Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum

Many think that the Indianapolis Motor Speedway is the oldest purpose-built racetrack in the world; however, it is actually the second, the first being Brooklands in Surrey, England. Construction began at Brooklands in 1907 and at Indy in 1909; however, Brooklands was more or less defunct by the start of World War II whereas Indy marches on enjoying huge crowds of almost 250,000 people. Its total capacity is around 400,000 but who’s counting?

Located within the famed 2.5-mile Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS) oval, also known as the ‘Brickyard’ because the track’s original ‘oiled’ surface was quickly resurfaced with brick, the IMS Museum collection encompasses automobiles and artifacts representing more than a century of Indianapolis 500 competition (the first Indy 500 was in 1911), plus vehicles representing NASCAR, Formula One, American short-track racing, drag racing, and motorcycles.

Unfortunately, at the time of our visit several historic Indy cars were on loan to the Performance Racing Industry Trade Show. The main floor was a little threadbare, however, you shouldn’t let that deter you as the museum is well worth a visit with lots of other cars and areas to enjoy. At the time of our visit, there was a special exhibit, Hoosier Thunder: Indiana’s Short Track Heritage. Hoosier Thunder tells the story of the drivers and families who made Indiana short-track racing a way of life: names such as Carter, Darland, Elliott, Kenyon, and Kinser among others. It also honors the drivers, such as three- and four-time NASCAR Cup Series champions Tony Stewart and Jeff Gordon. More than 40 cars are on display.

Old, front-engine Indy roadsters, known collectively as ‘Big Cars’ from the late-’40s, ’50s, and ’60s, are the coolest though. They thundered around the track with their Offy engines screaming before the rear-engine whining Lotuses (or is that Loti?) arrived from England with Jim Clark and Graham Hill who won in 1963 and ’64 respectively. It was the Golden Age of American auto racing and is exemplified by the permanent display at the IMS Museum.

The museum is located about six miles west of downtown Indy at 4790 W. 16^th Street, Speedway, IN 46224, inside the track between turns 1 and 2. The entrance to the museum is actually at Gate 2 on the north side of 16th Street. It’s open every day of the year, including some evenings, except for Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day. Entrance is a very reasonable $10 for adults and just $5 for kids aged 6-15. Children 5 and under are free as is parking. There are summer and winter hours and numerous special events including track tours so check their website before you go: www.indianapolismotorspeedway.com

Driving Miss Astor

I’m not sure if it’s the same for people born in the U.S.A., but for those of us born on the small, crowded island of Great Britain, there’s a romance surrounding long-distance road trips across America. My first trip was in 1973 and we rode choppers from LA to Oregon and back. Two thousand grueling miles on a motorcycle with minimal front suspension, no rear suspension and my wife on the back. It was a long, sorry-ass trip.

Since then I’ve driven back and forth many times in cars, motorcycles, trucks, trucks with trailers towing racecars and in hot rods and I have to say that driving a hot rod on a long road trip is, without doubt, the most fun. My problem is, I tend to fall asleep, even if I’m driving. Consequently, I usually get relegated to the passenger seat and made to do directions. That’s easy now that we have the internet but in the days of the ‘M-ap’, it was not so easy. Nevertheless, it’s always fun and often quite eventful.

Example. I recently got a call from my friend David Steele, Executive Director of the American Hot Rod Foundation who, in passing, said, “I’m driving Henry Astor’s ’32 Ford Roadster back from Indianapolis. You remember Henry? He was the first director of the Foundation.”

“Really?” I replied. “Can I tag along? I love road trips.”

“It’s an open roadster and has no top.” Responded David.

“Sounds good,” I said.

“I’m driving straight through. I’m stopping to gas and piss is all.”

“Perfect. See you in Indy.”

I took the red-eye and David picked me up at the airport. There’s no parking in the white zone. I looked at my phone. It said: Drive time 1 day 4 hr, and that’s if we didn’t stop for gas or a leak. Having been awake all night I leaned my head against the soft Naugahyde and dozed off. I woke up in St. Louis as we passed the Gateway Arch. It’s the tallest in the world but looks like half a McDonald’s sign. It was 7:16 AM and cold. I hunkered down under the dash and went back to sleep to the comforting hum of a tri-powered, small-block Chevy. Next stop, Kansas City. 

