231 replies to this topic

[jonpollak]

No. Howdy Holmes won Rookie of the Year in 1979 as soon as he took the green, as the only rookie in the field; slightly ironically given that that year had a 35 car field. At least he had the sort of run worthy of a ROTY, finishing 7th.

Driving the Jiffy Mix/Chelsea Milling company Special.
Jiffy was the worlds first pre-made baking mix and was his grandmother Mabel White Holmes invention.

Howdy now runs the company.
https://en.m.wikiped.../wiki/Jiffy_mix


( kudos to M Thomsen for the info )
For more fabulous history enjoy this podcast.
https://omny.fm/show...aylists/podcast
Jp

Edited by jonpollak, 17 May 2021 - 17:08.

[HistoryFan]

2 rookies (Pietro Fittipaldi and Scott McLaughlin) brings up the starting Indy 500 drivers to 784

 

We have 9 drivers with 40 years or older – when had we so much old drivers last time before?

 

We have 9 former winners with 13 wins combined

Hélio Castroneves 3

Juan Pablo Montoya 2

Takuma Sato 2

Scott Dixon 1

Tony Kanaan 1

Ryan Hunter-Reay 1

Will Power 1

Alexander Rossi 1

Simon Pagenaud 1

 

In 1992 we had record 10 winners on the grid with 20 wins combined:

Al Unser 4

AJ Foyt 4

Rick Mears 4

Gordon Johncock 2

Arie Luyendyk 1

Bobby Rahal 1

Danny Sullivan 1

Emerson Fittipaldi 1

Mario Andretti 1

Tom Sneva 1

 

How many other years had 9 former winners on the grid? And are there more years with more than 13 wins combined on the grid?

 

Scott Dixon scored his 4th pole at the Indy 500, only Rick Mears has more (6)

[HistoryFan]

It was the fastest average qualifying speed of all 33 drivers with 230.294 mph ever!

[Henri Greuter]

31 years ago Arie Luyendijk won the 500 from 3rd on the grid with car 30

30 years later,  Sato did the same

 

 

30 years ago, the last race won before the Indy 500 was the Phoenix 200, won by Dutchman Arie Luyendijk

The Indy 500 was won by a driver who became a fourtime winner....

 

 

This year the last race before the Indy 500 was won by a Dutchman.

The Indy 500 was won by a driver who became a fourtime winner.

 

 

Next year: Lext's look for what Arie did in 1992 to predict the race result.

I've missed a good earning on a betting game this year, I saw this omen 11 das ago already.....

[Spillage]

Not quite F1, but Helio Castroneves (46) won the Indy 500 today. He is the age of second-placed Alex Palou (24) and third-placed Pato O'Ward (22) combined.

I bet there haven't been too many races where that's happened!

[NewMrMe]

One record I noticed Castroneves broke today. The longest span between a drivers first and last Indy 500 wins. Helio's first was in 2001, 20 years ago. The previous record was 17 years by Al Unser. His first win was in 1970 and last 1987.

[Ruusperi]

Someone who comes to mind is Gabriele Tarquini. Looks like in WTCC race at Marrakech in 2019, at the age of 57, he shared podium with Jean-Karl Vernay (31) and Yann Ehrlacher (22). Obviously touring car drivers are often quite seasoned so there are probably many similar instances.

[Dolph]

Not quite F1, but Helio Castroneves (46) won the Indy 500 today. He is the age of second-placed Alex Palou (24) and third-placed Pato O'Ward (22) combined.

I bet there haven't been too many races where that's happened!

 

Pato was 4th. Pagenaud passed him for 3rd.

[Lemnpiper]

Larry Cannon   qualified for 3 races  1974 , 1976 , 1980     each time Johnny Rutherford won 

[Lemnpiper]

Any idea  which year the  33 car field ran the most total laps?  2021 looks like a good bet

[Henri Greuter]

Another discovery that kind of hinted onto Castroneves:

 

In 2011 an Andretti affiliated team won the 500

It happened again in 2016.

So if we kept that rythm, wat was the next option for occurrance?

 

And what did we get?????

[HistoryFan]

Any idea  which year the  33 car field ran the most total laps?  2021 looks like a good bet

6308 in 2021 — new record (beating 2013 with 5863)

We also had the most finishers (30) – record before was 26 (1911, 2013, 2019)

[HistoryFan]

ranking the 4 time winners:

 

1st places/2nd/3rd

 

1. Al Unser 4/3/4

2. Hélio Castroneves 4/3/1

3. AJ Foyt 4/2/3

4. Rick Mears 4/1/2

[Collombin]

However in an odd quirk many of them actually drove a much further distance in the 500 than some of the “starting” drivers, several of whom never actually started the race at all.

Re-reading this thread got me thinking and wondering as to who is officially classed as a starting driver without ever actually starting.

I could only think of Affonso Giaffone and Dale Whittington, though I did watch the 1966 crash to check Gary Congdon - he definitely made it past the startline though. Have I missed anyone?

[ensign14]

I think the only other Indy 500 starters who did not complete a lap are Art Bisch and Jerry Unser (caught up in the same crash) and Carlos Guerrero (the Stan Fox T1 crash).

[Collombin]

I think the only other Indy 500 starters who did not complete a lap are Art Bisch and Jerry Unser (caught up in the same crash) and Carlos Guerrero (the Stan Fox T1 crash).

