ABC Long Form Broadcast of 1973 Indy 500

[MS]

I was a baby for this race and as a former broadcaster and a lover of history I find these clips very interesting to see how the network covered the race.

Here's a clip of the Savage crash. Since McKay and Economaki were doing voice over work and this wasn't the live call they knew Savage had survived. It is interesting to hear them talk hopefully about Savage's chances as the fire breaks out. We also hear audio (thankfully not footage) of the Teran crash. I admit, it may be a little tough to watch.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lO4z3GbgY3k

I my opinion, David Dials, the pit reporter, was rather irresponsible in trying to goad Jerry Grant into saying that the track was too oily and dangerous to race.

During the red flag period, Dials tries to continue with the "track is too oily and dangerous to drive" line. We also see an interesting piece on safety at IMS - interesting to see all of these "new" safety features that are old hat today.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EByX7...feature=relmfu

Finally the finish.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ui-Jm...feature=relmfu

I find it amazing to hear Dials with such a tone deaf interview with Andy Granatelli. Granatelli saw a crew man get killed and had one of his drivers fighting for his life but Dials is doing such a cheery interview. As Chris Schenkel wraps up the race you can tell the entire broadcast crew is emotionally and physically spent.

I don't mean to put down the late Mr. Dials, but it appears that he was out of his element in the pits that day. The next year they put Chris Economaki - an experienced auto racing journalist - in the pits and had Sam Posey and Jackie Stewart in the booth with McKay.

What a year...........

I'm so glad Gordy won one of the "best" Indy 500s in 1982 after winning one of the "worst."

[Pelican Joe]

Interesting stuff. I agree that Dials sounds a little out of his element...but considering the emotionally charged circumstances of that race...I guess I can cut him some slack. 1973 is one I'm glad I missed (It was roughly 3-and-a-half years before I was born...so I guess I didn't have a choice)...but I'm glad it's been preserved via the television broadcasts that exist.

[MS]

Also, during the red flag segment, Bobby Unser said the track wasn't dangerous! Uncle Bobby...........

[DaveL]

I watched the race recently on Youtube and was facsnated. It was just a couple of years before my time.

At the end Jim Mckay is practically begging for a red flag to end the race once and for all.

I watched it shortly after I watched the coverage of the race from St. Pete. ABC's coverage has improved very little in 40 years.

[MichaelP]

What I find impressive about the broadcast is that the race ended only an hour before the tape delayed broadcast aired that night! That didn't give them much time to put the broadcast together.

A couple other observations:

When the fireman gets to the Savage accident, there are only small flames around the car. He sprays the extinguisher at a pool of fuel on the track which goes up in massive flames as soon as the extinguisher foam hits it!

I was always under the impression that Savage crashed on an outlap after pitting - but there is no mention of him pitting and in fact, going through my records (both video and print) I can find no record of him pitting the lap before the accident. Can anyone confirm one way or another?

Supposedly a 30 second segment was edited out of the rebroadcast - it supposedly involves Chris Economaki commenting on what a disaster the race is turning out to be. This clip would have supposedly been right after the Teran accident.

Jerry Grant was visibly more unnerved in his second interview after the Savage accident than he was in his interview from Monday following Walther's accident.

The weather was beautiful when the race re-started.

Can't figure out for the life of me why they didn't throw the checkered flag at the end - it was nearly 6pm and it was so dark the cameras were barely working - there was no way they could possibly dry the track.

Dolly Cole - who was in the pace car and was only the second female 'honorary referee' of the 500 (Amelia Earhart was the first), still attends the race every year - she can usually be found hanging with Jim Nabors. My mom has actually befriended her in recent years. (Dolly had been married to Ed Cole who ran GM in the 60s).

You can hear the crowd cheer when Gordy is declared the winner.

After watching this broadcast with 39 years of hindsight, it would be easy to scorn any cheering or celebration that took place. But don’t forget, the participants, fans and crews didn’t have the replays and newspaper articles thrown in their face for review and reflection while the race was going on. Many did not know that a crewman was killed, and Swede Savage’s injuries were not life threatening; the news of his passing would not come for another 33 days. Sometimes the nature of how bad or good something really was doesn’t hit immediately. I think that as fans and participants had time to reflect on the events, read the newspapers, and watch the replays, is when it really sank in just how much the 1973 Indianapolis 500 sucked. For Johncock, it may have even been that night. He ‘celebrated’ by visiting Swede in the hospital and having dinner at Burger King with his wife.

