It’s all quiet now at the Speedway

Indy Pagodo lit up at night
Indy Pagoda lit up at night

It’s all quiet now at the greatest sports venue in America, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The crews are done tinkering with the cars, the drivers off to bed early and the maintenance crews are doing their final touches – cleaning up the trash from the past two weeks, and putting a shine on the place before the 350,000 adrenaline junkies come flowing through the gates for the 100th time to witness the greatest spectacle in racing, the Indy 500.

This is the only time anyone will be able to say that they were there to witness history in person – the 100th running. It won’t happen again for another 100 years and I won’t be around to see it, but hopefully I’ll be looking down from above on an even greater spectacle.

For over 100 years hundreds of thousands of people have been coming to central Indiana on the last weekend in May to see the 33 best drivers in the world race for 500 miles at breathtaking speeds in low-slung machines risking their life to win something only 67 men have ever done (some have 2, 3 and even 4 wins).

At 6:00 AM Sunday morning the gun will sound like it always does to signify the gates are open and race fans from all over the world will rush into the giant 2.5-mile stadium to soak in the history, bask in the sunshine, and watch what should be the greatest Indy 500 of all-time.

[adinserter name="GOOGLE AD"]There will be parades, flyovers, pretty woman, and all the pageantry that precedes the race every year.

The drivers will be paraded around the track to wave to the fans, and the adoring fans will return the wave and cheer the brave men and one woman a final time before they strap on their helmet and wait for the command to start engines.

But not before they say a prayer for the 33 brave souls, and taps will play to honor our fallen,

Of course they'll sing God Bless America, the National Anthem, and of course Back Home Again in Indiana.

Jim Nabors won't be there to sing it this time, his health failing him. It won't be the same without him because no one can ever sing that song better than Jim.

Then Mari Hulman will give the command to start engines and 33 750-HP turbocharged Chevy and Honda engines will come to life.

The balloons will be released and the cars will roll off the grid.

They’ll be three pace laps and then the green flag will drop and 33 drivers strapped in carbon fiber bathtubs sitting four inches off the ground will go barreling into turn 1 at over 200 mph and hope everyone comes out on the other side in one piece.

Sometimes they don’t and months of preparation will end before it really even got started.

There will be burning rubber, crashes, spins and broken machinery.

There will be daring passes, and near misses.

There will be sweat and tears, heated emotions and heartbreak.

And at the end of those 500-miles one driver will emerge above all the rest – the only driver to ever win the 100th running of the greatest spectacle in racing, they're name forever etched in the history books of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

It will be special and those of us who got to witness it firsthand, or on TV, will never forget it, even when we're looking down from above at the 200th running a hundred years from now, with a smile still on our face and a twinkle in our eye.

Indy 500 Winners Through the Years

Year

Driver

Start

Chassis/Engine

Avg. MPH

Team

2015

Juan Pablo Montoya

15

Dallara/Chevrolet

161.341

Team Penske

2014

Ryan Hunter-Reay

19

Dallara/Honda

186.563

Andretti Autosport

2013

Tony Kanaan

12

Dallara/Chevrolet

187.433

KV Racing Technology

2012

Dario Franchitti

16

Dallara/Honda

167.734

Ganassi

2011

Dan Wheldon

6

Dallara/Honda

170.265

Bryan Herta

2010

Dario Franchitti

3

Dallara/Honda

161.623

Ganassi

2009

Helio Castroneves

1

Dallara/Honda

150.318

Penske

2008

Scott Dixon

1

Dallara/Honda

143.567

Ganassi

2007

Dario Franchitti

3

Dallara/Honda

151.774

Andretti-Green

2006

Sam Hornish Jr.

