Back in the Day
9/4/2007The Honda ad in the Indy 500 program book keeps drawing me back, like the rich and famous to Monte Carlo.
There he is, motorcycle and Formula One and Can-Am champion John Surtees, all four treaded tires off the ground. Surtees is in a Honda Grand Prix car, circa 1967 or '68, coming over a rise at some European road course. His wingless, cigar-shaped, normally-aspirated V-12 smoked with horsepower but had less downforce than a Montecristo Turbo. Spectators - unencumbered by a protective fence or wall - sit on the grass and in the trees, just yards away.
The black-and-white image seems a lifetime ago - and given the realities of modern motorsports - it is.
Sometimes, I wonder . . . was the racing better back then?
If you are not of a vintage to savor memories of that era, do some research on SPEED or ESPN Classic or YouTube. A while ago I saw of B&W clip of Dan Gurney at Spa. I'd guess this was from the mid-to-late 1960s. Gurney's F1 Eagle was in a classic four-wheel drift exiting a high-speed turn and his Goodyears strained for grip right to the pavement's edge. Would he make the corner? . . . YES!
Check out the highlights of Mario Andretti winning the 1967 Daytona 500. His Holman and Moody Ford Fairlane was so tail-happy it made those behind him sad thinking about what could happen. And, you know, Mario just loved driving it that way!
A guy named Bud Lindemann hosted a syndicated show in the '60s and '70s called Car and Track. A somewhat more famous fellow, Dale Earnhardt Jr., hosts a revived version on SPEED, culled from the original archives but revved-up with VH1 graphics. Seeing the likes of Richard Petty, Fred Lorenzen, Cale Yarborough, Ned Jarrett and Bobby Allison wrestling heavy stock cars around Darlington and Charlotte with big engines on skinny tires sure is a lot of fun!
There's another bit of grainy film I recall. Sports cars at Riverside. Ken Miles in a Cobra. Power-sliding his way to victory. It's clear no one was radioing Ken with instructions not to abuse his tires!
The racing dictionary was a lot thinner back in the day. Terms like "aerodynamics," "aero push," "downforce," "dirty air," "splitters," "wings" and "ground effects" were as foreign as France. (The country, not NASCAR's founding family.) Indy 500 drivers actually had to brake entering turns one and three and accelerate as hard as they dared coming off. Traction control consisted of brain instructing right foot how hard to push the throttle.
The more I look back, the more I wonder how much the sport has moved forward. Not in terms of media or marketing or money, but in terms of entertainment.
It's just not as enjoyable watching NASCAR drivers steer high and low and still not be able to pass and then tell TV it was because of "aero push." (Will the Car of Tomorrow change that? We'll have to wait and see.) It's been a season of IndyCar drivers hugging the white line and knowing the outside pass isn't doable. (Not only at the tight Nashville and Iowa ovals, but also at the sweeping Texas and Michigan superspeedways.) It's true promoters of Champ Car's new spec chassis told us the design would enable more passing, but where's the supporting showbiz evidence? (Still too many Rose Bowl-style parades on city streets.) It's a fact a lot of sports car races are settled on the basis of fuel mileage and pit stop strategy, not on-track risk taking. (In both ALMS and Grand-Am.)
This is not a knock on today's drivers. I'd take my chances with Jeff Gordon or Tony Stewart in any era. They have to be able to go faster because the cars are faster. They have to endure greater G-loads because the cornering speeds are greater. They have to understand the basics of the technology so as to help their crew chiefs and engineers fine-tune the setup.
I am saying, as a fan, that the thrill of the drive doesn't seem the same. A four-wheel drift vs. a four-tire change? From the standpoint of entertainment, which would you rather see?
Funny it took a photo in an ad to sell me on the idea of what we've lost, not found.
[ Next column: September 17 ]
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(I.N. Sider is the pen name for an independent motorsports business-person who has a quarter-century of professional experience working in almost every major North American racing series. The writer is not an employee of Valvoline or Ashland Inc. The column is intended to inform, entertain, and stimulate thought on the contemporary motorsports scene. The opinions expressed are those of the author and not necessarily those of Valvoline or Ashland Inc.)
BackAbout I.N. Sider
I.N. Sider is the pen name for an independent motorsports business-person who has a quarter-century of professional experience working in almost every major North American racing series. The writer is not an employee of Valvoline or Ashland Inc. The column is intended to inform, entertain, and stimulate thought on the contemporary motorsports scene. The opinions expressed are those of the author and not necessarily those of Valvoline or Ashland Inc.