[DaveL]

I was always under the impression that Savage crashed on an outlap after pitting - but there is no mention of him pitting and in fact, going through my records (both video and print) I can find no record of him pitting the lap before the accident. Can anyone confirm one way or another?

Savage had pitted 3-5 laps before the accident so it was not an out lap. Never the less, the car was still full of fuel.

[Big G 94]

Sid Collins and Freddie Agabashian on the radio were pretty much of that mindset too ... I thought Sid was going to pop a champagne cork when they got to 100 laps and it was an official race.

At the end Jim Mckay is practically begging for a red flag to end the race once and for all.

[Big G 94]

Also, during the red flag segment, Bobby Unser said the track wasn't dangerous! Uncle Bobby...........

Well, anyone expecting Uncle Bobby to be filled with emotion at such a moment probably was barking up the wrong tree. He was about as matter of fact after Sachs-MacDonald which he was right in the middle of. I have him tabbed pretty much as a "Somebody bought it? That's bad, but (expletive deleted) happens in racing, scrape 'em up and throw the green flag" type. But has it ever been determined beyond a shadow of a doubt whether the biggest factor in Swede's crash was oil on the track or something breaking on the car? I'd always heard the wing came loose. When that happens at that speed, odds are you're going to crash on the cleanest of clean tracks.

[Doctorindy]

Supposedly a 30 second segment was edited out of the rebroadcast - it supposedly involves Chris Economaki commenting on what a disaster the race is turning out to be. This clip would have supposedly been right after the Teran accident.
.

Yes, I have that clip somewhere. It's a shot of the ambulance pulled up next to the Teran scene, and Chris E. says "this race is cursed."

There's actually a foreign highlight film on Youtube now that has the image of the incident happening. It is what it is. There's a lso a NEW 8 mm film of the Salt Walther crash. Much better quality, and a slightly different view. It's actually pretty good.


As for the broadcast, I think sort of what they did in the tape delay years when they didn't have a lot of time....The guys would be in the truck putting pieces together, and Jim McKay et. al. would call the race 'live' while it was being aired at 8 pm.

I've also heard several different versions of the hamburger story after the race. Recently I heard it wasn't Burger King, but actually Burger Chef. Gordy himself has actually told the story wrong I think a few times. Maybe he just doesn't totally remember himself anymore.

[Big G 94]

Interesting stuff. I agree that Dials sounds a little out of his element.

The only thing I clearly remember Dave Dials doing for ABC is their college football scoreboard show. I figure they needed a body to work the pits and said "tag, you're it." If things had been uneventful, it probably wouldn't have been a big deal. I may get stoned for this, because it's going to sound like I'm knocking the IMS Radio Network when I'm on record as saying what it did in its glory days under Sid was unparalleled in sports broadcasting, but IMO the one real weakness it had was the pit and Victory Lane interviews in general, because while those guys were outstanding broadcasters, they didn't have the inside, technical knowledge of racing that people expect from coverage today. (The 1966 Victory Lane interview with Hill comes to mind as being particularly painful).

However, because those guys were outstanding broadcasters, true pros and veterans at the speedway, and they realized something eventful and horrible and out of the norm had happened, their interviews during the Sachs-MacDonald red flag in '64 were absolutely masterful, because at least to my ears they switched into news event mode at least until the race started back. And what they did during the '66 red flag wasn't too far behind.

As you say, Dials was simply out of his element and flailing around, particularly in the Granatelli post-race interview. Which was a bit surprising because I just Googled and he had a hard news background, worked for the AP, before getting into sports broadcasting. Maybe it was because he was so affected by what happened, I don't know. Because having been there, you've got to keep your head straight and find out what happened, you don't let it affect you until the job's done.

[Pelican Joe]

Well, anyone expecting Uncle Bobby to be filled with emotion at such a moment probably was barking up the wrong tree. He was about as matter of fact after Sachs-MacDonald which he was right in the middle of. I have him tabbed pretty much as a "Somebody bought it? That's bad, but (expletive deleted) happens in racing, scrape 'em up and throw the green flag" type. But has it ever been determined beyond a shadow of a doubt whether the biggest factor in Swede's crash was oil on the track or something breaking on the car? I'd always heard the wing came loose. When that happens at that speed, odds are you're going to crash on the cleanest of clean tracks.

