You always remember your first time.........

[quattro]

Hey guys.

Month of May. Indianapolis 500.

I would very much like to go one day. I got thinking about my first visit to a race track
and then first visit to a Grand Prix. First visit to see Indycars. First time at Daytone etc.

I know that for various reasons so many of you cannot go this year and many are probably there already,
be it that you are involved with a team, with a supplier, with a vendor or for the model and memorabilia gigs.

I know not going hurts and I am not trying to wind anyone up here.

But would you chaps indulge me?
Would some of you be prepared to share your recollections of your first visit to the Brickyard on here?

We all love the sport which is why we are on here. But did you go after being into it or did it wake you up to it all?

I am not doing a book or a piece anywhere. Just want to have a taster of something I have not yet experienced if that is OK.
And given the mass of knowledge within the membership I might learn something.

[harveythedog2]

1987 - Did not really want to go. What fun would it be watching cars drive in a circle? My buddy told me to come and just party so I said okay.

We went up on Friday I could not believe just how big IMS was. We spent the 1st day just walking the outside of the track buying food and t-shirts. That night I made my first trip to Babes and had my picture taken with Mellissa Mounds. (This was many years before I was married so it's ok guys.) Saturday night we walked the Coke field and hit every party we could and saw some crazy stuff but that's another story. I was having a great time.

Race day - We headed to our seats along pit row. They were bleachers back then and we brought our coolers and a piece of rope. We tied the rope to the bleacher and the cooler handle and let it hang underneath us the entire race. Whenever you needed a beer, water or sandwich you just pulled it up with the rope. Pre-race the crowd was just crazy. Accross from us the crowd was yelling "Less Filling!" and we would answer right back "Tastes Great!) It was so loud! Next thing I knew the whole crowd from North Vista all the way down the straight were doing "The Wave"! I had never experienced anything like this!

Then came the pace laps. 33 cars whinning down the straight and the rumble grabbed me. Green flag and all 33 flashed bye and the road of the engines and crowd vibrated through me like an earthquake. I was hooked!!! I did not know much about auto racing but I knew the name Mario Andretti so that was my guy. He was on pole and was dominated the race. I was crushed when he broke down but got to see what is now a historical finish and Big Al's 4th win.

From that day on I could not get enough of Indycars, the 500 or it's history. It even got me into modeling cars because like I said, I couldn't get enough. I went to the 500 every year up until the split. I was a CART guy and could not understand the need to have another separate race series. I was mad as hell at Tony George and did not return again until 2006. I have gone every year since except a few when I had knee surgery and of course Covid but I am back this year Baby! I honestly think about the Indycars everyday in some form. 59 years old but everytime I go to Indy I feel like that 25 year old kid that first went in 1987.

[hurtubise56]

Great story, Stu! Wow, Melissa Mounds, there's a blast from our sordid past!

Never been to Indy, had always hoped tp get to the museum to see the model display, guess I waited too long!

[quattro]

Oh Wow!

That is so brilliant.

Do you still have the picture anywhere? LOL.

[IndyCarModels]

1958 and 12 years old. Got to meet Al Dean and then AJ Foyt (rookie year).
Memories include the big wreck and my first hero (Jimmy Bryan) winning the race.
I got to go to my first 3 Indy's by selling newspapers at the track. I went to every race from 1958 to 1969 and then southeast asia called!
Seems like yesterday

[indy]

