The Official Blog of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway

1983 Steve Chassey

He drove a car called the Genesee Beer Wagon. He drove for a rookie woman car owner. He is one of two Vietnam War veterans to make a “500” field. He sold insurance to teams for on-track crash damage.

Steve Chassey made his mark at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway with three starts in the hallowed Indianapolis 500 and has stayed involved in different ways through the years.

He had a best finish of 11th in 1983, but he took a lot of different cars to the line, innovations, like the two-tone blue Jet Engineering Eagle, one of arguably the prettiest race cars ever to run on the 2 ½-mile oval.

“I was pretty proud of that,” he said of his ’83 finish. “In ’83, we finished the race with a stock block (engine).”

That was the Genesee Beer Wagon, fielded by Dick Hammond.

The whole experience at the Speedway is something Chassey treasures.

“Growing up in open-wheel  racing, that was the pinnacle of racing,” Chassey said of the Indianapolis 500. “In our careers, it’s what we all looked for. I love the Speedway. They treat me nice.”

Chassey built stock cars, then went into the service. He was scheduled to go to Vietnam as a communications specialist, but that changed and he became part of a howitzer battalion as a sergeant E-5. Pete Halsmer is the only other Vietnam War veteran to make the show at Indy. He was a helicopter pilot.

When Chassey returned to the United States from the war, he started racing sprinters, on his way toward the Midwest and Indy. In 1981, he drove for female car owner Lydia Loughery, but they failed to qualify for the Indianapolis 500.

Chassey started the “500” in 1983, 1987 and 1988. After he retired as a driver, he went into the racing insurance business for on-track physical damage. Generally, at that time in the late 1980s, teams figured about a crash and a half per season in their budgets.

“At one time, we had 16 to 18 cars insured,” Chassey said. “There’s not one of the teams now that I know of that is insured for on-track crash damage now. They look at the premium and say, ‘I can buy a whole car for that.’ But what if you knock off the same corner four or five times during the season?”

Chassey moved from Indianapolis to Glendale, Ariz., in October. He was elected a year ago to serve on the Board of Directors of the Indianapolis 500 Oldtimers organization.

He would get back into insurance if he found a company that wanted to get involved in motorsports. And he’ll certainly be at the Speedway this month.

Billy Boat 1998

Billy Boat went through some trials and tribulations before he grabbed the pole position for the 1998 Indianapolis 500.

“We crashed in practice right before qualifying,” Boat said. “I knew we had the speed, but we had some other issues. I knew we had an awesome race car.”

The pole came when the legendary A.J. Foyt gave Phoenix native Boat his shot at Indianapolis.

But mechanical problems in the race kept Boat from Victory Lane that year. But the pole was quite an achievement, and kitchen magnets featuring his picture appeared the next year.

“Any time you can see the leader with 25 laps to go, you’ll have a shot to win it,” Boat said. “We had the best car in ’98.”

In 1999, Boat finished third, his best in seven starts at Indy.

“The third behind Kenny (Brack) was a great accomplishment,” Boat said. “In the heat of the moment, you always want to win.”

Boat joined IndyCar at a time when opportunities opened up for sprint and midget drivers around the country.

“That was always my goal,” he said. “I was at the right place at the right time. I was happy to be there. I did my own team with Cary Agajanian and Mike Curb in 2001 and 2002. But for 2003, the budget was going to go from $1.8 million to $3 million, so we just couldn’t do it.”

Boat was operating an automotive exhaust business in Phoenix before he came to the Speedway.

“I started Billy Boat Performance Exhaust in 1990,” he said. “Since then, I’ve taken a more active role in the company. We work on Corvettes, Camaros and BMWs, high-end performance cars.

“My son Chad was only 8 or 9 when I was racing Indy cars, and I’ve taken an active role in his racing. Now he’s living in North Carolina. He’s going to be 21, and he’s been running some NASCAR and ARCA. He hopes to be in the Nationwide Series next year.