My mom and dad ran into Swede in the lobby of the motel the day before the race. To this day...my mom still talks about how friendly he was. I've heard the story about the rear-wing failure...but I don't know if that has ever been proven. I've always been under the belief that he was pushing hard and just lost it...but who knows. He's one of those drivers we can only speculate about. Would he have become a star? Quite possibly...but alas...we'll never know.

[preacher]

Concerning Swede's rear wing, it is pretty clear in the ABC broadcast that the wing separates from the rest of the body when his car hits the transition between the track and the infield right before the inside wall. At least the announcers say so. It is much more difficult to tell if the wing is separating from the rest of the body before he hits the transition point. My own amateur hunch is that I rather doubt it.

[Doctorindy]

here's the "new" footage of the Walther crash.




As for Swede...if you look at this film footage angle, it sure looks like the wing is still intact. I don't know why ABC thought it had come off. Remember, that year the cars had close to 1000 hp, and you could lose control pretty easy if you were pushing it too hard.


Freeze it at 0:23, and you'll see the wing looks normal.

[lotuspoweredbyford]

Sid Collins and Freddie Agabashian on the radio were pretty much of that mindset too ... I thought Sid was going to pop a champagne cork when they got to 100 laps and it was an official race.

No doubt. Sid is like, this is the most disastrous race ever. You could tell he was done with it all.

[dalz]

When the fireman gets to the Savage accident, there are only small flames around the car. He sprays the extinguisher at a pool of fuel on the track which goes up in massive flames as soon as the extinguisher foam hits it!

I think that the whole area was engulfed in invisible methanol flames, and the extinguishant just makes it visible. I've seen the same phenomena in some pit fires.

I was always under the impression that Savage crashed on an outlap after pitting - but there is no mention of him pitting and in fact, going through my records (both video and print) I can find no record of him pitting the lap before the accident. Can anyone confirm one way or another?

I believe it was three laps after his pit stop. It has to be rather soon, to account for that geyser of methanol thrown in the air as he hits the wall. If I'm following the coverage correctly, that's Al pitting up ahead of him as he comes out of four, and Swede is about to take the lead again. He definitely was a contender that day.

Supposedly a 30 second segment was edited out of the rebroadcast - it supposedly involves Chris Economaki commenting on what a disaster the race is turning out to be. This clip would have supposedly been right after the Teran accident.

There are some here who have commented that there is another view of this crash that was edited out of this recent re-broadcast. Something in the back of my mind recalls a slightly wider, more far-away shot, where you can see a crewman (not Teran) running across pit lane and almost getting hit by Al as he is pitting.

[MichaelP]

Right at 44 seconds, you can see the fireman I talk about running and hitting the fuel with the extinguisher. But there are already massive flames - you don't see the massive flare up that you do from the turn 4 tv camera, which pretty much confirms what dalz says in his post.

[MichaelP]

I also think part of the reason we see so much flame was due to the overcast of the day. Methanol DOES burn with color, but in typical daylight it can't be seen, but put it in low light and you can definitely see it.

[PHJIndy]

No doubt. Sid is like, this is the most disastrous race ever. You could tell he was done with it all.

If indeed Sid felt like it was disastrous, he was correct, imo!
It was an awful few days and a terrible race, the worst I've ever seen in my many years at The Speedway.

[MS]

Interesting to see them analyze Walther's crash. There was quite a bit of criticism of the ragged formation. I didn't much care for Dials in previous posts, but I have to say he did make a very good report about the drivers meeting with USAC officials. Sounds like the drivers were quite upset that Fengler gave them the green flag.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nlbBzgWSiGg

[DaveL]

Interesting to see them analyze Walther's crash. There was quite a bit of criticism of the ragged formation. I didn't much care for Dials in previous posts, but I have to say he did make a very good report about the drivers meeting with USAC officials. Sounds like the drivers were quite upset that Fengler gave them the green flag.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nlbBzgWSiGg

Jackie does an excellent job of breaking things down. The start was horrible with cars jumping rows and whatnot. In an era when the field was expected to be a nice box formation when they took the green, this field was a jumbled mess.

