Indy 1966 Ward and Jones

[MS]

Or maybe the T90 was just evil at Indy and Rodger was sufficiently skilled and confident at Indy to know for sure the car was the problem.

Ward blamed himself for the Vukovich fatal crash. In the ESPN Sports Century, a very emotional Ward said his car was handling poorly and he didn't have "good judgement" to bring it in to fix it or retire. Instead he stayed out and.....

Ward considered quitting, but the Vukovich family assured him that they didn't harbor any resentment and Bill himself would have wanted Ward to continue. Ward matured greatly after that crash and became a winner and respected person in the sport.

Maybe he was thinking '55 when he brought it in and parked it in '66. (shrug) I would have loved to have seen him survive and win in '66, but I'm even happier for him and his family that he lived to a ripe old age and he didn't end against the wall in '66.

36:16 in the video below has Ward talking about '55.

https://youtu.be/Y38Bf1kA-7I?t=2177

[The JP]

This is from the "FWIW" category. I finally remembered to do some research and found that I do have a copy of O'leary's biography of Ward and I also found my sainted Mother's (god rest her soul) scrapbook from the 1966 500 which is made from Indianapolis Star and Indianapolis News articles. The only mention in the scrapbook is that Ward, having run as high as 5th before pitting on lap 58 and the car stalling leaving his pit box, causing a one minute 8 second stop, where others were averaging about 30 seconds per stop, pitted again on lap 74 and the car was rolled back to the garage area. At the victory banquet Ward was quoted as saying, "I thought something was wrong with my car, so I pulled in. But today my mechanics could find nothing wrong." O'Leary's source in his biography of Ward is Rodger Ward, Jr. Junior pointed out that his dad had less practice time that month than ever. "Bignotti kept saying, Now Rodger, don't think that I'm not paying any attention to you, I know that you can sort this race car out, you don't need my full time attention. My dad didn't like that. In fact, he was a little resentful about it." There is a paragraph on this same page that O'leary doesn't attribute to any source, that says, "It turned out that there was a high spot in the Lola's steering rack. When Rodger set up for a corner, there was increasing resistance in the steering wheel as he tried to turn it to the left. When the car reached the apex of the turn, it would go past the high spot and, with the pressure Rodger was exerting, would quickly go further than it should have." Rodger Jr. says that the supercharged Offy made the situation much more dicey. "When he backed out of the throttle at the end of both long straightaways, it would load up with fuel really bad. So when he'd go to pick the throttle back up to go across the short straightaway, about that time it would go 'blub, blub, blub, blub,' then 'wwooooowwwwww!' just at the time he was at the high spot in the steering. He said that every lap, he almost put it on the fence for about the last 30 laps that he was out there. "The fact is he left before the race was over. He went down the pits into the garage, changed his clothes, got in his car and went home. He went right to bed. Never said another word to anybody," Rodger Jr. explains. "He was very bitter. He was angry as hell about the whole thing." So if we can believe the biographer and a second hand account of a family member (and I have no reason not to believe them) I can see why a driver as skilled as Rodger Ward (at 45 still at the top of his game, having finished 2nd and 1st in the first two races of the season) would have parked that car and called it quits. He'd had the hell scared out of him twice a lap for 30 laps, no wonder it stopped being fun.

[Indyote]

This is from the "FWIW" category. I finally remembered to do some research and found that I do have a copy of O'leary's biography of Ward and I also found my sainted Mother's (god rest her soul) scrapbook from the 1966 500 which is made from Indianapolis Star and Indianapolis News articles. The only mention in the scrapbook is that Ward, having run as high as 5th before pitting on lap 58 and the car stalling leaving his pit box, causing a one minute 8 second stop, where others were averaging about 30 seconds per stop, pitted again on lap 74 and the car was rolled back to the garage area. At the victory banquet Ward was quoted as saying, "I thought something was wrong with my car, so I pulled in. But today my mechanics could find nothing wrong." O'Leary's source in his biography of Ward is Rodger Ward, Jr. Junior pointed out that his dad had less practice time that month than ever. "Bignotti kept saying, Now Rodger, don't think that I'm not paying any attention to you, I know that you can sort this race car out, you don't need my full time attention. My dad didn't like that. In fact, he was a little resentful about it." There is a paragraph on this same page that O'leary doesn't attribute to any source, that says, "It turned out that there was a high spot in the Lola's steering rack. When Rodger set up for a corner, there was increasing resistance in the steering wheel as he tried to turn it to the left. When the car reached the apex of the turn, it would go past the high spot and, with the pressure Rodger was exerting, would quickly go further than it should have." Rodger Jr. says that the supercharged Offy made the situation much more dicey. "When he backed out of the throttle at the end of both long straightaways, it would load up with fuel really bad. So when he'd go to pick the throttle back up to go across the short straightaway, about that time it would go 'blub, blub, blub, blub,' then 'wwooooowwwwww!' just at the time he was at the high spot in the steering. He said that every lap, he almost put it on the fence for about the last 30 laps that he was out there. "The fact is he left before the race was over. He went down the pits into the garage, changed his clothes, got in his car and went home. He went right to bed. Never said another word to anybody," Rodger Jr. explains. "He was very bitter. He was angry as hell about the whole thing." So if we can believe the biographer and a second hand account of a family member (and I have no reason not to believe them) I can see why a driver as skilled as Rodger Ward (at 45 still at the top of his game, having finished 2nd and 1st in the first two races of the season) would have parked that car and called it quits. He'd had the hell scared out of him twice a lap for 30 laps, no wonder it stopped being fun.