1

Dallara/Honda

157.085

Penske

2005

Dan Wheldon

16

Dallara/Honda

157.603

Andretti-Green

2004

Buddy Rice

1

G Force/Honda

138.518

Rahal-Letterman

2003

Gil de Ferran

10

G Force/Toyota

156.291

Penske

2002

Helio Castroneves

13

Dallara/Chevrolet

166.499

Penske

2001

Helio Castroneves

11

Dallara/Oldsmobile

141.574

Penske

2000

Juan Pablo Montoya

2

Dallara/Oldsmobile

167.607

Ganassi

1999

Kenny Brack

8

Dallara/Aurora

153.176

A.J. Foyt

1998

Eddie Cheever Jr.

17

Dallara/Aurora

145.155

Cheever

1997

Arie Luyendyk

1

G Force/Aurora

145.827

Treadway

1996

Buddy Lazier

5

Reynard/Ford

147.956

Hemelgarn

1995

Jacques Villeneuve

5

Reynard/Ford

153.616

Green

1994

Al Unser Jr.

1

Penske/Mercedes

160.872

Penske

1993

Emerson Fittipaldi

9

Penske/Chevrolet

157.207

Penske

1992

Al Unser Jr.

12

Galmer/Chevrolet

134.477

Galles-Kraco

1991

Rick Mears

1

Penske/Chevrolet

176.457

Penske

1990

Arie Luyendyk

3

Lola/Chevrolet

185.981

Shierson

1989

Emerson Fittipaldi

3

Penske/Chevrolet

167.581

Patrick

1988

Rick Mears

1

Penske/Chevrolet

144.809

Penske

1987

Al Unser

20

March/Cosworth

162.175

Penske

1986

Bobby Rahal

4

March/Cosworth

170.722

Truesports

1985

Danny Sullivan

8

March/Cosworth

152.982

Penske

1984

Rick Mears

3

March/Cosworth

163.612

Penske

1983

Tom Sneva

4

March/Cosworth

162.117

Bignotti-Cotter

1982

Gordon Johncock

5

Wildcat/Cosworth

162.029

STP/Patrick

1981

Bobby Unser

1

Penske/Cosworth

139.084

Penske

1980

Johnny Rutherford

1

Chaparral/Cosworth

142.862

Chaparral

1979

Rick Mears

1

Penske/Cosworth

158.899

Penske

1978

Al Unser

5

Lola/Cosworth

161.363

Chaparral

1977

A.J. Foyt Jr.

4

Coyote/Foyt

161.331

A.J. Foyt

1976

Johnny Rutherford

1

McLaren/Offy

148.725

McLaren

1975

Bobby Unser

3

Eagle/Offy

149.213

All American Racers

1974

Johnny Rutherford

25

McLaren/Offy

158.589

McLaren

1973

Gordon Johncock

11

Eagle/Offy

159.036

Patrick

1972

Mark Donohue

3

McLaren/Offy

162.962

Penske

1971

Al Unser

5

Colt/Ford

157.735

P. Jones

1970

Al Unser

1

Colt/Ford

155.749

P. Jones

1969

Mario Andretti

2

Hawk/Ford

156.867

STP

1968

Bobby Unser

1

Eagle/Offy

152.882

Leader Cards

1967

A.J. Foyt

4

Coyote/Ford

151.207

Ansted-Thompson

1966

Graham Hill

15

Lola/Ford

144.317

J. Mecom Jr.

1965

Jim Clark

2

Lotus/Ford

150.686

Lotus

1964

A.J. Foyt Jr.