IMO, one of two things happened: Either Salt overreacted when he saw cars trying to get around Krisiloff who was going nowhere in a hurry, or he was in a low gear and the turbo kicked in causing him to loose control.

One other thing that stands out is that McKay was spooked by the Walther crash. When Allison is coming down the front stretch with a blown engine blowing smoke, Jim freaks out thinking there's another bad crash.

I had never seen the broadcast until a few weeks ago when I watched on Youtube. Watching the broadcast from start to finish, with the knowledge that Pollard had already been killed on Pole Day, it really gave me a sense for the first time of much a disaster that year really was. Reading about it does not do it justice.

[Stick500]

here's the "new" footage of the Walther crash.

When I asked the son of the guy who shot this newly discovered footage (who is also the one who posted it on YouTube) if his dad was aware that George Walther (Salt's dad) was offering $s for any additional photos or movies that would show exactly what started the wreck (IIRC the Walther's were claiming he was hit from behind), he said no, he doesn't recall anything like that! I remember seeing ads in the classifieds in NSSN and ads in Racing Pictorial during that summer where G. Walther was asking for any new films and pics. This one would have settled it once and for all.

Also I agree with DoctorIndy, I don't see anything wrong with Swede's wing in any of those films.

As for another post in this thread wondering if Swede would have been one of the great ones, his short record in Indy Cars was quite spectacular and I always felt he would have been a top dog for many years to come.

I was at that race for the first 2 days as a 13 year old (my first 500). Surprising I ever became a fan after that experience.

[dalz]

When I asked the son of the guy who shot this newly discovered footage (who is also the one who posted it on YouTube) if his dad was aware that George Walther (Salt's dad) was offering $s for any additional photos or movies that would show exactly what started the wreck (IIRC the Walther's were claiming he was hit from behind), he said no, he doesn't recall anything like that! I remember seeing ads in the classifieds in NSSN and ads in Racing Pictorial during that summer where G. Walther was asking for any new films and pics. This one would have settled it once and for all.

Actually it's probably fortunate he didn't hear of the offer, because the Walthers would have paid him handsomely to destroy it.

[Big G 94]

Yes Dials did handle that bit very well, was a straight news report that didn't involve interviewing.

I would love to have been a fly on the wall at the meeting he described between the drivers and the officials. I wonder if that was the beginning of the end for Fengler?

Interesting to see them analyze Walther's crash. There was quite a bit of criticism of the ragged formation. I didn't much care for Dials in previous posts, but I have to say he did make a very good report about the drivers meeting with USAC officials. Sounds like the drivers were quite upset that Fengler gave them the green flag.

[Big G 94]

I had to make a trip today and in the car listened to a lot of the '73 radio broadcast. I think they kept it together on the air, although as I noted and you vouched for, by the end Sid sounded like he wanted to get off the air, away from that track and (this is surmising on my part because I don't know the man's habits but I don't recall in his book him saying he was a tee-totaler) get to a place where he could pour himself an adult beverage or two or three and block out what had to have been a grueling, agonizing experience mentally, physically and emotionally.

The thing is, I wonder how much tension there was behind the scenes that didn't come across on the air. Everybody's nerves had to be stretched to the breaking point. And I recall in the book on Jimmy Caruthers that came out back in the 1970s, Hal Higdon wrote it but I'm not recalling the name, it's not in my personal library, I checked it out of my local library ... there was much on the '73 race in there, and there was a lot about Swede's crash. Correct me if I'm wrong, been a long time since I read the book, but I think there was a bit about somebody from the media maybe going to the broadcast booth, or confronting Sid outside the booth, and getting in Sid's face about not reporting that it was Savage, and Sid stuck to his guns on the network policy of not reporting anything until it could be verified officially, and it almost got physical.

No doubt. Sid is like, this is the most disastrous race ever. You could tell he was done with it all.

[tmorris]

I had to make a trip today and in the car listened to a lot of the '73 radio broadcast. I think they kept it together on the air, although as I noted and you vouched for, by the end Sid sounded like he wanted to get off the air, away from that track and (this is surmising on my part because I don't know the man's habits but I don't recall in his book him saying he was a tee-totaler) get to a place where he could pour himself an adult beverage or two or three and block out what had to have been a grueling, agonizing experience mentally, physically and emotionally.

