Dixon Handed IRL Opener at Homestead

Now the IRL braintrust can focus on St. Pete, since the first race under the unified league banner went off as well as could be expected. Many commented that the new teams were happy to go home (mostly) with their cars still in one piece, and it was clear from watching the race on ESPN2 that the returning IRL teams had what the late Mark Donahue always sought: an unfair advantage - in this case it was sheer familiarity with equipment.

The video of Tony Kanaan all locked up trying to avoid the spinning car of newcomer Ernesto Viso was incredible and I really felt bad for Tony, who I had called for the race win and who appeared to have it in the bag after the last round of pit stops. And that after he escaped a wheel banging incident with his buddy Helio early on! THAT was close!

So Dixon got a gift win and finished where he started: P1. I was really impressed with Marco's run in the lead most of the night, and he may have the oval track handling figured out after all. The Vision guys charged back into the top 10 after getting their qualifying marks DQ'd for tech violations which wiped out their top 3 starting spots and they had to start from the back.

I was most impressed with the way the returning IRL guys handled the debut for the new Champ Car teams: very gracious comments and some of the most professional driving I have seen in years. I still think the new teams will be strong by the time the 500 rolls around 8 weeks from today once they've run a few thousand miles during May. The fact that Tony George paired up experienced IRL teams with the new guys was a true racer's gesture. Now the rumors that Direct TV will sign on as a series sponsor for 2009 could pump new excitement into a series which has been largely overlooked by the masses since the IRL first began racing in 1996. Thank goodness.

Maybe now fans will get the idea that this is still the most exciting racing on the planet for close competition and wheel to wheel action. I sure hope so. These guys are the fastest show on wheels and can win fans back with more performances like last night. But watch out for the Champ Car guys this weekend at St. Pete: drivers can overcome equipment gremlins better on a street course than about anywhere else so I think Power, Wilson, Servia et al will make this the most spectacular St. Pete event yet.

But I'm still pulling for TK. Helio, Dixon, Marco and Wheldon will be close behind. See ya!

McDowell Shines in Sprint Cup Debut at Martinsville

My new favorite driver Michael McDowell showed his stuff for Michael Waltrip Racing today in his Sprint Cup debut at the aged paperclip track in Martinsville, Virginia. Michael ran strong in the top 20 for most of the day, and fought to stay on the lead lap until the very end when a bump cut a tire and dropped him to 26th for the day. The warmest place at the track was probably inside the cockpit where Michael looked right at home.

As I've said before: keep an eye on this guy! He may even win one this season. And don't be surprised if it's on a road course where he might sneak up on people who don't know about his karting, Champ Car and Rolex Series background.

I was fortunate to do some work for Michael the last couple of seasons while he ran ARCA and got to speak to him on a number of occasions. You couldn't ask for a nicer, more approachable guy and I am so happy for him that his hard work is paying off at the top of the stock car world. I was always impressed with his ability to be quick and clean and I suspect that will bode well for him as he challenges the established teams and drivers in Sprint Cup this season. I'd be willing to bet he will routinely outrun his more experienced teammates this season, especially once he starts going to tracks for a second visit. And as much as I like the open wheel guys like Hornish and Dario, I've got to pull for Michael this year for Rookie of the Year. And he'll do it with an abbreviated season!

Go fast. Turn left. Hang on. Go Micheal, go!

Today We Race: Together At Last

The opening of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway is now just 36 days away and the 500 itself will be run 57 days from now. As the countdown continues to arguably the most relevant Indy 500 in many years, today the best in American open wheel racing gather at Florida's Homestead Speedway. Time will tell if the historic reunification of the Indy Racing League and Champ Car brokered by Tony George will have staying power. But when I hear TG state that the 25/8 rule implemented in 1996 at Indy was a mistake, I have even greater hopes for the future of Indycars. In the modern era of blame and shame tactics, how often to you hear a highly visible leader admit they made a mistake? Its virtually unheard of. I hope the Champ Car fans will see this as an additional peacemaking gesture and show their true open wheel colors. Let's also hope the name "Indycar World Series" can be resurrected as Tony suggested. This time, it will really mean something.

So today we race. One series. Lots of newcomers to oval racing and much has already occurred in the last week that will shape the outcome of this race. Graham Rahal is out after crashing in testing, the team short on time and spares. Wheldon crashes during qualifying in the new 4-lap format. Vision Racing teammates Ed Carpenter and AJ Foyt IV will start second and third. But at the point is a man who should be no surprise to anyone: Scott Dixon. He could very well win tonight if he stays out front, as Scotty D knows how to run the huggy pole in these high downforce Dallaras better than about anyone. My pick is Helio, even though new teammate Ryan Briscoe outqualified him. With the new qualifying requirement, who knows who is really running on the edge and who is working on a balance for race day? Penske strategy will likely carry the day.

Seven of the former Champ Car drivers have been designated rookies for the year and that's probably a good thing with so many ovals on the schedule. But watch out for those guys at St. Pete next weekend, and at the Glen, Mid Ohio and Sonoma. Danica will finally win a race this year but she will not be able to match her teammates' speed on a regular basis, nor the racecraft of Tony Kanaan. Marco will probably take a road course win but let's hope he learns how to handle a loose race car on ovals or he will have plenty of DNF's just like last year. Will Power or Justin Wilson will probably win an oval race, maybe at Chicagoland Speedway, once they've got their oval legs and nothing to lose in the season finale. Wheldon can challenge for the season title if his crew corrects their pit and race tactic errors from last year, but crashing in qualifying doesn't bode well for Danny-boy. Methinks he may be trying too hard. Vision just might have it together to get someone in victory lane if Homestead qualifying is any indication. Bruno Junqueira knows the fast way at Indy so he could challenge for several wins this year if the team gives him the proper support; but I doubt it. It should be fun to watch.

