrero (2nd), and a third rookie Al Holbert (4th), also finished in the Top 5.
Another rookie, and future 2 time Indy winner finished in 32nd, Emerson Fittipaldi.
 

 

   

 

The first three rows. 
1983 winner Tom Sneva on the pole,
four former winners in the front 2 rows,
and Mario and Michael Andretti starting an Indy 500 together for the first time.

Bell Helmets
 

Famous mechanic George Bignotti.
Won seven Indy 500's.
Two with AJ Foyt & Al Unser Sr.
& one each with Graham Hill, Gordon Johncock & Tom Sneva.


Some of the veterans in the 1984 Indy 500,
 including future pole sitter Scott Brayton,
 and the dad of current Indycar driver Conor Daly, Derek Daly.

 

 

10 DAYS TILL the 100th RUNNING

of the INDY 500!!!

 

 





1961 Indianapolis 500 Program

           

23 Days

till the 100th INDY 500!!!

 

We love looking through these old programs.  The former drivers, the neat ads and tons of information about Indy,

we wish we could post all the pages,

but here's just a few from 1961.

 

1961

The 50th anniversary

of the running of the first Indy 500.

A historic race, fittingly won by a young A.J. Foyt who would go on to win 3 more '500's' and become the first driver to win four Indianapolis 500's in his career.

 

Firestone Tires, still winning at Indianapolis.

 

 

State of the Art Helmets back in 1961.
 

 

 

 

A few of the rookies from the 1960 race.

Jim Hurtubise, Lloyd Ruby, Wayne Weiler and Bud Tingelstad

 

 

 

Technology in Indiana.

The Indy 500, and Outer Space....

years before man even walked on the moon. 

1961 moon space

1985 Indy 500 Program Excerpts

25 DAYS till the 100th INDY 500!!!

With the 100th running of the Indianapolis 500 just a few weeks away, we've been having fun going through some old programs and thought we'd share some of our favorite pages from a few of them each day.

1985
The 69th running of the Greatest Spectacle in Racing was
won by Danny Sullivan and forever known for his spin and win.   Sullivan spun while leading, which was amazing, but Mario Andretti did an equally fantastic job of not hitting Sullivan and taking them both out.  Unfortunately, Sullivan was able to get back around Mario and our mom and pappy were disappointed their favorite driver missed out on another win.

1985 Program Cover
(and it only cost $4)

 

 

We always love A.J.
 

 

                                                    

Some of the rookies in 1985,

including one future 500 winner, and two drivers who never made the race.

 

                                                                      

and Disney....

 10 years before the Disney World Speedway was built.

 

 

   

25 more days till the Indy 500!!!

 

 

 

 

 

Josef update 99th Indianapolis 500

Josef qualified 9th and
finished 9th!!!

it's his best finish in the Indianapolis 500.

He is now 6th in the Indycar season points.

Josef did really well all day and was in the Top 10 most of the time but couldn't quite get up to the leaders.  It was really fun to watch.  We can't wait for Josef to win the Indianapolis 500! 

 

 

 

 

JOSEF NEWGARDEN, NO. 21 CENTURY 21 CHEVROLET, FINISHED 9TH: “Relative to everything that was going on, it was nice to get a solid finish for Century 21. We had them here in 2013 and it just wasn’t the race that we all wanted to have. A top ten is a solid day. We were in the mix there at the end and that’s exciting for us as a group, with everything that we had to go through during the week. I can’t say enough about having teammates like JR (Hildebrand) and Ed (Carpenter), they have really been top notch with helping push the program forward. We struggled a little bit with the conditions. It was hot, greasy, really hard to keep the car underneath you, and we battled that. I can’t ask for a better group than CFH Racing, they’re the hardest working boys out here. We sure showed a lot of heart today and we were at least able to battle all the guys up at the top. A top ten for Josef  is rewarding. --Josef Newgarden



Josef at the Drivers Meeting Saturday before the '500'.

Josef at the Thursday practice before qualifying.
He was uninjured but it was scary.
No more of this please.

 

 

 

Good luck at Detroit Josef

 

-- post by Alexandra (age 7) Josef's #1 fan --

99th INDY 500

 
2015 marked the 99th running of the Indianapolis 500. 
It was a hard fought battle between Penske drivers and Ganassi drivers (all Chevys), but in the end, Juan Montoya prevailed over Will Power in the fourth closest 500 finish in history.
The victory gave Montoya his second Indy 500 victory (in just 3 starts) and car owner Roger Penske his sixteenth '500' win.  

With the new aero kits for Indycar this year, no one knew what they would see at the 500.  We saw three cars flip upside down in early practice sessions, giving us a preview of the race to come.  Or did they?