This is indeed interesting info. Funny that the Ford Powered cars seemed to be less affected by this steering fou.

[kevin99]

1966 was my first race.

Parnelli was running second behind Clark for several laps, then in third after Ruby passed him. He made a pit stop, and for some reason it was well over a minute stop that dropped him to 7th. He dropped out shortly after. I remember reading where they later found a rag stuffed in the fuel hose.
Ward’s son Rodger said his dad was struggling with a catch in the steering that would hit about the same time the supercharger kicked in and he would almost lose it every lap.

I always wondered why Ward was driving a Offy while his two teammates ran Fords.

[indyrjc]

I always wondered why Ward was driving a Offy while his two teammates ran Fords.

It's likely Ward was wondering the same thing.

When he had been hired by Mecom later in the previous season he was the only driver and likely considered himself to be the top driver on the team. Somewhere along the line he ends up driving the more developmental supercharged Offy and one off drivers Hill and Stewart get the more reliable Ford powered Mecom cars at Indianapolis. According to some reports Ward was not very happy during the entire month of the '66 500.

[kevin99]

It's likely Ward was wondering the same thing.

When he had been hired by Mecom later in the previous season he was the only driver and likely considered himself to be the top driver on the team. Somewhere along the line he ends up driving the more developmental supercharged Offy and one off drivers Hill and Stewart get the more reliable Ford powered Mecom cars at Indianapolis. According to some reports Ward was not very happy during the entire month of the '66 500.

Ward was leading the points going into Indianapolis though. He finished second at Phoenix, and won the rain shortened Trenton race. He would have done pretty well at Indy with the Ford engine, no wonder he was frustrated, he obviously still was very competitive.

[MillerOffy]

Why was Jones stuck with the clunker Offy?

[Pelican Joe]

Why was Jones stuck with the clunker Offy?

I believe he had a bit of a falling out with Ford. They apparently wanted him to run other events (Le Mans, for instance), and he wasn't interested.

[kevin99]

I believe he had a bit of a falling out with Ford. They apparently wanted him to run other events (Le Mans, for instance), and he wasn't interested.

Exactly. They were providing engines to almost every team that wanted one, and then for some reason put a bunch of conditions on Parnelli to have engines for his new cars. Ted Halibrand and Parnelli designed the new Shrikes around the supercharged Offy, and Parnelli said he only had one goal, beat the Fords.

[Oddy]

I thought the Shrike was really sleek looking car. 1966 was my first 500 and I do not recall Parnelli running near the front though. I was probably focused on Clark.

[atrackforumfan]

Are you sure that Parnelli had a huge falling out with Ford other than a commitment to a project and to Aggie? Parnelli ran the Can Am with a Mecom Lola Ford and certainly would have his pick of cars at Indy, including the car that Mecom gave to Graham Hill after Walt Hansgen died. Parnelli was shaking up his whole life in 1966. His last short track races were in 1965. He had intended to quit OW after 1966 until Granatelli bought him to drive the turbine. Parnelli raced stocks and Trans Am for Ford after 1966.

Ford definitely opted to stiff Parnelli and Aggie at Indy in 1964 to make a point of beating them, and proceeded to follow its honorable 1963 performance with tragedy and pratfalls. Parnelli drove the factory Lotus after Indy, and Ford sold Parnelli and Aggie a 1964 Lotus 34 for 1965. Ford generally dialed down its Indy program for 1966. That's when Louie Meyer took over from Dearborn.

[kevin99]

Are you sure that Parnelli had a huge falling out with Ford other than a commitment to a project and to Aggie? Parnelli ran the Can Am with a Mecom Lola Ford and certainly would have his pick of cars at Indy, including the car that Mecom gave to Graham Hill after Walt Hansgen died. Parnelli was shaking up his whole life in 1966. His last short track races were in 1965. He had intended to quit OW after 1966 until Granatelli bought him to drive the turbine. Parnelli raced stocks and Trans Am for Ford after 1966.

Ford definitely opted to stiff Parnelli and Aggie at Indy in 1964 to make a point of beating them, and proceeded to follow its honorable 1963 performance with tragedy and pratfalls. Parnelli drove the factory Lotus after Indy, and Ford sold Parnelli and Aggie a 1964 Lotus 34 for 1965. Ford generally dialed down its Indy program for 1966. That's when Louie Meyer took over from Dearborn.

According to Parnelli’s book, Ford told him they wanted him to run LeMans and do some other things to get an engine for Indianapolis. I remember seeing an article in the Indy Scar back in May of 1966 that Parnelli said all he wanted to do was beat the Fords. Maybe they reconciled after Indy as the car he co-owned with Vel Melitich in 1967 was Ford powered.

[atrackforumfan]

Hmm. So you're saying there's a chance that happened?

[kevin99]

Hmm. So you're saying there's a chance that happened?

I suppose there is a chance, I doubt he’d have put it in both of his books if not.

[JThur1]

Vel Miletich was a Ford dealer. So...