Heroes Still Race at Indianapolis

Philip Travis

The Indianapolis 500 mile race is synonymous with legends, heroes of motorsport. A. J. Foyt, Mario Andretti, Al Unser, Bobby Unser, Jim Clark, Johnny Rutherford, Graham Hill, Emerson Fittapaldi, and Al Unser Jr. are just a few of the iconic names that the Indy 500 has cemented as deities in the annals of racing history. In these golden years from the 1960s till the 1990s, the event was the biggest, the fastest, and the risks were so high that one did not dare make a mistake. 

As the United States emerged as the world’s greatest power in the second half of the 20^th century Indy became a proving ground for the ultimate test of machine and driver. Drivers brought turbine cars, Colin Chapman and Lotus brought British stars and rear engine roadsters, then winged cars, later ground effects cars, and by the 1980s racing stars from all over the world came to conquer the single greatest race. When Al Unser Jr. famously claimed that, “you just don’t know what Indy means,” he referenced the almost immortal character of the Indy 500 that tested the ultimate limits of man and machine. When “Little Al” spoke these words he entered into a pantheon of Indy heroes. For many young racing fans that grew up in this golden age, they believed that their Indy heroes were almost immortal. Indy drivers were courageous heroes that risked everything for a chance at success in the greatest of all races.

In the current age of racing many fans have the sense that racing will never produce heroes in this same manner. Racing, perhaps, has become too tame, too controlled, and the risk often appears removed. Many forms of top tier racing have all but lost the boundary pushing risk that sits at the heart of racing. This, however, does not hold true at the Indianapolis 500.

This month of May was particularly tense. Helio Castroneves, Josef Newgarden, and Ed Carpenter all took wild airborne rides that led to heightened concern all around the speedway and the nation. These three crashes caused IndyCar to change its qualifying plans substantially out of fear that the new aero technology introduced this year might possibly have caused the wild rides. Then, in the last practice before Carb Day, James Hinchcliffe suffered a suspension failure and slammed the wall at over 220mph. The “Mayor of Hinchtown”, as he is known by his fans, suffered gruesome injuries and was fortunate to escape with his life.

The crashes of this month of May led to a heightened sense of concern for the 99^th running of the Indy 500 held on May 24^th, 2015. Journalists and spectators feared the possibility of massive crashes in the race. Drivers like fan favorite Tony Kanaan defended the profession, and spoke frankly about the uniqueness of racing drivers that accept the dangers inherent in racing. It was Indianapolis, it was the fastest and most high risk and high reward place in the world. Never in the last 20 years had there been such apprehension before the 500.

When the green flag waved a frantic race began. The race seemed to zip by with 500 miles passing in a what seemed like the blink of an eye. Penske and Ganassi cars led the charge at the front with Will Power, Scott Dixon, Tony Kanaan, and Simon Pagenaud leading the charge for the glory of winning Indy. In the early stages of the race Juan Montoya suffered damage to the rear of his number 2 Chevy-Penske racer when Simona De Silvestro collided with him on a pace lap. Montoya dropped to 30^th place, and it appeared his race was all but over. However, the Colombian driver, always known for his aggressive hard driving style, cut through the field of 33 cars. By the final stages of the race, Montoya executed a series of nerve-racking wheel-to-wheel passes on Scott Dixon and Will Power. In the end, he held them off to win his 2^nd Indy 500 in only his 3^rd start.

Montoya is this generations Mario Andretti. He has seemingly won in everything including Formula One, Nascar, and, of course, in IndyCar and in the biggest race of them all, the Indianapolis 500.  He has done so with aggressive racing and passionate excitement for his craft. In this race he, and the other drivers, ran against the overriding concern of risk and reward and emerged unscathed. Only at Indianapolis does this equation of risk and reward still factor so highly. Indianapolis is such a fast and risky place that some drivers will not race there for concern with the high speed and danger. Risk and reward is the equation that created racing heroes of yesterday. In the past, drivers challenged the odds, took the risks, and strove to be faster, to be a champion despite the danger. Today, at the Indy 500, drivers still do this, and in the 99^th edition of the race, the most diverse racing driver of this era, Juan Montoya, demonstrated that the Indy 500 still produces racing heroes.