My pick for the season title though is Helio Castroneves. I have had toruble being a Penske fan since his teams won Indy so often but I always liked Rick Mears and Sam Hornish, plus he's given Ryan Briscoe a new lease on his racing life with the ALMS Porsche ride and now a season seat in Indycars. Lord knows Helio has always been fast wherever he goes, and despite two Indy 500 wins, he's never been a season champion. Now it's his turn. Tony Kanaan will be right there with his childhood karting buddy, and Scott Dixon will certainly be in the mix as well.

So there you have it - one man's view. The usual suspects. A few surprises. All together now: let's go racing!

Honda Gears Up for IRL Challenge

I have to wonder if there was another agenda for Tony George's recent trip to Japan which ostensibly was to discuss changing the Motegi race date. I have no reason to believe that the race date wasn't a big item but could it be that TG was also making sure that Honda could produce enough engines for Indy and the larger IRL entry list through the rest of the season.

I don't have any inside information on that score, but there has been talk at Indy in recent years of Honda limiting their engine leases. Last year for instance, you could sign up for the whole month of May or get a shortened lease for the second week of practice and the rest of the month.

Honda has a huge investment in the IRL and the last thing they would want to see is having a shortage of engines hampering the series success. Having worked some with Japanese auto companies in years' past, I think Honda would want to be sure their image is not tarnished by a lack of engines, or worse, a spate of engine failures. Since Toyota left the IRL, it seems generally accepted that Honda has provided a detuned engine which in its 2007 form was virtually bullet proof. I can't remember a single engine failure last season. The current rev limiter package also helps make sure the bottom doesn't drop out of their engines and since teams can't do anything with the engine's internals, it's all up to Honda.

Long gone are the days when an Indycar engine would detonate in a plume of foul smelling smoke and oil down a racetrack. Now, Honda has a greater responsibility than ever before and I am certain Honda's QA/QC people are going to be pulling plenty of overtime between now and May to ensure their incredible reliability record remains intact. Anyone that has worked in manufacturing knows that ramping up production can lead to problems with the finished product, yet somehow I believe that Honda will exempt itself from that through its traditional attention to detail and zealous work ethic.

Time will tell if Honda can deliver the same goods as the past couple of seasons, but I am certain they will. And with Acura in the ALMS now, they have an alternate test bed for parts and a fertile training ground for their engineering staff to deal with whatever gremlins do surface. Somewhere in Japan, there are engineers monitoring telemetry every race: of that I am equally certain.

But my opinion isn't important. Tony George must think Honda can handle it, and his opinion is the only one that matters. After all, he knows who his important partners are in the IRL, and Honda is right at the top of the list. Can it be long before the series is known as the "Honda Indy Racing League"?

Countdown to the Indy 500

As I write this today, there are only 12 weeks to the Indy 500. 84 days. It is truly hard to believe that less than a month ago, the open wheel rumor mill really got cranking about a possible merger between the Indy Racing League and the Champ Car World Series. And a week ago, it was finally done. I'm still pinching myself to be sure I'm awake.

What I don't find hard to believe is the vitriol that fans are still spewing about the merger and loss of their beloved CCWS. I don't blame them a bit, and that's one of the great things about being a race fan: passion. After all, two drugstore conglomerates might merge in the business world and no one gives a rat's ass so long as you can still go to the corner store and get your prescription filled. But merging the top US open wheel series is another story entirely and just like a merger or marriage gone bad, the hard feelings are going to take time to heal as there is always fallout, some of which is emotional and some financial.

Certainly we're seeing that already, as teams and the schedule are taking hits. With the news that Forsythe racing is closing up shop, Paul Tracy is out of a ride and a few dozen hard working support team members have to look elsewhere to stay in motorsports. Lots of money was spent developing the DP01 chassis for Champ Car and now those cars are museum pieces. Cosworth doesn't have customers anymore. And I can certainly understand how the folks in Cleveland would not be happy about suddenly finding themselves out of a race for 2008, as that event has become a showcase for the city's Erie lakefront development initiatives. Not only that, but having been to the event myself years ago, the course layout is most like an oval of any of the road courses, since it is fast and wide, and fans can see the whole track from their seats. Of course fans are going to be upset when these kinds of things happen. I expect the shakeout will continue through the middle of this year and Tony George has lots of fence mending to do to craft a 2009 schedule that shows off the best of Indycar racing for all its constituents - racers, fans, promoters and communities alike.

But racing is business and businesses must adjust to the marketplace. Tony George has been vilified over the years for changing objectives with the IRL. Plenty of blog posts exist that criticize him for modifying the original vision of an oval based series where the tradition of short track racers coming to Indianapolis could be kept alive. When the IRL started adding selected road and street courses, the howling reached a crescendo and critics ramped up their attacks. Yet how often in the business world do companies change their vision and marketing approach? It's happening in some corporate board room every single day. If they don't, they don't survive and that's what could have happened with Indycar racing if Tony hadn't done something. No one else has the financial wherewithal to make it happen. No one else was willing to go to the mat and make sure everyone could get cars and motors. And no one else has the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, where 2009 will mark 100 years since the facility originally opened with balloon and motorcycle races on a crushed cinder track.

So now everyone can get down to business and go racing. Tony's grandpa saved the track from the bulldozers after World War II when developers eyed the property for housing development. I would suggest that Tony has saved Indycar racing from the scrapheap of motorsports series that peaked and then faded away. Only time will tell how Indycars will fare in the current marketplace as stock car racing has a huge head start. It's up to the fans now to decide. So as I've said before, get out and go to a race. Support what you love. Buy some IRL swag. Ignore those that pine for the good old days as they are never coming back, and let's make something greater happen under the sport's current vision. To quote Rodney King, "Can't we all just get along?"

