Research help sought for story set at mid-1970s Indy 500

[Tim Adams]

I'm researching a novel that includes several chapters set at the 1975 Indianapolis 500. I'm planning to visit Indy in the third week of May, but know that whatever I see there will have changed from the era when the Foyts and Gurneys ruled the track. I'd love to exchange e-mails or even meet with a veteran who remembers racing at Indy way back when, either from a fan's perspective or -- better yet -- from that of a crew member.

The date is flexible. A story setting in 1975 is my first choice, but I could go as early as 1973 or as late as 1978 without having to revamp the plot.

This novel is more of a labor of love than a commercial project. (Don't look for it on Oprah's Book Club!) I've always wanted to finish it, am retired now, have the time, so why not? I'll probably self-publish.

I should also mention that the story includes chapters set at and around the Speedway, but isn't about auto racing. I'm doing the research because I want what I write to be accurate.

Please feel free to reply to this thread or to PM me, if that's more comfortable. If you're in Indianapolis, and are willing, perhaps we could meet there when I arrive.

Thanks for reading!

[uh_clem]

I don't know if this helps you or not since it seems the race is only incidental to your book, but there has already been a book written with the 1973 Indy 500 as the setting. It's not really about the race but the race is more than background.

Spectator Sport

[DaveL]

This book is essential reading. It's about the '76 race.

[atrackforumfan]

Physically, it was a different place. Since 1990, the Speedway has taken a quantum leap in facilities. In 1975, the main buildings where the off the track action occurred were the 1957 era grandstand with the small glassy control tower (see pic in post 3) and the wooden garages behind the grandstand. The Speedway Motel was standing on the southeast corner of the track property, as seen in the movie Winning. The two-story museum and office building inside the south end of the track opened in 1976. The infield area generally was a modest grass area for picnicking and parking, without the current grand prix track.

From the participant side, it has changed as much. Only the high rollers planned on buying new equipment every year, or had racks of engines ready to swap. A good team could load its gear in a box truck, not a couple of semi trucks. It wasn't unusual for mechanics to stay with friends, or for a team to organize itself with several guys taking vacation from work.

To capture the ambiance, you might like to listen to recordings of donald davidson's nostalgia show. The period you're covering is in his personal wheelhouse. http://www.trackforum.com/forums/sho...=1#post2983597

[indybail]

The 1975 Indianapolis 500 was a rain shortened event if something like that impacts your plot.

[Tim Adams]

Thanks, indybail, for the note on the rain, and uh_clem and Davel, for the research leads -- I'll check out both books. And atrackforumfan, that's just the kind of information I need to avoid making a fool of myself in the chapters set at Indy. Much appreciated! I hadn't heard of Donald Davidson; thanks for that, too.

[Belanger99]

Just a few thoughts............

I'd stick with 74 or 75. 73 has already been covered, 76 is too short, 77 has been covered a lot as well.

In fact 74 might make a good setting. Lots of stories in the 74 race. Rutherford wins in his 13th start coming from deep in the pack, Foyt makes a semi comeback and gets the pole and has a good battle with JR until Foyt drops out. Race goes the distance, and the Rookie class of 74 is considered one of the best in history.

Plus, add in the fact that the Speedway had to dig out of the PR hole that occurred following the 73 debacle. Rule changes and staff changes abound.

[Paddy]

Of course for real Indy 500 fans, the 1973-1978 period will always be known for being the glory years of the Snake Pit. Placing your characters where the "real" action was whould make your book a combination science fiction/pornography. Hey, that might sell ! Finding a witness that actually remembers stories from the snake pit may be a problem however.

[atrackforumfan]

AFAIK, streaking at the Speedway began in 1974 during the rainy qualifying weekend. Or at least that was the first time it had a name.

http://indymotorspeedway.com/500party.html

[Tifositoo]

Just a few thoughts............

I'd stick with 74 or 75. 73 has already been covered, 76 is too short, 77 has been covered a lot as well.

In fact 74 might make a good setting. Lots of stories in the 74 race. Rutherford wins in his 13th start coming from deep in the pack, Foyt makes a semi comeback and gets the pole and has a good battle with JR until Foyt drops out. Race goes the distance, and the Rookie class of 74 is considered one of the best in history.

Plus, add in the fact that the Speedway had to dig out of the PR hole that occurred following the 73 debacle. Rule changes and staff changes abound.

There was also the problem of the Energy Crisis for the Speedway to deal with, as if the debacle of 1973 wasn't enough. For a good read concerning just what the Speedway was faced with in 1974, check out the book by Ron Dorson, The Indianapolis 500, an American Institution Under Fire.

Spectator Sport is also a good source for just what the Snakepit was like in the mid '70s.


