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INDIANAPOLIS 500 TRADITIONS
INDIANAPOLIS, Wednesday, May 3, 2006 - Since the inaugural race in
1911, the Indianapolis 500 has become steeped in rich tradition, one
of the most alluring aspects of "The Greatest Spectacle in Racing."
Here is the history of some of the most popular and enduring
traditions of the "500" as the race nears its 90th running May 28,
written by Indianapolis Motor Speedway Historian Donald Davidson:
500 Festival Parade
The 500 Festival Parade took place for the first time in 1957. It, and
several other related activities, largely came about following a
series of newspaper editorials by local columnists over a two- or
three-year period, who had witnessed the several-day celebration in
advance of the Kentucky Derby."Back Home Again in
Indiana"
Although there are reports that "Indiana," as the song was originally
titled when published in 1917, was played by a trackside brass band as
Hoosier driver Howdy Wilcox ran out his final laps on the way to
winning the 1919 "500," it was not until 1946 that it was sung on race
morning. James Melton, of the New York Metropolitan Opera Company, was
a collector of classic cars, and was at one time president of the
Antique Automobile Club of America. He supplied several of the
vehicles which participated in a race-morning lap of classic
automobiles around the track in 1946, and approximately 45 minutes
before the start of the race, he sang "Indiana" with the Purdue
University band over the public address system. It was so well
received that he was invited back the following year, and in 1948, it
was decided to "move it up" to its current slot in the order of the
day, just prior to the firing of the engines. Among Melton's
better-known successors have been Mel Torm`e,
Vic Damone, Dinah Shore, Ed Ames, Peter Marshall, Dennis Morgan and
Johnny Desmond, with popular Jim Nabors having missed only a handful
of years since 1972.
Balloons Before the Start
It is believed that 1947 was the first year for the release of
multi-colored balloons on race morning and that it was Tony Hulman's
wife, Mary Fendrich Hulman, who made the suggestion. By 1950, the
release had been timed to coincide, as it does to this day, with the
final notes of "Back Home Again In Indiana."
Borg-Warner Trophy
The Borg-Warner Trophy, one of the most recognizable trophies in all
of sports, has been awarded to the winner of every Indianapolis
500-Mile Race since 1936. Crafted out of sterling silver by
Spaulding-Gorham of Chicago, it was unveiled at a dinner in New York
in February 1936, featuring bas-relief sculptures of every "500"
winner up until that time. The new winner has been added every year
since, and in 1986 (the trophy's 50th anniversary), the final space
became filled. The solution for 1987 was to add a base, but this too
became filled, and in 2004, an even larger version replaced it, this
one with enough spaces to last through 2034. The only sculptured face
not of a winning driver is that of the late Speedway owner Tony Hulman,
whose likeness, in gold, was placed on the base in 1987.
Bump Day
This is a fairly recent term for the final day of qualifications. It
is theoretically the day on which, once 33 cars have posted qualifying
speeds, but the allotted time for the day has not yet expired, the
only way for a participant to be able to join the field is to post a
speed fast enough to eliminate or "bump" the slowest car currently
still in. The term for "bumped" prior to World War II was "crowded
out." Technically, "bumping" could, and did, take place before the
final day of qualifications. Under the new system introduced in 2005,
"bumping" has taken on a slightly different meaning in that it can
take place on every qualifying day.
Carb Day
Known for many years as "Carburetion Day," and shortened only in
fairly recent years simply to "Carb Day," it refers to the day on
which cars qualified for the starting field are given the opportunity
to practice in "Race Day trim," as opposed to the less economical
setups required for out-and-out speed during time trials. A major
portion of this used to involve adjustment to the carburetors, but
even after the introduction of fuel injection in the late 1940s, the
original term "carburetion runs" continued to be used. For the record,
the stock-block Ford-powered Lotus cars of Jim Clark and Dan Gurney in
1963 were the last to actually use carburetors on Carburetion Day.
Gasoline Alley
This is a nickname for the Garage Area in which the racing cars are
housed at event time. It originally referred only to the one corner
where the fuel depot was located, but over a period of years, it came
to be applied to the entire complex. It seems to have first come into
use sometime in the 1920s and possibly may have been the result of a
newspaper strip cartoon of the same name which debuted in August 1919.
Pace Car
With a huge field of 40 cars having met the qualifying requirements
for starting the inaugural Indianapolis 500 in 1911, track founder
Carl Fisher reasoned that this might be too many for the typical
standing starts then in vogue. He believed it would be safer instead
to lead them around on one unscored lap at approximately 40 or 45 mph
and then release them to the flagman as he pulled into the pits. Now
commonplace at motor racing events throughout the United States, this
is believed to have been the very first mass rolling start for any
automobile race anywhere in the world and quite possibly the first use
of a pace car for a major event.