5

Watson/Offy

147.35

Ansted-Thompson

1963

Parnelli Jones

1

Watson/Offy

143.137

J.C. Agajanian

1962

Rodger Ward

2

Watson/Offy

140.293

Leader Cards

1961

A.J. Foyt

7

Trevis/Offy

139.13

Bignotti-Bowes

1960

Jim Rathman

2

Watson/Offy

138.767

Ken-Paul

1959

Rodger Ward

6

Watson/Offy

135.857

Leader Cards

1958

Jimmy Bryan

7

Salih/Offy

133.791

G. Salih

1957

Sam Hanks

13

Salih/Offy

135.601

G. Salih

1956

Pat Flaherty

1

Watson/Offy

128.49

J. Zink

1955

Bob Sweikert

14

KK500C/Offy

128.213

J. Zink

1954

Bill Vukovich

19

KK500A/Offy

130.84

H. Keck

1953

Bill Vukovich

1

KK500A/Offy

128.74

H. Keck

1952

Troy Ruttman

7

Kuzma/Offy

128.922

J.C. Agajanian

1951

Lee Wallard

2

Kurtis/Offy

126.244

M. Belanger

1950

Johnnie Parsons

5

Kurtis/Offy

124.002

Kurtis-Kraft

1949

Bill Holland

4

Deidt/Offy

121.327

L. Moore

1948

Mauri Rose

3

Deidt/Offy

119.814

L. Moore

1947

Mauri Rose

3

Deidt/Offy

116.338

L. Moore

1946

George Robson

15

Adams/Sparks

114.82

Thorne

1945

Not Held (WWII)

1944

Not Held (WWII)

1943

Not Held (WWII)

1942

Not Held (WWII)

*1941

Floyd Davis/Mauri Rose

17

Wetteroth/Offy

115.117

L. Moore

1940

Wilbur Shaw

2

Maserati/Maserati

114.277

Boyle

1939

Wilbur Shaw

3

Maserati/Maserati

115.035

Boyle

1938

Floyd Roberts

1

Wetteroth/Miller

117.2

L. Moore

1937

Wilbur Shaw

2

Shaw/Offy

113.58

W. Shaw

1936

Louis Meyer

28

Stevens/Miller

109.069

L. Meyer

1935

Kelly Petillo

22

Wetteroth/Offy

106.24

K. Petillo

1934

Bill Cummings

10

Miller/Miller

104.863

H.C. Henning

1933

Louis Meyer

6

Miller/Miller

104.162

L. Meyer

1932

Fred Frame

27

Wetteroth/Miller

104.144

H. Hartz

1931

Louis Schneider

13

Stevens/Miller

96.629

B.L Schneider

1930

Billy Arnold

1

Summers/Miller

100.448

H. Hartz

1929

Ray Keech

6

Miller/Miller

97.585

M.A. Yagle

1928

Louis Meyer

13

Miller/Miller

99.482

A. Sampson II

1927

George Souders

22

Duesenberg/Duesenberg

97.545

W.S. White

1926

Frank Lockhart

20

Miller/Miller

95.904

P. Kreis

1925

Peter DePaolo

2

Duesenberg/Duesenberg

101.127

Duesenberg

1924

Joe Boyer/L.L. Corum

21

Duesenberg/Duesenberg

98.234

Duesenberg

1923

Tommy Milton

1

Miller/Miller

90.954

H.C.S. Motor

1922

Jimmy Murphy

1

Duesenberg/Miller

94.484

J. Murphy

1921

Tommy Milton

20

Frontenac/Frontenac

89.621

L. Chevrolet

1920

Gaston Chevrolet

6

Frontenac/Frontenac

88.618

W. Small

1919

Howdy Wilcox

2

Peugeot/Peugeot

88.05

Indianapolis Speedway

1918

Not Held (WWI)

1917

Not Held (WWI)

1916

Dario Resta

4

Peugeot/Peugeot

84.001

Peugeot

1915

Ralph DePalma

2

Mercedes/Mercedes

89.84

E.C. Patterson

1914

Rene Thomas

15

Delage/Delage

82.474

L. Delage

1913

Jules Goux

7

Peugeot/Peugeot

75.933

Peugeot

1912

Joe Dawson

7

National/National

78.719

National Motor

1911

Ray Harroun

28

Marmon/Marmon

74.602

Nordyke & Marmon

*Davis was relieved by Rose on Lap 72 of the 1941 race.

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