2011 Indianapolis 500 - 100 Years of Driving on Bricks (NSF56k)

citizen059

The Indianapolis 500. Andretti, Mears, Foyt, Unser.

Even if you aren't into motorsports, if you live in the United States chances are you know these names and this race, because it's arguably the most famous auto race in America.

This year marks the 100 year anniversary of the first Indy 500, held on May 30th, 1911. The inaugural event was won by a man named Ray Harroun, who worked as an engineer for the Marmon-Nordyke company...a flour mill manufacturer.

This was his winning car:






We've come a long way, wouldn't you say?


I grew up in NASCAR country, so as a kid I didn't know much about Indy. Appropriately enough, my first real taste of the series came from a computer game...Indycar Racing by Papyrus, the first racing sim I ever owned. I was instantly hooked, and started watching whenever I could.

Unfortunately my interest started around the same time that the series split into two entities, the Indy Racing League and CART. Since the Indy 500 race stayed with IRL, the talent pool for a few years was pretty shallow and the stature of the race faltered a bit as a result. But within 5-6 years some of the top teams returned, and the racing has only gotten better since.

For me, two races come to mind when I think of the 500.

The 1992 Indy 500 was the first one I remember watching. My dad had tuned in to watch the end of the race, so as I was passing through the house I stopped to watch the last few laps. I wasn't that into motorsports at that age but at the same time, it was certainly something to watch.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mtiGra-pj5c


But the one that sticks with me the most is the 2006 race...a prime example of the old phrase "It ain't over 'till it's over".

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wsBNUlXu8PI



The speedway has a youtube channel where they've posted a number of centennial videos, as shown above with the '06 recap.

A few more:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4t6mPdjS5tw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8cjgZ37XBb4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bQJcrUdYTew


So I've put this thread up here in case anyone wants to talk about the 500. Have you ever been to one? Is there a moment in the history of the event that you remember? By all means, share.