Dan

[KevMcNJ]

I don't know if this helps you or not since it seems the race is only incidental to your book, but there has already been a book written with the 1973 Indy 500 as the setting. It's not really about the race but the race is more than background.

Spectator Sport

I remember reading that book many many years ago. The stories all did take place @ IMS during the 1973 race but the race and the track are not really the main story. It could have just as easily been a story about the Super Bowl or the Boston Marathon. The writer just needed a big event to get all the characters in the same location IMO

I do recall two of the characters were young guys who went to the 500 in a van (of course) looking for a good time but I think one of them turns out to be a real docuhebag and they end up not liking each other by the end of the book

Also there was some girl in the book who posed for nude photos on a race car in the garages when no one was around or something equally silly.

It wasnt a very good book,

[atrackforumfan]

http://66.223.17.243/forums/printthr...t=126505&pp=20

[Raceworder2.0]

I enlisted in the US Army right at the beginning of January 1974, but deep knee bends at the end of the next day at the induction center in downtown Indy produced a sound to the ears of the overseeing Sarge that kept me from climbing on the bus to Fort Knox; the resulting xrays aborted my military career before it even started.

So I took a job as an apprentice mold-maker with Electric Steel Castings at 10th and Main in Speedway which, along with employment across the street at Allison's, was about the very best job an 18-year old local boy could hope for at that time.

But before two weeks had passed at my new job, a relative asked me if I wanted to go to work for him; he just happened to be an iconic Indy driver and I immediately became his only full-time employee ($250 every 2 weeks, baby!). Now, I'd been born into a Championship racing family, so the familiarity aspect I already had down; and I'd done my share of stooging even by being snuck into pits at dirt tracks all over the midwest; the USAC guys, after realizing I was with "someone" and becoming accustomed to me, simply looked the other way. But now here I was, 18-years old and a licensed National Championship Trail mechanic.

My boss had two cars to prepare for himself for the 500 that year, a 2-year old winner and...well...a little older car. But first, before that important stuff could be attended to, there was the matter of the 1974 Daytona 500, a race that my boss needed to drive in but one he had no inkling of a ride for. However, his plan was as characteristically brazen as he was renowned for: just show up at the track before practice started, find a driver who had no chance of making the race, and talk himself into the seat. After all, that was a concrete method for obtaining a ride in those days...especially for a guy who'd won a 500 in NASCAR before.

So he, a good friend of his, and I all took-off one late night from Speedway, Indiana, in a van pulling an Airstream trailer - which was to be our "home" during our southern stay. My boss had driven the rig to collect me and his friend, but as soon as we neared the on-ramp to 465, he pulled over, told me to take the wheel, jumped into the back of the van, and he and his buddy started drinking beers. Of course, I had never towed anything in my life let alone a massive, aerodynamically-challenged trailer. But, no worries: my boss was also renowned for his bravery...

How can I even come close now, all these years later, to describing what an incredible experience Dayton 1974 was? I can't really, so I'll just relay a few highlights:

My boss found a youngster-driver in a family-owned situation who he managed to convince that by letting him steer the car, they could not only have at least a chance of making the race but also make a little cash from one of the personal sponsors my boss always seemed to have in his pocket. So, my boss's sponsor's name went onto the car, as did his personal number, and all-of-a-sudden I was a NASCAR Grand National Championship mechanic, too. Sweet!

The most treasured experience I was blessed with during those days, though, was being a silent - but fully observant - part of a racing strategy discussion that included my hero: Anthony Joseph Foyt, Jr. That was the first time I looked into the man's eyes and witnessed the raw honesty and stark intent that I'd only heard of before. Another fond memory is the fried-spam-and-egg sandwiches we made and dined on each morning in the Airstream before heading to the track. But the funniest moment was when my boss's wife flew into town for the qualifying races and he moved-out of the Airstream and into a hotel room with her. His best friend suggested we visit a local mainstream theatre where this infamous movie titled Deep Throat was preimering; so off we went.

Now, this theatre had a lower level and a balcony level, and as we were exiting the lower level after the flick had run, who did we literally run into coming down from the balcony level? Of course - my relatives: my boss and his wife. Too funny!

I'll end the Daytona saga there and get back to what matters: Indianapolis.

That month of May still featured wooden garages, dip barrels to "fireproof" your clothing, a short stretch from Gasoline Alley to a pitstop between the bleachers before hitting the pits, where the Firestone and Goodyear guys would check tire pressures and flocks of fans would be looking down from above and greeting their favorite drivers. That was really the start of my true realization of what a favorite my boss was to Indy fans, and I'll never forget pushing the car out into the pits the very first time and the crowd going absolutely wild. Goosebumps is a freaking understatement. Anyway...

