Most Memorable 500 Qualifying Moment

[Spike]

Easy topic. What one moment stands out in your mind when you think of qualifying (any year) at Indy.

For me it was in the early nineties when Cheever got bumped out in the closing hours and jumped into another car from another team and bumped his way back in.

[rrrr]

Scotty Brayton running down pit lane with a scrap of paper and a grin. Not before or since has there been such an electric moment during quals IMO.

[DP_speed_slave]

Penske closing the garage doors after borrowing rahals car didnt work either

Vitolo mortgaging his house to get a ride and qualify

[Frank Capua]

My most memorable qualifying moment was Pole Day 1971.

Mark Donohue had qualified his McLaren with a speed of 177.087 and the next closest speed was Bobby Unser's Eagle at 175.816 and I think everybody had taken it for granted that Mark would end up on the Pole. However Peter Revson who was one of the last to make an attempt that day had spent an hour or so hangin' out with his buddy Mark slying pumpin' him for some of his set-up secrets. Then as it was reported Peter ran off to his garage spoke to his Team McLaren mechanics and they gave his McLaren Mark's set-up and then he went out when it got just a tad cooler towards the end of the day and qualified at 178.696 beating Mark.

Now Mark was and will always be my favorite Indy Driver and what added to the pain was that Mark was being interviewed live on one of the local Indianapolis TV stations about being the expected pole winner when suddenly you could hear Tom announce over the P.A. system that Peter had just set "A NEW TRACK RECORD!"

But that's okay... Mark made it all better the next year.

After that I guess it would have to be Herk being chased up and down the front straight by the yellow hats that year Indy came up with a new rule on bump day about needing to meet a minimum speed in practice in order to make an effort... yeah that was memorable.

[Indy Red]

Two really stand out.

1, 1971 watching the track record from 1970 (178) getting blown apart by several drivers running in the mid 180s and Bobby Unser comes out and does a 196

2,1977 Sneva does a 200

[ZOOOM]

'54... Vukovich... 3rd year, same car, rain the last lap and a half... never waivered... kept his foot in it all the way... outran the rain... NEW TRACK RECORD!
The guy was incredable... Brass ba!!s the size of Indiana...
........ still miss him............
ZOOOM

[chrisg]

The year Rahal didn't make the race and the year that Penske went home are all time high moments for me. Lots of last minute drama.

The year Brayton pulled his car out an went out in his back up to regain the poll was pretty good too.

[spdwy33]

Yea, it was Scott!

We've seen some pretty terrific qualification days in the last 30 years! And more than our share of rain!!

200 mph was pretty cool - AJ on the front row with Rick - each one of Rick's poles ....

But Scott was the best!

And he dies just a few short days later. Doing what he loved - driving fast at The Speedway.

God Speed, Scott!

[Truth Detector]

Two really stand out.

1, 1971 watching the track record from 1970 (178) getting blown apart by several drivers running in the mid 180s and Bobby Unser comes out and does a 196

2,1977 Sneva does a 200

Mine too.

Also watching Billy Boat squeeze into a Foyt car and bump Dr. Jack(?) in the final few minutes. What year was that? 2000?

[MLAIRL]

Scotty Brayton running down pit lane with a scrap of paper and a grin. Not before or since has there been such an electric moment during quals IMO.

Agreed. He and John Menard were downright giddy that day.

[logjammer]

Mine was a couple years ago when Smoke did all the grand standing with Foyt and then Chevy or GM or Goodyear or whoever put a nix in the plan.

FWIW: I think he'd a qualified that car.

[debdrake]

Cheever bumping Rahal - who was entirely too cocky and needed to be taken down a notch.

Penske missing the show.

Buhl jumping into a Foyt car and sneaking into the field as the rain started to fall.

[JSR]

1995

[Powercat]

This year, Kenny Brack.

[Sea Fury]

1. A.J. Foyt, Pole Day, 1991. Holds the top place for a while until Mears goes out. But right after A.J. comes in from his run, with the crowd cheering, A.J. was all modest-"The car had more in it...." etc. Then he said, "It ain't nothin'."

And the interviewer-I think it was Jack Arute-said to him quietly, "It is something." And I think in all the years I've been a Foyt fan that was the first time I ever saw him get choked up, at a loss for words.

The front row that year: Rick Mears, A.J. Foyt, and Mario Andretti.



This picture ought to be carved into a mountain somewhere.

2. Jack Hewitt makes the field. I do believe he said something along the lines of, "YEEEEEE-HAAAAA!"

3. Willy T. Ribbs makes the show and practically bursts out of his car in triumph.