I was awake now, having slept for half a day. Unfortunately, Kansas is a whole lot of nothing. Just mile after mile of flat earth confirming the world is not round. Somewhere around Salina, David got a phone call. I couldn’t hear because of the wind noise but at the next pit stop, I heard that we’d been invited to join the Cobra Owner’s Club in a little jaunt around Zion National Park. Sounds good to me.

We pressed on. Bugs kamikazed into the windshield until you could barely see through the splatter. No wipers on a hot rod. It was 0-dark-thirty when we pulled into the Majestic View Lodge near the entrance to Zion. The big topic of discussion concerned Marty Langsam whose genuine Cobra had burned to the ground the day before. Marty had entered the Mount Carmel Tunnel and had an electrical fire. Unfortunately, due to the volume of traffic in both directions, the fire trucks could not reach him before the car burned up. Or, is that down? Either way, it was done to a crisp. When asked if it could be rebuilt, one smart-aleck replied, “We can build two.”

At that point, David did a deal with our friend Roger Morrison to swap rides. He would take the Deuce and we slipped behind the wheel of his original 289 Cobra. In a way, a Cobra is not that dissimilar to a ’32 roadster. Both have buggy spring suspension front and rear, both have a brutish power-to-weight ratio, both are open to the elements and both are a lot of fun. We found out how much fun ripping along two-lane blacktops to the north rim of the Grand Canyon and back.

All too soon, our time in the Cobra was over and we headed back on Interstate 70 towards I-15 and the road to Las Vegas. We could taste home by now so it was pedal to the metal. We ripped through Sin City in the dark stopping only for gas and the usual wondering what nefarious deeds were being done at that early hour. Somewhere south of town, we hit the inevitable construction zone but we were on a mission. Didn’t even see the cop until our world turned blue. He pulled us over. Thankfully, even though it wasn’t our car, the paperwork was all in order. We were doing good, I thought, until I asked, in my best Beatles accent, how old he was. He looked all of 14. Well, he wasn’t 14 so I asked why he hadn’t shown much interest in the roadster. Wasn’t like you saw one every day doing 80 in a 50 zone. That’s when he pulled out his ticket book. Poor David.

Back on the road, all was quiet. David didn’t say much so I went back to sleep. Woke up in Los Angeles. Job done.

Scene at Performance Racing Industry (PRI)

The Performance Racing Industry (PRI) trade show is held annually in Indianapolis, the home of the Indy 500.  Established in 1988 by brothers Jim and Steve Lewis on the back of their magazine Performance Racing Industry, PRI has grown to become the world’s largest gathering place for the motorsports industry where deals are done, sales are written, sponsorships are inked and more than 600 new products are introduced. The only problem is, it’s held in December in Indy and it’s darn cold.

No matter, the atmosphere is warm as thousands of attendees gather from more than 70 countries to check out 3,300 booths occupied by 1,100 companies. And there’s everything from ARP’s nuts and bolts to Weld Wheels including Aeromotive Fuel Systems, AutoMeter instruments, DJ Safety, Hedman Hedders, K&N Filters, Lucas Oil, MOMO, NGK spark plugs, Pro-Charger, SCE Gaskets, TechnoCraft trailer cabinets, and VP Racing Fuel. The list goes on.

As we said, more than 600 products are showcased at PRI and they range from the inevitable wheels from Weld, intakes and ignitions from Holley/MSD and engine blocks from World Products.

Without a doubt, one of the most impressive new products was the Jesel Equal Eight from Dan Jesel who with brother Wayne operate Jesel Valvetrain Co. Machined from a solid aluminum billet, this 427-ci V8 is a work of engineering art and won the JE Pistons Masters of Motors Award.

Indeed, performance parts and pieces machined from billet aluminum were a big part of the show and I filmed one young man of just 24 machining a Keith Black aluminum block right there on the show floor. And, he started in the business when he was just 18. In fact, the racing industry appears to hold a healthy attraction for young people, which is great if we are going to perpetuate motorsports into the new autonomous, electronic age that is fast approaching. Incidentally, one of the best hands-on events of the show was the Hot Rodder’s of Tomorrow Engine Challenge competition sponsored by companies such as Allstar Performance, Edelbrock, Canton Racing Products, Mr. Gasket, Racing Head Service and Vibrant Performance.

The PRI Show is a trade-only expo so it’s only open to members of the motorsports industry; however, you can learn more at PerformanceRacing.com