53 replies to this topic

[MG Brown]

The following information has been gleaned from various sources, I do not claim "authorship" of the content but certain parts are original.

This information is presented here for information and entertainment only.
 

[MG Brown]

Larry Bisceglia
"First In Line"
 
Larry Bisceglia drove down from Chicago one early May day in 1950 and parked in front of the front gate at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Over the next 37 years, he became an Indianapolis 500 legend by doing the same thing - just showing up first.
 
The Speedway owns the dilapidated pink van that Bisceglia drove to the track for many years before Ford Motor Company presented him with a fancy new one in a ceremony one May. As part the celebration of the 90^th anniversary 500-Mile Race (2006), the venerable and memorable clunker was placed on display outside the Hall of Fame Museum as a tribute to the tenacity of this super fan with the pleasant demeanor.
 
Actually, Bisceglia, who died Dec. 7, 1988, started his quest to be first in line in 1948, but when he arrived at the Speedway two cars already had started a line. He came earlier in 1949, and one car had beaten him to the "pole position." Determined to be No. 1, he came even earlier in 1950 and finally claimed the front spot.
 
At the time, no one paid much heed to his arrival. Really, no one had ever seriously thought about being an annual first-in-liner for the "500" until Bisceglia made a "career" out of it. For years, fans lined up on West 16^th Street for miles the night before the race hoping to get a good parking spot when the gates were opened at dawn. But no one much cared to be parked at the gate 30 days before the race.
 
Bisceglia, a racing fan and a bachelor, had time on his hands. So the next year he arrived early again. And the next. And the next, until he became a minor May celebrity as the city's three newspapers and its TV stations dispatched photographers out to film his arrival in his aging van. For the Speedway, he was like the swallows of San Juan Capistrano, returning every year at the same time.
 
It was spring. It was Indy 500 time.
 
At first, Bisceglia paid his way in. He stood at the fences and gaped at the action occurring on the other side. However, Speedway owner Tony Hulman couldn't miss recognizing this devoted fan getting to the track even before some of the competitors. Sometime in the 1950s, Hulman called in Bisceglia and presented him with a silver badge allowing access to the garages and the pits.
 
So each May as the years flew by, Bisceglia would take his chosen parking spot in front of Gate 12 on the east end of the track along West 16^th Street. His only companion was his little dog, "Wiggles". Fans driving along the street would honk and wave. Inside the grounds, he'd wander about, strolling into garages, talking to anyone and everyone from Hulman to garage sweepers in Gasoline Alley.
 
Yet, no one ever really knew him. His hometown would be Chicago, then Long Beach, Calif., later Reno, Nev., and finally Phoenix. He might once have been married and had a daughter. He could have been a mechanic, but no one was certain.
 
When Indy 500 veteran Pancho Carter was a child, he saw Bisceglia at the track as his father Duane Sr. drove in the "500." Bisceglia wore his trademark railroader's hat and patrolled the garages for much of Pancho's career, too. "I remember he'd always show up with that old van," Pancho said. "They gave him a new van. The other one rotted away at the front of the line. "He could walk in anywhere he wanted to. He was welcome anywhere. Back then there wasn't the secrecy there is today. The garages were open, and anybody could walk in."
 
But he didn't recall any special stories to tell about Bisceglia. Neither did John Cooper, president of the Speedway in 1980. "I always chatted with the man a minute or two," he said. "He was a nice guy. "We all took him for granted. He seemed to always be walking round the garage area going in and out of garages. He never got in the way. Years ago he had a dog harness with no dog. He was not the kind of guy who walked up and joined a group of three."
 
Jack Martin, executive director of the 500 Oldtimers Association, knew Bisceglia in several capacities. He called him a unique individual. "He was totally unassuming," Martin said. "He'd give you a smile and a pat on the back. He wanted nothing more than being there. Tony Hulman certainly befriended him and gave him near carte blanche at the track."
 
Said Bob Clidinst, a 50-year Speedway veteran whose father was a chief mechanic the year Bisceglia first arrived at the track: "His name was hard to spell and pronounce. But everybody got to know him, and he became so popular with the Speedway."
 
