Memorial Day is approaching, and one event always held on Memorial Day weekend is the Indianapolis 500 race. There’s been some controversy about it being held that particular weekend because it takes away from the somber reason for the holiday, but the race continues to be run on Memorial Day weekend.
While I’m not a huge race fan, when I was younger I got into “stock car races” and always enjoyed them, so one of the rings I always wanted to do was attend the Indy 500. I’d flown over the race track a number of times and it was much larger than any stock car track I’d ever seen. I remember being impressed that there was a 9-hole golf course in the middle.
Anyhow I got my chance in 1971 — I was back in Washington over the Memorial Day weekend, so myself and a friend flew to Indianapolis and attended the race. It was the 55th 500 Mile International Sweepstakes held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Al Unser Sr. dominated most of the race and won for the second consecutive year. He became the fourth driver to win the race in back-to-back years.
But — who won the race in 1971 wasn’t the big story. The race was marred by a crash involving the pace car at the start of the race. If you follow racing at all, you probably remember the event. The pace car, a bright orange 1971 Dodge Challenger, was provided by, and driven by a local Dodge dealer — Eldon Palmer. (Prior to 1971, car manufacturers provided the pace car — for advertising purposes, but Chrysler, Ford and GM sensed the impending end of the muscle car era and chose not to supply an official pace car.)
Sitting next to Palmer was the owner of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Tony Hulman Jr. and in the back seat were astronaut John Glenn and ABC sportscaster Chris Schenkel.
Palmer had practiced braking in the pits before the race and positioned either a flag or cone at the point where he should have started to brake. However, before the pace lap and the start of the race, somebody removed the marker, so Palmer ended up braking late and careening out of control into a photographers stand — 29 people were injured, two seriously.
Palmer reportedly felt so awful after the incident that he held on to the Dodge Challenger for years. Only a few years ago did he restore it and sell it to an Indiana collector, Steven Cage. The car is currently in his museum in Fishers, Indiana, just outside of Indianapolis. Eldon Palmer died in 2016 — he was 87.
While we’re on the subject of the Indy 500, I guess this would be a good time to talk about a couple of traditions associated with the event. You’ve probably noticed that the winner always drinks milk to celebrate — not champagne, but milk. The first three-time winner of the 500 was Louis Meyer, winning for the third time in 1936. In Victory Lane, he asked for buttermilk. His mother had told him years earlier that milk was good to drink on hot day, so that’s what he requested.
A dairy industry executive saw a photo of Meyer drinking milk and decided to offer it to the winner every year. The Indiana Dairy Association became an official sponsor in the 1950s and today every driver is asked what kind of milk they prefer — whole or skim — just in case they win. It’s interesting that buttermilk and chocolate milk are not options. But since most of the milk gets poured on the winner’s head anyway, the flavor probably really doesn’t matter.
The command to “start your engines” started in 1946 — the first race after World War II. The command was, “Gentlemen, start your engines.” In 1977, the command became “In company with the first lady ever to qualify at Indianapolis, gentlemen, start you engines,” to accommodate the first female driver, Janet Guthrie. Today, the command is “Drivers, start your engines,” or “Ladies and gentlemen, start your engines.”
Anyhow, the Indianapolis 500 is an American tradition, not intended to take away from Memorial Day remembrances. Every year when I watch the race, I always think of something Steven Wright said, “I watched the Indy 500, and I was thinking that if they left earlier they wouldn’t have to go so fast.”
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