Forty years ago it was Woodstock and Andretti

Forty years ago, two very different festivals: Forty years ago this week, more than 400,000 people descended upon Max Yasgur's 600-acre dairy farm in Bethel, N.Y., for a music festival billed as "An Aquarium Exposition: 3 Days of Peace & Music." It's more commonly referred to as Woodstock (though the town of Woodstock is 43 miles southwest).

Thirty-two acts performed during the rainy weekend in what's been hailed as one of the most pivotal moments in popular music history. During the same weekend, Mario Andretti continued his march to the USAC season driver championship.

On Aug. 17, Al Unser won a 200-mile race at The Milwaukee Mile in a Lola-Ford T/C at an average speed of 106.758 mph. The next day, Andretti won the 100-mile race on the dirt at Springfield in a Kuzma-Offy with an average speed of 96.642 mph.

Andretti, who won the Indianapolis 500 and four other races before the Springfield victory, went on to post three additional victories that 24-race season.

Nine Indianapolis 500 champions have won at the Illinois State Fairgrounds in Springfield, which this weekend will play host to the Tony Bettenhausen 100 (USAC K&N Silver Crown Championship race) for the 75th year.