The thing is, I wonder how much tension there was behind the scenes that didn't come across on the air. Everybody's nerves had to be stretched to the breaking point. And I recall in the book on Jimmy Caruthers that came out back in the 1970s, Hal Higdon wrote it but I'm not recalling the name, it's not in my personal library, I checked it out of my local library ... there was much on the '73 race in there, and there was a lot about Swede's crash. Correct me if I'm wrong, been a long time since I read the book, but I think there was a bit about somebody from the media maybe going to the broadcast booth, or confronting Sid outside the booth, and getting in Sid's face about not reporting that it was Savage, and Sid stuck to his guns on the network policy of not reporting anything until it could be verified officially, and it almost got physical.

I highly doubt if anyone was able to get close to Sid during the race....he controlled everything and if you weren't invited in to the booth, you did not go in. Plus Sid was so focused on his task at hand that he would not worry about what others thought during the broadcast let alone someone tring to tell him what to say...during the broadcast. You folks are right on in saying Sid, like everyone, was glad to see the race end...was glad the Victory Banquet was cancelled and the driver's winnings were mailed to them.

[Big G 94]

I would tend to agree with you. I may not be remembering this with 100 percent accuracy, or as was noted in the thread on the Jimmy Bryan book, just because something appears in print doesn't mean it's the gospel truth. But I do definitely recall in the book in question, "Summer of Triumph," by Hal Higdon, there being a mention in the part about the '73 race of a scene of a confrontation when somebody got in Sid's face, somewhere, about not stating on the air that it was Savage in the crash until it was officially confirmed. (I certainly would expect Sid to have unashamedly and unafraidedly stood his ground in such an instance). If someone has this book ... and I know it's been discussed on the forum and people think highly of it; I remember it being an excellent book ... and could go to that section and clarify for accuracy's sake, I'd appreciate it (I actually checked on Amazon about getting a copy, just as an addition to my racing library, but it's way out of print and way expensive). It was in the part that was discussing all the confusion after the accident and people frantic to find out what was going on, most notably Bobby Grim's daughter who was Jimmy Caruthers' girlfriend and was very prominent in the book.

I highly doubt if anyone was able to get close to Sid during the race....he controlled everything and if you weren't invited in to the booth, you did not go in. Plus Sid was so focused on his task at hand that he would not worry about what others thought during the broadcast let alone someone tring to tell him what to say...during the broadcast. You folks are right on in saying Sid, like everyone, was glad to see the race end...was glad the Victory Banquet was cancelled and the driver's winnings were mailed to them.

[tmorris]

According to Amazon....I am going to buy a copy...sounds like a good book no matter what we talk about here. You might try looking again.
Summer of triumph by Hal Higdon (Hardcover - 1977)

13 used from $5.53

[Big G 94]

Yep, found it at half.com even cheaper ... there's one Amazon link where it was $79.97 used, I ought to know by now having bought many books on Amazon (got all my Dick Wallen books there) that you have to look harder (and more than once). Definitely going to pick up a copy.

According to Amazon....I am going to buy a copy...sounds like a good book no matter what we talk about here. You might try looking again.
Summer of triumph by Hal Higdon (Hardcover - 1977)

13 used from $5.53

[buzz]

I think that the whole area was engulfed in invisible methanol flames, and the extinguishant just makes it visible. I've seen the same phenomena in some pit fires.


I believe it was three laps after his pit stop. It has to be rather soon, to account for that geyser of methanol thrown in the air as he hits the wall. If I'm following the coverage correctly, that's Al pitting up ahead of him as he comes out of four, and Swede is about to take the lead again. He definitely was a contender that day.


There are some here who have commented that there is another view of this crash that was edited out of this recent re-broadcast. Something in the back of my mind recalls a slightly wider, more far-away shot, where you can see a crewman (not Teran) running across pit lane and almost getting hit by Al as he is pitting.

I just watched a video that shows Teran's lifeless body rolling along the pavement after being hit.

[MS]

I just watched a video that shows Teran's lifeless body rolling along the pavement after being hit.

It is some type of segment from a disaster show or film made in the 70s. Very ghoulish production.