by Paul Gohde

It’s funny how two years away from something you love can seem like a millennium, but the Pandemic-scared past years left a hole the size of Indiana for those who love the Indy 500; thankfully they are now “Back Home Again”.

For the multiple thousands of fans who hold the same tickets for the race year after year, camping on the front lawns of neighborhoods nearby, clogging the narrow streets of the Town of Speedway, and filling every hotel and restaurant within (fill in the blank) miles of Indy, 2022 couldn’t arrive soon enough.

Two years away for both fans and participants, gave Roger Penske’s ownership team an opportunity to do what they saw fit in order to bring the track and the property around it into what many called “Penske proper”. It’s been noted by most racing media how progress has been made on and off the track over the two seasons of Penske ownership; but the 2022 running should open the eyes of more fans and racers alike; the improvements are numerous and hard to miss.

The previous Hulman-George regime worked a miracle back in post-war 1945, rescuing the 36-year-old facility that resembled an airfield chocked by weeds, without any proper chance of returning to its pre-WWII “glamour”. But the new, Hoosier-raised owner, Tony Hulman, must have had a direct line to heaven. A miracle allowed the 1946 race to be run without too much trouble after a massive repair job (not improvements or up-grading) brought a huge crowd to the track that would stay in the H-G family until they decided to sell to an anxious RP almost 65 years later. Many conjecture that the Pennsylvania business giant/race car maven was just waiting to be the next owner, operator and savior of the storied facility. There apparently were several serious buyers interested and making offers, but Mr. Penske won out, bringing not only the track into his fold, but the Indy Car series as well; after all an owner has to have races to make the track profitable. How much did he spend and is continuing to spend? Many conjecture as to the amount, but unless you have Roger’s email address or phone number the amount will remain just that.

So, the sun is out this 106th 500 morning, the media center is alive with writers, the loud 6:00 am fireworks spectacle signaled the opening of the gates and a rush for parking. The sun gleams off of every inch of the renewed facility, 300,000 fans are flocking in, and this writer can’t wait for all the pre-race pageantry to begin. Because when Jim Cornelison sings “Back Home Again in Indiana”, everyone gathered will know that they are finally, Back Home.

Paul Gohde

Paul Gohde heard the sound of race cars early in his life.

Growing up in suburban Milwaukee, just north of Wisconsin State Fair Park in the 1950’s, Paul had no idea what “that noise” was all about that he heard several times a year. Finally, through prodding by friends of his parents, he was taken to several Thursday night modified stock car races on the old quarter-mile dirt track that was in the infield of the one-mile oval -and he was hooked.

The first Milwaukee Mile event that he attended was the 1959 Rex Mays Classic won by Johnny Thomson in the pink Racing Associates lay-down Offy built by the legendary Lujie Lesovsky. After the 100-miler Gohde got the winner’s autograph in the pits, something he couldn’t do when he saw Hank Aaron hit a home run at County Stadium, and, again, he was hooked.

Paul began attending the Indianapolis 500 in 1961, and saw A. J. Foyt’s first Indy win. He began covering races in 1965 for Racing Wheels newspaper in Vancouver, WA as a reporter/photographer and his first credentialed race was Jim Clark’s historic Indy win.Paul has also done reporting, columns and photography for Midwest Racing News since the mid-sixties, with the 1967 Hoosier 100 being his first big race to report for them.

He is a retired middle-grade teacher, an avid collector of vintage racing memorabilia, and a tour guide at Miller Park. Paul loves to explore abandoned race tracks both here and in Europe, with the Brooklands track in Weybridge England being his favorite. Married to Paula, they have three adult children and two cats.

Paul loves the diversity of all types of racing, “a factor that got me hooked in the first place.”

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The post Back Home appeared first on RacingNation.com.

by Paul Gohde

From a man who viewed the 104^th Indianapolis 500 from a perch in a tree outside of Turn 3, to hundreds gathered on lawn chairs along 16^th Street watching a giant video screen in the track’s infield through a small gap in the fence, you just knew that this edition of the race would be a bit different. And it was.

Takuma Sato won his second 500 after yet another crash ended the race under a caution flag with Scott Dixon, hoping for a second win, pressuring from second spot and Sato’s Honda teammate Graham Rahal in third, waiting to see what would happen.

The race has been cut short or ended under a caution flag just 16 times due to rain or a crash in its 103 prior races, and of course in the year of the unusual, it happened again. A severe crash five laps short of the checkered flag handed the win to Sato. Dixon, who led 111 laps (over half of the run), finished second for the third time in his career and Rahal settled for third.