I lived on the north side of Indianapolis for two years as a small kid. Dad went to 1983 without me and I remember looking at the door in church pouting that I did not get to go. I remember getting a big IndyCar as a gift in Indy and watching the race most years. Became a Mears fan watching the 1984 race, his car was ironically the car I had been given. After we moved, Dad took us back to Indy in 1986 to take us to the race. I forgot my suitcase so I alternated between what I wore on the flight and an Indy 500 Tshirt/shorts bought at a store after we arrived. We walked to the seats early on Sunday but the rain would not let it be. We stayed a day but with the race a week away, we headed home. Finally got the chance to see the race in 1992. Living in Texas, I was not ready for the cold of race day (39F/4C wind chill). In jeans, a tshirt, and windbreaker - it was miserably cold sitting there with 4-5 hours until the race. Family was drinking coffee that tasted like dirt because it was warm LOL The cars were so low being rolled out to the grid plus the colors were so bright and florescent paints were insane. When the crowd filled in and the engines started, I was no longer cold. Guererro wrecking on the pace lap was unprecedented and when the green came out - the cars were doing 230mph by us. The mid-race we entertained ourselves, my Dad rooting for Al Sr and me for Al Jr with Dad timing the gap between the two. Michael breaking setup the most historic finish and while I was likely hooked by the race, the finish made it epic. Took my best friend to the 1995 race the day after high school graduation, got him hooked LOL. Went to the 1998 and 2001 race though I was more of a CART fan. Started an annual trek to Indy with Dad back in 2016. So far, I have been to 8 500s (not counting 86), Dad maybe 9, and took my son to his first 500 for the 2019 classic. He thinks Pagenaud might be better than Mears, I love him so I forgive his youthful blasphemy. We are eager to get back once COVID risks are lower. Hopefully, 2022 will be our first three generation trip to the 500.

Jordan

[indycals]

My first memory in life is seeing the Indianapolis Motor Speedway - we were just passing through to visit an uncle in St. Louis and my dad decided to drive down Georgetown Road to see the Speedway (he had never been). I was blown away and I knew exactly what I was looking at and asked if we were going to go to the race. Sadly no, that would come 13 years later. ... and the track was exactly as I had remembered it.

[quattro]

This is so neat.

Gotta say I am really appreciating these recollections.

1958? Wow!

Interesting that the 80's have come up as well.

It is said that research suggests that what we get into around our early teens
is what we are eventually going to stick with most of or lives.
But some buck that trend here which shows the power and pull of this spectacle.

Do keep these coming chaps. Hope everyone jumping in is smiling as much as I am when reading these.

Cheers.

[indydog]

Have lived in Indy, and within sight of IMS, most of my life. "Technically" I think my first race was 1968 and I was 6. Don't remember much but I do have some pics here somewhere. I'll try to dig them up and see if I can scan them or something.
The first race I went to on my own was 1973... all 3 days. I have been to most years since. Walking through the Coke Field as a teenager was some of the funnest times I have ever had. I could tell you stories about the Snake Pit too. In those days, the whole month of May was one big party.

From 1997 to 2018, I lived just outside Gate 10, the North 40 gate on 30th St. I would just walk to the track. My seats were in the Northwest Vista, but I don't stay in them long. I would watch the first 20 laps or so, then get up and wonder around. While the race is great, some of the best things at the track can't be seen from a seat.

Unfortunately, I have not been to the race since I moved to Avon in 2018.

Interesting story.... Few years ago I went to the Memorabilia Show and decided to visit the museum and walk around a bit. As I headed back, I walked through "Legends Row" where the suites are named for drivers. I walked past a golf cart that a guy was sitting in drinking a coke. As I passed I looked back and did a double take... it was Johnny Rutherford!
I said "hello" and asked why he was sitting all alone. He said "The fans nowadays only want to see the new drivers. They don't really care about us oldtimers". I said something about him being one of the greats... blah, blah, blah.
He then asked me to sit down and offered me a coke. We had a nice 20 minute chat about the 500 and racing in general.

A genuinely nice guy.


The view of the crowd on race morning from my house on 30th. Gate 10 is just beyond the traffic light.

[indycals]

That's a great story about Rutherford, Mark!

[quattro]

That Rutherford encounter. Mega.
Find it amazing that he can sit quietly unnoticed like that. At Indy!

Over here you tended to watch them come up through National and European F3 and F2,
and then catch up with em on the way out or down again after F1 or whatever.
Guess you have to be old enough....
Now its just the all in one package of F3 and F2 lumped in with F1 so you do not really
get to talk to many on the way up anymore.

Over there I guess you have far more access to the current crop so it would be easy
for the fans to chase that and not think too much about the 'oldtimers'.

For my part I would spend as much time as poss with the rested or retired drivers.

