The Baby Boomer Renaissance: Going Like Sixty

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Going Like Sixty

Fearless at the 500 Stunt Will Mark 100th Anniversary of Indianapolis 500

Posted: 12 Apr 2011 06:46 AM PDT

The Indianapolis 500, which used to be the “greatest spectacle in racing” and now can’t even fill the stands for the race on Memorial Day Weekend, has resorted to a carnival/tractor pull/county fair gimmick.

Fearless at the 500 is an attempt to jump a truck 302 feet at the track in Speedway, Indiana.

I am truly embarrassed for the Indianapolis community and open-wheeled racing in particular.

A dedicated crew of dozens has secretly spent the past few weeks in Southern California building, testing and tweaking a custom-built truck as well as a life-sized version of the Hot Wheels toy track set so many of us enjoyed of us as kids. And if all goes according to spec, the Pro2-style truck (driven by a masked stunt driver) will jump across a gap more than 302 feet in length, breaking the world record for largest leap by a four-wheeled vehicle.

The once proud tradition of the Indianapolis 500 is reduced to this horrible gimmick. The track will be turned into a replica of a kid’s bedroom.

Louie Meyer, Wilbur Shaw, Parnelli Jones, Jim Clark, A.J. Foyt, Al Unser, et al must be spinning in their graves – even the ones that aren’t dead yet.

The 100th running of the Indianapolis 500 could have a tremendous crash before the green flag drops. There might even be a death.

Nice way to start the 100th Anniversary of the Indianapolis 500.