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Post by stuboyle on Oct 12, 2009 13:31:25 GMT -5
I seem to recall back a long time ago at the 500 (maybe in the 70's) that when a yellow came out that they wouldn't stack-up but instead had to "hold position". I seem to recall some kind of lights the drivers would follow to help them stay in the correct position. Does anyone recall this? I guessing it was a "failed experiment".
I guess it might be possible now with GPS though it might completely change the nature of the race. Any thoughts?
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Post by professor on Oct 12, 2009 14:18:20 GMT -5
Yes, this was a system that was to maintain the distance between positions during yellows. Of course the drivers kept their distance...right. I think it was called the pacing system or pacer lights. It was based on lights through out the track that would have a number (I think) that would change every few seconds and the idea was that the driver would time his speed so that the same number appeared on each light as he passed them around the track. It was a disaster!
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Post by indycals on Oct 12, 2009 14:48:21 GMT -5
Yes, it was pacer lights. There would be numbers 1-3 and under each number up to 3 lights to further mark your position... ie, the light would say "1", then one, then two, then three lights came on under it before it would change to "2" and so forth. I think they started them around 72 or 73 and the last year was 1978. Also the green would come on at any time - ie the leader could be on the backstretch and the green would come back on. Prior to the pacer lights it was more of an honor system (not that the pacer lights weren't an honor system). Bobby Unser was particular crafty about cheating the pacer lights. He realized that the pacer lights didn't apply to pit road, so he would come roaring down pit road, make a 3-4 second pit stop, then roar back out gaining massive amounts of track space.
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Post by Calvin on Oct 12, 2009 15:24:33 GMT -5
I know 72 was the first year for pacer lights. If you watch the 70's Indianapolis legacy dvd on 1972 shows a shot in one of clips of the 1 - 2 - 3 lights changing. Bobby Unser was particular crafty about cheating the pacer lights. He realized that the pacer lights didn't apply to pit road, so he would come roaring down pit road, make a 3-4 second pit stop, then roar back out gaining massive amounts of track space. That is funny I didn't know that ;D |
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Post by stuboyle on Oct 12, 2009 17:06:03 GMT -5
Bobby Unser was particular crafty about cheating the pacer lights. He realized that the pacer lights didn't apply to pit road, so he would come roaring down pit road, make a 3-4 second pit stop, then roar back out gaining massive amounts of track space. Sounds similar to when Bobby passed a lot of cars coming out of the pits which helped him win the 500 against Mario. The way I understand that situation was that Bobby might have violated convention or the "gentlemen's agreement" but didn't technically violate the rules. Then after that occurred, the convention was later codified in the rules. |
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