Top Ad
I DIG Radio
www.idigradio.com
Listen live to the best music from around the world!
I DIG Style
www.idigstyle.com
Learn about the latest fashion styles and more...

LEMASTERS: A Renewed Love Affair With Indy

Written by 
Published in Racing
Tuesday, 14 April 2020 08:00

Editor’s Note: This column was written and published prior to the Indianapolis 500 being postponed until Aug. 23 because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Ron Lemasters Jr.

CONCORD. N.C. — Next month, we’ll reconvene at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the annual classic that is — still and always — the Indy 500.

Well, that and a lot of other stuff, if the schedule is to be believed.

I’ve always been a purist about Indianapolis. You know that, those who have read this column all these years. Old school is still the best school, I always say. Well, maybe not.

Indianapolis has always been the center of the universe for me as a racer. I say racer, even though I am most decidedly not one, because I grew up around them, moved among them and have spent a better part of my ever-increasing years following them.

I thought, wrongly as it turned out, that the Hulman-George family would always own that magnificent speedplant and the world would spin on as it had since the day Tony Hulman bought it from Eddie Rickenbacker and turned it into what it is today.

Roger Penske owns it now and hide-bound traditionalist that I am, I am glad he does.

The fun is back at 16th and Georgetown. The buzz is back, too, and that does my heart good.

One thing Mr. Penske has always been is first-class, and he has the ability, the foresight and above all the team to bring the old place not just back to where it used to be but past it to new heights.

The changes are coming fast and furious and I can’t seem to stop grinning. The 500 is, without a doubt in my mind, the greatest race in the world. Sorry, NASCAR, but Daytona’s 500 is at least No. 2 in my heart. Others will feel differently, of course, but that is the way life is. If you lived it, breathed it and felt it, it was your jam, whether it was Daytona, Sebring, Eldora or Ascot Park. For me it was Indy.

The ceremony, the pageantry and all the glitz were part of it, but more than that it was the feeling that you were standing on years and decades of history. Well into its second century as a venue, IMS has adapted to the times and Penske’s influence makes it move faster.

The Hulman family had it for more than 70 years and they moved it light years ahead from where they picked it up. When Mr. Hulman passed in 1977, some of the light went out of it, but Mari George and her son, Tony, kept it going for a long time. When it was announced that Penske had purchased the speedway, I knew it would be just fine.

The secret to his considerable success is pretty simple. He picks great people to implement his ideas, and they always succeed. Always. Carve a race track out of the Inland Empire, in California, the hardest place in the universe to get anything built? Roger is your guy.

Take an old dirt track and make it a showplace in Mario Andretti’s hometown? Check.

Build a push-rod V-8 engine that put paid to the stock-block era at IMS? Roger again.

If he builds it, they will come, and it will be a success.

That’s why I am excited to see what Indy will be like this year. Maybe it is because I have spent so long away from its friendly confines, but I really feel the need to get back there. Something tells me that this year’s event will be akin to the first Brickyard 400, in terms of what it will do for Indy car racing.

I loved the Hulman-George era at IMS. It was all I ever knew. I’m starting to love the Penske era at IMS, and it hasn’t even gotten started for real yet.

May can’t get here fast enough for me.

Read 881 times

Soccer

FIFA donates $50m for Qatar World Cup legacy

FIFA donates $50m for Qatar World Cup legacy

EmailPrintOpen Extended ReactionsFIFA launched a $50 million legacy fund for social programmes on We...

Guardiola sorry for self-harm remark after draw

Guardiola sorry for self-harm remark after draw

EmailPrintManchester City boss Pep Guardiola has apologised for suggesting he wanted to hurt himself...

Guardiola's new Man City deal means nothing if stars don't sign extensions, too

Guardiola's new Man City deal means nothing if stars don't sign extensions, too

EmailPrintOpen Extended ReactionsManchester City did the easy part by having manager Pep Guardiola s...

2026 FIFA


2028 LOS ANGELES OLYMPIC

UEFA

2024 PARIS OLYMPIC


Basketball

KD, Beal return as Suns' big 3 leads rout of Lakers

KD, Beal return as Suns' big 3 leads rout of Lakers

EmailPrintOpen Extended ReactionsPHOENIX -- Bradley Beal and Kevin Durant each scored 23 points and...

Giannis out vs. Heat due to pregame knee issue

Giannis out vs. Heat due to pregame knee issue

EmailPrintOpen Extended ReactionsMIAMI -- Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo is out for Tues...

Baseball

Champion Dodgers adding Snell, sources say

Champion Dodgers adding Snell, sources say

EmailPrintOpen Extended ReactionsFree agent left-hander Blake Snell and the Los Angeles Dodgers have...

Dodgers split $46M from record MLB playoff pool

Dodgers split $46M from record MLB playoff pool

EmailPrintOpen Extended ReactionsNEW YORK -- A full postseason share for the World Series champion L...

Sports Leagues

  • FIFA

    Fédération Internationale de Football Association
  • NBA

    National Basketball Association
  • ATP

    Association of Tennis Professionals
  • MLB

    Major League Baseball
  • ITTF

    International Table Tennis Federation
  • NFL

    Nactional Football Leagues
  • FISB

    Federation Internationale de Speedball

About Us

I Dig® is a leading global brand that makes it more enjoyable to surf the internet, conduct transactions and access, share, and create information.  Today I Dig® attracts millions of users every month.r

 

Phone: (800) 737. 6040
Fax: (800) 825 5558
Website: www.idig.com
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Affiliated