Cool, I may not have missed anyone in that case. I would consider all these to be starters.

[ensign14]

The ultimate in Indy 500 failure is Johnny Hannon, who was killed in a crash at T3 on his very first lap of the Speedway.

 

Racing being racing, the Bowes Seal Fast crew knocked out the dents, put Clay Weatherly in it, and he crashed fatally inside 10 laps.  There cannot be many cars that have had two fatal accidents in the same meeting.  The carnage incidentally precipitated the rookie test.

[Collombin]

Hannon excelled at Langhorne, so can't have been all that bad a driver.

Wasn't there some kind of rookie test for a couple of years prior to that, albeit only enforced at the discretion of the officials rather than being compulsory for all?

[HistoryFan]

Ericsson is the 74th winner of the Indy 500, the second Swedish driver alongside Kenny Bräck (1999 with Foyt)

Chip Ganassi now has 5 wins - 2000 (Montoya), 2008 (Dixon), 2010, 2012 (Franchitti) and 2022 (Ericssion)

[HistoryFan]

And he is the 13th former F1 driver to win the Indy 500

 

Jim Clark

Graham Hill

Mario Andretti

Mark Donohue

Bobby Unser

Danny Sullivan

Bobby Rahal

Emerson Fittipaldi

Eddie Cheever

Juan Pablo Montoya

Alexander Rossi

Takuma Sato

Marcus Ericsson

 

there would be more if you also count F1 drivers who won the Indy 500 BEFORE they start in F1 like Villeneuve or if you count the Indy 500 which were part of the World Championship 1950-1960.

[BRG]

Clark and Hill weren't 'former' F1 drivers.  They were current F1 drivers who popped over to Indy between GPs. 

Donohue and Andretti were past and future F1 drivers who won at Indy between F1 stints..

[ensign14]

First win for a car numbered 8 since Pat Flaherty in 1956.

 

Not the longest drought - 17 has been waiting since 1916 and 18 is the lowest non-13 positive integer never to have seen Victory Lane.

 

Odd that 7, the most popular lucky number globally, hasn't won since Bill Holland, and has only won twice.  Coogan of course was denied by a late yellow.

[BRG]

Quiet day at work, is it?  

[ensign14]

Technically, no...

[lotuspoweredbyford]

Re-reading this thread got me thinking and wondering as to who is officially classed as a starting driver without ever actually starting.

I could only think of Affonso Giaffone and Dale Whittington, though I did watch the 1966 crash to check Gary Congdon - he definitely made it past the startline though. Have I missed anyone?

 

To my knowledge, of the 791 "starting drivers" the only two who didn't start are Dale Whittington and Affonso Giaffone. 

 

As I mentioned on Beyond The Bricks this year it is bizarre that they are "starting drivers" but the guys in the Cyrus Patschke Society who actually drove in the 500 aren't considered 500 drivers at all and they actually drove in the race.

 

Quirky.

[lotuspoweredbyford]

And he is the 13th former F1 driver to win the Indy 500

 

Jim Clark

Graham Hill

Mario Andretti

Mark Donohue

Bobby Unser

Danny Sullivan

Bobby Rahal

Emerson Fittipaldi

Eddie Cheever

Juan Pablo Montoya

Alexander Rossi

Takuma Sato

Marcus Ericsson

 

there would be more if you also count F1 drivers who won the Indy 500 BEFORE they start in F1 like Villeneuve or if you count the Indy 500 which were part of the World Championship 1950-1960.

 

 

 

 

 

At the time Mario won the 500 he had what 2 F1 starts? And Donohue had 1.....

[lotuspoweredbyford]

First win for a car numbered 8 since Pat Flaherty in 1956.

 

Not the longest drought - 17 has been waiting since 1916 and 18 is the lowest non-13 positive integer never to have seen Victory Lane.

 

Odd that 7, the most popular lucky number globally, hasn't won since Bill Holland, and has only won twice.  Coogan of course was denied by a late yellow.

 

And the second-starting position "jinx" continues, just one win since 1970, Montoya in 2000.

[lotuspoweredbyford]

I think the only other Indy 500 starters who did not complete a lap are Art Bisch and Jerry Unser (caught up in the same crash) and Carlos Guerrero (the Stan Fox T1 crash).

 

Gary Congdon as well. 

[Beri]

At the time Mario won the 500 he had what 2 F1 starts? And Donohue had 1.....

No matter how you put it, F1 drivers they were none the less.

[Collombin]

the guys in the Cyrus Patschke Society who actually drove in the 500 aren't considered 500 drivers at all and they actually drove in the race

I had a go at compiling the membership list once - I think I came up with 52 drivers.

[HistoryFan]

Indy 500 qualifying 2023 stats

 

=> first ever 234 mph front row in Indy 500 history

=> Closest gap between 1st and 3rd beating 2016

=> 3rd youngest front row after 2013 and 1930.

=> first front row with only European born drivers.

 

https://racer.com/20...rds-milestones/

 

 

[Collombin]

I think that article is wrong about smallest gaps between 1st and 2nd, as apparently the gap between Big Al and JR in 1970 was also 0.003s, which translates to an even shorter distance than 2012's 0.003s. Of course, they only showed times to hundredths officially in 1970 which is why it probably got overlooked.