SWC75
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The foreign invasion continued as Jim Clark, (the 1963 and 1965 Formula 1 champ), returned to defend his title joined by Indianapolis “rookies” Graham Hill, (the 1962 and and 1968 champ) and Jackie Stewart, (who would win F-1 in 1969, 1971 and 1973). All but one car in the field was now a rear-engined car. The one hold out was Bobby Grim, the slowest qualifier.
But the lack of speed of Grim’s car made no difference. He was one of 14 cars involved in the biggest first-lap crash in Indy history. Billy Foster tried to get past a car when they were three wide and made contact with Gordon Johncock’s car. Foster spun wildly into the wall and his tires flew off, causing all the cars behind him, (he had qualified 12th so there were 21 of), to serve to avoid him and the tires. 13 of then crashed into each other in a wild scene. But this was different from the 1958 and 1964 disasters. No gas tanks ruptured and there was no fire to be seen. 11 of the 14 cars were unable to continue in the race, so their 500 consisted of a few hundred feet and a few seconds. But the only injury was sustained by A.J. Foyt, who cut his thumb scaling the catch-fence to avoid the crash, (he keeps going even after the crash is over but he knows the other cars are coming around). Dan Gurney, one of the drivers eliminated, said in disgust “Wouldn’t you think that a bunch of grown men, all supposedly experienced race drivers, could drive together down a stretch of road?”
Foster, whose move had started the chain-reaction, survived this crash but was killed in a stock-car race the next year. He was Mario Andretti’s best friend in racing and Andretti vowed after that not to get to close to the drivers because he never wanted to be so devastated by their deaths again. A. J. Foyt had made a similar decision when Pat O’Connor, who had been a mentor to him, died in the ’58 race. It’s a lonely profession.
Clark, Hill and Stewart had all been in front of the crash and went onto dominate the race against an very thinned-out field. Clark looked like he was going to repeat his 1965 victory until he spun out twice. Stewart was actually leading when his car gave out on lap 190. He tried to push it to the finish line but had to settle for sixth. Hill wound up winning the race. His worst moment came when he over-shot victory circle and had to be re-directed to it. It was the only time he looked like a “rookie”. But there may have been a reason.
Some drivers wondered how Hill had won the race, saying they’d never seen him pass anybody. He wasn’t the pole sitter. Clark’s crew complained that Hill had been credited for a lap vs. their man during Clark’s spins but that Clark couldn’t have lost that much time and the technology for recording laps was primitive at the time, (manual, not electronic as it is today). Clark finished thinking he’d won the race. Hill admitted he was surprised to be declared the winner. Many people to this day think that Jim Clark was the real winner of the 1966 Indianapolis 500.
The American cockiness that had existed since the European no-show in the race of the Two Worlds in 1957 had pretty much evaporated by now. Now the Yanks had to figure out how to beat these guys in their own back yard.
There’s no extended highlight film of the 1966 Indy 500 on U-Tube but there are plenty of newsreel and documentary clips plus one interesting extra:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e3Hi_MWFbNc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kkJ5g9_YdDY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eZLpCa7Z7nA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NIXd_6u0nTs
It’s interesting that the winner looks pretty clean compared to so many of his predecessors. That’s probably because the engine is behind him, rather than in front of him.
The best view of the big crash comes in the Paul Newman movie “Winning”, which used shots from the 1966 Indy 500 and incorporated the big crash into its story:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KkoJyh0UTUI
That’s Joanne Woodward and Richard “John-boy” Thomas in the crowd. Newman became so enamored of auto racing making this film, (despite the crash), that he decided to become a racer himself and had a fairly distinguished career on the tracks for years afterward.
But the lack of speed of Grim’s car made no difference. He was one of 14 cars involved in the biggest first-lap crash in Indy history. Billy Foster tried to get past a car when they were three wide and made contact with Gordon Johncock’s car. Foster spun wildly into the wall and his tires flew off, causing all the cars behind him, (he had qualified 12th so there were 21 of), to serve to avoid him and the tires. 13 of then crashed into each other in a wild scene. But this was different from the 1958 and 1964 disasters. No gas tanks ruptured and there was no fire to be seen. 11 of the 14 cars were unable to continue in the race, so their 500 consisted of a few hundred feet and a few seconds. But the only injury was sustained by A.J. Foyt, who cut his thumb scaling the catch-fence to avoid the crash, (he keeps going even after the crash is over but he knows the other cars are coming around). Dan Gurney, one of the drivers eliminated, said in disgust “Wouldn’t you think that a bunch of grown men, all supposedly experienced race drivers, could drive together down a stretch of road?”
Foster, whose move had started the chain-reaction, survived this crash but was killed in a stock-car race the next year. He was Mario Andretti’s best friend in racing and Andretti vowed after that not to get to close to the drivers because he never wanted to be so devastated by their deaths again. A. J. Foyt had made a similar decision when Pat O’Connor, who had been a mentor to him, died in the ’58 race. It’s a lonely profession.
Clark, Hill and Stewart had all been in front of the crash and went onto dominate the race against an very thinned-out field. Clark looked like he was going to repeat his 1965 victory until he spun out twice. Stewart was actually leading when his car gave out on lap 190. He tried to push it to the finish line but had to settle for sixth. Hill wound up winning the race. His worst moment came when he over-shot victory circle and had to be re-directed to it. It was the only time he looked like a “rookie”. But there may have been a reason.
Some drivers wondered how Hill had won the race, saying they’d never seen him pass anybody. He wasn’t the pole sitter. Clark’s crew complained that Hill had been credited for a lap vs. their man during Clark’s spins but that Clark couldn’t have lost that much time and the technology for recording laps was primitive at the time, (manual, not electronic as it is today). Clark finished thinking he’d won the race. Hill admitted he was surprised to be declared the winner. Many people to this day think that Jim Clark was the real winner of the 1966 Indianapolis 500.
The American cockiness that had existed since the European no-show in the race of the Two Worlds in 1957 had pretty much evaporated by now. Now the Yanks had to figure out how to beat these guys in their own back yard.
There’s no extended highlight film of the 1966 Indy 500 on U-Tube but there are plenty of newsreel and documentary clips plus one interesting extra:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e3Hi_MWFbNc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kkJ5g9_YdDY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eZLpCa7Z7nA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NIXd_6u0nTs
It’s interesting that the winner looks pretty clean compared to so many of his predecessors. That’s probably because the engine is behind him, rather than in front of him.
The best view of the big crash comes in the Paul Newman movie “Winning”, which used shots from the 1966 Indy 500 and incorporated the big crash into its story:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KkoJyh0UTUI
That’s Joanne Woodward and Richard “John-boy” Thomas in the crowd. Newman became so enamored of auto racing making this film, (despite the crash), that he decided to become a racer himself and had a fairly distinguished career on the tracks for years afterward.
