Indianapolis 500 - A Uniquely American Tradition

[fl 71]

I, too, grew up listening to The 500 on AM radios in my brothers '55 Chevy or '55 Jaguar.

The race just doesn't interest me anymore and hasn't for 30+ years. Too many buy-a-rides and too much money.

Same for NASCAR... started keeping track of those guys in '58 in Motor Trend or during the news "shorts" at the Saturday movie matinee. Brian France screwed up a good deal.... listened to the 600 for a bit yesterday... I could barely identify 1/3 of the drivers... and I used to have the home phone numbers of Waltrip, Martin, Schrader, Earnhart and a few others.

Now I prefer my Saturday night dirt track car fights.

Buy a ride is absolutely correct! The trust babies with their inexperienced crews are a problem. The sanctioning bodies really need to up the bar to qualify and participate. I see this in vintage racing as well. Inexperienced drivers going 10/10ths.

 

[retroron]

I grew up listening to the Indy 500 race coverage on the radio hearing names like Johnnie Parsons, Bill Vukovich, Roger Ward, A.J. Foyt, Parnelli Jones, and of course, the Unser brothers.
I well remember the 'British Invasion' of the early 60's when names like Jimmy Clark and Graham Hill first became associated with the 500, and when the rear-engine Lotus created such a stir as the design started replacing the famed Offy-powered roadsters with names like Kurtis-Kraft and Watson.
Today I'm watching the television coverage and see only 15 of the 33 drivers are from the United States. And on top of that NBC has a Brit lead announcer doing race coverage.
What's happened to all the talented American drivers? Are they all going to NASCAR?

OC you forgot to mention that the car are either [powered by Honda engines (Japan) or by"chevy" engines built in England. Any similarity to American cars or engines is a joke.

 

[dibbons]

Any female drivers in the Indy 500?

 

[Jadaharabi]

Any female drivers in the Indy 500?

Pippa Mann

By successfully qualifying, Mann guaranteed that a woman will drive in “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing” for the 20th consecutive year. That means every Indianapolis 500 of the 21st century has had at least one female competing.

 

[ocdart]

OC you forgot to mention that the car are either [powered by Honda engines (Japan) or by"chevy" engines built in England. Any similarity to American cars or engines is a joke.

I didn't forget. There hasn't been a "stock block" engine run at Indy for years.
At least the cars aren't electric-powered...yet. Won't that be an exciting race if it comes to electric power. You won't even need a volume control on your TV, they can just run a moving account of the race along the bottom of the screen.

 

[Unconventional]

Won't that be an exciting race if it comes to electric power.

Little pins on the bottom of the race cars, slots in the track to go along with the electric motors

 

[64DartGTinAZ]

Actually it's 6 of the first 8.

Are you suggesting that Ray, Joe, or Howdy was actually not an American?

Year Date Driver Team / Owner Chassis Engine Tire Race Distance Time Average Speed
(mph)
(km/h) Car Name
Laps Miles (km)
1911 May 30

Ray Harroun[5] Nordyke & Marmon Company Marmon Marmon F 200 500 miles
(805 km) 6:42:08.039 74.59 mph (120.04 km/h) Marmon Wasp
1912 May 30

Joe Dawson[6] National Motor Vehicle Company National National M 200 500 miles
(805 km) 6:21:06.144 78.719 mph (126.686 km/h) National Motor Vehicle
1913 May 30

Jules Goux[7] Peugeot Peugeot Peugeot F 200 500 miles
(805 km) 6:35:05.108 75.933 mph (122.202 km/h) Peugeot
1914 May 30

René Thomas[8] Louis Delâge Company Delage Delage P 200 500 miles
(805 km) 6:03:45.060 82.474 mph (132.729 km/h) L. Delâge
1915 May 31

Ralph DePalma[9][a] E.C. Patterson Mercedes Mercedes BF 200 500 miles
(805 km) 5:33:55.619 89.840 mph (144.583 km/h) Mercedes
E.C. Patterson
1916 May 30

Dario Resta[10]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Indianapolis_500_winners#endnote_Restab Peugeot Auto Racing Company Peugeot Peugeot BF 120 300 miles
(483 km)[c] 3:34:16.990 84.001 mph (135.187 km/h) Peugeot Auto Racing
1917 No race held due to World War I
1918
1919 May 31

Howdy Wilcox[11] I.M.S. Corporation Premier Premier G 200 500 miles
(805 km) 5:40:42.930 88.050 mph (141.703 km/h) Peugeot
Indianapolis Speedway Team
1920 May 31

Gaston Chevrolet[12][d] William Small Company Frontenac Frontenac F 200 500 miles
(805 km) 5:38:31.901 88.618 mph (142.617 km/h) Monroe
William Small

 

[383Scampman]

Honda , NIssan , Toyota , hUndai , BMW, VW, Fiat, , kIA are NOT American , PERIOD . These companys tried to destroy us . They couldn't do that so they trying to steal it . Global economy my ***.