I hope to see you at 16th & Georgetown in a few short weeks. Let the healing process begin.

The following link will take you to pix of drivers or car owners from last season that you can expect to see in 2008 on the Indycar circuit. I am really looking forward to adding new faces to these galleries as the Champ Car guys come back, and I'll have more to say about the season ahead, the teams to watch for and the buildup to Indy as the weeks progress. Y'all come back now, ya hear?

Indy Racing League Drivers

Indycars - All Together Now

I have held off writing the last few days to see if I was going to awake from a dream and discover the rumors about an open wheel reunion had been a nightmare. But the dream lives on after all, and despite what many on the internet are saying, Tony George has made it happen at long last. I for one do not think it is too late for Indycar racing to regain its prestige and reputation on the US sporting scene.

So go buy a ticket! Get to a race. Or STFU.

Bash Tony all you want but anyone that follows open wheel racing in America must know that the bankruptcy judge did no one any favors when he bypassed George for Kahlkoven's lower offer a few years ago. Let's face it folks, Indy is the goose that laid the golden egg, and Tony has some spare change now that he doesn't have to feed the F1 greed machine anymore. Hasta la vista, Bernie. Welcome back Paul Newman.

Granted, the bleeding has been severe since the first IRL season in 96, and perhaps the fan base won't recover. But at least everyone is together again. I expect 2009 to be a spectacular season, while the series will experience teething pains this year.

I hold out hope for a number of positives. Perhaps the teams will actually share info and parts, as in years past when new teams were struggling to find speed. I'm sure Dallara has a base setup that everyone will get, and Indy will provide lots of track time for teams to sort themselves out.

Lord knows plenty of guys have gotten up to speed in May with unfamiliar equipment and part time crews in the past, so there's no doubt in my mind that the Champ Car guys will adapt. And much more quickly than many may expect. The established IRL teams will still have an advantage this year, but adding a couple more open tests should help everyone get with the program.

I also think we will hear the CCWS guys glad to be back at Indy. Paul Tracy will even have to admit he wants another shot at Helio, and I doubt he will say that Indy "owes" him one.

Newman Haas will be a force to reckon with, especially for the 500. Rahal and Wilson will have no problem going fast in May.

Derek Walker will somehow find some cash and get a car in the show at IMS. If Greg Beck can do it every year, then surely someone with Walker's savvy will be on the pace in a hurry. After all, he beat everyone a few years ago at Mid Ohio on strategy with the Porsche program that couldn't get out of its own way anywhere else.

With Australia and Edmonton on the schedule, the international fans will be treated to the best open wheel competition anywhere once again. I challenge anyone that would say there's a racier series this year, and don't feed me the F1 techno line as those guys don't race. Indycars do.

I can't wait for May and I wish I could get to Florida for the Homestead and St. Pete races, but my summer will be busy in the Midwest with the middle portion of the IRL schedule. It's really even more of a shame now that Michigan is gone from the schedule, as that is the one track where these cars really can stretch their legs and fans can see the whole show from the stands.

I do have a couple of other questions:

When will Tony Stewart come back?

And, is it May yet?

Motorsports Mayhem: A Racing Photographer's Dilemma

You may have heard an old saying in racing that goes something like this: "There are drivers who have hit the wall, and drivers that are going to." Or, "There are old drivers and bold drivers, but no old, bold drivers." Or, "The only reason people go to races is to see crashes." Each of these is true to a certain extent. If you want to be a racing photographer, shooting wrecks comes with the territory, as the "splash shot" with the moment of wall contact has historically been a wire service staple. Before autofocus and digital imaging came along, shooting a crash was one of the most difficult elements of a race event to shoot. Winner's circle and pit stops are no-brainers. Panning cars as they go by is not much more difficult. Now it seems that almost anyone can grab an EOS camera and call themselves a racing photographer. That's not a good thing in my estimation, and those of us that started years ago don't see much new blood coming into the field.

Many of us started because we loved racing and wanted to get closer to the action. Standing in one spot at Indy day after day for hours at a time waiting for a three second burst of action was often the only way photo stringers could make any money. But race day made it all worthwhile. The vantage points are incredible: nothing between you and the racetrack except other photographers - at least it used to be that way until the safety gurus started putting up fences. At most tracks now, you have to either shoot through the chain link, or share a hole with a dozen other people. But that's another story altogether.

Timing is everything. If the cars are at speed, an incident can happen at any time, so you must stay alert and can't turn your back on the racetrack. An "incident". I've always found that a quaint way of describing a driver's most inglorious moment in a race, like the shot here of Mario Andretti spinning in the first turn at Detroit in 1989. Position and location are almost as important as timing. Go to enough races and you'll know where the likely accident areas are, but they can still happen anywhere, as Dario Franchitti proved twice last year, first catching air on the backstretch at Michigan and then doing it again at Kentucky after the checkered flag had already flown.

One odd thing about shooting crashes: the sound of a car pounding the concrete. Everything gets quiet as a driver pedals out of the throttle or jams on the brakes, but a car (especially an Indy Car) hitting the wall sounds like the slamming of a big heavy car door on a luxury car. Then it really gets quiet. No squealing tires or debris noise raining down around you. Just quiet, and then the cars that are following pedalling even harder to slow down and miss the wreckage and trash that inevitably ends up strewn across the racing line. My hands don't shake anymore after I've shot a crash like they did when I first started, but I still get a rush from shooting a spectacular accident and seeing the driver get out unscathed. Thankfully, I've never shot a fatality but I have been there for some serious injuries and that is never any fun. An old adage has proven true many times over as well: if you see it through the lens, you didn't get it, as the shutter blinds you while the motordrive is humming and what you don't see is what you get.

