Those were the days...waiting all day as a kid for Dad and Mom to come back from the race..."Who won?" and all the great names....Rathman, Ward, Foyt, Jones...and the stories...memories, memories...
1960 was the first Indy 500 I attended in person with my mother and father. Rodger Ward became my favorite Indy roadster driver. From 1958 to 1965, he was one of the best, and certainly the most consistent driver at Indy.
A fine film... Thank you... What really added to this clip was the fantastic background / description added to this page... This RARE on RUclips videos but much appreciated... Thanks again.
A bit of trivia for you guys. Dick Rathmann switched identities with his older brother Jim when Dick was 16 years old. This was to allow Dick to start racing. Both brothers raced under the other brothers name throughout their careers. So Dick actually won the race driving as Jim. Now you know the rest of the story.
This film documents an exciting period of racing at The Brickyard. Jim Rathmann won this day. His team was lead by the famous, and somewhat infamous, Henry "Smokey" Yunick. He never received credit as Crew Chief, despite having done the vast majority of work in prepping the car and the engines. Chickie Hiroshima was listed by the team owner on the entry form for the race, but had little involvement. Hiroshima only arrived at the track a few days prior to the race. Yunick was there for several weeks. Eventually, Smokey was credited as Co-Crew Chief. Despite competing for many years afterward and fielding some amazing racecars, Smokey did not win again at Indy .
As a long time racing fan, I miss the days when just completing the race was an accomplishment. Race cars, in all series, now are so mechanically bulletproof drivers run every lap like its qualifying. No more managing the car and using smart decisions to be fast at the finish.
Rodger Ward was one of the lucky ones to survive both the 1950s & 60s and lived to an old age. So did Jim Rathmann. Sadly Jimmy Bryan was killed three weeks later at Langhorne, PA one of the most dangerous tracks at the time (closed in 1971 and razed for a shopping mall)
Yes! one of the most exciting races of the last several decades. The narrator's style...classic for the action of speed movies of the auto racing styles. Love the film shots early on and during the race of the people. The "500 Festival Parade" was just a few years old. The other sides of the town having their own "festivals" and parties are classic of the late 1950's style. In one scene, the rock and roll guitarist fellows looked like the Everly Brothers - Don & Phil. Winner, Jim Rathmann was a very determined man in getting that Indy victory. I think within the next year or so he retired, but came back to drive the Pace Car in the "500" several times. Too bad Johnny Thomson never won the "500". He would have been a great Champion in the win.
I have a few dozen high-quality slides of the qualifying and raceday of this event, which I found in my uncle's collection recently. I would share them with anybody who is interested.
Those were the days...waiting all day as a kid for Dad and Mom to come back from the race..."Who won?" and all the great names....Rathman, Ward, Foyt, Jones...and the stories...memories, memories...
1960 was the first Indy 500 I attended in person with my mother and father. Rodger Ward became my favorite Indy roadster driver. From 1958 to 1965, he was one of the best, and certainly the most consistent driver at Indy.
A fine film... Thank you... What really added to this clip was the fantastic background / description added to this page... This RARE on RUclips videos but much appreciated... Thanks again.
A bit of trivia for you guys. Dick Rathmann switched identities with his older brother Jim when Dick was 16 years old. This was to allow Dick to start racing. Both brothers raced under the other brothers name throughout their careers. So Dick actually won the race driving as Jim. Now you know the rest of the story.
This film documents an exciting period of racing at The Brickyard. Jim Rathmann won this day. His team was lead by the famous, and somewhat infamous, Henry "Smokey" Yunick. He never received credit as Crew Chief, despite having done the vast majority of work in prepping the car and the engines. Chickie Hiroshima was listed by the team owner on the entry form for the race, but had little involvement. Hiroshima only arrived at the track a few days prior to the race. Yunick was there for several weeks. Eventually, Smokey was credited as Co-Crew Chief.
Despite competing for many years afterward and fielding some amazing racecars, Smokey did not win again at Indy .
"I ran fresh out of brains". The story of Danica Patrick's career.
The driver for car 52 at 7:11, I believe is Jack Rounds (1930 - 1998).
As a long time racing fan, I miss the days when just completing the race was an accomplishment. Race cars, in all series, now are so mechanically bulletproof drivers run every lap like its qualifying. No more managing the car and using smart decisions to be fast at the finish.
Rodger Ward was one of the lucky ones to survive both the 1950s & 60s and lived to an old age. So did Jim Rathmann. Sadly Jimmy Bryan was killed three weeks later at Langhorne, PA one of the most dangerous tracks at the time (closed in 1971 and razed for a shopping mall)
Man. I wish I was 3 again !!
Yes! one of the most exciting races of the last several decades. The narrator's style...classic for the action of speed movies of the auto racing styles.
Love the film shots early on and during the race of the people. The "500 Festival Parade" was just a few years old. The other sides of the town having their own "festivals" and parties are classic of the late 1950's style. In one scene, the rock and roll guitarist fellows looked like the Everly Brothers - Don & Phil.
Winner, Jim Rathmann was a very determined man in getting that Indy victory. I think within the next year or so he retired, but came back to drive the Pace Car in the "500" several times.
Too bad Johnny Thomson never won the "500". He would have been a great Champion in the win.
I have a few dozen high-quality slides of the qualifying and raceday of this event, which I found in my uncle's collection recently. I would share them with anybody who is interested.
Back when the cars had ashtrays.
👍
when men were men!!
Hey, spoiler alert! :)