Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, May 29, 1994 TAG: 9405290076
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-9 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MIKE HARRIS ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: INDIANAPOLIS LENGTH: Medium
A.J., Big Al, Bobby, Lone Star J.R., Mario, Gordy and the Gas Man. Indianapolis 500 fans need no further identification.
These are the biggest names from an era of remarkable change - from the unsophisticated roar of upright front-engine roadsters to the high-tech whine of sleek rear-engine Indy cars.
They are four-time winners A.J. Foyt, Al Unser; three-time winners Bobby Unser and Johnny Rutherford; two-time champion Gordon Johncock; one-time winner Mario Andretti; and speed demon and one-time winner Tom Sneva.
Indy's Magnificent Seven stamped its signature on the historic 2 1/2-mile oval from the late 1950s to the 1990s. Soon, the last of them will be gone.
Bobby Unser was the first to retire, ending his career in 1981, the same year he won his last Indy. His younger brother, Al, decided it was time to call it a career last week after failing to come up with the kind of speed he needed to qualify for what would have been his 28th Indy start.
Mario Andretti has announced that today's race, his 29th, will be his last at Indy as he completes his final year as a driver.
"The changes [at Indy] over the years have been constant, but they've been subtle," Andretti said. "If you look at the cosmetic improvements, we've seen . . . some on the race track, some in the pits, some in the garages. Over the years, the picture has changed dramatically, everything from the minute you enter the grounds, the way you drive, the way you go in the pits and out.
"When the changes are that subtle, you have a tendency to not really notice so much. If I would have been missing for five years, then all of a sudden, wow, the changes. But, since you're there year in and year out, it's just a transition.
"It's good to see that they're always looking into the future, looking to make the facility more efficient, more secure."
Few can remember what the Indy 500 was like before Foyt, who was the first of the seven to race here in 1958.
More than half the 33 starters in Foyt's first race are dead, 13 of them killed in racing accidents. When Foyt retired in May 1993 at the age of 57, he was the last of them still competing.
In the years since Foyt took his first checkered flag in 1961, the Magnificent Seven won the world's richest and most prestigious auto race 22 times.
Johncock also announced his retirement in May 1993, while Rutherford, who hasn't raced since 1989, made it official Saturday after one ceremonial lap on the Indy oval. Sneva simply ran out of rides in recent years and faded from the picture.
"I don't think the new generation understands how hard racing used to be," said Foyt, whose slow shuffle is the result of serious foot injuries and whose body is marked with the scars of many crashes.
Al Unser, whose son, Al Unser Jr., was the first second-generation driver to compete against his father at Indy, said, "I guess the biggest thing that has changed is the cars are so much safer now.
"You didn't really worry about that kind of stuff, but my first race [1965], there was still 75 gallons of gas in the car. That was the biggest [problem], the fires. In the old days, more guys died breathing in fire than anything. Now, the cars have fuel cells and only have 40 gallons of methanol [on board]. It's a lot different now."
Foyt said money has been another major change.
"Now, money buys anything," Foyt said. "It's so much easier. It used to be just man and machine. If I wanted something, I had to build it.
"My whole budget used to be $20,000 on an Indy program. When I won races in 1961, you could buy a new car, new chassis all for about $25,000. Today, you can't even buy enough wheels to come to Indianapolis for $25,000."
Speeds have changed, too, of course.
The pole speed for Foyt's first race was 145.974 mph. Al Unser Jr. is on the pole for today's race with a four-lap average of 228.011.
"You drive completely different now," said Foyt, whose racing is strictly as a team owner. "There's been so many changes through the years on the cars. If somebody told me, say 20 years ago, that it would take 200 [mph] to make this race, I'd have borrowed all the money in the world to bet them.
"These cars are very easy to drive if they're dialed in. . . . they give you a sheet of settings for the chassis to help you set it up, and they give you all kinds of technical help.
"Before, you had to be a race driver. Now, you still have to be a race driver, but these young guys can just come in here and get in a car and go 220," Foyt said. "You just don't have to know as much about racing."
Keywords:
AUTO RACING
by CNB