“My brother Mike is still here doing sales for us. My daughter Trisha works in the social media department for Chip Ganassi in Charlotte. My other two daughters, Emily, 17, and Brooke, 18, are into cheerleading, and Brooke goes to Arizona State next year.”

Boat said his IndyCar Series victories at Texas were rewarding, and he was in Victory Lane with Foyt in ’97 when a scoring question arose and Arie Luyendyk came to Victory Lane with his team to protest. A.J. promptly shoved Luyendyk into a flower bed. Through a long audit, Luyendyk was declared the winner.

But Boat confirmed something that has floated around the paddock for a long time: A.J. still has the trophy.

Buzz Calkins and crew.

Buzz Calkins will always be in the record books.

He won the Indy Racing League’s first race in 1996 at Walt Disney World when he held off Tony Stewart. It was the first IndyCar race for both, and there aren’t that many drivers out there who can say they beat “Smoke” in a competitive scenario on a racetrack.

“It was one of those days when everything was pretty much good all day.” Calkins said. “My engine was overheating, but we overcame that.”

Calkins always looked toward the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, where he made six starts, led four laps and had a best finish of 10th in 1998 for his family-owned Bradley Motorsports team.

“When I went there for the first time in 1987, when I walked into the place, I knew it was something I wanted to do,” Calkins said. “My dad bought me a go-kart when I was 14 years old, it started going well, and the rest is history. When I started out, it was my ambition to race in the Indianapolis 500.”

Calkins was always popular with the fans and those in the paddock.

At Indy for his first race there in 1996, he was talking to an INDYCAR official just outside the garage area, and the official suggested he go out to pit road and sign a few autographs.

“That’s where I’ve been for the last two hours,” he said with a smile.

After the duel with Stewart at Walt Disney World, Calkins asked public relations rep Jim Dinsmore if he and Tony had anything in common, that he’d like to get to know him better. Dinsmore knew both played pool, and the result was a charity 8-ball game at a casino in Las Vegas.

“That’s the thing I liked the most was the people,” Calkins said. “You guys, officials, mechanics, drivers. That’s something I’ll always look back on. I miss the people as much as anything.”

Calkins, from Denver, shared the first Indy Racing League season title with Scott Sharp. But he treasures the experience at Indy.

“I don’t think anything compares to it,” he said. “I don’t think anything compares to the first five laps and all the people who come out for it. I don’t think you can prepare yourself for it. It’s hectic, and I can’t think of too many things in life that can top it.”

He’s “retired” now although he said he runs a charity race every once in a while. Instead, Calkins  has gone from the track to the boardroom and family life.

“I got married and have three girls,” he said. “Bradley is 8, Marin is 6, and Harper is 3.” Two years ago, he was named president of Bradley Petroleum, a 100-year-old family-owned company.

“I won’t wear ties, but I wear a lot of different hats,” Calkins said. “When there’s a need someplace, I’m in it. I’m pretty much running the gas business, and we just signed a deal to build 12 Dunkin’ Donuts facilities in the next five years. That and real estate. It’s challenging and interesting.

“Between family and work, I don’t have time for anything else. I try to come back every year for the race. I’ve thought about (being a car owner), but with time constraints and I’d want to do it right.

“Maybe (in the future) I’ll have more time.”

The 2011 500 Festival princesses represent 11 Indiana colleges and universities and 24 cities and towns across the state. The young women were selected from 278 applicants based on communication skills, poise, academic performance, and community and volunteer involvement. The 500 Festival has narrowed the field to 33 princesses who will serve as ambassadors for the 2011 500 Festival.

In this blog series we will introduce you to the 500 Festival Princesses, share what they are doing in Indiana communities and their tips for the month of May. We will also share their dream line-up of 33 drivers from TheGreatest33.com. Want to earn bragging rights by sharing your line-up with friends and family too? Be sure to click the “share” feature after finalizing and submitting your line-up!