When I have been lucky to talk to some of the retired F1 or Sportscar guys,
they always seem taken aback by
the knowledge and appreciation we as fans have of what they did.
And that is without the need to big em up. They did it all. And how!
And they can talk about interesting stuff from their era and make astute observations
on what is happening currently.

As for that picture. I am never good in traffic jams. But I could happily sit in that one!

[harveythedog2]

May 19, 2021 9:10:05 GMT -5 hurtubise56 said:

Great story, Stu! Wow, Melissa Mounds, there's a blast from our sordid past!

Never been to Indy, had always hoped tp get to the museum to see the model display, guess I waited too long!

I was kind of wild in my younger days, LOL. No more Babes or strip joints at all and only the occasional beer.
Keep that picture of me and Mellisa for a few years but it got lost somewhere. That's a good thing as I don't think my wife would appreciate it what so ever!

One thing I forgot to mention. Walking down Georgetown on race day morning my friends and I came upon a guy duct taped to a telephone pole 20 feet in the air! He had no idea how he had gotten there but mentioned something about little grren men. LOL H

[quattro]

Stu.

Maybe I shouldn't admit this.

I was curious even though Ms Mounds' name was shall we say a BIG clue.

Googled the name.

Then deleted my browser history pronto......! LOL.

[indy]

I came across Lone Star JR in the Barber paddock around 2014-2015 where he talked to me for 15-20 minutes. He seemed a bit tired of the travel but was simply pleasant to talk to. I forgot a bunch of things I wanted to talk to him about but that is more of my mind not working LOL. I would say JR is a great person and would recommend chatting him up if you ever have the chance.

Jordan

[quattro]

Having avidly read these contributions, for which I really do thank you guys,
I just read up on the Coke field, or lot........

I know Watkins Glen had what was called The Bog, and now I find out about this camp site....

Wow! We have or track campsites and our race fans who like a beer or twenty over here.
But nothing like that!

[raceparke]

Slight shift to the east. . .
At Watkins early morning F1 1974 with my brother. Walking around the track as you do. Looming on the outside of the track before the last turn was the hulk of a tour bus completely burned out. That was of course in The Bog. A muddy area that some fools tried to cross in their cars. If they got stuck, too bad. Many of the denizens wore biker paraphernalia. The area has since been relandscaped and admissions were tightened up.

[quattro]

Guys

I want to say thanks for these.
And if anyone else wants to share then please do.

All these Indianapolis memories from a fan perspective is great.
And now Watkins Glen 1974 is mentioned.

I think I would so love to have an evening sat down at a big table with some good food
listening to what you fellas have seen and experienced.
Maybe chuck in and old timer or two.

Mate of mine suggested I get hold of one of those immersive goggle things and go for a 'walk' round Indianapolis.
I do research places before I visit for the first time and use the google maps app for a kinda siter lap!

Got my bucket list which includes Road America, The Glen, Laguna and Road Atlanta.
But will focus on Indy. Who knows. Maybe in the next couple of years....

Thank you again.

Joe

[harveythedog2]

May 20, 2021 7:49:46 GMT -5 quattro said:

Stu.

Maybe I shouldn't admit this.

I was curious even though Ms Mounds' name was shall we say a BIG clue.

Googled the name.

Then deleted my browser history pronto......! LOL.

LOL! In 1988 the featured act was Kayla Clevage. Pretty much the same attributes as Ms. Mounds. That's the only two years I went to Babes guys. HONEST!!!

