Rain Gryphon

So, when Bourdais isn't being crashed into, or bursting into flames, he's pretty damn fast. Both of Ed Carpenter's cars are right up there with him. Sato didn't look too dramatic, but I think that's by design. I really think his qualifying setup was hit yesterday, and now it's race configurations, which are much slower. A remarkably clean day as well, with no wrecks or spontaneous combustions.

So, the opening race of the Silver Crown season, the Rich Vogler Memorial, was supposed to run today at Winchester. They called it Friday on account of the forecast, and moved it to July 22nd, although they probably could have gotten it in today, as things developed. Still, USAC's heart was in the right place. Very disappointing, especially for people who've had to travel some distance, to sit all day at the cold, wet racetrack, then have to go home. Winchester has open-top stands, as well.

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The Carbeuration Night Classic (aka The Race Before the 500, which used to be The Night Before the 500), is Friday night before the 500 at Raceway Park. I may go. They've got USAC Sprints and Silver Crown cars, as well as Formula Ford and the next series up (the one below Lights). From 1946 until 1959, it used to be The Night Before the 500, at the 16th Street Speedrome, just across the street from the Speedway. They'd start qualifying at dusk, race three complete Midget cards with heats and A and B mains, and finish up somewhere around 5 in the morning, just before the Speedway grounds opened. An absolutely packed house, always, due to the 500 fans.

I was always sad that I was born too late to see this. A lot of the 500 drivers would race at least part of the night. Then you had absolute racing monsters like Shorty Templeman, who'd race all night, drag his sorry self into his garage when the Speedway opened, and try to get a few hours sleep before the 500. He actually won all three features in 1958(?), and apparently took home quite a pile of money for doing so. Raceway Park revived it, and carried on a few years, but it eventually faded away before I was really old enough to go.

I'm pleased to see it return, even if only a shadow of what it was. Silver Crown cars fascinate me anyway. Had development taken a slightly different path in the early 50s, these are the cars that perhaps would have been contesting the 500 for several decades. It's like looking into an alternate world.

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NASCAR had their "throwback weekend" today at Darlington, emphasizing the history of NASCAR with reproduction paint schemes and the like. They mean well. As always, though, emphasizing the glories of the past, while pushing the diminished realities of the present, doesn't entirely cut it.

Pat Patrick has died. As they note, he won the 500 (as team principal) several times, and the Championship as well. The man's actual first name was "Ueal", which I have never before heard in my life* - everyone just called him 'Pat'. What always comes to mind when I think of him, though, is that he was Dave Savage's car owner, for the two brief seasons allotted him.

Patrick had the STP sponsorship for years. Beautiful dayglo blue and red cars.

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After last year's false start, autonomous cars are going to race at the Speedway come October. It has the potential to go really smoothly. At the same time, it also has the potential to be a debacle on a rarely-seen scale. I'm looking forward to it.

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* I had thought for some years that Ueal was probably a character in the Bible, but if so, I can't find him, even with modern search routines. I wonder if his parents (or possibly the recording clerk) were trying for Ewell?

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Not truly rare, perhaps - a Floyd Clymer "1947 Indianapolis 500 Yearbook", but a copy in remarkably good condition. Someone has read it - the little marks are here and there - but one must look closely to see the signs. To the casual inspection, apart from the inevitable slight browning of the covers and edges of the pages that one expects, it appears much as it did when it was sold from the Clymer stall at the Speedway in 1948.

The seller is a bookstore in Rockford, IL, that I *think* I used to frequent in the 1980s, when business frequently took me to Chicago and the suburbs. It came carefully, painstakingly wrapped, with a fitted outer cardboard cover, a piece of foamcore inside to prevent bending, and then the book itself tightly wrapped in that brown kraft paper that everyone used to always use, and that I've not seen in years, carefully taped with old-fashioned shiny cello-tape. One felt, in some respects, like one had received a parcel from 1948. A delightful experience!

