THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, August 4, 1994 TAG: 9408040746
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY BOB ZELLER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: INDIANAPOLIS LENGTH: Medium: 69 lines
Some of the most sacred Indianapolis 500 traditions will not be evident Saturday for the start of the inaugural Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Jim Nabors will not sing ``Back Home Again in Indiana.'' Nor will anyone else.
And there will be no milk in Victory Lane.
But one thing will be the same: Mary Fendrich Hulman, the 89-year-old widow of longtime track owner Tony Hulman, will say the most famous words in racing: ``Gentlemen, start your engines.''
No one uttered those words like Tony Hulman. But when he passed away in 1977, his widow took over and has given the command for every 500 since then, even though she now lives in a nursing home and has grown more frail year by year.
``She's looking forward to it,'' said her grandson, Tony George, president of the speedway.
As for other pre-race ceremonies, ``There will be a song and a prayer and a command and a lot of introductions,'' George said Wednesday.
George noted that while the Indy 500 started in 1911, milk didn't show up in Victory Lane until the 1930s.
``I think over time the Brickyard 400 will develop its own traditions,'' he said. ``They may not be in place for the first year, but there will be traditions that sort of evolve out of this.''
CAMPERS IN THE INFIELD? Although no general admission tickets are being sold for the Brickyard 400, which means there will be no infield crowd except in the grandstands, George said that may not be the case forever.
``I hope to be able to have an infield crowd for the 400 event,'' he said. But he did not predict when that may happen.
A DOWNTOWN WELCOME: Indianapolis gave its formal welcome to NASCAR on Tuesday afternoon, when several thousand racing fans watched a convoy of Winston Cup race haulers in a slow parade through downtown.
The trucks went around Monument Circle in the heart of the city around 4 p.m. and then drove to the Indiana World War Memorial Plaza for a rally.
QUALIFYING ON ESPN: The first round of time trials, or least the first part of it, will be televised on ESPN today from 3:30 to 5 p.m. Veteran ESPN motor-racing announcer Bob Jenkins will do the play by play.
``This brings together two things that have played very important roles in my life - Indianapolis Motor Speedway and NASCAR stock-car racing,'' Jenkins said. ``It can't get any higher than this. It's pretty mind-boggling.''
NASCAR WILL SCORE RACE: Indianapolis Motor Speedway has one of the most sophisticated timing and scoring systems in motor racing. It not only gives precise lap times, but it also tells straightaway speeds and corner speeds in all four corners.
This system, which involves putting a electronic signaler in each car, will be used this weekend but not for official scoring. For the race itself, NASCAR will use its own system, in which scorers for each team push a button each time their car finishes a lap.
``We have no interest in using (the Indy system) for any official use,'' said Mike Helton, NASCAR's vice president of competition. ``Whatever (NASCAR scorer) Morris (Metcalfe) puts out will be official.
NASCAR will use the speedway's rescue trucks for crashes, but they will be dispatched by NASCAR officials with assistance from the speedway. by CNB