Even to Speedway Historian Donald Davidson said Bisceglia was somewhat of a mystery man. But Davidson did recall one amusing Bisceglia story.
 
"He told me one time he was driving on a deserted highway out west (heading to the Speedway) when he passed a state trooper sitting at the side of the road," Davidson said. "He was going about 20 mph under the speed limit, but trooper pulled in behind him. Then the trooper turned on his lights, and Larry pulled over. The trooper came up to his car, and Larry said, 'Yes, sir?' The trooper said, 'Aren't you the guy who's always first in line at Indianapolis?' He just wanted to talk with Larry."
 
The nomadic Bisceglia lived in his parked van when at the track. Eventually, the Speedway arranged for an electrical hookup.
 
Over the years, he was only challenged once for the "first-in-line" honor. Davidson recalled that someone brought an old junker out and parked it ahead of Bisceglia's annual appearance. The wretched-looking vehicle was there less than a day before Speedway superintendent Clarence Cagle ordered it towed away.
 
As his pink van approached a timely death, Bisceglia's many friends inside the racing circle presented him with a brand-new, gold-trimmed van with all the accoutrements. Like the roadster and the Offy, his old relic of a van that had no telling how many miles on it found its own Valhalla in the basement of the Speedway's Hall of Fame Museum..
 
Times changed. The wooden garages with the green frames were replaced with modern, concrete structures. Speeds topped 200 mph. Pre-race parking was banned along West 16^th Street. By then, Larry Bisceglia, a throw-back to another era, had slowed to a crawl. His face was weather-beaten like an aging cowboy's. His legs were giving out. Even his railroad hat was passé.
 
This was 1987, his last hurrah as first-in-line. Maybe it was appropriate that Al Unser earned his fourth Indy 500 victory that year in a car pulled off a hotel showroom floor, becoming the oldest "500" winner ever.
 
The following May, Bisceglia's health had faded to the point he could no longer make the trip from Phoenix. A little more that six months after the 1988 Indianapolis 500, he passed away. No one since has stepped forward to take over his claim to fame: First in line at the Speedway in May.
 

[garyvmachines]

Man, the 500 gets into your blood!!!
 
I have been every year since 1979... And I will be there this year... But not first in line...
 
 GAV

[TSR]

I was privileged to be a member of the 1975 winning team and will cherish the memory to the end of my days.

Indy is a very special place, and hopefully will survive the recent and current upheavals that have rocked it down to its foundation. It went through bad times before, hopefully the nomination of Derrick Walker at the helm will help. Walker is an older, crafty operator who knows of all the twists, and I think that it is a good thing as long as the "bankers" will let him do his job.
 
During the whole month, please root for Oriol Servia, one the best in unfortunately a lesser machine, as it might be his last ride in his current team as the money has run out.

Oriol is the nicest driver out there, a top-notch engineer, and does not have a big fat head like some.

[TSR]

And... socialism in racing? 

Whatever. The gals who prefer golf might b*tch a bit...

[MG Brown]

True story - some time ago, a pair of tickets to the Centennial (2011) Indy 500 showed up in my mailbox.

I thought I had ordered them but a check of my credit card records showed no charge from IMS. I checked with sponsors that I know in IndyCar and didn't really get a definitive answer yes or no if they had sent the tickets. (so to me that means no)

After a lot of puzzling I shrugged and was glad for my good fortune. I invited a close friend to make the drive to Indianapolis with me. We enjoyed the "spectacle" and even made our way after the race to below the victory podium to help Dan Wheldon and team celebrate DW's second "500" victory and ultimately what would be his last race win.

Say what you will about IndyCar and all of the shenanigans that go on with them politically... but that was a special day spent with a great friend.

I'll remember that adventure forever, and that's what Indy has always meant to me - a place to share good times and make memories with friends.

[MG Brown]

The year is 1971 and here's a great shot of the late Peter Revson (pole winner) and Team McLaren's entry for a "500" mile race victory.



The late Mark Donohue and Bobby Unser are of course present. Who else can you spot?

[Steve Deiters]

Dan Gurney, Wayne Leary, Karl Kainhoefer, Roger Penske, and Teddy Mayer.