By now you may have noticed the 225,000 or more empty seats, a calendar that showed a race date almost two months past its traditional May run, and the ever visible Coronavirus mask that made winner Sato unsure of what to do with his; whether to put it over his face or in stash it in the cockpit while posing for photos in victory lane. He chose the cockpit.

With Roger Penske and his group having taken ownership, or what he likes to call stewardship of the facility, of IndyCar itself, and anything else his group purchased in the off season, the oldest track in the country looked green and beautiful, especially from the many aerial shots. It was said that everything was also more fan friendly and up to date. But, of course, only the guy watching in the tree really had a good look at that.

Any non-essential personnel (there’s a popular phrase), whether that was most media, fans, sponsors, etc., couldn’t be on site for the race. Fans that have been in attendance for 50, 60 or 100 races in a row were, however, allowed to continue their streak by Indianapolis Motor Speedway official decree, even if they just watched on TV. You could also purchase a track program by mail and it nicely included a race line-up, just to be able to help prove that you were there, even in absentia.

Several drivers appeared on the NBC pre-race show sitting in unoccupied fans seats, telling the ticket holders that they missed them and hoped they’d be able to return in 2021. Other drivers flooded the neighborhood in nearby Speedway, IN during the week, stopping at long-time residents’ homes, signing pictures and checkered flags; a genuinely nice touch I must say. “Hi, I’m Marco Andretti. Have you met my grandfather?”

Speaking of the Andretti family, Marco was a first-time pole winner and followed his grandpa Mario and father (car owner) Michael on the pace lap as they led the field toward the green flag in Honda’s two-seater racer. Marco dropped back to second shortly after the starter’s flag flew, finally falling to a disappointing 13^th at the finish. Andretti bad luck, or yet another sign of the year of the pandemic? You choose.

Dixon and 2016 winner Alexander Rossi dominated the mid-race only to have Rossi go to the rear of the field after, to some, a questionable penalty, and then crashed out of the race while trying to get back to the front.

This was, and continues to be, a year different than most in all our lives. Much of the 500 was a competitive, entertaining event, with beautiful weather and a safe race despite a spate of crashes. NBC TV did a great job covering the race, especially with the large number of camera locations that caught every happening. Danica Patrick even had some insightful comments along the way as a color analyst. With no fans in attendance, the viewership ratings should be among its highest.

Hope and pray for a healing vaccine so we can all attend a ‘normal” 500 in 2021. Order your tickets now.

Paul Gohde

Paul Gohde heard the sound of race cars early in his life.

Growing up in suburban Milwaukee, just north of Wisconsin State Fair Park in the 1950’s, Paul had no idea what “that noise” was all about that he heard several times a year. Finally, through prodding by friends of his parents, he was taken to several Thursday night modified stock car races on the old quarter-mile dirt track that was in the infield of the one-mile oval -and he was hooked.

The first Milwaukee Mile event that he attended was the 1959 Rex Mays Classic won by Johnny Thomson in the pink Racing Associates lay-down Offy built by the legendary Lujie Lesovsky. After the 100-miler Gohde got the winner’s autograph in the pits, something he couldn’t do when he saw Hank Aaron hit a home run at County Stadium, and, again, he was hooked.

Paul began attending the Indianapolis 500 in 1961, and saw A. J. Foyt’s first Indy win. He began covering races in 1965 for Racing Wheels newspaper in Vancouver, WA as a reporter/photographer and his first credentialed race was Jim Clark’s historic Indy win.Paul has also done reporting, columns and photography for Midwest Racing News since the mid-sixties, with the 1967 Hoosier 100 being his first big race to report for them.

He is a retired middle-grade teacher, an avid collector of vintage racing memorabilia, and a tour guide at Miller Park. Paul loves to explore abandoned race tracks both here and in Europe, with the Brooklands track in Weybridge England being his favorite. Married to Paula, they have three adult children and two cats.

Paul loves the diversity of all types of racing, “a factor that got me hooked in the first place.”

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by Paul Gohde

Dear Mr. Penske, I realize this has been a tough year for you and your many business/racing involvements what with the Coronavirus shutting down most of the sport that we both love. That virus has especially affected the investment you made when you purchased the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, IndyCar and all the bells and whistles that went with it. I understand that you have made some progress in updating that iconic track both inside and out. We will all appreciate the new bathrooms, paved parking and a widened Georgetown Road among other things, but we will have to wait a while to see those needed changes.

While recently reading an issue of Racer magazine from 2013, an article entitled “Epic Tracks” that featured circuits such as Spa, Monte Carlo, and Indianapolis caught the attention of this Milwaukee reader. Editor David Malsher, in his opening column, asked “ What is it that makes a great track great?…Some can appreciate the finesse required to drive an IndyCar around, say, the Milwaukee Mile; (while) to others it looks like (just) a car going around in endless, small circles.” Milwaukee Mile? It made me think.

