I was at those Moroso events (I'm starting to feel old) that had to be in the mid to late 70's if I remember correctly. Thinking back on those now, it was amazing to have Dave, Dick and many of the pro racers just hanging out, having a beer and a good time. My, how times have changed..................... Alan and Jon, you guys are the best and keep up the great work. Dave, thanks for all the great memories and please come back out once in a while.
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Jon Asher
- Thread starter Rat
- Start date
John the tear gas incedent was not at the Moroso deal it took place a the main entrance when the beer was flowing.The state police asked the unrully fans to quit harassing the fans leaving the track when it got out of control then they gassed the mob and locked a few up .Do you remember the portable jail they had ,if you got locked up you were let go after the race was completed.This why there is no more camping outside the front gate I remember them taking quite a few away in cuffs
Doggone it Kosky, now you've gone and brought facts into it!!! There were so many things happening in those years that now some 40 years later, they get a little jumbled. Either way, it was a time to be remembered, correctly helps, because in today's environment...it stands little chance of happening again. Just glad to have been a part of it. Stay well...and contribute facts anytime you find us guys getting too far off base! MaC
exactly and that's why i have always said 3 hours for drag racing is too damn long especially with what espn gives us
Indy in the sixties was the first place I ever saw jail buses. They were the size of a regular interstate Greyhound, but painted up in Indiana State Patrol colors and having steel mesh over the windows. They'd park them right at the main entrance off 136.
Since this thread lost its way a long time ago, I can't resist sharing a something I saw in 1966. Trust me, it will never be entered into official NHRA records.
We were sitting in the stands about halfway up. It was Sunday and since it was Indy it was hotter than the gates of Hell. Behind us all the way on the top row was a gent who'd had way too much coolant and was having way too much fun. As I remember, he was pouring things off the back of the stands on the crowds below along with trying to start fights with anyone near him.
After a while four Indiana State Troopers showed up in front of us at the base of the stands. Somehow they were able to get Mr. Fun-a-rama's attention and motioned for him to join them in order to have a talk. He made the critical mistake of offering various crude and obscene gestures.
After about a five second huddle, the four troopers fell into formation and started up the steps. Being a skinny teenager, they looked to me like All-Pro NFL defensive ends and I could swear they were taking the steps at least three at a time.
After just a few expert applications of a nightstick, each trooper grabbed an extremity and started back down. The two in front carrying the legs must have been stronger than the two behind them with the arms, as the guy's feet were almost vertical but his head wasn't really clearing the steps.
I could have counted how many steps there were in those stands just from hearing the thunk..thunk..thunk..thunk as they extracted the perp from the crowd.
Everyone in the stands made a mental note of what kind of behavior was accepted and what might happen if someone chose to cross the line.
Those troopers didn't mess around. Like Mac says, it was a different time.
FC138fan
Nitro Member
Might I remind everyone Brainerd is less then a month away! Tamer... sure from what I hear, but theres no doubt you'll run into a driver and crew sharing a beer in the zoo...
Actually, I resigned from the ESPN crew at the end of the 2004 season because of some philosophical differences with the producer (who has since been replaced) and there were some issues at home that were being intensified by my travel schedule.
BTW, a the new season of NHRA's Greatest Races will begin in the late fall on HD Theater, which is changing its name to Velocity. I'll let everyone know the days and times it will be airing.
I didn't start going to Indy till '92, and based on what everybody has told me I really missed out! However you can still find some outrageous parties at that Campground off 136 by the old Drive Inn, at least a couple of years ago you could!
I deeply resent Mike Kosky having inserted factual information into my story of the Indianapolis Star headline. Factual information has no place in a story about drunks, topless women, out-of-control spectators and the police. What kind of world are we living in when ruinous facts make their way into a nice, pleasant story full of acceptable lies? The horror! The horror!
And besides, who says Mike's "facts" are better than mine? Huh? Well?
It truly was a different time, and no, I am not nostalgic for the so-called good old days. The one thing a lot of us forget when we reminisce about wild racers, after hours fights in motel parking lots, and that spectacular girl with the see-through top and the too-short shorts is that racing itself was pretty amateurish. There were almost no sponsors to even consider, certainly very little involvement from the corporate world, and the TV cameras were't watching. Simplistically, there were three "kinds" of racers in the fuel classes. Low-buck guys who only came out for the bigger national events, match racers who made their livings running from Tuesday through Sunday all over the place and then ran some national events, and those with money who raced for their own personal enjoyment. And it was all good, believe me.