[TSR]

Next to Dan Gurney is John Miller, AAR's engine man. Next to Wayne Leary is the late Dean Williams, one of the "Four Musketeers' wrenching Bobby Unser's Eagle.

[MG Brown]

If you never saw this before, it's simply amazing.
 
Look at everything that could fit inside the magic kingdom that is the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
 

[TSR]

Maybe it would be better if the Pope ran the IMS...

[Steve Deiters]

LOL. I saw your buddy Tony George walking around Gasoline Alley on Sunday. Every time I see him I think to myself, "I wonder if this guy knows how much damage he has done over the last 20 years or so to an venerable American institution".  I conclude the thought with a silent "thanks for nothing" to myself.

[TSR]

Steve, you are SO right... a single person shot the greatest race on Earth in the head and lobotomized it.

It is so sad for true Indy 500 fans like myself to witness the slow disintegration of what was so fantastic. I sincerely hope that it can recover.

[John Streisguth]

I believe part of the problem is that it has become just another race in the Indycar series, with its very limited rule set. It was better when there was more leeway for innovation.
 
Attending a 500 is still on my bucket list, no matter what's on the track.

[MG Brown]

A flashback to the days of many chassis types.
 

 
What year? Try to guess without looking it up.

[TSR]

The March-Cossie is a 2002 car, so I'd guess it's Michael in it at Heeennndeee.

[MG Brown]

If it helps any - I believe it was the same year that Al Jr. was a rookie in the Roman Wheels/Coors Light Eagle.



What year was Al Jr's last open wheel victory?

[Dr. Gamma]

Here is a interesting tidbit from the good old days of the Indianapolis 500.

Who was the first car on record to use a fully synthetic motor oil at the Indy 500??
 
Give you a hint, it was a turbocharged V8 motor!!

[TSR]

If it helps any - I believe it was the same year that Al Jr. was a rookie in the Roman Wheels/Coors Light Eagle.

 
That was 1983 I believe.
 
Johnny Rutherford used Valvoline first fully synthetic oil for the first time in his winning McLaren in 1974, but that used a four-cylinder Offy. What's your suggestion?

[Steve Deiters]

It didn't really hit me until I was walking around Gasoline Alley this weekend how similar the BLAT car from Dan Gurney's shop seemed to be way ahead of it's time (see above) compared to the spec IRL car of today. The similarities are striking considering 30+ year separate them. See below.

[Dr. Gamma]

That was 1983 I believe.
 
Johnny Rutherford used Valvoline first fully synthetic oil for the first time in his winning McLaren in 1974, but that used a four-cylinder Offy. What's your suggestion?

 
By the Official Indy 500 Yearbook from the 1975 race, Smokey Yunick was the first to use a fully synthetic motor oil. That was in Jerry Karl's turbocharged stock block Chevy that made the field that year.
 
I would have to re-read his autobiography to see if Ol' Smokey mentions anything about it.

[raisin27]

Im sure most of you already know this but I have always found it a bit of interesting trivia that for the 1969 500 the traditional publicity photo of the front row has Bobby Unser, A J Foyt, and Aldo Andretti insted of Mario Andretti. Mario was burned in practice that year and elected to have his twin brother stand in for him in the picture.
 
Another interesting note about Aldo Andretti..........I saw him interviewed on TV once and he talked about how people would ask him for autographs wherever he went thinking he was Mario. He said he would try to explain that he was not who they thought he was and people would get angry thinking he was just didnt want to give out an autograph.

His solution was instead of telling them he wasn't Mario he would just sign whatever they wanted "Aldo Andretti".
 
Raisin

[John Gorski]

1967 - AJ Foyt wins his third Indy 500, while Parnelli Jones, in his revolutionary STP turbine car #40, drops out because of a $6 ball bearing.
 
 
 
 
 
 

[John Gorski]

1964 This is the race I remember the most as a kid listening to it on the radio

and that awful crash of Sachs & Macdonald with A.J. Foyt Winning.

 

[MG Brown]

I'm adding these photos to the thread just because I feel that cars of the 70's era were so pretty.