I'll have to take a look at what I have of Jr. in the Eagle. The snap I posted was full frame so it's not in that image.
I didn't go to all the CART races that year and I'm not sure what I have of the car.
If I find anything like what you're talking about I'll post it here.
Geez U don't have to be rude about it, it's not like this Barbazza was a popular ex CART champion or something. I apologize that I didn't know the guys name properly...Originally Posted by LittleFauss
I was fortunate to have an in with DB Mann racing. I was able to spend time in their motor home getting to know John Paul jr. This was the first of several wonderful conversations with this talented driver and great guy.
The photos below are of Gary Bettenhausen in 1989. I seem to remember that this was the year on pole day the rear suspension collapsed in the north end of IMS and Gary saved the car "dirt trackin'" the car through the turns.
The photos of John Paul jr are from either '90 or '91.
God speed!
1989 Bobby Rahal
Roberto Guerrero 1992
Taken before the Parade lap
The Ayn Rand of Indycar
No one had to badge the Offy.
The month of May 1992 was all Roberto up until he exited turn two, warming up his tires on the parade lap. Roberto's incident was the first of many on the longest, bitterly coldest race day that I have ever spent at the 500.Taken before the Parade lap
They are from '91.
Paul's ride in '90 was an ex-Kraco/Galles machine that wasn't repainted until after qualifications. Until then it still had it's original Kraco gold with blue and red stripes on a large parts of the bodywork. It was purchased after practice started and spent most of its time in surgery while the crew worked to custom rig the chassis to house a Buick V-6 where a V-8 was supposed to go. It only hit the track right before the second weekend of time trials. Paul put her in the show on Bubble Day on the car's third strike (back when you only got three chances) and with about as many laps left on the motor as it had before it was going to blow.
Found and uploaded a couple of pan shots of Al Jr.in the Eagle 83. Is this what you were talking about?
I'll keep looking if it's not.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/46681980@N03/
Lil Al's Coors Silver Bullet car is one of my all time favorites. It was a beautiful car!
Have a very blessed day!
The wing extended from the engine cowling close to the spot between the words, Roman Wheels. I love this car by the way!
Arie from 1992
Gary B in the pits 1992
Rick, I was at Mid-Ohio and remember the extra wing on Unser's Eagle. We talked about it quite a bit because those little technical tweaks and body modifications were what motivated me back in those days. Formula 1 had one or two cars run double rear wings that year also. I think that since the Eagle's new wing was ahead of the rear wheels, it could be as wide as the body was there. The regular rear wing can't be that wide. I remember wondering why it had such a smal cord(sp?) length. It was very wide but very small front to back. Was that so that it wouldn't interfere with the regular rear wing?
I also spotted this car in a shop in Clermont. I don't remember if it was shortly before Mid-Ohio or shortly after. The shop was very small, and is/was located on Raceway just a few yards south of 136 behind what was then a gas station on the corner. No idea whose shop it was or why the Galles Eagle was there. It was parked in a very cramped space and you had a view from behind the car. The Eagles unique underbody and that extra wing were very visible. It was a very neat car, tho I liked the earlier versions with the wide tail better.
That Eagle introduced BLAT....Boundry Layer Air Technonogy.
The car was very long and had very unusual undertrays.
Gurney was the first to use a "rolling road" wind tunnel.
That car was the first result of the use of that tunnel.
Too bad it was never fully developed... It was also georgious!
ZOOOM
"Doc, just set them fingers sose I can hold the wheel"
James Hurtubise, June, 1964
Dick Simon's shop was very close to that Clermont location you mention. I have no idea if there is a connection though. I'm glad that you remember this aero device on the Galles Eagle. I went to Mid-Ohio on a whim that year. It was the first time I ever saw Indy cars not at IMS. I was facinated. The Coors Bullet was such a neat ride.
I've also heard it called Boundary Layer Adhesion Theory. It seems there may have been more than one name for it. At any rate it was basically just another approach to ground effects. And as you say it's too bad that it wasn't developed further. BTW, the other owners that ran CART really didn't want BLAT to succeed (and they didn't want a stock block engine to be competitive either). As soon as Gurney started looking at a more conventional car the CART owners quickly rewrote the rulebook to mandate only wider cars (minimum width requirements) based on standard sidepod tunnels. Penske, March, and Lola didn't want to take a chance on some new builder coming out of left field with a new BLAT type car that might render all of their designs obsolete. This basically cemented the standard Indy car design that open wheel has been stuck with ever since. Everybody missed it at the time but the rules were changed based on the vested interests of the main owners. Indianapolis had no leadership at the time so they basically just accepted the new CART chassis rules and included them in the technical requirements for the 500.
