Full Description
Indianapolis track announcer Tom Carnegie used to whip the crowds into frenzied
excitement during qualification runs for the famous 500, especially when he intoned
his trademark exclamation "It's... A... New Track Record!". That occurred quite often during the period 1962-1972
with its unprecedented explosion in speed. Parnelli Jones became the first man
to break the 150-mph barrier with a lap at 150.370 mph in 1962, then just 10
years later Bobby Unser's 196.678 mph was not far short of the 200-mph mark. This
happened because the "decade" brought extraordinary advances in car, engine and
tire design, including takeover by the rear-engine configuration and the
emergence of aerodynamic wings, wide slick tires and unrestricted turbocharged
engines that ultimately produced over 1,000 horsepower. Foremost Indianapolis
500 historian Rick Shaffer tells the entire story with authority and style in
this captivating book.
Key content
• Year-by-year coverage includes the technical
developments behind rising speeds in a period that saw Formula One-inspired
rear-engine chassis depose Indy's traditional front-engine roadsters.
• Following his 150-mph qualifying
landmark in 1962, when Rodger Ward won the race, Parnelli Jones claimed victory
in 1963 after holding off an unexpected challenge from rookie Jim Clark.
• The 1964 Indy 500 saw A.J. Foyt—writer
of this book's foreword—achieve the last win for a front-engine roadster.
• Scotland's Jim Clark, the pole-sitter in
1964, famously achieved the first rear-engine win in 1965 driving for Lotus,
while A.J. Foyt's 161.233 mph in qualifying made him the first pole-winner to
exceed 160 mph.
• Englishman Graham Hill won in 1966,
followed by a third victory for A.J. Foyt in a career total of four.
• The 170-mph mark was breached in 1968 when
Joe Leonard's turbine-equipped Lotus lapped at 171.559 mph in qualifying, but
the win went to the Eagle of Bobby Unser, marking the first victory for the
Unser dynasty.
• Qualifying speeds dropped back a little
in the next two races, which brought wins for Mario Andretti (1969) and Al
Unser (1970), who then won again in 1971.
• While Mark Donohue won the 1972 Indy 500
in a McLaren, qualifying brought the biggest-ever leap in speeds with Bobby
Unser's 195.940 mph in his Eagle exceeding the previous record by an incredible
17 mph, resulting in the 180-mph and 190-mph barriers both being broken in the
same year.