With  25 days remaining until the Indy 500, we’re pleased to introduce you to Ashlyn and Fayeann!

Name: Ashlyn Ackerman

Hometown: Jasper, Indiana

School: Ball State University

Number of years you have attended the Indy 500? Never been!  The 500 Festival Parade? Also a new experience for me!

Your tips for someone attending the Indy 500 for the first time: Because I grew up in southern Indiana, over three hours away from Indy, it was never a tradition in my family to make the trip to Speedway for the race each Memorial Day. I’m most excited to experience the 500 and see what everyone has been raving about! I know that last year was the hottest race in history, so staying hydrated and wearing sunscreen is a must. If anyone has any tips for me as a first timer, I would love to hear them!

Your tips for someone attending the 500 Festival Parade for the first time: Because it’s the third largest parade in America, I’m sure arriving along the parade route to claim your seat early is a must. The biggest tip that the princesses have heard is if you know someone in the parade (and want them to see you!) be sure to bring a big sign!

This is what I am doing in my community as a representative of the Princess Program: In my hometown and college community, I am partnering with organizations I have a personal connection with. At Ball State, I’m doing outreaches with College Mentors for Kids, the Muncie Children’s Museum, and various schools and nursing homes in the area. At home in Jasper, I’m volunteering at the Dubois County Museum, speaking to elementary and high school students, as well as promoting the event to the local Kiwanis Club. Additionally, I want to show my support of racing by singing the National Anthem and passing out trophies at the Bloomington Speedway. Finally, I’m trying to support my fellow princess by attending their outreaches and helping out with all the 500 Festival events that I can!

My Greatest 33 Line-up and what’s worth checking out at TheGreatest33.com: On my greatest 33, I chose many rookies who did incredible things at the race. Like me, they experienced their first Indianapolis 500 in a big way and made their mark on its history! TheGreatest33.com was a big help in picking my drivers, because I’m not a racing buff. One driver I wish I could have included in my line up is Spike Gehlhausen, also a young rookie of the year, from my hometown of Jasper, Indiana. What a race it would be if all these drivers actually got to compete together!

This May, I’m most looking forward to seeing: The Pace Car reunion!

Let us know when you spot the 500 Festival Princesses in your community!

Name: Fayeann Hurley

Hometown: Brownstown, IN

School: Ball State University

Number of years you have attended the Indy 500? This is my very first time!   The 500 Festival Parade? This will be my first time as well!

Your tips for someone attending the Indy 500 for the first time: This is my very first time attending the Indianapolis 500!

Your tips for someone attending the 500 Festival Parade for the first time: This is also my first time attending the 500 Festival Parade, and what better a time than when I am serving as an ambassador to the Indy 500 events!

This is what I am doing in my community as a representative of the Princess Program: As a representative of the Princess Program I have planned and scheduled various events throughout my community. I have created a multi-media presentation to showcase the history and fun facts about the Indianapolis 500. I have been sharing this with elementary schools from Jackson and Jennings County. I have also made an Indianapolis 500 Jeopardy game to share with local nursing homes. In addition, I will be appearing and participating in events at the Brownstown Speedway where we will be making a video to submit for the Back Home Again in Indiana Contest.

I am hosting an after school program at Hayden Elementary with 4-6th grade girls. Here I will speak about self-esteem and proper etiquette; we will also have race day snacks. I am volunteering at Girls Incorporated where I will do various crafts including making princess sashes. Lastly I am volunteering at an event titled Princess for a Day, which is a fundraiser and silent auction benefiting Flashes of Hope. “Flashes of Hope is a nonprofit organization that changes the way children with cancer and other life threatening illnesses see themselves through the gift of photography and raises money for pediatric cancer research.”

My Greatest 33 Line-up: To see Fayeann’s Greatest 33 Line-up click here.

This May, I’m most looking forward to: The Back Home Again in Indiana Contest!