One thing that helped make the whole scene appear so loose and wild was that working on the cars between rounds was a snap compared to what the guys go through today. The drivelines of today's cars are so much more sophisticated than back in those days that they demand much more serious maintenance efforts. So, back in the day, that meant the crews (usually a few buddies) had plenty of time to kick back and down a few cold ones. It also often meant that when the last car went down the track for the day everyone was pretty much ready to head to the motel or the bar. Not so today, obviously, as those guys work their butts off.
Even though this wasn't a pro car, it's somewhat typical of how things sometimes went at a national event. I can't remember the year (someone out there will spit it out momentarily!), but Texan Dave Settles and his buddies showed up at Indy with a flawlessly prepared and beautiful nitro-injected, Hemi-powered (was it in Pro Comp?) dragster. They came off the trailer on Thursday and set Low E.T. They were so far ahead of the pack that for the next three days they sat around the car, occasionally wiping it down, and also occasionally tipping back a cold one (when the NHRA people weren't looking). On Monday morning they came out and methodically disassembled the field.
Comparing Settles to the Jade Grenade was embarrassing, 'cause we were the guys who were once 35th on the list for Indy's 32-car field. Ah, well, as I said, it was all good.
Jon Asher
And besides, who says Mike's "facts" are better than mine? Huh? Well?
It truly was a different time, and no, I am not nostalgic for the so-called good old days. The one thing a lot of us forget when we reminisce about wild racers, after hours fights in motel parking lots, and that spectacular girl with the see-through top and the too-short shorts is that racing itself was pretty amateurish. There were almost no sponsors to even consider, certainly very little involvement from the corporate world, and the TV cameras were't watching. Simplistically, there were three "kinds" of racers in the fuel classes. Low-buck guys who only came out for the bigger national events, match racers who made their livings running from Tuesday through Sunday all over the place and then ran some national events, and those with money who raced for their own personal enjoyment. And it was all good, believe me.
One thing that helped make the whole scene appear so loose and wild was that working on the cars between rounds was a snap compared to what the guys go through today. The drivelines of today's cars are so much more sophisticated than back in those days that they demand much more serious maintenance efforts. So, back in the day, that meant the crews (usually a few buddies) had plenty of time to kick back and down a few cold ones. It also often meant that when the last car went down the track for the day everyone was pretty much ready to head to the motel or the bar. Not so today, obviously, as those guys work their butts off.
Even though this wasn't a pro car, it's somewhat typical of how things sometimes went at a national event. I can't remember the year (someone out there will spit it out momentarily!), but Texan Dave Settles and his buddies showed up at Indy with a flawlessly prepared and beautiful nitro-injected, Hemi-powered (was it in Pro Comp?) dragster. They came off the trailer on Thursday and set Low E.T. They were so far ahead of the pack that for the next three days they sat around the car, occasionally wiping it down, and also occasionally tipping back a cold one (when the NHRA people weren't looking). On Monday morning they came out and methodically disassembled the field.
Comparing Settles to the Jade Grenade was embarrassing, 'cause we were the guys who were once 35th on the list for Indy's 32-car field. Ah, well, as I said, it was all good.
Jon Asher
kingcobrafan
Nitro Member
I'll take Nunzio's word for it on the year, but the team was Settles and Berry.
Randy
Nitro Member
For some reason I just can't picture Mac doing a wet T short contest. Alan? yep. Unk? He'd volunteer to poor the water with the pitcher in one hand and the mic in the other. But not Dave.
Back in the late '70's it used to get pretty roudy at OCIR. More than one night I watched as the marines from the Tustin base threw beer bottles from the spectator side grandstands over the race track at the bikers in the pit side grandstands while the funny cars were running. Then one night they had a heavy metal rock band playing music after some fox hunt event on the back of a flat bed trailer in front of the tower. The announcer was telling the crowd if they didn't stop throwing stuff they were going to shut the concert down. Two seconds later someone threw a bottle and at a band member on the flat bed trailer which hit him squarely on the forehead and, unfortunately, it killed him. Then the place went nuts, cops came, and I left.
Ah, the good 'ol days.
RG
Back in the late '70's it used to get pretty roudy at OCIR. More than one night I watched as the marines from the Tustin base threw beer bottles from the spectator side grandstands over the race track at the bikers in the pit side grandstands while the funny cars were running. Then one night they had a heavy metal rock band playing music after some fox hunt event on the back of a flat bed trailer in front of the tower. The announcer was telling the crowd if they didn't stop throwing stuff they were going to shut the concert down. Two seconds later someone threw a bottle and at a band member on the flat bed trailer which hit him squarely on the forehead and, unfortunately, it killed him. Then the place went nuts, cops came, and I left.
Ah, the good 'ol days.
RG
Wayne
Nitro Member
