So its somewhat hard to believe that two
decades have already passed by - especially since I lived thru I-T live, as
these truly were thy ‘Salad Days ‘O Indy Cars predecessor Championship Auto
Racing Teams (CART) dominance Stateside, when if possible, CART/PPG World
Series possibly dominated globally, Thanxs solely to ‘Ol Bloody ‘Nige’s arrival
in ‘Americker - as arguably CART was more popular than Formula 1 thanks solely
to its reigning champion having come across the pond!
Yet in all of its euphoria, perhaps because
your humble No Fenders scribe has had the privilege of doing so DAMN much since
then, not overly being a Mansell fan, or perhaps from dipping into thee
proverbial Eggnog, hic; Hya! I must admit I really don't recall a whole lot from that year's rapture 'O Mansell
Mania, other than making my yearly pilgrimage to Portland International Raceway
for the annual Father's Day classic CART race of which somebody I later took to
calling 'Emmaloe, previously known as EMMO, nee Emerson Fittipaldi bested our
hero Bloody Nige by a scant four-plus seconds with EMMO's (Penske Racing) sidekick
Mr. Chrome Horn, aka Paul Tracy taking the final podium spot...
77TH INDIANAPOLIS
500
Whenever I think of this race I think of the
Folklorish story of Indianapolis Bureau Chief Daniel Banes Cooper later asking
thee "Flying Dutchman," nee Arie Luyendyk at a deserted Phoenix Int'l
Raceway parking lot how they'd beaten Nige that day upon the restart to which
Arie coolly said: Yeah, we really FUCKED him on that one! As both Luyendyk and
eventual winner Fittipaldi both overtook Mansell on a late race restart
promptly dropping the British Rookie leading the race to finish an eventual
third place...
.(5)
Rookies
Start Driver Chassis/Eng Qual
Speed
6th: Stefan Johansson; Penske/Chevy (220.820mph)
Little "Stevie Johnson" running for
the perennial Minnowesqe Bettenhausen team utilizing customer Penske Racing
equipment not only out qualified both of the "Works" Penske drivers
Paul Tracy (7th) and Emerson Fittipaldi (9th) but was quickest of the five
Rookies entered this year, although the Swede' Would have to settle for eventually
finishing 11th, one lap down, although he did finish ahead of the
"Works" team's vaunted driver 'PT. (Paul Tracy)
8th: Nigel Mansell; Lola/Ford (220.250)
Driving for the vaunted Newman Haas concern,
this audacious Brit had the gumption to lead multiple laps (34) at Mother
Speedway before being snookered by two exceptional Indy 500 drivers - both
having won this prestigious race twice to see Bloody Nige finish a dejected
third, albeit obviously winning the Rookie Of the Year honours hands down...
13th: Nelson Piquet; Lola/Menard (217.940)
Can't say I really remember anythingy 'bout
the Brazilian's lone I500 outing, as he was
in a perennial Back-marker and his ex-Buick updated Menard Stock-block
V-6 simply "DONE BLOWN UP!" On lap-38, seeing Piquet finish a disappointing
32nd...
15th: Stephan Gregoire (220.851)
Since his speed was quicker than Piquet's -
I'm ARSE-sumin' he was a second day qualifier, running one of those
"Blown" Stock-block Buick's "Steven George" would finish
5-laps behind in 19th.
25th: Robby Gordon; Lola/Ford (220.085)
This rookie 'Yank's performance was surely
overshadowed by his team owner's final appearance at Mother Speedway, as Gordon
was piloting 'Ol 'SuperTex's (A.J. Foyt) second entry and Y'all could say
Robby's debutant outing at thee Speedway was anything but mesmerizing,
ultimately finishing two place s behind where he'd started, (P27) and retiring
due to Gearbox failure - which sounds appropriate for the hard chargin' brash
American...
F1 FRATERNITY
NO idea if this is the most ex-Formula 1
drivers to take the Green flag at Mother Speedway or not? But nevertheless, its
remarkable to Mwah that one third of that year's field was comprised of past
Gran Primo Piloto's, not to mention four of them being F1 World Champions,
including: Nelson Piquet: 3; 1981, '83, '87, Emerson Fittipaldi: 2; 1972, '74
and Mario Andretti: 1; 1978 and Nigel Mansell: 1 1992.
