Saturday 14 May 1966, I was 9 years old and this is my first of many trips to the famed Brickyard. I had listened to the race prior to this trip on the radio with my dad and can remember seeing the Sachs McDonald crash on the news that night in 1964, but when we got out of the car and I saw this huge facility and heard my first Indycar come out of the pits and in to turn 1 I was hooked.
[I took my granddaughter to time trials in 2014 and had the same experience as we got out of the truck just as a car came through turn 1 and her eyes got great big and she yelled what was that, I just replied back "welcome to Indy that was a race car and if you think that was loud wait until get inside".]
We did and would always sit in turn 1 during time trials. A lot of action would happen there that day and into future years. It was a cloudy cool day and we were seeing the transition from front engine roadsters to the rear engine machines of today.
A.J. Foyt lost control in the short chute and hit the wall just before turn 2. I can remember A.J. getting out of the car car and stuffing his gloves into his helmet. I could tell he was not happy.
And then during the warm-up of his qualification attempt driver Chuck Rodee lost control in turn 1 and hit the wall right in front of us. I can remember that he did not move in the cockpit after coming to a stop. We were sitting in the 3rd row and could see everything during and after the accident. This was my first accident I ever saw in person and can remember all the emergency trucks and people coming around the car. Chuck died during that accident of a ruptured aorta.
Mario Andretti won the pole that day with a four-lap track record of 165.889 mph and I got to see one of my to be favorite drivers Scotland's own Jim Clark who had won the race in 1965. I would become a huge fan of his until his death in 1968. I then favored Mark Donahue who would win in 1972.
Graham Hill won the race that year and I watched the Victory dinner on television and remembered his funny sayings during the dinner.
Until next time.
Welcome to the Vintage Indycar Blog. I grew up just outside Indianapolis and my first trip to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway was back in 1966. We went to pole day as it was known back then every year until 1975 when I joined the United States Air Force.
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| Chuck Rodee |
As we approach the 100th running this year, this blog is designed to bring back memories of when Indycar was in its hay day. The opinions here are just mine and any of you who want to chime in. Keep comments positive and respect other opinions. Any violations will be deleted. Please share your experiences with us and share the blog with your friends.
I will include pictures and historical facts that may have not made the 6 o'clock news back then. I will also share my experiences including getting to meet driver Salt Walther and helping with a book on his life story. We are also producing a video on him that has pictures and interviews that came from Salt's estate.
My biggest thrill in doing the book was getting to talk with track historian Donald Davidson via telephone. We discuss listening to the race on the radio, because living in Indy it was not televised back then so radio was the way we enjoyed the race. I can remember hearing the Eddie Sachs Tommy MacDonald crash and then seeing it on the 6 o'clock news on WISH TV channel 8.
Until next time.
A.J. Foyt lost control in the short chute and hit the wall just before turn 2. I can remember A.J. getting out of the car car and stuffing his gloves into his helmet. I could tell he was not happy.
