Comments on: 1965 – My First Indianapolis 500

By: DZ

DZ — Tue, 11 May 2010 14:08:23 +0000

You’ve just convinced me that I need to take my kids (9 and 6, girl and boy) within the next couple of years. I was 11 at my first one and my first experience had far more in common with yours than not. Won’t be long and I’ll have to try and pass on what my dad did for me (I returned the favor for him in 2003). They’ve been to a practice day and seen some cars up close, but never with the pageantry that is raceday.

What’s wonderful about these memories, it seems, is that we all have shared these memorable ‘first times’ and with any subsequent racedays, we fans all have a shared history. Cheers all! To the Month of May and the Indy Five Hundred!

By: Brian

Brian — Wed, 05 May 2010 01:23:14 +0000

Nice reminiscence, George – thanks

By: Scott Scheller

Scott Scheller — Tue, 04 May 2010 23:59:29 +0000

Since this seems to be the place to say it, here’s my first; the year was 1992, and I had little idea what the 500 was beyond that big race my older brother, dad, three uncles, and their repesctive children went to every sunday before memorial day while I got left behind. It was cold, we huddled under blankets, ate grippos by the handful just to keep warm (suspect only those from southern Indiana to know what that means), and watched as wreck after wreck after wreck happened. I remember seeing Lyn St. James in her rookie outing and rooting for her simply because she was a woman racing in a male dominated sport. I remember watching Michael Andretti demolish the field (and subsequently becoming, begrudgingly at times, a fan of the andrettis) only to have an engine failure kill his race with a handful of laps to go. I remeber the immensity of it all, and yet somehow, every time I get to go, the vastness of the crowd is every bit as overwhelming as that first trip.

By: billytheskink

billytheskink — Tue, 04 May 2010 18:02:22 +0000

It’s wonderful to hear everybody’s first Indy stories.
I hope to have one someday soon.

By: Michael D

Michael D — Tue, 04 May 2010 17:07:34 +0000

Adam – your early Indy 500 experiences are nearly as identical as mine. I was 7 for my first 500 in 1991. I couldnt go to the race the following year as my uncle was in town and took my spot. To this day, I am still upset that I missed the finish between Al Jr and Goodyear. My dad brought be back in ’93 and I have yet to miss a race since.

George – great article! I have been a long time reader. In fact, I stumlbed on your site on your 3rd post and have read every single one since. This is my first time posting a comment but couldnt have picked a better post to do so. Reading your memory of your first 500 immediately brought me back to my first 500s. Sort of teared up thinking about the great times that I shared with my Dad at the track.

It is funny what sort of things you remember about the 500. Strangely enough, the smell that will always remind me of the track is that of cheap cigars. LOL

Of course the sounde of the cars give me goosebumps and I can remember the first time i heard a car go by at over 200mph like it was yesterday, but the odd sound that always makes me think of the track is the sound of a helicopter flying overheard. I would always get to the track extremely early in the morning and there were always 2 – 3 helicopters hovering around the track for hours before the race. To this day, if I hear a helicopter hovering in the distance, I am brought back to race day at the IMS.

Great post and great work! Keep it up and thanks for providing your readers with insightful information about Indycar racing week in and week out!

By: H.B. Donnelly

H.B. Donnelly — Tue, 04 May 2010 16:46:05 +0000

Being just a bit on the younger side, my first “500″ came 30 years after yours. I had been a big race fan for a while, and I vividly recall sitting about two inches from the TV in ’92 when Unser, Jr, got loose Goodyear caught the draft off of four on lap 200. Our tickets were in the infield bleachers just past Turn 1, the excitement was rising, Tom Carnegie called the green flag and we could hear the turbo V8s spool up, and then sheer carnage broke out directly in front of me: my first experience with IndyCars at speed was Stan Fox’s awful accident. Luckily, I was cheering for Jacques Villeneuve at the time — I knew he was a good driver, and I really liked Forsythe-Green’s blue paint scheme (and no, nanny state, I did not know what Players was at 8 years old) — and I remember, in the confusion that broke out several laps before the end, coming to the realization that Jacques was going to win…fantastic. My second “500″ was the final turbo race in ’96, and then I wasn’t able to return until the “Danica Race” in 2005. Now, though, you’d need to break my legs and tie me down to keep me away from the track on the last weekend in May.

By: JohnMc

JohnMc — Tue, 04 May 2010 14:27:23 +0000

I thought they did simulate a driving helmet and that is how I used mine.

By: Adam

Adam — Tue, 04 May 2010 14:07:38 +0000

Thank you, George. Two soul-stirring posts to start the Month of May. I got to attend my first 500 with my dad in 1991 when I was 5, because my brother was just a couple weeks old and my mom couldn’t go. Much like you, I failed to appreciate the significance of much of what was going on in the race – I’m glad I can go back and relive the battle between Mears and Andretti with greater appreciation now – in fact I remember very few specifics of that day, but I do know that the event captured my impressionable little heart like so few things in life can and has never loosened its grip since. I was devastated when I couldn’t go the next year, but fortunately, my parents brought me back in ’93 and I have not missed one since. I now have a little boy of my own and long for the day when I can share his first 500 with him.

By: redd

redd — Tue, 04 May 2010 13:46:15 +0000

John–you just brought back a cool memory of those white batting helmets. I remember them from when I was a kid and haven’t thought about them since. Weren’t they supposed to simulate a “driving helmet?”

By: redd

redd — Tue, 04 May 2010 13:43:52 +0000

great article, george.

my recollections were not of going to the race, but of listening to the race on the radio. growing up in central Indiana, the race was blacked-out live. I think they replayed it in the evenings.

the Indy Star would always publish the starting grid with a little black and white photo of each driver. we cut those out and “draft” our drivers. my dad would keep track with a chart the paper printed, to see who was leading at 20 laps, 40 laps, etc. we would take the radio into the back yard, grill some burgers and listen to the radio. so my memories of the 500 are mainly tied up with family and summer back in the day.