Sato wins his second 500! Last five laps were under yellow, but realistically there was no way that Dixon was going to catch him. Dixon looked perfect all day long, but Sato stuck very solidly back in fifth or sixth, never contesting for position, but not letting the leaders get away from him. The last 25 laps or so, he turned it up, and turned out to have much the faster car. As Loganberry has said, he's developed a great deal since his days in Formula One.

A horrifying crash at the end with Spencer Pigot bouncing off the fourth turn outer wall and going directly into the head of the pit wall. I didn't see how it started, but the end looked very much like poor Dave Savage, all those years ago. I'm thankful for bladder tanks and the energy-absorbing wall. I suspect that his legs are broken, but he was sitting up and talking before they took him away.

Ed Carpenter got taken out early on, but his crew put the car back together, and he went out racing for points, some 13 laps down. You don't see that much anymore, but I've always liked to see people hang in there, even with a ruined car.

Strange, remarkable brake failure with James Davison, quite early on. His right front rotor was glowing yellow hot, then flew to pieces, quite violently, resulting in a huge brake fire. Very dramatic looking.

A sucky day for Alexander Rossi. He started out as one of the five or six who had a good chance to win, but then his pit box computer kept overheating and shutting down, which is a new one to me. His guys were so busy trying to kludge up a cooling system (they used a leaf blower) that they missed calling him into the pits until the last possible second, which cost him time trying to get slowed, missing the pit, then going back around. He made that up, but then on a subsequent stop, they lost a tire nut and had to find it. That led to the apparently-rattled crew chief pushing him out into traffic. He bounced off Sato in the pit lane, although neither one seemed damaged. Rossi had to go to the back of the serial for his penalty, though, and trying to recover from that, he actually passed about half the field, but then eventually lost it and crashed. If not for that, it may well have turned out differently.

Andretti made a valiant try, but couldn't keep up with the leaders. I think they had his downforce cranked way up, trying to stabilize the car, and he just didn't have the speed. A great pity, after he had such a dominating month.

As one of the TV announcers pointed out, Sato could very easily have had his third Five Hundred today, if that last lap pass in 2012 had worked out a bit better.

Kanaan has decided that he'll come back at least one more time. This had been supposed to be his final Five Hundred.

Sato ends up on the outside of the first row. I'm pretty sure that's his best-ever start. He turned in a remarkably consistent run as well, without having the speed drop off as usually happens, which tells one that he was being careful, and wasn't turning in an initial high lap by abusing the tires. He can be a complete maniac in the closing laps, but can also drive with extreme discipline. He reminds me of Al Unser in that regard. I'd love to see him win again come Sunday.

Marco Andretti got the pole. As everyone commented, 1987 was the last time one of the numerous Andrettis had the pole. It doesn't seem that long ago. That was such a remarkable race anyway. I sat on the inside of the front stretch, in the old "paddock" seats. Mario was in conquering form, the entire month. He led the race until the last 25 laps or so, having lapped the entire field, most of them several times. It was just ridiculous how much better his car was than anyone else's. It sorted out to be Andretti, Roberto Guerrero one lap down, and Al Unser trailing him. Everyone else was left far behind.

At the racetrack, you develop a sense of timing. It was just about time for Andretti's last pit stop (they only did about 25 laps on a tank in those days), and when he didn't come past in the serial, everyone jumped to their feet to watch. And here he came, not going to the pits, but coasting down the front stretch, slowing down the entire way with the engine popping and banging. There was a general freakout. Tom Carnegie was yelling over the PA system, but you really couldn't hear him. Al Unser came in for his final pit stop, and left the pits like an absolute bat out of hell, trying to stay on the same lap with Roberto Guerrero. He pitted way down the lane from us, and I didn't realize that he *had* pitted until I saw him leave. My heart went out to him at that point. He was one of the great drivers of my childhood, and close to the end of his career, but trying so *desperately*. Guerrero lapped him on his way into the first turn.