Donald Davidson

Indianapolis Motor Speedway Historian Donald Davidson has been the expert on the history of the Racing Capital of the World since he arrived in Central Indiana in the mid-1960s. Now 2010 Auto Racing Hall of Fame inductee Davidson is answering your questions periodically in this blog!

Q: When did the “500″ first go to the three-abreast start?

– Ted Crawford

A: The answer is 1921. For the first two years—1911 and 1912—the cars lined up five abreast, although in the first year, the Pace Car sat in the spot known as the pole position, with four cars next to it and then five per row behind that. In 1912, five cars were on the front row with the Pace Car out in front. It was then four per row from 1913 until 1920, with the tradition of three abreast having remained unbroken ever since 1921.

Q: I have read in different places that Howdy Wilcox, the 1919 winner, and Howdy Wilcox, the runner-up in 1932, were father and son, that they were uncle/nephew and that they were not related at all. Which is correct?

– Jason Deming

A: As strange as it may seem, they were not related at all. By the time the “other” Howdy Wilcox began to come to the fore in Indiana dirt track racing in the late 1920s, the immediate family of the 1919 winner, Howard Samuel Wilcox, suspected the newcomer might simply be using the name in order to capitalize on the immense popularity of the champion, who by then was deceased. In fact, Howdy Wilcox II, as he was dubbed by the media, was born Howard Omar Wilcox on Feb. 20, 1905, which is before the “original” Howdy had even begun to race. Howard S. Wilcox Jr., the son of the 1919 winner, never did race but was a prominent “500″ and United States Auto Club official. At one time or another serving as the head of the Indianapolis Junior Chamber of Commerce, the Indiana National Guard and the Five Hundred Festival Committee, he is the man who, in 1950, created Indiana University’s Little 500 bicycle race.

Click here to ask your questions to Donald about the people and races that have formed a century of rich history at IMS. Include your complete name and city and state/country of residence.

Send us your questions, and keep your eyes on this blog for answers to selected questions from Donald!

Tonight is the night that stirs your soul if you’re a fan of the IZOD IndyCar Series: Will Power vs. Dario Franchitti in the mano-a-mano duel for the season championship in the Cafes do Brasil Indy 300 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. The perfection of Penske vs. the greatness of Ganassi.

Sorry, Leo Durocher: A nice guy will finish first tonight in the IZOD IndyCar Series championship at Homestead-Miami.

Power leads Franchitti by just 11 points after Dario won the PEAK Performance Pole Award in a command performance Friday night on the 1.5-mile oval, while Power qualified third. There are more permutations for the title math than an IRS 1040 income tax form, but assuming both guys run up front, the game is pretty simple: Power needs to keep Franchitti in his rear-view mirror all the way to the checkered flag.

It’s high drama here in South Florida, and it’s definitely worth two or three hours of your time tonight if you’re a fan of any kind of human competition. Live TV coverage on VERSUS starts at 6 p.m. (ET), with the IMS Radio Network providing live coverage of the race — which starts at 7 p.m. — through its affliates and XM 145/Sirius 211.

History and statistics favor Franchitti tonight. He has prevailed in two season-finale showdowns, capturing the IZOD IndyCar Series championship by winning the final race of the year from the pole in 2007 at Chicagoland Speedway and in 2009 here at Homestead. Twelve of his 16 IZOD IndyCar Series victories have come on ovals.

The man has been here, done this, and it shows in his demeanor here this weekend. He seems cool and relaxed, as if this was just another oval race in the championship.

Power, on the other hand, hasn’t been in a title duel like this since his days in the junior formulas. None of his six IZOD IndyCar Series victories has come on an oval. He has finished ahead of Franchitti only once in seven oval races this season.

This is new for Will, and the strain is peeking through his normally laid-back personality just a bit this weekend. He seemed a bit on edge during the post-qualifying press conference Friday night here after he saw one possibly-precious point slip away from his lead when Franchitti won the pole.

