Watched the " 89 500 " again last night. .

[lutesk]

Mario, Micheal, Big and Li'l Al, Emmo, Mears, Crawford, Brayton, A.J., Pruett, Cogan, Sullivan, Boesel. A nice sunny day. Infield bleachers from 3 to the pits intact, and packed. The " homage " speech. Taps uninterrupted by a fly-over. The aerial bombs on the first lap. Hearing the crowd over the cars while Al Jr., and Emmo were battling. What a treat it is when I pop that thing in the VCR.

[Shadow101]

And a very moving story about Gary B right before his car died on the parade lap. What a letdown. Those were the days...

[FrontRowIndyFan]

Re: Watched the " 89 500 " again last night. .

Originally posted by lutesk
The " homage " speech. Taps uninterrupted by a fly-over. The aerial bombs on the first lap.

Yeah, what happened to some of the things like this?!?!?!? That's what I really liked about raceday. My memory is fading, but they don't do the "homage" speech anymore do they?

[lutesk]

Re: Re: Watched the " 89 500 " again last night. .

Originally posted by FrontRowIndyFan
Yeah, what happened to some of the things like this?!?!?!? That's what I really liked about raceday. My memory is fading, but they don't do the "homage" speech anymore do they?

No FRIF, the don't do it anymore; but that's ok, everyone here says things are much better now.

[JBaiza]

Originally posted by Shadow101
And a very moving story about Gary B right before his car died on the parade lap. What a letdown. Those were the days...

That was one of favorite 'human interest' pieces. He wells up talking about the family history at the track and how it was coming to a close.

1989 was one of the great races. So was 90, 91 and 92 for that matter. I hope we have many more like it.

[Doctorindy]

First race after the track being paved (summer of '88). First race with the asphalt pit road. No longer did the rough concrete pit road slow cars down. They eventually began flying through the pit road over 180+! However the asphalt pit stalls proved to be a mess. The pnuematic jacks were embedding themselves INTO the soft ashpalt, and if you look closely in some pictures, you can see the donut holes in the pit stall where the jacks dug in. In the 1989 race, the pit crews tried taping sheel metal squares on the pavement where the jacks would hit, but eventually they were outlawed because if the tires hit them just right, they might spin up into the air and decapitate somebody.

Recall Danny Sullivan's broken arm, and him qualifying with a funky, modified steering wheel. Also, all three Penske cars out of the race.

[greg b]

That' funny. I also watched 1989 yesterday. I'm in the middle of transfering my old VHS tapes to DVD. I've just completed 1986,87,88 and I started 89 yesterday. One thing I noticed is how far the broadcast quality has come. People compliant all day long about ABC but good Lord go back 15 or so years. When I popped in the 1986 race and they annouce that it's the first LIVE broadcast of the 500. My goodness. Another thing that brought memories was how long the 1988 race was. A 4 hour tape barely covered it! It was hot and we sat in nasty back straight bleachers. plus we were on our honeymoon.

[Bombardier R142]

ESPN Classic showed the '82 Indy 500 earlier this year, with commentary from the 2 main particulars from the controversy surrounding that race. I have to say though, Rick Mears' pit fire has to be one of the most disturbing things I've ever seen on TV.

Since Disney has all of the old Indy's on tape, we should get on them about showing them more often.

[Doctorindy]

Notice this photo from 1992 (3 years after the '89 race). Look closely and you can see the donut holes from the air jacks.

In the 1992 Michigan 500, Scott Goodyear, on his last pit stop, got the jack dug so deep into the hot, soft, asphalt, that the jack assembly broke off! That, along with the NASCAR gasoline, prompted Indy, and other tracks, to build pit areas with concrete stalls. The concrete will not deteriorate when gasoline is spilled on it, and provides a firm surface for the air jacks.

[jZink]

Originally posted by Doctorindy


Notice this photo from 1992 (3 years after the '89 race). Look closely and you can see the donut holes from the air jacks.

In the 1992 Michigan 500, Scott Goodyear, on his last pit stop, got the jack dug so deep into the hot, soft, asphalt, that the jack assembly broke off! That, along with the NASCAR gasoline, prompted Indy, and other tracks, to build pit areas with concrete stalls. The concrete will not deteriorate when gasoline is spilled on it, and provides a firm surface for the air jacks.

Wow, there's people in the stands and it's not even raceday.

[lutesk]

Originally posted by jZink
Wow, there's people in the stands and it's not even raceday.

Unreal, aint it.

[j.d.c]

Boy, that was a sweet looking car wasn't it -
I always liked the MGD cars better than the Lite cars

[FenderFree]

If I was a Miller Exec, I would run Genuine Draft with Brack/Rahal.

They already run Lite with Rusty Wallace in WC
They also have a High Life car in the Busch series

It would make sense (and look cool too) is they put MGD on Rahal's car.

MGD is one of my favorite beers. It's high time Miller put it back on the map!

[THIRD TURN]

I have watched that 89 race many times. The crowd noise as Little Al catches Emmo is very emotional. And yes, they are cheering for Al Unser Jr. What a race!

[Chris Paff]

That was the first Indy 500 i ever saw.. I was 6 and i begged my mom to watch it and stay home from church to see it.. Me being a fan was a natural since no one in my family liked racing