The expected crashing and flying did not happen on Sunday at the 500.  Instead, we saw one of the best races in a long time.  
There was a ton of passing into turn 1 and 3 and along the front straightaway.  
It came down to one of the greatest battles for the win ever between three drivers.  Penske's Juan Montoya and Will Power and Ganassi's Scott Dixon battled till the final laps.  Montoya took home his second 500, Will Power's came in a close second trying for his first '500' win, and Ganassi's Charlie Kimball was able to get around his teammate Scott Dixon for third when Dixon's car started overheating.

 

 

The top 10 Finishers

1.  Juan Pablo Montoya - Set a new record for the most years between two Indy 500 wins at 15 years.

2.  Will Power - Got his best finish ever in his 8 attempts at the '500'.

3.  Charlie Kimball - His best finish ever in the '500' and the highest finishing of the 4 Ganassi cars.
 

4.  Scott Dixon - Started from the Pole Position to get his 8th 'Top 6' finish in 13 Indianapolis 500 starts.
 

5. Graham Rahal - His third 'Top 5' in the last three races, and the top finishing Honda.

6.  Marco Andretti - Battled hard for his 6th 'Top 6' finish in 10 Indy 500 starts.

7.  Helio Castroneves - Didn't really contend all day in his 6th try at joining the 3 four time winners of the '500'.  Led 2 laps.

8.  J.R. Hildebrand - The highest finishing of the three CFH Racing cars as a part time driver for the team.

9.  Josef Newgarden - Finished where he started in ninth.  His best finish in his three previous 500's was 25th.

10.  Simon Pagenaud - Led 35 laps and battled for the lead most of the day until a broken wing necessitated a very late race pit stop.

Top Ten included..

* Four Penske Drivers & Two Ganassi Drivers & Two Carpenter Fisher Hartman drivers
* 8 Chevys and 2 Hondas 
* Drivers from 6 different countries
* 3 past winners

Saturday's Public Drivers Meeting

Other:

*  Montoya became the only driver to win two races this season.

*  There were 6 cautions for 47 laps.

*  This win was the 3rd win for Team Penske this season ( The first was Montoya, the second Power)

*  There were 37 lead changes among 10 different drivers.

*  Average Race Speed:  161.341 mph

*  Fastest Lap: 226.712 mph by Charlie Kimball


Shout Out To...
Simon Pagenaud who led 35 laps while trying to become the first driver to win both the GP of Indianapolis (2014) and the Indy 500.  Looked like he would contend for the win until a late pit stop dropped him back to 21st with just 15 laps to go when the green flag came out and he moved up to 10th by the race's end.

Billy Boat 1998 Indy 500 Polesitter

Billy Boat won the pole for the 1998 Indy 500 

with an average speed of 223.503. 

He was driving for A.J. Foyt Racing.

Foyt's other driver Kenny Brack (1999 '500' winner) also qualified on the front row in 3rd.

Unfortunately Boat suffered mechanical problems after just 111 of the 200 laps and finished in the 23rd position.

 

Boat went on to win the next race at Texas Motor Speedway to record the only Indycar victory of his career.

12 Days till 99th Indy 500

Only 12 DAYS

till the

99th Running of the Indianapolis 500!

 

Two drivers have won the Indy 500

starting from the 12th position.

 

In 1992 Al Unser Jr. took the checkered flag 

starting from the outside of Row 4

to win his first of two Indy 500s.

 

 

In 2013 Tony Kanaan finally won his first 500 starting from the 12 position in his 12th Indy 500 start.

 

 

Indianapolis Month of May 2015

The month of May 2015 is here!!!

 

Opening Day at Indianapolis Motor Speedway was Sunday, May 3 as Indycar teams took to the oval track
to test out the new oval aero kits.

Robin Miller interviews Juan Montoya (Chevy) and Marco Andretti (Honda)  to see what they thought of the new cars.

 

 

 

Juan Pablo Montoya

 

 

And here is a more comedic take
on the first day of practice at IMS.

ICYMI: @TonyKanaan, Miller on #Indy500 test, ConorDaly busts up Hinchcliffe impression [WATCH] http://t.co/0o7GEKHsPA pic.twitter.com/8SuOxn5qMe

— Dave Furst (@DaveFurst) May 4, 2015

 

 

 

 

Practice begins Thursday, May 7th on the Indianapolis road course

for the GP of Indy on May 9th.

Lyn St. James 1998 Indy

Lyn St. James

 

became the first female Rookie of the Year at the 1992 Indy 500. At 45 years old, she was older than most drivers in the field.

 

Running for Team Pelfrey in 1998, she failed to make the field for the race.