And I've always found that the language used to describe the mayhem on the track has it's own charm. A driver will hit the fence. Smack the wall. Flip. Get airborne. Pancake the wall. He will get on his head. He may have clouted the barrier or done some agricultural racing on a road course. He might go off. Or end up in the weeds or the toollies. A race might become a crashfest or demolition derby. He may have wadded it up or tried to knock down the walls. I'm sure there are other descriptions you may have heard, but they all usually mean the same thing. And you can bet that there will be a photographer somewhere nearby capturing the moment. The best part nowadays is you don't have to wait for the film to be souped and wonder what you got. With digital, it's all right there instantly, so the anxiety level is greatly reduced over the days when everyone shot Tri-X or Fuji film.

Aside from the hazards of being so close to crashing cars, there are other hazards that every photographer will face at one time or another. And I'm not talking about drunken fans or tornado warnings. Batteries will crap out and the motor drive won't advance. Or the shutter will freeze up. You'll forget something, left behind in your car parked in the infield miles away. Someone will stand in front of you at exactly the wrong moment. You'll leave your extra memory cards at home. You'll be walking back to your spot after a yellow flag and a crash will occur right across from where your cameras are sitting, on top of your camera bag. You're panning with one car and the next one spins but you cut off half the car in the frame. Or turn the lens the wrong way to focus. They've all happened to me.

At least we don't have to worry about banging the end of the roll of film in the middle of an "incident" anymore. Thank God for digital.

The following link has selected spins and crashes going back to 1984, many of them scanned from prints from a variety of racing series.

Crash & Bash

Indycar Union Possible?

Anyone with half a brain knows that big time open wheel racing in America has suffered since the 1996 split into two series. The Indy Racing League (IRL) and the Champ Car World Series (CCWS) have been at each others' throats ever since then. Now it seems there's a real chance for unification, just as the eyes of the racing world look to Daytona for NASCAR's biggest race. So did Hornish, Franchitti, et al leave too soon?

Recent reports by Robin Miller of Speedtv.com are almost too good to be true: that Tony George has offered free cars to all CCWS teams and will incorporate several CCWS races in the 2008 IRL season. And that Kevin Kahlkoven is actually listening! But haven't we been down this road before? Just when things seemed to be getting close to a sensible deal in the past, something always seemed to happen and it blew up, both camps going to their separate corners and extending the stalemate. Well that stalemate has just about cost open wheel fans their beloved sport and while I have been a loyal IRL fan from the beginning because of my allegiance to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, I've followed Champ Car and watched their races too. It's been obvious that one series is better than two, and the casual fan only cares about who runs at Indy, so it's better for everyone to get together.

I won't hold my breath that this latest news is for real until I see photos of Tony and Kevin standing together at the yard of bricks shaking hands. It sure would be awesome to see Tracy back at Indy, along with Graham Rahal, Justin Wilson and the rest. Full fields with legitimate bumping at Indy. 24 or more cars at road courses. 30 or more on ovals. Imagine that.

I guess since Tony doesn't have to feed the F1 money monster anymore, he must have some extra cash lying around so what better place to spend it than on top level open wheel racing right here in the good old U. S. of A?

Thank God. So let's strap in, shut up, go fast and turn left. Please!

"Racing is Life - Everything Else is Just Waiting"

Anyone that enjoys racing movies knows this quote from the late Steve McQueen in "LeMans". I can definitely relate.

I can't even begin to guess how many races I've been to over the years. I do know that if you put all the days I've spent at Indy back-to-back, it would be in excess of 14 months. So I guess racing has been life for me in many respects. As I've been going back through my photo collection for post material like this shot of Keke Rosberg at Detroit in 1984, so many memories have come flooding back to me. Some of them still give me goosebumps even now.

Many of the pix I've attached to this post fall into that category. Awesome events at Michigan International Speedway. Dale Earnhardt in a Busch car at Indianapolis Raceway Park. Shooting in the pits at the Indy 500. Being up close with legends like Gordon Johncock or Rick Mears at Indy. Foyt waving to friends in his Turn 2 suite at Indy after qualifying. Nelson Piquet pondering his lone attempt at Indy, only to be horribly injured in a Turn 4 crash, never to return.

There's something special about being close to the track, peeking over the top of my camera, waiting to react to the slightest bobble, watching the right front tire at Indy to see if it's riding up out of the groove. There have been times during races when shooting becomes effortless and instinctive, where I've tapped into the energy of the moment - entered the same "zone" that athletes talk about when concentration is at its highest. It's only happened to me a couple of times and by the time I realize I'm there it's over. The Indy 500 in 1992 was one of those times - the "Ice Race" - when it was freezing cold and there were crashes galore for the first half of the race on almost every restart due to cold tires. Everything I shot that day was spot on, the cars went by in slow motion, the air was crystal clear and electric at the same time... I could go on and on.

Anyway, what good are a bunch of pictures stuffed in a photo album if no one sees them? That's why I'm here again this evening. Enjoy! Talk soon!

Racing is Life

Indy 500 1986: Rain, Rain & Racin' on my Birthday

The 500 has had remarkable luck through the years with weather. 2007 was wet of course, but they got the race in (or most of it). 1986 was one of the marathon years, longer even than 1973, since the race had to be postponed a week after the slated date was washed out, and the following day it rained non-stop. I didn't even go to the track the second day as I recall. This photo is from the scheduled date and gives an idea of things fans used to do in the infield to kill time. You can bet alcohol was involved. There's another pic in the attached album showing another popular infield pastime, but this is a family blog so I won't go into details here. I tell people they postponed the race to my birthday in '86 and it was nice that they threw the biggest party in the world for me at 16th & Georgetown that year.

