Indy 500

I don't know if there is any one book I read on the history of the 500, except I have read so many that it became obvious to me that Indy was no ordinary event.

I think in the end Jose, you have to go to the 500 some day, or at least see the race track on a tour. I have not been that lucky, but some day I will get there. I think really did it for me was the fact that for many years, very few races ever were shown on TV except highly edited. The 500 used to be on tape delay as ABC squashed it into a 3 hour broadcast, but it was more racing than any other series. You saw the pagentry and you saw the start, most of the middle and finish. When I was a kid growing up, we never saw much of any series except for taped summaries, or in the case of the Daytona 500, they would step in about lap 80. It wasn't until the beginnings of the 500 channel universe that racing was able to be shown every weekend. IN the beginning, it was just Indy, and you looked forward to it. It is the Masters of OW racing in North America.....

Jose, "They Call me Mister 500" by Anthony Granatelli

http://www.amazon.com/They-Call-Me-M...e=UTF8&s=books

ZzZzZz, that would be the one that might give him an insight to what it meant in the early years for sure.

Agree, Mark.....that's a great one....and there's been others more recent -- Johnny Rutherford had one come out just a few years ago that was good.

Ok then, will have to check the recomendations.

IC, the problem with the Rutherford book is it did not come out up here in Canada, or if it did, it never hit the shelves for too long. Like I said, racing up here is not really into the IRL and things Indy. F1 and NASCAR books sell well and anything else on racing is hit and miss. I found the Granatelli book while I was in high school ( too many years ago!!!) and I just loved the guy's pomposity but real guts. Andy loves to blow his own horn but he deserved to. He has done more than 10 of us could dream of. The kick I got is I looked up on the net and he is still alive. He would be a real kick in the @ss to meet wouldn't you think??

I had another book with the history of the racing car and a whole big chapter devoted to the history of the Indy Car/Champ Car, but I lost track of it in the last move. I do know if Jose had a chance to understand the history of the great roadsters and the culture that surrounded Indy in the 50's, he would then maybe understand why people have such a fondness for the 500. Whatever I may think of Tony George, I have to respect that his love for the 500 is geniune and the respect he has kept for the racing plant that is the IMS. IT is an dinosaur in that no one would build a track that flat, that square and that big NOW, but how it brings out the best in a race team and driver nevertheless. I would watch more oval races if they were on flat tracks like Phoenix and Indy, and stay the heck away from Texas and the rest of the 1.5/ 2 mile cookie cutters.

Understand, Mark. Now that I've thought about it, there are some great historical books available from Dick Wallen Productions, some of which I have, like "History of the Board Tracks," etc. These are HUGE coffee table books. One that is an antique now and hard to find is History of the "500" by Jack Fox, which came out sometime in the '60s. I don't have that one. It's real hard to find anyone who does.

The market for open-wheel racing books isn't too strong in the U.S. Gordon Kirby wrote Emerson Fittipaldi's book and sales in the U.S. were weak but stronger in other parts of the world.

Canada DOES have a history at Indy. The first Canadian driver I remember (not necessarily the first one) is Billy Foster, who came out of the Vancouver area to race supermodifieds in the '60s. Later came Cliff Hucul, George Eaton and Ludwig Heimrath Jr., to Indy. Ludwig Heimrath Sr. drove some Indy cars, as I recall, on the road courses when place like Mosport were on the circuit in the late '60s, but never made it to Indy. Then came the modern group of Jacques Villeneuve, Scott Goodyear, Paul Tracy, etc.

I HAVE had the pleasure of meeting Granatelli. He still gives an annual "Unsung Hero" Award at the Saturday driver's meeting before the "500," and frequently becomes involved in political issues. I remember reading a quote from him once in which he said, "If they would have allowed my turbine to run, we'd never have an oil crisis." They called it a "perfume burner," one of the most unique cars of all time, which almost won the race with Parnelli Jones up.

I'm going to the 500 this year for the very first time. This will also be my first visit to the States. I'm planning to see the Indy festival parade, but you gotta buy tickets for it. Is there any chance of attending the parade without to buy tickets? Being a German without a credit card, it is not easy to get them.

Thanks for your answers

You should be able to get them at the gate or on the street for the parade.........just looked in the phone book......."500" Festival's phone number is 317-927-3378 in Indianapolis, however you might hafta dial it from there. They might be able to give you more info.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by indycool

Understand, Mark. Now that I've thought about it, there are some great historical books available from Dick Wallen Productions, some of which I have, like "History of the Board Tracks," etc. These are HUGE coffee table books. One that is an antique now and hard to find is History of the "500" by Jack Fox, which came out sometime in the '60s. I don't have that one. It's real hard to find anyone who does.

The market for open-wheel racing books isn't too strong in the U.S. Gordon Kirby wrote Emerson Fittipaldi's book and sales in the U.S. were weak but stronger in other parts of the world.

Canada DOES have a history at Indy. The first Canadian driver I remember (not necessarily the first one) is Billy Foster, who came out of the Vancouver area to race supermodifieds in the '60s. Later came Cliff Hucul, George Eaton and Ludwig Heimrath Jr., to Indy. Ludwig Heimrath Sr. drove some Indy cars, as I recall, on the road courses when place like Mosport were on the circuit in the late '60s, but never made it to Indy. Then came the modern group of Jacques Villeneuve, Scott Goodyear, Paul Tracy, etc.

I HAVE had the pleasure of meeting Granatelli. He still gives an annual "Unsung Hero" Award at the Saturday driver's meeting before the "500," and frequently becomes involved in political issues. I remember reading a quote from him once in which he said, "If they would have allowed my turbine to run, we'd never have an oil crisis." They called it a "perfume burner," one of the most unique cars of all time, which almost won the race with Parnelli Jones up.

---

I know Foster and Hucul ran at Indy, I didn't think Eaton did. Heimrath Sr is a man I know very well from seeing him at Mosport, and I almost found it hard to believe the congenial German guy with the smile on his face is that same guy. I guess because I met him a few times before I knew what he had accomplished, I guess it was kind of taken for granted.

No, for me, when Scott Goodyear had his 2nd, that cranked up my enthusiam to see a Canadian win the big one, and of course, JV did it, running 505 miles!!! Let it be said, in a sense he has done something no other driver has done, run 505 miles to beat the other guys running 500 miles.