[mjjracer]

Great stories! I was 11. Two days before the race my mom asked if I wanted to go to the 500. Not sure I was even able to answer. She knew my hero was in the race. A guy named Clark. My dad died when I was 5 and we didn’t have much money but she always managed to do special things for my brother and I. In fact latter that year she took me to see the Beatles! So we left Saturday from northern Illinois in her Falcon with the 260 V8 that I knew was somehow related to the engine in Jimmy’s Lotus.
We stayed in an old hotel outside of Indy, parked at a gas station recommended by the hotel owner and took a cab to the track. Going under the tunnel and into the infield it was hard to figure out where the racetrack was - it just seemed like a giant field full of people. We ended up at turn one and I think I stood at the fence the whole day.
Finally the bands and everything were done and the cars were on the track. AJ on the pole with the most beautiful car in the field (thanks Lance!) but I only had eyes for the green and yellow Lotus (thanks again Lance!) I know it wasn’t an exciting race but it was for me. I got to see my hero take no prisoners.
When we left the track with Jimmy being interviewed on the PA we crossed the track between turn 4 and the pits. I stopped and just stared up the straight. I couldn’t believe how freaking long it was. My mom’s favorite part was being winked at by Mel Torme! (Look him up youngsters!😁)
I thought I’d be back many times but we moved to California didn’t make it back until 2016!

Quick meeting a driver story. Around ‘87 I was at the annual auto show in San Diego with my now ex and young daughter. We were looking at an exhibit by a company making cheap cars for third world countries using VW Beetle engines. There was only one rep for the company standing there all alone. I looked at him then walked over and asked “Excuse me. Aren’t you Roger Ward?” He seemed delighted to be recognized. I introduced him to my wife and daughter as an Indy 500 legend. We shared some snacks and chatted for awhile. He couldn’t have been nicer. I told him of going to Indy in ‘65 he said “Oh. Not my best year.” I hadn’t realized he didn’t qualify that year. Which was quite a story.

Now, about Ms. Mounds. Never met her, but will always remember going to a World of Outlaws race in the ‘80s where the race queens were from a local strip club. Very different times...

[Gary Davis]

Man....these are some very cool stories.

[Calvin]

Once upon a time....

Never mind, I've never been to the greatest race in the world...

[pje]

My first time attending was supposed to be the 1969 500. The first time I really paid attention to the 500 was 1962. I spent the day down in the basement at my model desk trying to replicate Dan Gurney’s Mickey Thompson Harvey Aluminum Special using the June, 1962 issue of Car & Driver article and cutaway on the car while listening to the race.
In 1967 having failed to figure out what I wanted to do with my life in college, I joined the Air Force. After basic I ended up in Rantoul, Illinois at Chanute AFB for tech school. I was just a bus ride away from a good friend who was a couple years older than me and had figured out life a little more than me. He also had been in the guard so was a free man. Tom Amiot had gotten a job at a big insurance firm in Indianapolis, so I was able to spend a couple of weekends with him at Indianapolis while I was at tech school. We spent one rather wintery day at the Speedway going through the old museum and taking a lap around the oval in a tour van. (Wish I still had that ticket) Tom had taken in the 1967 qualifying but never attended the race either. That got the planning started.
In April I got my orders and by the second Saturday in May I was in Vietnam. So, I was there for a year. I knew if everything went as planned I would be back to the world about the same time in May, 1969. The timing was perfect. I wrote to Tom and we started planning. He sent me all the paper work for tickets. I picked out an area in the upper deck right in the middle of turn 1. I thought that we would have a pretty good view from there. My old brain thinks that these two tickets were $50.00 each and I sent Tom the money. I don’t remember when, but at some point in late 1968 or early 1969 Tom wrote and he had the tickets! The plan was coming into play. When I got home I would be buying my first car and driving from Grand Forks, ND to Indy for the race. Would be cheap as I could stay with Tom, so just expenses.
Then sometime in February the roof fell in. Tom was being transferred to Minneapolis and all our planning was for not. He found a guy that said he would buy the tickets. Tom in good faith gave him the tickets, but the (expletive deleted) hat never sent him a check.
On Memorial Day, 1969, my new car ( a 1967 Simca 1000) was packed and I drove down to Minneapolis to visit Tom On the way I kept on changing stations on my 9V Sony transistor radio as I had no radio installed in the car yet and listened to the broadcast and my man Mario get his first win.
Since then I’ve been to Indy car races at Road America and Portland and been back to visit the Speedway in August of 1996, where we happened to find the stock car guys testing.
I still haven’t made it for the 500. One of these years.