It looked pretty much over, apart from Guerrero's last pit stop. Next time past, he came in. His pit box was pretty much in front of us and slightly to the right. Everyone stood to watch, of course. They fuelled him, and I think gave him left side tires, and pushed him away. And he stalled. General freakout doesn't even begin to describe it. The lady sitting next to me poured about half a can of CountryTime lemonade into my right shoe - I'll always remember that. And they pushed him backwards, and got out the inertial starter as Unser came sweeping past to make up his lap. And they fumbled, and fumbled, and ran around in circles, and finally restarted the car, and pushed him off, and he stalled AGAIN. And everyone was screaming as loudly as they could, and bouncing up and down, including me, with my right foot now cold and squishy. They got him restarted a second time, and pushed him off, with Guerrero riding the clutch and throttle to keep it alive, just as Al Unser swept past into the lead. It was pretty much over from there. Unser won, and Guerrero came second.

I was delighted to see Unser win, but felt sorry for Guerrero. He was one of these guys like Ted Horn, who could do anything except win the Five Hundred. He amassed a whole string of seconds, thirds, and fourths.

And so, the Indianapolis Five Hundred, the single remaining high point of an overall rotten summer, is going to be run without spectators. I am disgusted.

For the first time in my life, I actually feel sorry for Roger Penske. He can afford to take the loss, but it's been a terrible first year of owning the Speedway for him. This year should have been the highlight of his life.

Iran's Parade of Misfortune continues. Chlorine leak at a refinery, and fire at a power plant.

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Gonna be 92°F tomorrow, with about 40% relative humidity. As much as I enjoy the summer, that's not the sort of day to spend in the stands at the Speedway. I'll enjoy watching from home.

The event sponsor, Big Machine Vodka, is now Big Machine Hand Sanitizer. Turn and face the strange.

So, more about Alfred Moss. He seems to have studied at the Indiana University School of Dentistry. It's undoubtedly a very good school, but why he came here instead of going to a British school, I don't know. Barber Warnock entered only one car in 1923, driven by LL Corum, a protege of the Chevrolet bros. He went to Duesenburg in 1924, and was replaced with Bill Hunt, Bill Harder, and Alfred Moss as drivers for a three-car team. I don't know, but I strongly suspect that all three were local dirt track drivers.

The Barber-Warnock cars were essentially Ford model Ts, retrofitted with the "Frontenac" racing head and valves, designed by the Chevrolet brothers. They were serious terrors on the short tracks, with a huge amount of bottom and mid-range torque. Corum drove his to fifth place in the 1923 500, but by 1924 they were being pretty much outclassed by the Millers and Duesenburgs. The three cars finished the race, but in 14th, 16th, and 17th. In 1925, Moss drove relief for part of the race for Herbert Jones, in a Miller*, finishing 19th. Presumably he returned to Britain for 1926.

Where did Moss drive, I wonder? Jungle Park, the legendary Worst Track EVAR!, didn't open until 1926. Salem, in 1947, and Haubstadt, in 1957, are both right out. I really don't know what tracks were around at the time. As a child I was fascinated by the high-speed board tracks, and know a fair amount about those (and they were dying by 1924 anyway), but not the short dirt tracks. That really needs a trip to the library, but that's not possible ATM.

* This was a different team, and not B-W, as I said yesterday.

So, in East Africa, they've got locusts and terrorists. West and Central Africa, the Congo especially, now has Ebola and, strangely enough, measles. Everyone's getting Chinese Doom on top of all that.

The UN wants to establish a huge slush fund to "fight coronavirus". No word at all what happened to all that money they were given to vaccinate against measles.

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Pretty much everything cancelled or at least postponed. Kentucky Derby is going to be in September, as is Le Mans. Monte Carlo is "later". Indianapolis sent out a newsletter in which they seemed to contemplate running the race with no audience (they spoke of the date being important), but then seemed to back off of that. I feel sorry for Roger Penske, but I suppose that he can afford it.

The Olympics seem to be finally bowing to reality. I'd love to see them just have a two-year gap, and get the summer games back on the same year as the winter games, but I doubt that'll happen.