And a hearty Happy New Years to Y’all! As the just completed month of Christmas resplendent in the multitude of indoor ‘N outdoor lights, with perhaps some Silent Nights ‘O ONLY 33 Shopping Dayz left made me ponder the following upon recently reading George Phillips (Oil Pressure) story titled: The First Favourite, which sadly I cannot seem to locate in his Archives… But it was basically a story about his very first favourite Open Wheel Racing Driver; an ‘Ornery ‘Ol Coot named ‘Rufus…
And although I’m NOT gonna delve into who my very first favourite racing driver was, nor explain my current Top Two picks for Formula 1 and IndyCar… (Can you have MORE than ‘Juan favourite driver at a time?)
Although I’m not quite as OLD as George is, albeit we’re in a similar Area code… I didn’t have the privilege of being “Dragged” to the Mecca of Open Wheel Racing at the tender age of 5yrs old… And even if my earliest memories of the Indy 500 have more to do with the broadcast then any actual Car/Driver combination, I seem to harbour the thought that my first “Contemporary race via le Telescreen was the wild 1985 classic Win “N Spin when the upstart Mr. Hollywood, a.k.a. Danny Sullivan beat Mario Andretti. (Yey!)
But back to the colour me pink remark… As it’s the smorgasbord ‘O Christmas colours that got me thinking of just exactly which racing cars were my favourites over the past few decades of my brief indulgence in the world of IndyCars, as I’d haveda say that the first car I really enjoyed was ‘big Al’s (Unser Sr.) Banana yellow “Hertz Doughnut-mobile.” As I find it funny I was more drawn to this car then Rick Mears Pennzoil Special – which is every bit as striking, but like I said it wasn’t on my Kodachrome at the moment of glory…
And even though I do still recall Mr. Hollywood’s red ‘N white March 85C-Cosworth Miller racecar, I was more captivated by Penske’s stunning solid gold Miller “Highlife” chassis of ‘Sully’s title winning season in 1988, while I also found his baby blue Galles Molson chassis very appealing.
And although I was there in person and have to say one of my all-time favourites is the Porsche blue ‘N white fosters liveried entries of John Andretti and Teo Fabi; for some reason I cannot seem to mentally call ‘em up on my memory-machine!
And if you’ve read my recent More on Moore piece, then you’ll know just how beautiful I find those Players liveried Forsythe chassis to be… Hmm? Perhaps you’re starting to notice a pattern here? But although blue is a reoccurring colour choice, (having forgotten to mention the Walker Racing Mackenzie Financial Blue Scott “What Pace Car” Goodyear rides…) I certainly don’t recall ever liking any of the “KRACKOE” (Kraco) bright blue ‘N yeller cars that “Boobie Ray-X” (Bobby Rahal) and ‘Mikey A. drove.
Yet how could I not like any of the ‘BAD HABITS Carz… I mean the Marlboro colours are synonymous with winners, not to mention the team KOOL Green rides, but top ‘O the heap belongs to Players for the Smokey-smokes Carz, although I seem to recall that ‘googley-eyez” (Mauricio Gugelmin) had a pretty decent looking Hollywood ride sometime ago.
And there were the Adult Beverage wars with Budweiser being predominantly Red, with Miller in a multitude of hues, while I cannot recall the Tecate colour scheme; something to do with being distracted by the Tecate Girls I suppose, eh? Although I seem to recall that “Eating Raul” (Boesel) had a fairly decent looking Brahma ride…
And the Pacwest Motorola car of Mark Blundell was not half bad, nor was Robby Gordon’s Walker Valvoline machine, along with “Stevie Johnson’s” (Stefan Johansson) Bettenhausen Alumax being an attractive car. Also, I always liked the Team Rahal Shell Oil yellow ‘N white rides of Jimmy Vasser and Kenny Brack, but not the Brian Herta or Mike Borkawski era; go figure? (Remember him?)
And I seem to remember Steve Horn’s Tasman Motorsports having some pretty bright psychedelic looking Carz, while I always enjoyed the vibrant, solitary hue of orange the Patrick Racing team utilized during its Visteon Days, which is always the car I think of when I hear Townsend Bell’s name, not to mention Roberto Moreno doing his smoky “Zanardi” victory doughnuts in front of us at the Molson Indy Up North – Eh! Almost a decade ago in Vancouver, BC; as all of this makes me realize just how overly bland the majority of the Indy Racing League is, albeit Will Power’s Penske Truckin’ throwback scheme got my attention last season, not to mention Sarah Fisher’s Dollar General car looking an awful lot like those good looking ‘Buzzin ‘N Hornets (Benson & Hedges) Jordan Grand Prix Carz, along with the not often seen Z-Lines machine of Justin ‘BIG UNIT Wilson…
And although I’m NOT gonna delve into who my very first favourite racing driver was, nor explain my current Top Two picks for Formula 1 and IndyCar… (Can you have MORE than ‘Juan favourite driver at a time?)
