1960 Indianapolis 500 Film

[@johnspradling7906]

I really enjoy the commentary before and after the race coverage. A passion for the coverage of all events, good and bad, is completely necessary.

[@pickitup7008]

I agree! I believe that is what modern sports is missing, especially auto racing

[@ror312gallery19]

thank you cjs, for putting these together and sharing them here,, cheers from italy

[@ror312gallery19]

i have a copy of brocks book, famous indianapolis 500 cars and drivers,c1960, i got it at the rittenhouse middle school in norristown,pennsylvania. i took it out of the school library, a hundred times, after 8th grade in 1973, i mistakenly kept the book. we later moved back to new york, from 1987 to 1992 i worked for CART, i used to haul that book everywhere, getting autograpghs from my youth and the present day racers, never counted them all. but its amazing looking through it now in 2019.thank you brock yates,and to all the motorsports heroes past and present,,got jim rathman 1960 winner and bobby unser at phoenix in 1992,,andy granatelli, mario,aldo, michael,jeff, john andretti,met so many great folks, famous and not so,, cheers from torino, italy

[@RandysRacingPlace633]

Fun Fact: As the winner of this race, Jim Rathmann became the first Indy 500 winner to wear probably the most prestigious, coveted, and famous race winner's wreath in the history of American motorsports: The Borg-Warner Wreath. Next year, it will celebrate 55 years of adorning the winner of the greatest auto race in the world. It's probably most fitting that it made its debut in what some people still consider the greatest Indy 500 ever.

[@cjs83172]

@eriq affandi, what happened was that on his first pit stop, Rodger Ward stalled his car coming out of the pits, which cost him a lot of time, which his car was fast enough to make up, enabling him to engage Jim Rathmann in that duel for the entire second half of the race. Then in the closing laps, both Rathmann and Ward ran their cars hard, putting excessive wear on their tires, which was an important thing at Indy back then because they had to make their tires last for one-quarter of the race, since they usually pitted around laps 50, 100, and 150 for fuel, and because the cars were so heavy and the tires so thin (they were using tires first developed in the 1920s), tire wear became a frequent concern. What ended up happening was that, with four laps remaining, the cords came through on Ward's right front tire, and he saw it, so he slowed down to make sure of finishing, and would up second. And actually, of all the races he ran at Indianapolis, and he ran 15, Ward said that this race from 1960 was his best, even though he didn't win and did win two other times. Tire wear would also decide the race the following year, with Eddie Sachs not willing to risk running the last three laps on a corded right front tire, so he decided to pit from the lead instead of gambling on his tire lasting, which handed that race to A.J. Foyt, the first of his four Indy wins. But when the track was repaved following the 1961 race, tire wear ceased to be a factor, and it really has never been a factor in the Indianapolis 500 since, and because the cars now have to pit more frequently (every 25-30 laps), tire wear is likely never to be a factor in the Indianapolis 500 again.

[@RandysRacingPlace633]

RIP Jimmy Garner, Jim Rathmann, and Rodger Ward.

[@RandyDubin]

I have a question for you about this race: How come, in your opinion, did the most lead changes record survive as long as it did (52 years), considering that technical advances advanced the sport of AOWR in subsequent years, making it easier to pass compared to the days of the steel-bodied IndyCar? I'm only asking B/C I found it kinda weird that it took the DW12, as opposed to the Lolas, Reynards, Marches, Eagles, Coyote-Foyts, etc. that dominated IndyCar racing for most of their golden age

[@randydubin7118]

RIP Brock Yates.

[@JoyManoppo]

This is the last f1 race in indy 500 from 1950 to 60s

[@cjs83172]

And one of the ironies about that is that it wasn't until the following year (1961) that an F1 team would bring a car like what was being raced on the GP circuit to Indy, when John Cooper brought his car to Indy with 2-time World Champion Jack Brabham. While most of the Indy establishment laughed at that car (for more reasons than one), it would be one of just 10 to complete the 500 miles in 1961. The Cooper-Climax began the rear-engine revolution that would completely change the sport within five years.

[@Julien2395]

Lol Indianapolis looked so different back then only because the lap long pit entry/exit is missing here

[@cjs83172]

Not to mention that they still had the brick main straightaway in 1960. They didn't pave the main straightaway except for the yard of bricks at the S/F line until after the 1961 race. And they didn't have a flag tower back then, either. That wasn't built until after the disastrous 1973 race. (They did have a flagstand that was built in the 1920s and was used until the early 50s, but it had decayed and was torn down and not replaced until after the 1973 race.) But by enlarge, the track surface hasn't changed that much, except for several repavings to keep the track from becoming too bumpy.

[@RandyDubin]

[cont.] of IndyCar racing, was the chassis to break the record. It's something that confounds me, and maybe you can give me more insight into that.

[@cjs83172]

First of all, the increased technology meant that the speeds went up, and with that, it also meant that the cars couldn't stay close together, which was why there were so many lead changes at Indy from 1958-'61, but not very many in most Indianapolis 500s for the next few decades. What happened with the car changes in 2012, and it actually goes back to about 2005, the Indianapolis 500 has become more like an old-time NASCAR speedway race, in that drafting became such an important part of the race, not only helping to keep the cars closer together, but also the use of the slingshot pass, which is how most Indy lead changes over the past decade have occurred.

[@revolution51]

Is Peter Graves the narrator?

[@cjs83172]

revolutionpm I have no idea who narrated the speedway's official film of the 1960 race, which for some reason was done in black and white, but I can tell you that the first, colorized part, which covered the action in the garage prior to qualifying, was narrated by Ralph Camargo, known as the "Voice of Dynamic Films" and was from the old SpeedVision special they did prior to the Indianapolis 500 in the late 90s, hence the host segments of Brock Yates being used on almost all of the uploads of the races from 1957-'67. The B&W portion, which was from the speedway's official film, came from the old SpeedVision series "Indy 500: The Classics". I combined the two versions for the 1960, '61, '63, and '64 race highlight uploads, as well as adding (and syncing) the footage of the pace car crash from the 1971 race to the '71 Indy film upload on my channel.

[@revolution51]

***** Thanks, I had to quit watching it at the 5:17 point . I will catch the rest tonight.

[@trainman42dude]

Boy it sure sounds like him doesn't it?

[@affandi99]

@cjs83172, why Ward can't win, even Ward was being favorited to win ?