Pagoda
The Bombardier Pagoda, begun in 1998 and completed in 2000, replaced
the glass-and-steel Master Control Tower, which was built during the
winter of 1956-57. Prior to that time, a Japanese-style pagoda had
occupied the spot. In fact, there were two of them, the first being
built in time for the 1913 "500" and serving through 1925. It housed
the press, timing and scoring, prominent officials and VIP guests and,
toward the end of its run, a radio broadcast booth. Because it stood
fairly close to the edge of the track, it was decided, for safety
reasons, to replace it for 1926 with a newer version located a few
yards farther back. The current building, which has 10 stories and
rises to the height of a 13-story building, has a subtle suggestion of
the old pagodas designed into it for reasons of nostalgia.
The Greatest Spectacle in Racing
It was on Race Day 1955 when the world heard this famous phrase for
the first time. While made famous by Sid Collins, chief announcer for
the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Radio Network broadcast of the "500,"
it was actually a young lady who coined it. Dating back into the
mid-1920s, radio broadcasts of the "500" typically consisted of a few
minutes of coverage of the start and the finish, with brief updates in
between, aired every 15 or 30 minutes. When the track created its own
network in 1952, this same format was continued. In 1953, however,
history was made when the race was covered in its entirety, with no
breaks at all except for commercials. When representatives of the
skyrocketing number of subscribing stations were asked for comments
and feedback, the most common request was that their engineers could
be alerted to an impending commercial break by use of a standard "out
cue." The request was turned over to the sales staff of Indianapolis
radio station WIBC, the network's "flagship" station, and it was a
female copywriter in her early 20s named Alice Greene who suggested
the enduring classic, "Stay tuned to the Greatest Spectacle in
Racing."
The Yard of Bricks
The Yard of Bricks is another nostalgic link with the past. After the
track's original surface of crushed rock and tar was abandoned after
only a few days of use in August 1909, it was replaced during that
fall by 3.2 million street-paving bricks, trucked in by rail from the
western part of the state. Approximately 90 percent were Culver
Blocks, manufactured by the Wabash Valley Clay Company of Veedersburg
(near the Illinois border), the remainder being supplied by other
firms in the same general area. The bricks were laid on their side in
a bed of sand, staggered in rows and separated by about 3/8th of an
inch on either side so that mortar could be poured between them for
strengthening. In the spring of 1936, patches of asphalt were applied
to the rougher portions of the turns. Over the next couple of years,
more and more asphalt was applied, so that by the time of the 1939
race, only about 650 yards of the main straight were still of bricks.
This portion survived for another 22 years until October 1961, when it
too was covered over, leaving exposed only 3 feet for the entire width
of the track at the start/finish line. The entire 2½ miles has been
resurfaced several times since then, with a fresh batch of the
original bricks being inlaid at the start/finish line once the new
surface has had time to harden.
Winner's Drink of Milk
Three-time "500" winner Louis Meyer regularly drank buttermilk on a
hot day, as his mother had told him it would refresh him, and he
consumed some in Victory Lane as a matter of course after earning his
third "500" victory in 1936. A dairy industry executive happened to
see a photograph of this in the following day's newspaper and,
believing it to be regular milk, vowed to make sure this would be
repeated in the coming years. Milk was part of the Victory Lane
ceremony between 1937 and 1941 and then again in 1946, the first year
after World War II, but disappeared between 1947 and 1955. The
tradition was revived in 1956 and continues to this day.
Winner's Wreath
Long used in Grand Prix racing, the winner's wreath at Indianapolis
appears to have debuted in 1960, when a wreath featuring several
exotic-looking, dark-yellow and brown flowers was placed on the
shoulders of Jim Rathmann. A garland of white and red carnations of
the type normally associated with horse racing was placed around the
shoulders of A. J. Foyt in 1961, and in 1962, Rodger Ward wore a
wreath not too dissimilar from those seen today. Underwritten by
Borg-Warner Corporation, the wreaths were the creation of William J.
"Bill" Cronin, a longtime Indianapolis florist, who was at one time a
floral consultant for the parades of the Rose Bowl, Cotton Bowl and
the 500 Festival. He died in 1989. For most of the last 30 years, the
wreath has featured 33 ivory-colored Cymbidium orchids with burgundy
tips, plus 33 miniature checkered flags, intertwined with red, white
and blue ribbons.
Yellow Shirts
From the time the Indianapolis Motor Speedway opened in 1909 until
immediately after World War II, all events at the track were policed
by the Indiana National Guard. Shortly after Tony Hulman purchased the
track in November 1945, one of his right-hand men, Joseph Quinn of the
Clabber Girl Baking Powder Company, set up a Board of Safety which
sought input from all of the major law enforcement agencies. By 1948,
the track's own Safety Patrol had been established, featuring
dark-blue uniforms and pith helmets, those of department heads painted
gold, and the rank and file, silver. The long-sleeved shirts, made of
wool, were extremely uncomfortable to wear, both on a hot day and when
soaked with rain. In the early 1970s, some of the senior staff members
switched on weekends to considerably more comfortable short-sleeved
yellow shirts, while golden plastic "bump" or "batting" helmets
replaced the pith helmets. By 1975, all of the blue uniforms had
disappeared completely; baseball caps had replaced the bump helmets
and the term "yellow shirt" had come into vogue.
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