USAC
I started to become interested early on in Indy Car type auto racing and especially the Indianapolis 500. At the time the racing was under the leadership of USAC Championship Car Series.Tom Sneva "The Gas Man"
The Hermsen family was also into Indy series and they chose the big names for their drivers to pull for. While I enjoyed Rick Mears as a driver, I decided to pick Tom Sneva (the 1977 & 1978 USAC Champion driving for Team Penske). I was usually made fun of by Patrick Hermsen for being a Sneva fan, but I decided that I enjoyed watching his career.He got the nickname "The Gas Man" for his qualifying efforts at the Indy 500 (winning the pole in 1977, 1978 & 1984), becoming the first person to surpase 200 mph in 1977, driving the Norton Spirit McLaren M24/Cosworth. In 1984 he became the first person to surpass 210 mph driving the Texaco Star March 84C/Cosworth.
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In 1981 he started driving for the Bignotti-Cotter Racing team, taking on the Texaco Star sponsorship and the iconic paint scheme.
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1983 Indy 500
I was finally rewarded with him winning the 1983 Indy500 (he was 2nd 1977, 1978 & 1980). I was in the Air Force at the time and stationed at Homestead AFB, so not sure where I watched the race. However, I was so relieved to finally be able to tell Patrick that Sneva was an Indy500 winner. I do remember watching the race and as he was battling Al Unser for the win, Unser's son Al Jr. (A rookie at the time) was getting in the way and trying to hold back Tom. It was so infuriating and unprofessional, but in the end, didn't matter.CART
Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART) was created in 1979 after USAC team owners disagreed with direction and leadership of the series. At its height, it was a very exciting and popular racing sport, with the big names and a car that was very impressive for its looks and speed.Indianapolis 500
I was finally able to cross going to the Indy 500 off my bucket list in 2022. My boys decided they wanted to go, but they didn't want to waste time and money on a hotel, so we left Madison at 2:00 AM on Sunday the day of the race. We made it to the track, even though they closed exits and made the drive to the track incredibly difficult. We got to see Josef Newgarden win and of course we had to stay after the race for the boys to collect "stuff". Luckily I went along as both boys fell alseep on the ride back and I drove most of the way home, getting back to Madison at about 2:00 in the morning, literally 24 hours awake (I said never again).The next year we got a hotel and going earlier were able to go to the largest IndyCar memorabilia show in Plainfield IN. A great show and Adam would always win the auctions on Alex Palou pieces.
We would go for four straight years, with the last race in 2025. It was a good trip and loved watching the 500 live.
Road America
After leaving the Air Force, I started going to the Road America IndyCar race in Elkhart Lake, WI. It is a great 4 mile road course track, with lots of scenery. It was a nice relaxing race, usually just walking around finding various places to watch the race, although I usually ended up at turn 5 (where a lot action happened). The track was also nice for seeing the drivers and other celebrities. The teams worked on the cars practically in the parking lot as they had to garages. I went many times until marriage and the boys, who did not like IndyCar when they got into NASCAR.One year I was even able to make it to an IMSA race.
It would take many years, and NASCAR coming to Road America, before the boys started going to Road America.
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Milwaukee Mile
I was also fortunate to be able to attend Indy Car races at the Milwaukee Mile (at the Milwaukee State Fair Park). I went mostly with the family and the Hermsen's. It was a small,fast track that always had good and exciting races. |
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