If Franchitti wins the title tonight, he will continue the recent trend of the Indianapolis 500 serving as an accurate barometer for season-long excellence. The Indy 500 winner has claimed the IZOD IndyCar Series championship in the same year in four of the last five seasons, and Dario can make it 5-for-6 tonight. The only exception to that rule since 2005 has been Power’s Penske teammate Helio Castroneves, who won his third Indy 500 but not the title in 2009.

Enough stats. Enough history. Enough analysis. Let the rubber meet the road, and let’s see which driver and team are best. It’s must-see TV. High drama on the high banks of Homestead.

Don’t miss it.

Colin Edwards at IMS

Colin Edwards, a Houston native nicknamed “The Texas Tornado,” will offer candid insight about his performance, competitors and life in the exciting world of MotoGP motorcycle racing before every event in 2010 in “Tornado Warning.” It’s the third consecutive season in which Edwards will offer this exclusive insight for www.indianapolismotorspeedway.com.

Two-time World Superbike champion Edwards, 36, is in his eighth year of MotoGP competition, riding this season for Monster Yamaha Tech 3. Edwards and the rest of the MotoGP riders will continue the season Sunday, Aug. 29 at the Red Bull Indianapolis GP at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway (3 p.m. ET, Aug. 29, SPEED).

The colorful Edwards will compete in the third annual Red Bull Indianapolis GP on Aug. 27-29 at IMS along with fellow American MotoGP stars Nicky Hayden and Ben Spies, and MotoGP superstars Valentino Rossi, Casey Stoner, Dani Pedrosa and Jorge Lorenzo.

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Mike Hiss in a Penske entry at Indy, 1974

Roger Penske has had the best of racing in his cars at Indianapolis — Emerson Fittipaldi, Rick Mears, Helio Castroneves, Al Unser, Mark Donohue.

Back in 1974, his drivers were Mike Hiss and Gary Bettenhausen. And Hiss put the Penske entry into its now-familiar spot on the front row for the 500-mile classic.

Hiss competed in four “500s” with a best finish of seventh in 1972, but he drew the attention of the legendary RP.

Today, Hiss is rehabbing from back problems and feels he’ll be back to readiness in a few months.

“Old age kinda creeps up on us,” said Hiss, 68, of Lake Forest, Calif. “I have the mind of a 30-year-old and the body of a 90-year-old.”

After his racing career, he started a mortgage loan processing company and produced software for it for 13 years. Then came perhaps the most critical portion of his life.

He developed lymphoma, but treatment, radiation and a bone marrow transplant saved him.

“We think that when I got cancer 20 years ago in 1990 and had a bone marrow transplant, the bones were weakened from all the radiation,” Mike said. “That’s probably what’s causing my problem today.”

After his finish in 1972, Penske took the look at him.

“In my rookie year in 1972, I was driving the STP Windshield Wiper Special and Mark Donohue won the race,” Hiss said. “Mark was injured in a Can-Am race and just before the California 500, Roger asked me to drive for him. On ‘74, Roger asked me to be Gary’s teammate, and I was thrilled.

Hiss pitched in later for Penske in 1978. When Mario Andretti had a conflict with his Formula One schedule. Penske called Hiss and Hiss qualified the car solidly, so Andretti could start it in the 33^rd spot.

“I’ve always been in awe of the Indy 500,” Hiss said. “I can remember listening to it with my dad on radio. I’ve visited a couple times through the years, but I think 1985 was my last time there. I’d love to say hi to the guys and hear their stories. I can remember the old-timers telling us how it was when they raced. I’d like to get better and come back. I watch all the Indy car races on television, and I’m so glad they got back together again.”

Hiss plans to go back to the mission he undertook to help those who are facing the same challenges.

“The last 14 years, I’ve been with the cancer support group for our church,” he said.

He keeps in touch with people back in Indy.

“My former chief mechanic, Dave Klym, I still keep in touch with him,” Hiss said. “I talked to Jerry Grant a few years ago, too.”