(11) Ex-F1 Drivers
Mario
Andretti, Raul Boesel, Eddie Cheever, Jim Crawford, Teo Fabi, Emerson
Fittipaldi, Roberto Guerrero, Stefan Johansson, Nigel Mansell, Nelson Piquet
and Danny Sullivan.
And as previously mentioned, four of these former
Gran Primo Piloto's were F1 World Champions, while others in this group also
reached glorious heights with a total of four becoming Indy 500 winners, along
with four being crowned CART Champions and a further seven winning races -
while sadly one has since passed away after retiring from racing...
(Driver/Starting position in parenthesis
unless already noted)
Mario
Andretti (2)
What more can I say about 'SuperMario that
hasn't already been said? Especially since he's one of the BADDEST BAD ARSES of
All Time, as even Seb' Vettel called him a legend upon the podium at Austin,
Texas...
Mario's best known for becoming America's
second F1 world champion in 1978 for Lotus, having also driven for the likes of
Vel's Parnelli Jones, March, Ferrari, Alfa Romeo and Williams, making
128-starts and taking the chequered flag 12-times, the most by an American
driver.
Mario made an astounding 29-starts at the
Brickyard along with winning the 1969 race, and notched up 52-victories in Open
Wheel Racing single seaters, (USAC-CART) the second most all-time behind A.J.
Foyt's 67, not to mention winning four championship titles.
Impressively, at the remarkable age of 53,
Mario , starting from the inside of Row-1 led the most laps , leading six times
for 72-laps during the 1993 Indy 500 before ultimately settling for fifth place
in his penultimate race...
Raul Boesel (3)
Will forever be remembered as the
"BOOM-BOOM BRAHMA BULL!" So nicknamed by Randal, thy Moniker King
during those Halcyon Dazes of CART at Portland International Raceway.
And although Raul was never a winner in Open
Wheel Racing, having run 23-races in Formula 1 for March and Ligier between
1982-83 before switching over to CART and later the rival IRL, nevertheless he
won the 1987 World Sport scar Championship and '88 Daytona 24hrs both for
Jaguar while toiling for mostly underfinanced teams in CART, taking his Dick
Simon mount to a very respectable fourth place finish in '93...
Eddie Cheever (33)
Eddie hosts the dubious record of most F1
starts for an American driver - pipping Mario by four races with a total of
132, having driven for a host of midfield teams including the likes of:
Theodore, Hesketh, Osella, Tyrrell, Renault, Alfa Romeo, Haas-Lola and Arrows
between 1978-89.
Yet Cheever's most recognized for his
unexpected win at Indianapolis in 1998 when sponsored by a potato chip maker -
as Eddie contested 14 Indy 500's, finishing 16th in '93 and for the past few
years has worked as the third ABC commentator for Indy 500 TV broadcasts...
Jim Crawford (31)
This likeable Scotsman made two appearances
for Lotus in 1975 primarily based upon his
proficiency in Formula Atlantics which ultimately led to a test for
Colin chapman's Formula 1 team
After his brief stint in F1, Crawford turned
his motor racing attention Stateside, where he was well known for his exploits
of speed with the fast but fragile Stock-block Buick V-6's, albeit piloting one
home to an outstanding sixth place finish at the time, having recovered from
massive leg injuries the prior year. (1987) Crawford later would be Guererro's teammate
at King Motorsports in '92 where the pair were expected to fight for Pole
position but Crawford's hopes dwindled with two "Done Blown-up"
Buick's whilst Guerrero won that year's Pole only to spin out upon lap 1!
Crawford raced in his final Indy 500 in '93,
finishing 8-laps behind in 24th with failed qualifying attempts the following
two years before settling into racing retirement, purchasing a fishing boat for
charters in Miami before succumbing to liver cancer in 2002...
Teo Fabi (17)
Probably the more famous of the Fabi racing
brothers, Teo made 64-starts in F1 between the years of 1982-87 moonlighting
for the Toleman, Brabham and Benetton teams in-between his CART racing career
where he contended for the title in 1983 on the back of four wins along with
Pole at Mother Speedway for Forsythe Racing, ultimately finishing runner-up to 'B-I-G
AL. (Al Unser Sr.)
Teo
contested a total of eight Indy 500's and finished ninth in '93, but is
probably best known for winning Porsche's lone IndyCar race at Mid-Ohio in 1989
for the since deceased Al Hobert...
