tubebender said:
When I was a young my Dad would take me to watch the 500; at the time it was shown in theaters.
Years later he took me to the California 500 at Ontario. I thought it was really boring.
Little did I imagine that later on in life I would actually participate in the Greatest Spectacle, which I did as a mechanic on 2 different teams from '93 to '95.
This was at the height of the CART days and I have to say, the first pit stop of my first Indy was one of the most intense 30 seconds of my life. As you wait for the car to stop in the stall, you look up and realize that thousands of people lining both sides of the front straight would see if you screwed up. Talk about being under some pressure!
I'll be watching this weekend and paying special attention to Connor Daly 'cause back when I first met him, he was just a baby!
Ah, yes... As you and I have discussed before, Carl, we have many of the same feelings and experiences about the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
My Dad took me to my first Indy 500 in 1964, and we continued to go for years after that. The early years when we couldn't go in person, like you, we went to a local theater to watch on "closed circuit" telecast. And once more paralleling your experience I never imagined I would participate in the Indy 500, but then in 1993, there I was, standing on the grid looking up into the stands. I think that was the first moment I really and truly believed I was actually *there*... When they were playing the National Anthem, and suddenly there were tears in my eyes. That's when the whirlwind of all the long hours and hard work suddenly cemented into reality, and I realized it really wasn't a dream.
And we continued to have a car on the grid there, in the 500, right through the year 2000.
So many memories... Our first pit stop. Seeing our car number at the top of that pylon for the first time. "Calling" my first race there. The good finishes, as well as the "bad"... And all of them, as well as many more, some of the greater highlights of my life.
So many wonderful people, too, and I still get goosebumps any time I drive through the Turn 3-4 tunnel into the place.
Dallara
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