...we managed to qualify as one of the 33 fastest on the last Saturday, if I remember correctly, and any euphoria I'd ever experinced in my life until then can only be called tame in comparison. And after posing for the pic and while pushing the car back toward the garage, I happened to look up to my right where I saw a beautiful girl with strawberry-blonde hair looking - and smiling - right at me. Yeah!

We got the car into the garage and that's when the party really started. Our sponsor was a beer one, so that part of the celebration was handled. While the merriment abounded, I strolled out of our garage, which was on the middle isle just a few up from the gate, and looked hopefully toward the gate...

...and wouldn't you know it: there she was; so that's where I immediately went.

She was from Columbus, Ohio, and my boss was her dad's favorite driver - so much so that her dad's hobby stocker carried the same number. Our simple crew shirts, besides the simple sponsor logos, brandished boldly our car number and she was drooling over it. Me, being the gentleman I was then, stripped down to my Ansen tshirt and gave her my crew shirt right there at the fence. I'm pretty sure that sealed the deal.

Back then I think they held twin-50s at Raceway Park on that Saturday night, and I asked her if she planned to attend. She said yes and we hatched a plan to meet there later.

I had been the only full-time employee since January, but for the month of May my boss's traditional chief mechanic was there, he hired another great wrench, and we had the regular hangers-on, two of which were my own age: the son of a world-famous car builder and our sponsor's son. The three of us, therefore, already ripe from after-qualifying celebration, hopped-in the team pickup and drove our way to Raceway Park.

There we met up with my new friend and a few of her friends and enjoyed a great evening. Of course, when she just happened to mention that she'd give anything to sit in our race car...well.

So, when the racing action ended at IRP, me and the sponsor's son and the builder's son and the strawberry-blonde from Columbus, Ohio, headed back toward the Speedway for some illegal entry. Now, women had only been allowed to be in the garage area I think a couple of years earlier, but at that time of night hardly anyone was allowed in. When we rolled-up to Gate 1, she was down on the floor lying parrel with the seat, behind all six of our covering legs. We told the guard some story and he freely let us proceed; we probably told the Garage Area gate guard the same story which allowed us to drive straight to our garage itself. The only folks around the Garage Area at that time of night then were the guards and the firemen. So we had pretty much clear sailing: we drove directly to our garage, entered, popped a few more beers, made my new friend's wish come true...

...and then knew the jig was up when the knock came at the door. We were told to leave, so we left and dropped my new friend off at the VFW lot where she was camping for the weekend, and then I took my crew mates to their hotel; it didn't really seem like a big deal then and the next day was back to work.

My boss was knocking on my apartment door so early the very next morning; evidently, he himself had been awakened even earlier by Speedway superindendant Clarence Cagle with a very simple message: fire that bozo! My boss was so pissed at me he told me I needed to grow up and advised me to join the Army. I remember the only thing I had the courage to respond to him with was, "But, I already tried that."

What a bummer! But, I was also in love and my new friend was returning for the race, so my letdown wasn't as deep as it could've been. All that next week I talked to my new love every night on the phone and we made plans to spend race weekend together...which we did. And the coolest thing was my boss told me he didn't want to but that he had no choice in firing me, and gave me a couple of great tickets and told me to have fun with my new friend at the race. Race day turned-out to be fantasic for both him and me...

...mine started earlier, though. My new friend from Columbus had traveled to Indy with her mom and some others - they had a few cars and a motorhome and were again parking in the VFW lot. While everyone else camped-out in the motorhome the night before the race, my new friend and I spent that night in one of the cars, which was on the front row of Georgetown Road and directly across from the gate.

So I had a great seat for the action the night before the 1974 Indianapolis 500, and was looking forward to a great next day. I can remember my new friend and I finally finding sleep in the front seat of the car, and I can remember waking-up early in the morning, still dark outside, realizing that my new friend was loving me in the most oral of ways. Too good to be true, huh? Ha! What do you think I thought when the bomb went off announcing the gates were open...

...just as I did, too?!?

True story...

[Stick500]

personally I think the '75 race had a lot more drama than the '74 event

the finish was one of the craziest and the Sneva wreck was one of the most spectacular ever seen at the track (with a happy ending)

plus the baby blue Gurney Eagle that won is one of the prettiest cars to ever hit the bricks

[Bruce Spencer]

Hey Raceworder 2.0., keep the stories coming, you're my age exactly and you lived the dream I dreamed. So... you must have some pretty good Herk stories to tell!

[Tim Adams]

Many thanks to everyone who has contributed to this thread. I've been on the phone since I last posted here, and have made some terrific contacts ... but have a lot to learn before the related chapters in the book will pass muster.

FWIW, my plot will leave Indianapolis before race day, so as colorful as the Snakepit sounds, I won't be able to use it in the book.

