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10/05/2019 8:36 am
Lets start with a trivia question again, In what year did Jim Nabors begin the tradition of singing "Back Home in Indiana" to kick off the Indianapolis 500 race? Answer at the end of the post!
The year was 1961, the 45th running of the Indianapolis 500 and the 50th anniversary of the first 500 mile race. Eddie Sachs and A.J. Foyt were battling for the lead as the race was winding down. On Foyt's final pit stop the crew was unable to get a full load of fuel in the car. Foyt returned to the track and with a light load of fuel was able to pull away from Sachs but his crew let him know he did not have enough fuel to finish the race. Foyt gave up the lead on lap 184 for a splash and go fuel stop. Borrowing a fueling mechanism from the Len Sutton's team, the crew was successful at topping of the fuel. Sachs was now leading by 25 seconds, then with three laps to go the warning tread started showing on one of Sachs rear tires. Deciding to play it safe Sachs decided to pit on lap 197. Foyt took the lead and won his first of four Indy 500 victories by 8.28 seconds.
A notable entry was Formula One Champion Jack Brabham from Australia driving a low slung British built Cooper with a Coventry Climax engine. It would be the first post war appearance of a rear engine car and within five years the rear engine cars would over take the speedway, dubbed the "British Invasion". Later in October of that year the front straight was paved with asphalt and now the entire track was paved leaving only a single yard of bricks at the start finish line.
Answer to the trivia question, Jim Nabors began singing at the beginning of the race in 1972, although born in Alabama. Jim Nabors was discovered by Andy Griffith. Hope you enjoyed the post! Here are some shots of the winning car:
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10/05/2019 6:16 pm
Impressive group of beautiful Indy cars.
10/05/2019 10:57 pm
JOSH You're rocking dude ... I like this stuff ... GR8T racing info - Very cool pix ....
Forum 18 revived with a breath of fresh air
Thank You
11/05/2019 1:44 am
Another race fan here, that's all I collect. Keep up the good work Josh.
For those collectors interested in Indy cars Carousel 1 did some great models and some can be found for reasonable prices. I collect F1, Indy Car, WEC in 1/18 and 1/43. I have a couple of NASCAR models to.