Qualifying attempt for the 1998 Indy 500.

Sage Karam's 2014 Indy 500

Sage Karam was in his first Indy 500!
and he finished 9th!

To see his Indy 500 post race Banquet interview check out the 1:42:30 mark in the video

Stats:

* Was the biggest mover (moved up the most positions) in the race

* Moved from 32nd to the top ten and than fell back after a yellow came out just after a pit stop, then he worked his way back up and finished 9th.

* He restarted 12th after a red flag which is when he moved up to 9th in just the final 6 laps

* He got 2nd in the pit stop competition.

* We thought he was going to get a top 5!

* He finished the race in 2 hours, 41 minutes and 51 seconds

He's gotten really popular around here in the Lehigh Valley, and even threw out the first pitch for the Lehigh Valley Ironpigs (the Phillies AAA team).  And there was a lot more Indy 500 coverage in our local paper thanks to Sage.

Wish he were running in his 'home' race at Pocono in a few weeks.

 

Alex's Josef Update #6 Indy 500

The 'Indy 300' went really well for Josef as he started 8th and ran in the top ten for most of the first 300 miles....
Then things turned ugly.

First Josef came sputtering down pit lane and ran out of gas, and apparently when you run out of gas in an Indycar it's really hard to restart it.   So he sat in the pits for about 10 laps.

He was then in 29th place until a yellow came out on lap 167 for a spin by Dixon and Josef was rear-ended by rookie Martin Plowman as he slowed in Turn 4.   OUCH. 
He was done for the day....and finished 30th.
(and since the '500' was worth double points he dropped to 14th in the Indycar standings).
 
(Don't worry Martin, Alex forgives you since Josef was already way behind....it's not like he was leading like when a certain future Indy 500 winner ran into him)

 

But as upset as Alex was about Josef's finish in the 500 she did have a very nice memory from the weekend to keep her in good spirits.

 

JOSEF HELD ALEX!!!!

  

Oh wait, in case you don't already know about Alex's obsession for Josef, go to our post 'Josef Newgarden and Alex'. (But please be quick, Alex is going to get upset if we don't tell you about Josef picking her up soon)

 

 

Okay then, so Alex saw (and talked to) Josef thru the fence at his pits right before he went out for carb day practice, but she was a little disappointed she couldn't get a hug.   We had to break it to her that she probably wouldn't because he's "kinda busy all weekend" with a little race thing.

 

So you can imagine her excitement when, while waiting for her dad to come down the elevator by the media center, she saw Josef coming down the steps. 

 

He immediately scooped her up and gave her a hug and Alex didn't want us to say this, but Josef said that she had gotten quite a bit heavier.... uh oh, maybe next time Alex will just have to settle for a ground hug.

 

 

THANKS JOSEF FOR MAKING OUR LITTLE SISTER'S INDY 500 WEEKEND SPECIAL!!!

and

We know that first Indycar win is coming really soon!

 

 



'500' Week at IMS Carb day

There are lots of neat events on Carb Day
(Carb is short for Carburetion and even though they haven't used carburetors in the '500' since 1963 the name has stuck)
 

The last practice for the Indy 500:

(the whole reason for carb day is the teams/drivers get one more hour to perfect their cars for race day.)

We sat in the Gasoline Alley seats at the South end of the front stretch and it was great watching the cars come down the front straightaway. All the teams took full advantage of the session and seeing everyone coming off pit lane at once with their engines roaring is so exciting.

Alex, of course, spent her time watching for only one car, Josef Newgarden's, and she loved watching his pit stops (which was easy since we were sitting just above his pitbox...no coincidence there).

The Indy Lights race:

(Our second favorite part of carb day.  Seeing the up and coming Indycar drivers racing 40 laps on the IMS track. It has previously been won by guys like Ed Carpenter and Josef Newgarden)

This year's race was fantastic with plenty of passing and a close finish for the second year in a row!

One of the most exciting Indy Lights race we've ever seen. The top three drivers were swapping back and forth most of the race and winner Gabby Chaves and Matthew Brabham crossed the line almost side by side winning by only .005 seconds!!!

 

 

 

The Pit Stop Challenge:
(IMS plays really loud music and drivers & crews compete two by two against one another until only one team is left.)
We were really excited when rookie Sage Karam got in the finals, and even though Scott Dixon won, we still think he did really good.  (Alex was not really interested in it that much because Josef was not competing)

 

PLUS
There was a
vintage car display
Stadium Super Truck Races
and
2 Music Concerts including Sammy Hagar

Oh, and one more thing...
This was the cool FREE pin that Firestone
gives out on special days at IMS.

Free Carb Day Pin 2014