Emerson Fittipaldi (9)
After winning two Formula 1 championships for
Lotus and McLaren, "EMMO" made the very unwise and ultimately career
ending choice to race for his own F1 Team with his older brother Wilson;
Fittipaldi Automotive, before being coaxed out of retirement by first
contesting a Sports Car race in Miami before blossoming into a second career in
Indy Cars, successfully winning the 1989 CART championship and Indy 500 for
Patrick Racing before moving onto Penske Racing where he successfully won his
second Indy 500 for "The Captain" (Roger Penske) in '93...
Roberto Guerrero (10)
This affable Columbian made 21-starts in F1 between
1982-83 for the Minnowesqe Ensign and Theodore racing teams, the first being of
Morris 'Mo Nunn's concern, as Mo would garner fame as a leading component of
the four-time CART champions Target Chip Ganassi Racing team in the late
1990's.
Having found little success in F1, Roberto
jumped over to CART the following year and promptly became the 1984 CART and Indy
500 Rookie Of the Year, (ROY) with his highlight/lowlight at Mother Speedway
being his '92 Pole and subsequent crash upon lap-1.
Yet this Columbian was the driver to hire his
first four years at Indianapolis before a horrific crash left him in a Coma in
1987, and although he fully recovered, suffice it to say, he really was never
the same driver afterwards...
Stefan Johansson
This Swede will forever be known as 'lil
"Stevie Johnson" thanks solely to Thy Moniker King Randal, who was
part of our "Portland Gang" traipsing off to Oregon each 'N every
Father's Day...
Johansson drove for two of Formula 1's
biggest teams, first driving for “Il Commendatore,” nee Enzo Ferrari
alongside the ebbing Michele Alboreto before becoming Alain Prost's
"punching-bag" for one season at McLaren while thee 'Ronster was
pursuing the services of Ayrton Senna.
Yet I tend to remember Stefan more for
driving those brightly coloured Tony Bettenhausen AMAX Indy Cars and after a
subsequent trip to Johansson's Hometown of Vaxjo, Sweden, and more specifically
Anderstorp, I eagerly anticipated getting his "John Hancock" at
Mother Speedway in 2011...
Nigel Mansell
As we all know, "Il Lione," which
the tifosi named him during his tenure at la Scuderia drove for three of the
legendary Constructors in Formula One: Lotus, Williams and Ferrari - winning
the F1 title in 1992 before shockingly coming Stateside to drive for the then
Powerhouse Newman Haas concern, where he won on his debut at Surfers Paradise,
claiming a total of four wins en route to the CART title in his Rookie season.
Mansell then had a relatively lackluster sophomore campaign and finished off by
returning to Williams to help lessen the death of Ayrton Senna...
Nelson Piquet
Piquet was Brazil's second world champion,
along with being Ayrton Senna's arch nemesis, albeit not as strongly as Alain
Prost, especially as Senna had clearly established his dominance over Piquet -
besting him in Poles and victories whilst equaling his three world
championships.
Nelson drove for a host of F1 teams,
including the likes of Ensign, Brabham, Williams, Lotus and Benetton before
finally retiring from Formula 1 at the end of the 1991 season. For '92 he
decided to contest that year's Indy 500 and everything was going smoothly until
he had a major shunt causing him serious leg and feet injuries... Upon
recovering, although I seem to recall him walking with a cane? Piquet bravely
returned in '93 to attend to unfinished business, most notably not letting
Mother Speedway defeat him, yet his lone Indy 500 was hardly a rousing
success...
Danny Sullivan (12)
Few
people probably realize that 'Sully actually was a Formula 1 racer for
Tyrrell in 1983, making 15-starts for "Uncle Chopper" (Ken Tyrrell)
scoring two points for a best placed finish of fifth at Monte Carlo before
turning his attention Stateside where he flourished in the CART series,
ultimately winning the title in 1988 for Penske
Racing, as I can still fondly see that beautiful gold liveried Miller
racing car...
Yet 'Ol Hollywood will forever be remembered
for his most notable "Spin 'N
Win" victory in the 1985 Indianapolis 500! Since by '93 his Open Wheel
Racing career was in decline with Sullivan ultimately washing out of Indy Cars
after a short lived tenure with the fledgling PacWest Racing team in 1995 -
announcing his retirement whilst recouping from injuries sustained in that
year's Michigan 500 Oval race...
