"We're talking about the greatest automobile race ever put on anywhere on the face of the earth. Everything connected with it is going to have to be bigger and better than ever before - or we'll miss the boat." - Carl Fisher, 1910
Buckle up and get to the right mood with the Delta Force theme!
Carl Fisher and his partners Jim Allison, Art Newby and Frank Wheeler did not miss that boat. The first Indianapolis 500 on the Memorial Day 1911 was an instant hit with a crowd of 80.000 people witnessing Ray Harroun and his Marmon Wasp winning the longest race of the era and taking the biggest prize money ever given from a single automobile race. The 2,5 mile oval covered with bricks was an instant success. Year after year cars became faster, crowds bigger, prize money went up and new innovations broke in to the daylight first at the speedway and later on for road cars. The story started to develop.
From its teen years through the 1920's the race got bigger and bigger and it started to draw international entries, manufacturers and fans. The Great Depression had its impact on the Indy500 like it did on everything else. The manufacturers had to cut their budgets and not to participate. So the rules were changed to make the race more interesting for private entries and the prize money was again upped. Track safety was also improved by making the outside walls higher and pushing the inside walls further down the inside field. The banking came higher and the apron area was born. These changes worked, and due the difficult financial times, racers around the world wanted to chase the dream of making it big time in one race.
The story of Kelly Petillo, the 1935 winner is a good example of what Indy 500 ment for the drivers of that day. Karl Kizer had a mechanic shop and Pentillo showed up to his garage with a blown engine after the qualifying. He begged Kizer to repair his car. Kizer's shop was completely swamped that they and he said to Petillo that he can't do it. Few hours later Petillo came back with his wife and kid and started crying. He had put his every last dime on the car and he only had few bucks to live on between the moment and the race. Kizer loked at the Petillo's kid and for it didn't seem fair to let the him to go hungry. So Kizer accepted to help out Petillo. They made new piston and rods and welded up the block. The work was worth of 800$ of 1935 money, a huge repair bill. The car was named The Welded Wonder.
"Well, by golly if Kelly didn't go out there and win the race. And the next morning he ran all the way from the bank to our shop to pay off his dept." Karl Kizer remembered. The gamble paid off and Petillo's share of the 78575$ prize money was 30600$, in today's money that would be over 540.000 dollars.
That was the spirit of the Indianapolis 500 back in its early days and that's the spirit that has remained all the way through the great heydays in 60s and 70s through the spectacular 80s and early-90s until these days. The Indianapolis 500. During the last hundred years, everything has changed, but yet, nothing has changed. The quest for glory, wealth and fame. The pursuit of the life long dreams. Getting your name in the history. The driver who wins the big race will forever remain part of the legacy of the greatest spectacle in racing. To win it, you have to be truly worthy. It's the ultimate quest for speed and immortality for the motorsports world. The Indianapolis 500 was here long before us and it will be here long after we've gone. We are back for the one hundreth time. Back Home Again in Indiana.
The Schedule:
Spoiler:
Highlights and history:
99th Indianapolis 500
Youtube list of the Delta Force Intros
The Official Pace Car:
Entries:
- The regular entries of the 2016 IndyCar Series.
- Matthew Brabham, son of Geoff Brabham, and grandson of Sir Jack Brabham will enter with KV Racing Technology.[3] Brabham will attempt to become the third, third-generation driver to qualify in Indy 500 history. The previous two were Billy Vukovich III and Marco Andretti.
- Katherine Legge will join Grace Autosport for the 2016 race.[4] This will be her first attempt since the 2013 Indianapolis 500. Grace Autosport is the first ever all-female racing team to compete at Indianapolis.
- Sage Karam will drive for Dreyer & Reinbold Racing-Kingdom Racing in the No. 24 Gas Monkey Energy/Havoline Chevy.
- Bryan Clauson will drive for Dale Coyne Racing-Jonathan Byrd's Racing in the No. 88.
- Pippa Mann will drive for Dale Coyne Racing.
- Buddy Lazier will drive for Lazier Partners Racing. This year marks the 20th anniversary of Lazier's Indy 500 victory.
- Spencer Pigot will drive for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing.
- Alex Tagliani will drive for A.J. Foyt Enterprises. Tagliani will drive car No. 35 in honor of Foyt's record of 35 consecutive starts in the race as a driver.
- J.R. Hildebrand will drive car No. 6 for Ed Carpenter Racing.
- Townsend Bell will drive car No. 29 for Andretti Autosport.
- Sebastián Saavedra will drive for AFS Racing.
- Stefan Wilson will drive for KVSH.
