SWC75
Bored Historian
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This highlight film has a musical accompaniment: a singer singing a sort of Indy folk song. Early on we get a nice view of a trip around Indy from the driver’s perspective.
Then we get some shots of the qualifying phase that center on something called “the Novi”
The Novi was the most powerful engine ever built for an Indy racing car, (it generated more horsepower than any other). But it was hard to handle and tended to destroy tires. For those reasons nobody ever won a race at Indy in a Novi. Still the crowds were impressed by it’s speed, power and the “roar” it produced. The best chance for the Novi was 1958 when none other than Juan Manuel Fangio, the most famous race car driver in the world, (a five time Formula One champion), had come to Indy to drive it. But he only drove it ten laps. Some disputes with ownership intervened and that was that.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Novi_engine
The race itself is an exciting one with several contenders. Paul Russo is in the Novi and runs through the field to take the lead. He appears the likely winner until a blow-out sends him crashing against the wall, taking the Novi out of the race once more. Bob Sweikert, the defending champion makes a run at a second straight title but has a blow-out of his own, hits the wall and miraculously drives his car back to the pits and rejoins the race but a lap behind. There are several crashes shown but, thankfully, none of them fatal this time.
It eventually comes down to Pat Flaherty trying to hold off veteran Sam Hanks, who had been racing at Indy since 1940. Pat barely manages to hold Sam off to win. But Sam’s day was coming- he would win the next year and then decide to retire on that note. Flaherty wins $93,000 in 1956 money: that would be $737,536.85 today, (per “The Inflation Calculator” on the internet). Pretty good for a day’s work but is it worth risking your life for? Obviously these guys thought so. What did George Francis Patrick Flaherty do after he retired in 1961? He opened a tavern in Chicago. What did you expect?
Drivers noted in this film but not featured in a prior post:
Johnny Tolan had a ritual during warm-ups where he would smoke a cigarette until his first top-speed lap, then flick it at the finish line as he passed it. If it hit the finish line, he felt he would win. (At those speeds, how could he tell where it landed?). He retired after injuring his back in a race in Australia in 1964.
Ray Crawford was a WWII air ace and later an early jet pilot in the Army who also loved racing motorcycles and cars. He also raced stock cars, winning the Pan American Road Race in 1954.
Keith Andrews died in a crash during a test run at Indy the next year. He became an historical footnote: the car he was testing was not his. It was to be driven by Nino Farina, the first ever World (Formula One) Driving champion in 1950, who was going to test his skills at Indy. When the car was destroyed, Farina went home.
Here is the U-Tube highlight film. Again, you can expand it to full-screen by clicking on the box with the arrows in it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zJHstsCTJQ0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R_Qej8ill_k&feature=related
Then we get some shots of the qualifying phase that center on something called “the Novi”
The Novi was the most powerful engine ever built for an Indy racing car, (it generated more horsepower than any other). But it was hard to handle and tended to destroy tires. For those reasons nobody ever won a race at Indy in a Novi. Still the crowds were impressed by it’s speed, power and the “roar” it produced. The best chance for the Novi was 1958 when none other than Juan Manuel Fangio, the most famous race car driver in the world, (a five time Formula One champion), had come to Indy to drive it. But he only drove it ten laps. Some disputes with ownership intervened and that was that.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Novi_engine
The race itself is an exciting one with several contenders. Paul Russo is in the Novi and runs through the field to take the lead. He appears the likely winner until a blow-out sends him crashing against the wall, taking the Novi out of the race once more. Bob Sweikert, the defending champion makes a run at a second straight title but has a blow-out of his own, hits the wall and miraculously drives his car back to the pits and rejoins the race but a lap behind. There are several crashes shown but, thankfully, none of them fatal this time.
It eventually comes down to Pat Flaherty trying to hold off veteran Sam Hanks, who had been racing at Indy since 1940. Pat barely manages to hold Sam off to win. But Sam’s day was coming- he would win the next year and then decide to retire on that note. Flaherty wins $93,000 in 1956 money: that would be $737,536.85 today, (per “The Inflation Calculator” on the internet). Pretty good for a day’s work but is it worth risking your life for? Obviously these guys thought so. What did George Francis Patrick Flaherty do after he retired in 1961? He opened a tavern in Chicago. What did you expect?
Drivers noted in this film but not featured in a prior post:
Johnny Tolan had a ritual during warm-ups where he would smoke a cigarette until his first top-speed lap, then flick it at the finish line as he passed it. If it hit the finish line, he felt he would win. (At those speeds, how could he tell where it landed?). He retired after injuring his back in a race in Australia in 1964.
Ray Crawford was a WWII air ace and later an early jet pilot in the Army who also loved racing motorcycles and cars. He also raced stock cars, winning the Pan American Road Race in 1954.
Keith Andrews died in a crash during a test run at Indy the next year. He became an historical footnote: the car he was testing was not his. It was to be driven by Nino Farina, the first ever World (Formula One) Driving champion in 1950, who was going to test his skills at Indy. When the car was destroyed, Farina went home.
Here is the U-Tube highlight film. Again, you can expand it to full-screen by clicking on the box with the arrows in it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zJHstsCTJQ0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R_Qej8ill_k&feature=related