But getting the race run was a monumental effort. Back then, USAC ran the 500 under its rules, and CART ran all the other Indy-style races. The Speedway didn't want to run the 500 on a regular work day after the Memorial Day weekend (original race day Sunday, rain date Monday Memorial Day), as I am sure they were worried about a drop off in attendance. But CART had a race scheduled at Milwaukee the next weekend, so the Speedway and CART had to work together and Milwaukee got rescheduled so the 500 could be run on Saturday May 31, plus still have Sunday June 1 for an additional rain date if needed. Given the state of open wheel racing today with the IRL and Champ Car still at odds, the kind of cooperation demonstrated in 1986 is almost unbelievable in hindsight. But the powers that be made it work somehow. If only cooler heads could prevail today and get Indy racing unified again...

The 1986 500 was my third year working as a credentialed photographer at Indy for UPI. I was in the south short chute in '84, Turn 4 in '85 and Turn 3 for 1986. Turn 3 was a long way from everything back then with only one small section of stands across the track from my shooting position. Infield parking was a free-for-all and the police presence was virtually non-existent. The attitude seemed to be as long as no one got hurt, anything was OK, and just about anything could be seen at the track then. After all, the Speedway became the second largest city in Indiana every year on race day, so anything that happens in a city could (and would often) happen on race day. It was a human zoo.

That race was remarkable not only for the week's delay, but for the way it ended. We got paid off handsomely for waiting a week as Bobby Rahal charged past Kevin Cogan on a restart with a couple laps to go to win. Rick Mears finished third in the closest 1-2-3 finish at Indy up to that time. Sneva, Mario, AJ, Unser, Rutherford and all the historic big names were still racing, and the driver mix was eclectic as usual: Guerrero, Geoff Brabham, Roberto Moreno, Ongais. One of the more poignant elements of that year was the fact that Rahal's car owner, Jim Trueman, was dying with cancer but few people knew about it. I remember walking pit lane one day during practice and seeing him with the team and I barely recognized him. He was always so fit and tan in prior years, but it was clear that he wasn't his usual self that year. Not long after the 500, he passed away, leaving a legacy at Indy and at Mid Ohio Sports Car Course which he owned. God bless people like Jim Trueman for what they do (or have done) for racing.

It's hard to believe the changes that have occurred at the 500 since then. But I guess that just means I'm "experienced". Youth challenged. An old fart. Whatever. My pictures will outlive me and I've been blessed with the opportunity to be involved.

Indy 500 1986

Indy 500 Memories - 1982

Arguably one of the greatest Indy 500's ever took place in 1982 when Rick Mears chased down Gordon Johncock over the final 11 laps, knocking a second per lap off of "Wee Gordie's" lead and challenging him in Turn 1 on the white flag lap. Gordie's chop job was classic although Mears still almost pulled it off. At the time, it was the closest finish in 500 history.


My vantage point was above Victory Lane that year with the ladies of the Indy 500 Festival, the Queen and her Court, one of whom I was fortunate to be dating. I had borrowed a camera from a friend of mine to take to the race - no motor drive, maybe a 135 mm lens, and I was just beginning to learn how to shoot. The day began with no sleep after a party at the house I was sharing lasted into the early hours of race day. My date and her Festival sponsor picked me up in the Camaro pace car around 6 a.m. and we started off with a breakfast reception at the former Indiana National Bank Tower, then followed a police escort caravan of all the Festival pace cars to the track. We were part of the pre-race ceremonies where the ladies sat on the roof of the cars on a lap around the track. I was squeezed into the tiny back seat trying to take pictures as we circled the oval. When that was over, we went to the reserved seating area above Victory Lane for the race itself.


Then the carnage began. At the start, Kevin Cogan bounced off of AJ Foyt, (that "damn Coogan" as AJ later said over the PA system) and slid to the inside wall and collected Mario who had started on the inside of Row 2 and tried to get through a gap between the spinning Cogan and the pit wall. In the back of the pack, one of the Whittington brothers, Dale, ran over Roger Mears so four cars were out before the field even got to the yard of bricks. The Whittingtons had their own story (more on them another time) but Dale had no business being in the race. During the red flag, we could see AJ hammering on his car with a rubber mallet trying to get the car out of gear. Cogan later said he thought a CV joint broke, but I will always believe that he just lit up the tires when the turbo kicked in coming down for the green flag. And Mario - well, he seemed to be cheating up from his row mates and if he hadn't jumped the start himself, he might have been able to miss Cogan.


At any rate, Cogan's career was forever damaged by this incident, and he never took his helmet off as he walked back down pit lane, out of the race before it even began. He probably thought someone would take a swing at him. Keeping his helmet on was likely a good decision. The whole mess was really terrible for Cogan, since he was seemed very talented. Photogs still talk about people running the "Cogan line" as he could run higher in the turns that about anyone I ever saw at Indy. As I recall, he lost his ride with Penske after the 82 season. In 86, was leading the race when he got snookered by Bobby Rahal on a restart with only a couple of laps to go. I still remember Sam Posey trying to talk to Cogan on the 86 ABC telecast during that last yellow, and Cogan responding, "I'm kinda busy right now"!


