SPEEDWAY, IN: For the second consecutive day, persistent rain has washed away practice for the 92nd Indianapolis 500. With only one day remaining before Saturday’s run for the Pole, and an optimistic weather forecast for both Fast Friday and Pole Day, we can look forward to plenty of
action.
Trivia for a rainy day: If Mad Max Papis qualifies for this year’s
Race, he will be led to the green flag by his father-in-law!
The Corvette pace car is being driven this year by two time Speedway
champion Emerson Fittipaldi, who happens to be the father of Max’s wife!
The only other time we can think of when something similar took place was in 1980. That year the Pontiac Trans-Am pace car was driven by 1950 Indy winner, Johnnie Parsons. Back in seventh starting position was his son, Johnny Parsons, who only managed to go only 44 more laps than his
dad that year!
Oh, wait…there’s more. In 1989, three time 500 winner Bobby Unser was the pace car chauffeur, and led both brother Al and nephew Al Jr. to the green flag. Al Jr. nearly won the Race, crashing while battling for the lead with two laps to go after tangling with…Emerson Fittipaldi!
Strange? Perhaps…
In 1992, Bobby Unser was again behind the wheel of the pace car, with both his brother and nephew in the line-up and, this time, Al Jr. took the win after his Marboro Penske teammate…Emerson Fittipaldi
(!)…crashed out of the lead. Stranger? Certainly…
Speaking of the Unsers: we all know that three Unser brothers qualified for one or more Indy 500’s in their careers: Jerry, with his only start in 1958, and multiple winners Bobby and Al Sr. But…do you also remember that all three brothers produced sons that also became Indy 500
qualifiers? They were Johnny, Robby and Al Jr. respectively!
And…with all that Unser talent, no one in the clan ever won Rookie of
the Year!!!
This is getting too weird, and I’m rambling. I’ll blame it on the
rain…
Stay tuned…
IndyCar SeriesJohn AtlasThe Dirt Guy