Although I’m not quite as OLD as George is, albeit we’re in a similar Area code… I didn’t have the privilege of being “Dragged” to the Mecca of Open Wheel Racing at the tender age of 5yrs old… And even if my earliest memories of the Indy 500 have more to do with the broadcast then any actual Car/Driver combination, I seem to harbour the thought that my first “Contemporary race via le Telescreen was the wild 1985 classic Win “N Spin when the upstart Mr. Hollywood, a.k.a. Danny Sullivan beat Mario Andretti. (Yey!)
But back to the colour me pink remark… As it’s the smorgasbord ‘O Christmas colours that got me thinking of just exactly which racing cars were my favourites over the past few decades of my brief indulgence in the world of IndyCars, as I’d haveda say that the first car I really enjoyed was ‘big Al’s (Unser Sr.) Banana yellow “Hertz Doughnut-mobile.” As I find it funny I was more drawn to this car then Rick Mears Pennzoil Special – which is every bit as striking, but like I said it wasn’t on my Kodachrome at the moment of glory…
And even though I do still recall Mr. Hollywood’s red ‘N white March 85C-Cosworth Miller racecar, I was more captivated by Penske’s stunning solid gold Miller “Highlife” chassis of ‘Sully’s title winning season in 1988, while I also found his baby blue Galles Molson chassis very appealing.
And although I was there in person and have to say one of my all-time favourites is the Porsche blue ‘N white fosters liveried entries of John Andretti and Teo Fabi; for some reason I cannot seem to mentally call ‘em up on my memory-machine!
And if you’ve read my recent More on Moore piece, then you’ll know just how beautiful I find those Players liveried Forsythe chassis to be… Hmm? Perhaps you’re starting to notice a pattern here? But although blue is a reoccurring colour choice, (having forgotten to mention the Walker Racing Mackenzie Financial Blue Scott “What Pace Car” Goodyear rides…) I certainly don’t recall ever liking any of the “KRACKOE” (Kraco) bright blue ‘N yeller cars that “Boobie Ray-X” (Bobby Rahal) and ‘Mikey A. drove.
Yet how could I not like any of the ‘BAD HABITS Carz… I mean the Marlboro colours are synonymous with winners, not to mention the team KOOL Green rides, but top ‘O the heap belongs to Players for the Smokey-smokes Carz, although I seem to recall that ‘googley-eyez” (Mauricio Gugelmin) had a pretty decent looking Hollywood ride sometime ago.
And there were the Adult Beverage wars with Budweiser being predominantly Red, with Miller in a multitude of hues, while I cannot recall the Tecate colour scheme; something to do with being distracted by the Tecate Girls I suppose, eh? Although I seem to recall that “Eating Raul” (Boesel) had a fairly decent looking Brahma ride…
And the Pacwest Motorola car of Mark Blundell was not half bad, nor was Robby Gordon’s Walker Valvoline machine, along with “Stevie Johnson’s” (Stefan Johansson) Bettenhausen Alumax being an attractive car. Also, I always liked the Team Rahal Shell Oil yellow ‘N white rides of Jimmy Vasser and Kenny Brack, but not the Brian Herta or Mike Borkawski era; go figure? (Remember him?)
And I seem to remember Steve Horn’s Tasman Motorsports having some pretty bright psychedelic looking Carz, while I always enjoyed the vibrant, solitary hue of orange the Patrick Racing team utilized during its Visteon Days, which is always the car I think of when I hear Townsend Bell’s name, not to mention Roberto Moreno doing his smoky “Zanardi” victory doughnuts in front of us at the Molson Indy Up North – Eh! Almost a decade ago in Vancouver, BC; as all of this makes me realize just how overly bland the majority of the Indy Racing League is, albeit Will Power’s Penske Truckin’ throwback scheme got my attention last season, not to mention Sarah Fisher’s Dollar General car looking an awful lot like those good looking ‘Buzzin ‘N Hornets (Benson & Hedges) Jordan Grand Prix Carz, along with the not often seen Z-Lines machine of Justin ‘BIG UNIT Wilson…