[PJ Wright]

Originally Posted by ISF Can hardly wait for ol' Brickyard to trot out those White Papers again and set the OP straight once and for all.

I think he's already here. He just decided to start the circus on his own.

[EBookerFan]

I started watching races at Winchester in 1945. I saw many of the drivers at this high bank track go on to race the 500. Such as Charlie Van Acker, Hal Robson, Duane Carter,Spider Webb,Troy Ruttman,Mack Hellings,George Lynch,Cecil Green,Lee Wallard,Myron Fohr,Jerry Hoyt,Jackie Holmes,Duke Dinsmore,Mike Nazaruk,Andy Linden,Gene Force,Bill Mackey,Joe James,Jimmy Reece,Jimmy Daywalt,Larry Crockett,Pat OConnor, and the list goes on and on. The feeder system at this time was the midget, sprint car drivers.
Some were more adapt at the changes from the dirt big cars and the roadsters to come. But they were all my race driving hero's. While in Indianapolis in the 50's, I worked at a clothing store, Jacob's, downtown and Reece was a regular customer of our store. I would see Daywalt at the bars on the south side of town.
Times sure have changed. Money always wins because the cream of the crop navigates to it. Back in the 40's and 50's you would have 70, 80 plus entries. Most were not going to win but it afforded a driver a chance to compete in the 500. Good for them.
We up to 35 entries for this 500. And money is still the driving force for this race.

[Gregg]

I may not be able to show my face at IMS after mentioning that Erik Jones was one of Ganassi's drivers. I was wrong. Erik is the NASCAR driver. Ed Jones is the Indy Car driver. As Steve Martin would say. EXCUUUUUSE ME!

[Grocery Guy]

Is this guy serious? He is calling out and shaming Roger Pimpske and Cheap Ganassi, two of the all time greatest owners in Indy Car and for that matter, auto racing history. Hey.....he forgot to mention Michael Andretti, too. Just wait...if these owners, and others ever step aside, we may not have 33 cars in the Indy 500 field.

Dirtis4Racing, were you at Kokomo last night? 4 of your hardcore American drivers were racing in front of probably 500 fans. For Indy, as you say, I'm sure these drivers will pack that stands like never before and bring record TV ratings through the roof.

Let's see....Indy car tried Chicagoland, Kentucky Speedway, Richmond, New Hampshire, Atlanta and lord knows how many other ovals. Phoenix had 8,000 fans this year, with Silver Crown cars.

Hope your model works. Let's see you fund it.

[hoosier race fan]

Tongue-in-cheek xenophobia. Easily mistaken for head-up-ass xenophobia.

[Backitin]

Shoot all them dang un-American drivers makes it even better when a good ole boy from the usa wins. Plus I like listening to the foreign guys whine about reckless driving when a perfectly sweet pass was put on them courtesy of good ole American gonads.
Todays 500 is still a much watch even if you don't like the progress its made. Nothing will ever again be what Indy was in the mid to late 60's. You had the combo of great drivers along with great garage engineering.

[brsteg]

'You can't tell that their from America because they act like they are from San Francisco...'

Well... umm.. so much to say but I'll leave it at, our school systems are failing us.

[brsteg]

Originally Posted by Tony74 One of those guys has driven at Winchester, Salem, Indy Mile, Duquion, Springfield... and sat on the pole twice at Indy...

Ed Carpenter, right?

[TKRacing]

My fiancé and I are on vacation and we were talking racing on the way here... mind you she wasn’t around when I was racing so she hates the racing talk, but we were talking how things change. Times have changed. Indy requires money and the foreigners have it. It sucks but that’s just how it works. I’m not old enough to remember the good ole days but I sure wish I was. I grew up in Indy my dads shop was on Gasoline Alley, but yet I’ve never been to a 500. I guess I grew up listening to the stories of old and just think now days it’s not how it should be but that doesn’t mean I don’t support it. It’s got a long Rich history and I will support it. I don’t go but that’s thanks to work. However I will listen and watch and enjoy. Americans or not it’s still the Indy 500 and nothing can ever take that away.

[Stevensville Mike]

Originally Posted by DirtIs4Racing 35 entries and only 14 Americans and you can't even tell if some of them are American with the way they spell their names and prance around on the camera like a bunch of San Francisco fruit loops. None of them nancies have any dirt experience because they are skeered to saddle up the beast. Tony George should have buried CART and Chump Car, Chimp Car, whatever it was at the end of it's death bed stay and kicked old I Get My Way Roger Pimpske to the curb. The next thing he should have done was taken the wings off, put the engine back in the front where it rightfully resides, taken all those tuity fruity limp wrist twisties off the schedule and added those dirt bullrings back to the schedule. It's a crying shame that we can't see our heroes run the hallowed grounds no more. Penske, Cheap Ganassi, and some of those other so called owner want nothing but to go after those Frenchies, South Americans, and Australians with their funny walk and talk and their tendency to be skeered of anything resembling an oval. Give them a field and season full of real hardcore American drivers like Swanson, Grant, Windom, T-Mez, The People's Champ, Ballou, etc and they'll have those stands packed like never before and the TV ratings will be through the roof.

First post on the forum at that.

I cannot wait for your last one.