I'm especially interested in the mechanic/crew member's perspective: behind-the-scenes life in the garages in the weeks before the race, worries about the car, problems that could develop with a thoroughbred race car of that type, and so on.

Racewonder, your memories of the day were terrific; thank you!

[Raceworder2.0]

... you must have some pretty good Herk stories to tell!

Who?

Many thanks to everyone who has contributed to this thread. I've been on the phone since I last posted here, and have made some terrific contacts ... but have a lot to learn before the related chapters in the book will pass muster.

FWIW, my plot will leave Indianapolis before race day, so as colorful as the Snakepit sounds, I won't be able to use it in the book.

I'm especially interested in the mechanic/crew member's perspective: behind-the-scenes life in the garages in the weeks before the race, worries about the car, problems that could develop with a thoroughbred race car of that type, and so on.

Racewonder, your memories of the day were terrific; thank you!

I can remember thinking of writing a novel about the month of May starting back in the 70s, but my plot concerned bad guys (the types we call 'terrorists" today) stuffing a nuke in a UHaul box truck and parking in one of the turns, and then lighting it when Mr. Hulman gave his command.

Easy half a million people liquidated instantly; my working title was May Day. The main characters were a female and a male Pinkerton Investigations team, who had come across information pointing to the attack, but were having absolutely no luck getting any authorities to believe them. The plot was, of course, a race against time set against the mighty backdrop of the world's most famous race itself.

But I always sated my blockage by believing I couldn't really write such a book because the possibility existed some doofus would actually try it - back in those "innocent" days, it would've been easy to do.

[atrackforumfan]

FWIW, my plot will leave Indianapolis before race day, so as colorful as the Snakepit sounds, I won't be able to use it in the book.

Everything that happened in the Snake Pit on race day also happened on the day of 'pole' qualifying (usually the Saturday two weeks before the actual race weekend, though you'd want to check the history books if you want to avoid the wrong date for a particular year). The actual day that the pole was set might be later if the first qualifying day was rained out. Indianapolis pole qualifying was a major sports story. If you go to the Sports Illustrated "vault", in the 70s Indianapolis pole qualifying was a major story in a late May issue; the actual race usually was the first June issue, often the cover.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vau...8281/index.htm

[Jamski]

Definitely pore over the Carl Hungness 500 Yearbooks of the era. Loads and loads of color, daily happenings, and ephemera. You'll find them indispensable. The Speedway gift shop still sells them too.

[Tim Adams]

Thanks, atrackforumfan, for the link to the Sports Illustrated vault. I'm getting a 'gateway timeout' error when I try to access the 'Over Indy on a Wingding' article, but could try later, or look it up in the library. And Jamski, I just ordered the '75 yearbook from Amazon. I'd thought of buying it before, balked ... and now realize I'd better get it.

Racewonder, I promise not to steal your plot for May Day! And I know what you mean about more innocent days.

[atrackforumfan]

Try this for the qualifying article: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vau...6111/index.htm

[JThur1]

Raceworder2.0...Buford, is that you?

[oldtimer2]

Raceworder2.0 You must have been in garage #46 in 1974. I was in garage #45 next to the USAC scales.

[Raceworder2.0]

Raceworder2.0 You must have been in garage #46 in 1974. I was in garage #45 next to the USAC scales.

Hey oldtimer2; how ya doin'?

You were with Boom Boom, huh?

[Raceworder2.0]

Raceworder2.0...Buford, is that you?

How's it going, JThur1?

"Buford" ain't computing...

[Turn13]

Raceworder2.0...Buford, is that you?

Not even.

[oldtimer2]

Hey oldtimer2; how ya doin'?

You were with Boom Boom, huh?

I'm doing good. Hoffman Auto Racing and Boom Boom. I wrote a long note but the forum said I had to log in again. I going to The Speedway next Monday. I'll be their the rest of the month. If you get to the track come by the Indiana Oxygen/Lincoin Electric garage and ask for Phil. N15 I would like to hear some more stories and I may have a couple myself.

[Raceworder2.0]

I'm doing good. Hoffman Auto Racing and Boom Boom. I wrote a long note but the forum said I had to log in again. I going to The Speedway next Monday. I'll be their the rest of the month. If you get to the track come by the Indiana Oxygen/Lincoin Electric garage and ask for Phil. N15 I would like to hear some more stories and I may have a couple myself.

Thanks for the invitation, oldtimer2, but my plans don't include Indy this May. I do hope you are well and have a great time this month!

[oldtimer2]

Thanks for the invitation, oldtimer2, but my plans don't include Indy this May. I do hope you are well and have a great time this month!

The only guy I got to know well with Jim at that time was Bill Beach. I miss those guys. You take care Raceworder2.0

[JThur1]

Not even.

Not even? The writing styles are quite similar.