Darn, I wish he'd have won a '500. I thought he had a "puncher's chance" in 1992.Gary B in the pits 1992
So.... So.... Tony George had nothing to do with the new rules?
How could THAT be?
Thanks for the added info...
ZOOOM
[QUOTE=indyrjc As soon as Gurney started looking at a more conventional car the CART owners quickly rewrote the rulebook to mandate only wider cars (minimum width requirements) based on standard sidepod tunnels. Penske, March, and Lola didn't want to take a chance on some new builder coming out of left field with a new BLAT type car that might render all of their designs obsolete. This basically cemented the standard Indy car design that open wheel has been stuck with ever since. Everybody missed it at the time but the rules were changed based on the vested interests of the main owners. Indianapolis had no leadership at the time so they basically just accepted the new CART chassis rules and included them in the technical requirements for the 500.[/QUOTE]
"rules were changed based on the vested interests of the main owners."
And this mindset of leadership continued on........
Last edited by Rick Jones; 04-15-2010 at 12:45 PM.
Oh please
There is nothing evil or nefarious about making a decision that benefits those firms that provide essentially all of the rolling stock for the series. The stock block rules were never changed to put them at any disadvantage. Their appalling lack of reliablity took care of that on their own. The last BLAT Eagle chassis in '84 was a lousy oval car, particularly on superspeedways, so their own lack of competitiveness would have done them in.
Dave, I forgot to put the smiley faces. 'just jesting here.Oh please
There is nothing evil or nefarious about making a decision that benefits those firms that provide essentially all of the rolling stock for the series. The stock block rules were never changed to put them at any disadvantage. Their appalling lack of reliablity took care of that on their own. The last BLAT Eagle chassis in '84 was a lousy oval car, particularly on superspeedways, so their own lack of competitiveness would have done them in.
[QUOTE=DaveL]Oh please
Well it was proven CART was no friend to IMS or Indycar in general
You have to factor in a few things:
1) Their driver lineup for the year was Michael Chandler, Kenvin Cogan, Pete Halsmer and rookie Ed Pimm. Not exactly a super team and, as far as I know, none were known as great test drivers.
2) Cogan's time in warm weather at IMS was actually 15th fastest of the 33. He retired at 137 laps when a wheel could not be removed during a pit stop (not due to engine problems).
3) Chandler qualified 6th at Long Beach, but retired due to gearbox problems (not due to engine problems).
4) Cogan finished 8th in the 1st Phoenix race.
5) Pimm finished in the top 10 at the 2nd Phoenix race after starting last.
6) Halsmer finished 14th at Michigan.
Each to its own, but I was glad the car didn't catch on. Thought it was butt ugly...
And to you, Michael, glad to have your opinion here in the good 'ole USA...
ZOOOM
Ok guys....
Here's a little beauty from the '20's.
Miller built it, Goosen designed the engine and Leon Dureay drove it.
91! cubic inches.... Twin over head cam, straight 8... supercharged!
Front wheel drive!
Dureay raced it in europ and sold it to some guy named Bugatti. He took it apart and used the info to design his own Grand Prix engines.
Griff Borgesson found it under some old tarps in the Bugatti factory back in the '60's and brought it back to the USA.
He found two of them. This one now resides in the IMS Museum.
Ferner, THIS is a jewell!
ZOOOM
Miller's cars were works of art. It would decades and the early 90s generation of engines that were run in CART before designers were getting Miller's horsepower to the cubic inch efficiency.
And Sullivan was 7th in the horrific DSR-1 so that tells you something about how good the Eagle was on an oval.
He was 10th out of 11 cars running.5) Pimm finished in the top 10 at the 2nd Phoenix race after starting last.
9 laps down, the second to last car running at the finish.6) Halsmer finished 14th at Michigan.
The '84 Eagle stock block was not a good oval car no matter how you slice it. It may have been pretty to look at and the NA V-8 may have sounded great, but it was going nowhere. If anything the stock block Eagles were getting less competitive with each passing year. The March and Lola with Cosworth power were simply better cars.
Per the '85 Hungness Yearbook, SKOAL put the pressure on to build a conventional Cosworth powered ground effects car for '85 rather than fund what amounted to a work in progress platform that was not getting any more competitive.
Jovey Marcello a day or two before his fatal crash at Indy.
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