 

[Dennis H]

In the end, American horsepower ran down the Honda. A San Jose resident with a huge Mopar Collection took Mario on a Parade lap. He has a Chevy or 2 for good measure. Wade Ogel.

 

[Back in Time]

Are you suggesting that Ray, Joe, or Howdy was actually not an American?

Year Date Driver Team / Owner Chassis Engine Tire Race Distance Time Average Speed
(mph)
(km/h) Car Name
Laps Miles (km)
1911 May 30 View attachment 1715343835 Ray Harroun[5] Nordyke & Marmon Company Marmon Marmon F 200 500 miles
(805 km) 6:42:08.039 74.59 mph (120.04 km/h) Marmon Wasp
1912 May 30 View attachment 1715343836 Joe Dawson[6] National Motor Vehicle Company National National M 200 500 miles
(805 km) 6:21:06.144 78.719 mph (126.686 km/h) National Motor Vehicle
1913 May 30 View attachment 1715343837 Jules Goux[7] Peugeot Peugeot Peugeot F 200 500 miles
(805 km) 6:35:05.108 75.933 mph (122.202 km/h) Peugeot
1914 May 30 View attachment 1715343838 René Thomas[8] Louis Delâge Company Delage Delage P 200 500 miles
(805 km) 6:03:45.060 82.474 mph (132.729 km/h) L. Delâge
1915 May 31 View attachment 1715343839 Ralph DePalma[9][a] E.C. Patterson Mercedes Mercedes BF 200 500 miles
(805 km) 5:33:55.619 89.840 mph (144.583 km/h) Mercedes
E.C. Patterson
1916 May 30 View attachment 1715343840 Dario Resta[10] Peugeot Auto Racing Company Peugeot Peugeot BF 120 300 miles
(483 km)[c] 3:34:16.990 84.001 mph (135.187 km/h) Peugeot Auto Racing
1917 No race held due to World War I
1918
1919 May 31 View attachment 1715343841 Howdy Wilcox[11] I.M.S. Corporation Premier Premier G 200 500 miles
(805 km) 5:40:42.930 88.050 mph (141.703 km/h) Peugeot
Indianapolis Speedway Team
1920 May 31 View attachment 1715343842 Gaston Chevrolet[12][d] William Small Company Frontenac Frontenac F 200 500 miles
(805 km) 5:38:31.901 88.618 mph (142.617 km/h) Monroe
William Small

My Bad..I miscounted

 

[ocdart]

Are you suggesting that Ray, Joe, or Howdy was actually not an American?

Year Date Driver Team / Owner Chassis Engine Tire Race Distance Time Average Speed
(mph)
(km/h) Car Name
Laps Miles (km)
1911 May 30 View attachment 1715343835 Ray Harroun[5] Nordyke & Marmon Company Marmon Marmon F 200 500 miles
(805 km) 6:42:08.039 74.59 mph (120.04 km/h) Marmon Wasp
1912 May 30 View attachment 1715343836 Joe Dawson[6] National Motor Vehicle Company National National M 200 500 miles
(805 km) 6:21:06.144 78.719 mph (126.686 km/h) National Motor Vehicle
1913 May 30 View attachment 1715343837 Jules Goux[7] Peugeot Peugeot Peugeot F 200 500 miles
(805 km) 6:35:05.108 75.933 mph (122.202 km/h) Peugeot
1914 May 30 View attachment 1715343838 René Thomas[8] Louis Delâge Company Delage Delage P 200 500 miles
(805 km) 6:03:45.060 82.474 mph (132.729 km/h) L. Delâge
1915 May 31 View attachment 1715343839 Ralph DePalma[9][a] E.C. Patterson Mercedes Mercedes BF 200 500 miles
(805 km) 5:33:55.619 89.840 mph (144.583 km/h) Mercedes
E.C. Patterson
1916 May 30 View attachment 1715343840 Dario Resta[10] Peugeot Auto Racing Company Peugeot Peugeot BF 120 300 miles
(483 km)[c] 3:34:16.990 84.001 mph (135.187 km/h) Peugeot Auto Racing
1917 No race held due to World War I
1918
1919 May 31 View attachment 1715343841 Howdy Wilcox[11] I.M.S. Corporation Premier Premier G 200 500 miles
(805 km) 5:40:42.930 88.050 mph (141.703 km/h) Peugeot
Indianapolis Speedway Team
1920 May 31 View attachment 1715343842 Gaston Chevrolet[12][d] William Small Company Frontenac Frontenac F 200 500 miles
(805 km) 5:38:31.901 88.618 mph (142.617 km/h) Monroe
William Small

The list I first looked at obviously had a mistake...and you're correct, 5 of the first 8 winners were not from the USA.