During that 82 race, the Festival folks took us all up in the scoring tower just past the halfway point. It was my first time being up there and the view was spectacular. I remember bumping into TV personality Joyce DeWitt who was one of the celebrities attending that year. As the race wound down, the crowd couldn't sit down as Mears chased Gordie down and everyone realized a fantastic finish was possible. It was the only time I can recall at the 500 that the crowd noise drowned out the cars and it was impossible to be heard by the people next to you. Gordie never lifted and was a popular winner, as Mears was still a relative newcomer and his day would come. The pictures I've posted today are from film and scanned from 25 year old prints, but they are representative of my early work at Indy.


Wild start. Great finish. Victory Lane seats. Awesome day from beginning to end. Is it any wonder I haven't missed a 500 since 1976?

Indy 500 1982

Photog History - One View of Indycars

After getting the "royal" treatment at the Indy 500 in 1982, I knew I had to get to more Indycar races. The urge to photograph what I was experiencing also was growing. My best friend and I went to Michigan in the fall of 1982 for the Detroit News Grand Prix where CART ran the feature race with support races for ASA stock cars and the super vee series. We almost got hit head-on on US 12 on the way up to the track the night before but we made it in my friend's van and got into the infield after midnight. One of many adventures getting to or from races as I look back now. Like the first time I went to Michigan in 1981 for the Norton 500. We had enjoyed a beautiful day in the holding area on Saturday only to have the race washed away the next day and I couldn't get back. 1982 found some of us in the Turn 4 infield across from where Hector Rebaque took out AJ Foyt. But I got in the pits that day with a borrowed camera and couldn't get enough.

In 1983, I went back to the infield at Indy with friends but I was growing tired of the madness. I bought my first real camera that year - a Canon A1 with a cheap Sigma zoom lens and thought I was ready to go shoot. Boy did I have a lot to learn. The picture with this post is from the Michigan 500 in 1983 with Rick Mears (1) racing Al Unser Sr. (7), Mario Andretti (3) and Bill Alsup. Several of us went up together and had seats in the pit terrace bleachers where this shot was taken from. About an hour before the race was to start, a tornado warning was issued for the area and they cleared everyone out of the stands. So we went back to my friend's pickup truck and waited out the ferocious thunderstorm that rolled through. As quickly as it came it was gone and the sun came out which dried the track in short order. An absolutely awesome race followed with John Paul Jr. passing Rick Mears going down the backstretch on the last lap for the win, and Mears crashing between Turns 3 and 4 trying to catch him.

500 miles at Michigan was a sight to behold. It's a shame they don't run that distance up there anymore. What's worse is they don't run there at all anymore. Back in the day, they usually had at least 28 cars and more often than not had a full 33 car field. I miss those days.

But I don't miss the craziness that sometimes accompanied those road trips. Maybe someday I'll tell y'all about it.

Jay

Hoosier-ville Tales: Hoops & Horsepower

Just a Hoosier. That's what a friend of mine in college used to say - only he would add the f-ing word before Hoosier. He was from the Bronx so that may explain it, but I've come to love that phrase. Just a Hoosier.

And what does a Hoosier do as a kid? Play basketball. Go to race tracks. If you're living in Indiana-ville in the early '60's, there wasn't much else to do. Even after moving to Indy in '68, the same could be said for this big old small town. It wasn't called Naptown for nothing.

My grandpa (and namesake) took me to the county fairgrounds racetrack in Warsaw, Indiana when I was about 4. I was hooked. Little quarter mile dirt track he helped build, according to mom. Dirt flying in my face, hanging on the fence, walking through the pits, soaking up the roar. Pretty heady stuff for a young Hoosier. My dad bought me a ring-a-bell basketball set and used to take me to the gym when he played ball when I was about the same age. Most people have probably never seen a ring-a-bell set nowadays. It had a little wire rim with a bracket for hanging it on a door and a metal tongue that would literally ring a bell when the tiny ball went through the string nets. I must have driven my folks crazy playing with that thing. That probably explains why it got nailed to a tree by the driveway after awhile.

No two things have been more constant in my life: hoops and horsepower. Since I started shooting at the Indy 500 in 1984, I've spent more than 14 months of my life at the Speedway - and I mean 14 months straight if you put all the days back to back. And I guarantee I've spent more time than that in a gym or bouncing a ball somewhere.

So I guess it's no surprise that photography started entering into it in my adult life. I went to my first 500 in 1970 and have been to every one since 1976. In 1982, I was lucky to be dating a woman who was a 500 Festival Princess and got to sit right above Victory Lane for arguably the greatest 500 ever - the Mears-Johncock duel. I stood on the photographers platform for the winner's circle shots, and the yellow shirts tried to shoo me away. I just told them I was with her and they left me alone. A gang of us used to be first in the track through Gate 9A at 25th & Georgetown to get a prime infield spot along the fence in Turn 4, but that got old as friends got married off. And the photography bug bit me about the same time. The shot with this post is of Gasoline Alley in 1981, and my last year fighting the infield crowd for space was 1983. I knew there had to be a better way. So I wrote or called people to see about credentials, and Alex Persons gave me a chance with UPI. Thank you Alex!

I have been very fortunate to see a lot of great races at the Speedway, and many historic moments, including the first NASCAR test at the Brickyard. I hope to bring back many of these moments in coming posts, and dust off some old prints to show the way things used to be. Much has changed about basketball and racing in Indiana (they ruined high school basketball with the class tournament) and the 500 and open wheel racing is still suffering from the effects of the IRL-CART split, but the love of hoops and horsepower still lives on in this Hoosier.

A bad day at the racetrack (or in the gym) is still better than a lot of good days at lots of other places. See you in the turns or on the baseline.

Hello 2008! More Tales from the 'Ville to Follow!