Paul Erlendson

PS

For a number of years now I’ve enjoyed being a member of this forum and loved hearing about so many members’ experiences at the speedway. From Michael’s photos to all the news of the memorabilia show and all the other events. And, most years Stu is texting me as the race unfolds. My thanks to you all.

[quattro]

The thought of Paul being secluded away at his desk trying to build a model using a cutaway drawing....
Put that with listening to the race commentary on a transistor radio and it could be the opening scene to a short movie!

It got me thinking that I may be a right old bore and start a new thread.

You never forget the first time you got your fingers all sticky........

By that I mean asking about the first model you recall building that set you on the road to eventually being on this forum.


If I do start it I will do so some time after Indy has been run.

Just want to say thanks again for the insight and the memories.

[jamesharvey]

This is a great thread and it has been fun reading all the memories. My parents first took me to qualifications in 1946 when I was four years old. We finally went to my first race in 1953 and I was already a great fan. There was a large group (30-40) of people, mostly friends of my parents, who went together. We met in Mooresville and traveled as a group. We parked at Conkle Funeral Home on 16th Street in Speedway and walked to our seats high up in Turn 1. We could see most of the front straightaway, pits, first turn and the short chute into Turn 2. I don't remember much about the race except that Bill Vukovich won and he became one of my heroes along with Ted Horn and Rex Mays. I continued going with my parents, sitting in the same seats until 1963 when I became the Chief Serial Scorer for USAC. But, that is another story.
Jim

[ampersand]

My first Indy 500 was in 1985. I had started my own model company, Ampersand, the year before, and I thought that my models would be just what the teams and sponsors needed and that the best way to promote my models to them would be by traveling to Indy. My biggest customer by far at that time was Motorsports Miniatures in New York, and the owner, Steve Mattero, put me in touch with Bob Tronolone, an excellent photographer and lovely man from California who traveled to Indianapolis every year and who stayed with a local family that happened to have a spare room available. And so it was that I moved in with the Platt's for a week. They lived in the residential area just off Georgetown Road, so it was a five minute walk to the track. They were both retired and about the oddest couple I've ever met: Murray was very tall and skinny and didn't say much, and Ann was very short and stocky, shall we say, and was talking everybodys ear off. But they were absolutely lovely people and let me stay in their home for $25 a night.

A friend of mine was working at a local newspaper here in Denmark, and he somehow convinced his editor that the paper really needed a first hand report from the race, so they arranged for press credentials for me. That got me access everywhere, and according to Bob Tronolone they had given me the best possible credentials - I suppose the Indy 500 didn't attract much attention from local Danish newspapers in those days, so they rolled out the red carpet! Press credentials or not, I was amazed at the accessibility of drivers, team personnel and everybody else. I had been to Le Mans and several F1 races, both in the States when I lived there in the 70's, and in Europe. In 1978 I had bought a pass for a so-called pit walkabout at the F1 race at Brands Hatch, hoping to meet some drivers or team people, but when all us Joe Publics were admitted, all the drivers had vanished. That is: two drivers were there, talking to fans and signing autographs. You've probably already guessed that it was Mario Andretti and Brett Lunger, the two American drivers - I've been a fan of both ever since. At Indy, everybody was like that, and that was a real eye opener.

Another lingering memory: the first time I heard a car coming down the straightaway on full song. The way the air rumbled from the turbulence after the car had passed is absolutely imposible to forget - but who would want to forget that, anyway! The sounds, the atmosphere, the sheer history of the place, and lots of nice, easygoing people made me promise myself that I would keep coming back, and I really had been bitten by the bug: every year around March or April I contracted a disease which my then girlfriend, now wife, Christine called "Indianapolifitis", a rare condition that involved looking for the cheapest air fare from Copenhagen to the USA. I came back in 1986, only for the race to be rained out, 1987, 1989, 1990, 1991, and 1993. That's when my first child was born, and I had long since turned by back on the model business to find a proper job, so I didn't come back until 2011. Since then I've been there in 2016 and 2018, and in the latter visits I have had the pleasure of meeting up with many of you guys from the board, making the trips even more enjoyable. I hope to come back again in 2022!

Bo