That was 1973, the race that went over three days. Saw that one from the paddock penthouse. I remember Salt Walther’s car sliding to stop and seeing his legs hanging out of the front of the tub. We also saw the crew member get hit in the pits by the fire truck responding to the Swede Savage crash. It was a total cluster. I remember Dan Gurney being interviewed on a local news station after the second day, saying that as far as he was concerned they should just make the race a scratch and move on to Milwaukee...
Things were so screwed up by the third day they weren’t even checking tickets any more. You could pretty well walk in and sit where you wanted. My Dad had a customer that was the commercial GMC (trucks and heavy equipment, Parker GMC) that bought blocks of tickets to give out to customers, along with a suite they had in the Speedway Motel on the second turn. I sat in that one year and it was lousy except for the food, drinks and valet parking. I got free tickets to the 500 for years from them and pretty much sat in nearly every part of the track. Best place to sit? Southeast Vista in the end of the alphabet double letter rows. You’re high up enough to see almost to the finish line around the first and second turns, down the back stretch into the third turn chute. You also get torched by the sun up there on a sunny day. -D > On Jul 5, 2020, at 5:38 PM, Buggered Benzmail via Mercedes > <mercedes@okiebenz.com> wrote: > > When I was 17 I drove an old converted school bus party wagon full of drunks > to the Indy 500. That was the year Swede Savage got killed in a big wreck on > the 2nd or 3rd lap right about the S/F line. 1972 I guess. Some of the drunks > got hit by fuel and flying debris so we were delayed leaving while they got > checked out in the infield hospital. > > Getting out was a trip. They were all sh*tfaced, I was the only sober one, > threw that sucker into first gear and laid on the horn and the crowd and > traffic parted like Moses and the Red Sea. I got $20 and an infield ticket, > met a buddy right quick in amongst about 30,000 people at the first turn, > that didn’t last long. > > --FT > Sent from iPhone > >> On Jul 5, 2020, at 5:25 PM, Mitch Haley via Mercedes <mercedes@okiebenz.com> >> wrote: >> >> I was thinking 18 (but no way a major freight carrier's insurance will >> cover you under 21) but I was wondering the same thing. >> >> I don't think Michigan would have given me a Chauffeurs license before I >> was 18 with our without the Class A endorsement. I had one at 20 with no >> truck/bus endorsements on it. >> Mitch. >> >>> On Sun, July 5, 2020 5:13 pm, Allan Streib via Mercedes wrote: >>> How did you drive a semi as a high-schooler? I thought you had to be 21 >>> for a CDL? >> >> >> >> _______________________________________ >> http://www.okiebenz.com >> >> To search list archives http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/ >> >> To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: >> http://mail.okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com >> > > _______________________________________ > http://www.okiebenz.com > > To search list archives http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/ > > To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: > http://mail.okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com > _______________________________________ http://www.okiebenz.com To search list archives http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/ To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: http://mail.okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com