Now it's Antiville? Yes folks, there really is a town in Indiana with that name. And since it's been so long since I've written, I thought that might be a good start to sum up my feelings about 2007: good bye and good riddance. Sounds harsh perhaps, but it was a year filled with polar opposites for me. The best part was the racing. The worst was looking for employment and scraping up a living. But it has all worked out for the best and I am truly excited about 2008.

Maybe this year, someone will actually read this thing! I had a lot of great experiences at the racetrack last year, but the one thing that seemed to plague my track luck was rain. At Indy. Then Nashville. Then Michigan. At first I was thinking I was some kind of IRL rain hex, but then Mid Ohio and Chicagoland cancelled that all out.

Then I had to (and I do mean HAD TO) find full time work so that's why I've been away for awhile. Since my last post, Helio has won Dancing with the Stars, and all the open wheel guys seem to be jumping to NASCAR. But is it just me or do none of the newer guys seem to know how to handle a loose race car? Not any of the shoes from sprint cars or midgets, but the F1 or IRL drivers like Dario, Villeneuve and Carpentier, and even my man Hornish. Could be that the ground effects brigade has become so dependent on downforce that when the slippin' and slidin' starts, these guys don't seem to know how to handle it? Not Montoya though - he can drive anything. Maybe Tony Stewart and Jeff Gordon need to take these new guys to Eldora and help them learn what that seat of the pants feel is all about.

But what the heck do I know? I'm just a hoosier photog with a passion for shiny fast cars. If you feel the same, then maybe you'll enjoy a collection of my blog pix from 2007. Just click on the Michael McDowell pic which follows and he'll take you to see the rest on my newest picasa album. BTW - congrats to Michael for making it to Sprint Cup for this year. See you at the Brickyard.

And please go subscribe to American Motor Journal and Stock Car Racing Magazine. You'll see more of my stuff there this year.

IndyJay42 Blog Pix 2007

Franchitti Takes Indy Racing League Title with Chicago Win

But for a half gallon of ethanol, my last blog prediction would have been on the money. Too bad for Dixon that he didn't get just a tad better mileage...

So Dario wins Indy and the IRL title - one in the rain and the other on fumes. I had a feeling he was going to get there at Chicagoland about halfway through the race as he went longer than everyone else between pit stops every time and he just tooled around in the draft behind the Ganassi and Penske cars biding his time. It still seems odd to me that Dario and Dixon ended up as the only cars shown on the lead lap, but when I'm shooting at a race with the earplugs in, I can't hear the PA system and have to rely on experience and the scoring tower to keep track of the top 5. Most of the time that works pretty well but when the IRL waved essentially the whole field around the pace car for the penultimate restart, it seemed strange.




But then, what a long strange trip it has been this season. I finally got to an IRL oval race that was not effected by rain. I was fortunate to shoot six IRL races this year (counting Indy) which is the most I've ever done, and I saw a lot of great side-by-side racing and craziness. Dario flying two weeks in a row. Marco upside down at Mid Ohio. Dixon dominating at Nashville. Shooting from the outside at Kentucky. It's all good.





Now this weekend I go to Salem Speedway for ARCA madness on the high banks to see if my man Michael McDowell can put another dent in the series points lead of Frank Kimmel. I'll have another post coming soon on the ARCA season so stay tuned.





Jay

Chicagoland Spin Cycle - Best Indycar Paint Scheme for 2007

Hello from the media center at Chicagoland Speedway, where the ARCA stock cars and Indy Pro Series events have been run largely under yellow so far as a result of numerous crashes. Thus the spin cycle header.

But the best paint job for the season award goes to Marty Roth's team, where he has added former World of Outlaw star PJ Chesson for this weekend. The car is sponsored by a t-shirt company and has the wildest graphics of any in years. Well done Marty!

Today the Indycar championship will be decided and I hope everyone keeps all four wheels on the asphalt. Yesterday a car in the ARCA race got some air in a three-car wreck, and this morning Wade Cunningham flipped in the Pro Series race coming into Turn 3. After Dario's recent aerobatics, that's about enough. So I'l be back later, hopefully with pix of the race winner and Indycar champ.

Scott Dixon.

Jay

More Tales from the -ville: US Nationals NHRA

Hello again folks. Been away and haven't kept up with the updates because I've had to go back to my regular life away from the race track and do all the things that normal people do on the weekends but which traveling precluded. Until this past weekend...

And a glorious weekend it was to be a race fan in Indy. The Mac Tools NHRA US Nationals were in town and after the multiple rain delays at their last race, I'm sure the sanctioning people were more than overjoyed with the conditions. Drivers probably were not though, as the sun was unrelenting and the right lane seemed to take the brunt of it Monday as car after car spun tires and smoked themselves to the sidelines. Perfect late summer weather. Blue skies Saturday through Monday - never had to change my camera settings except for the Saturday night qualifying.

I had an experience like no other in my life as a racing photographer. I got there Saturday afternoon during the first nitro qualifying session and went out by the retaining wall and I'm thinking I'm ready for this - got my earplugs and my gun muffs, and I've been up close to race cars before, so what's the big deal, right? The first top fuel pass almost blew me off my feet and my thinking immediately changed. Surely the loudest racing I've ever been involved in but what took me by surprise was the shock wave as the cars blasted off the line past me. Looking through the camera, the air seemed to liquefy from the heat and vibration as the cars passed, and my insides felt like they were being pulverized. I felt beat up Sunday morning, but I was happy with the way I adapted and was extremely pleased with the work I did for American Motor Journal. I knew several of the photographers from Indy and other races already, and the new ones I met were quick to tease me about being an NHRA "virgin". So I've been duly violated and can see how people get hooked on that form of racing.

This weekend I'm back on the road to Chicagoland and the ARCA/IRL weekend so the roundy-rounders will have my attention as rookie and rising star Michael McDowell tries to chase down Frank Kimmel for the ARCA title and Dario tries to hang on to a slim lead for the IRL title. As the IRL gang has proven the last few weeks, anything can happen. Let's keep the shiny side up this weekend, however.

See you at the track!

Jay

Kanaan Strong at Kentucky - Franchitti Flies (Again!!!)

I thought Michigan was wild and crazy but last night's Indy Racing League event at Kentucky may have topped it. Darion doesn't recognize the checkers are out and gets airborne again. Danica almost hits a safety truck after blowing a tire. Helio and Kanaan bang wheels and they both escape. My man Sam spins out and takes Wheldon with him. And AJ Foyt IV was leading the race on the last restart with 10 laps to go. I never would have believed it.

But there was Kanaan, fastest all night, overtaking Foyt relatively easily in the end, to put an exclamation point on a sweltering Kentucky evening and close in on the points leaders with just three races to go. I loved every minute of it, although it seems lately like I am at the wrong place at the wrong time when the real theatrics happen. I had just shot TK crossing the start-finish line under the checkered flags and turned to head to victory lane, when I heard the crowd gasp and that distinctive "WHUMP" sound these cars make when someone hits the wall. My first thought was "goodness - the race is over and people are still crashing" and I could then see Dario sliding along the wall in Turn 1. THEN I saw the video replay on the track's big screen and OMG! Is Dario the luckiest driver around or what? He needs to go out on a boat or something for a few days, stay off the asphalt and let someone else drive him wherever he needs to go.

These last 5 weeks have been unbelievable: Nashville IRL, Mid Ohio IRL, Brickyard 400, Michigan IRL and Kentucky. I've never had a run like this in all the years I've been doing racing photography, and despite late night drives home the last two weekends, I wouldn't trade it for just about anything.

Except maybe hitting the lotto. Then I could do this every weekend!

I'll be anxiously watching the next two IRL races (Sonoma and Belle Isle in Detroit) before I get the chance to go to Chicagoland for the finale, so let's home things calm down a bit before the real money is on the line for the season title. It looks like a three man race right now between Dario, Dixon and TK so it should make for an interesting end to a crazy IRL season.

C'ya at the track! BTW - US Nationals are next up for me, so I can't wait to see the straight-liners pound some asphalt at O'Reilly Raceway Park.

It's A Beautiful Day at Kentucky Speedway for Racing

After last weekend's rain delay at Michigan, it sure is nice to have a good day to shoot a race. Especially an IndyCar race. Rain has seemed to follow me this year: Indy, Nashville, Michigan. Today we should be good to go on time. And I'm happy to be in the Kentucky Speedway media center right now to catch a little relief from the heat outside.

The Indy Pro Series finished their pre-race warmup session a little while ago and were running faster than the pole speed. The scheduling is a bit odd, with the Pro Series race following the Indycars, but that's obviously a TV mandate, so the IRL will run through the twilight and the Pro Series under the full lights with a 9 pm start time. It should make for an interesting photo challenge, adjusting to the changing lighting conditions.

But the main event promises to be fast and furious and I have to wonder if the events of last weekend have been forgotten by everyone. Have Helio and Vitor made up? The Indianapolis Star seemed to imply that this morning but I have to wonder. And will Dario race for the win or be conservative and try to pad his points lead? A DNF now and strong finishes by Dixon and others could really spell trouble for his championship hopes.

And my man Sam Hornish Jr. really needs to go for it tonight to close the gap to the season leaders. The next two races are not his strongsuits (road/street courses) so he needs a good finish tonight and to keep the car on the track the next two races to be in contention for the Chicagoland finale.

Should be a good show tonight. Stay tuned. Strap in.

Jay

IRL Kentucky Next - Championship Battle Intensifies

I didn't think I was going to be at Kentucky Speedway this weekend, but things changed quickly once Don Hamilton of American Motor Journal called me on Tuesday. This will be my second visit to the great Bluegrass State venue this year, as I was there Memorial Day weekend for the Frank Kimmel Street Stock Enduro event on assignment for Stock Car Racing magazine. The issue with my pix and Don's story should be on the newsstands this week. Now I get to go back and see the Indycars after a wild weekend at Michigan, my first race at Kentucky since 2000 when the Indy Racing League first went there.

That was also the race where I first discovered Sam Hornish Jr, as he was racing for the tiny PDM team and had one of the fastest cars all day. He had a great wheel-to-wheel duel with Jacques Lazier for about 30 or 40 laps and I was immediately a Hornish fan. Not many guys could do what he did in that PDM ride, and he was clearly the star of the day. I shot video that day as a spectator and thoroughly enjoyed the race.

This time I get to go back with full media credentials to shoot digital 35mm for Don, hopefully from some of the photo holes on the outside wall, so that should be fun. It's a great racetrack with a very spectator- and competitor-friendly layout. Nice garage area, lots of room to work, the entire track visible from every seat, and an escalator system to the tunnel connecting the infield with the grandstands area.

Hopefully everyone will have settled down after last week's mayhem, but I kind of doubt it. Kentucky is another track where there's lots of room to race side by side, so it should be exciting. Dario needs to stay at the front to manage his points lead, and the other contenders will need to keep the wheels on their cars to keep pace for the driver's championship. I expect Helio to come out with fire in his belly after last week's contact with Vitor and the MIS frontstretch wall, so keep en eye on him. It will be the usual contenders - AGR (except for Marco), Ganassi and Penske, so shut up, go fast and turn left.

Talk soon!