Penske cars have had great success here at the Wisconsin State Fair track’s “small circle” that passed its 100-year birthday several years ago. As a car owner and former driver, you certainly know about that “finesse” required to get around the tight West Allis oval that Malsher referred to. It makes the Mile a driver’s track.

I drove past the Mile the other day on my way to pick up some barbeque for take-out at a great Greenfield Ave. restaurant. The track, just a few blocks away, looked empty and rather lonesome at a time, in late May, that once would have been getting ready to host the Rex Mays Indy car race, which since 1947 was the traditional follow-up to the Indianapolis 500. That June event lost its Mays’ reference several years ago and, unfortunately, the Mile lost its Indy car race in 2015 after a vain attempt by Michael Andretti’s promotion group to keep open wheel racing alive there.

Mr. Penske, Captain if I may, your expertice and IndyCar racing are needed at the Mile, next June, right after the Indianapolis 500. As every motorsports fan knows, you have a lot on your plate: your varied race teams, your many Penske Enterprises, and now your stewardship of that historic Indiana speedway, and perhaps the future course of Indy Car racing itself. You have done a great job of keeping open-wheel Indy-style racing going during the ongoing pandemic with timely schedule changes caused by several race cancellations. But with all that occupying your attention, here is a rare opportunity for you to bring the iconic Wisconsin State Fair mile pavement, another “Epic Track” if you will, back to life; a life that is struggling mightily to survive 117 years after its first race. IndyCar is a series whose backbone for many years dating to AAA and USAC featured oval tracks. Road and street circuits, plus those ovals, have today made the series the most varied of any major racing group, and that unique identity needs to be preserved as just four ovals remain on the ever-changing 2020 schedule.

Yes, the Mile needs some of your polishing. It would require garages, some safety upgrades and a great promoter and steward to bring it back. Hmm, sounds like what you are doing at that track in Indy. The State Fair Mile does have a newer grandstand, it is in the middle of a large metro area, and perhaps the best thing going for it is its long history of great competition.

Road America’s road course is a short 90 minutes north. A co-promotion with that “National Park of Speed” might be a natural. But your role as a promoter could be to come up with ideas as you have done at Belle Isle in Detroit.

Racing insiders will likely tell you that the Milwaukee Mile is dead, outdated, a promoter’s risk too strong to take on as you would have to work through a State Fair Board. But you have negotiated tougher deals than it would take with that group.

Please remember what that great racer Paul Newman noted in the 1969 racing movie “Winning”. “Everybody goes to Milwaukee after Indy.” I hope you take his advice.

Thanks for listening, come soon, A Milwaukee Mile fan since 1959

Paul Gohde

Paul Gohde heard the sound of race cars early in his life.

Growing up in suburban Milwaukee, just north of Wisconsin State Fair Park in the 1950’s, Paul had no idea what “that noise” was all about that he heard several times a year. Finally, through prodding by friends of his parents, he was taken to several Thursday night modified stock car races on the old quarter-mile dirt track that was in the infield of the one-mile oval -and he was hooked.

The first Milwaukee Mile event that he attended was the 1959 Rex Mays Classic won by Johnny Thomson in the pink Racing Associates lay-down Offy built by the legendary Lujie Lesovsky. After the 100-miler Gohde got the winner’s autograph in the pits, something he couldn’t do when he saw Hank Aaron hit a home run at County Stadium, and, again, he was hooked.

Paul began attending the Indianapolis 500 in 1961, and saw A. J. Foyt’s first Indy win. He began covering races in 1965 for Racing Wheels newspaper in Vancouver, WA as a reporter/photographer and his first credentialed race was Jim Clark’s historic Indy win.Paul has also done reporting, columns and photography for Midwest Racing News since the mid-sixties, with the 1967 Hoosier 100 being his first big race to report for them.

He is a retired middle-grade teacher, an avid collector of vintage racing memorabilia, and a tour guide at Miller Park. Paul loves to explore abandoned race tracks both here and in Europe, with the Brooklands track in Weybridge England being his favorite. Married to Paula, they have three adult children and two cats.

Paul loves the diversity of all types of racing, “a factor that got me hooked in the first place.”

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The post “Dear Mr. Penske” appeared first on RacingNation.com.

by Paul Gohde

Team news and pre-season practice are filling the racing headlines as we continue looking forward to the upcoming season that’s already filled with good news for some and disappointing headlines for others.

• AJ Foyt’s Indy Car team has underperformed in recent years by every measure. Charlie Kimball will head the team again this season by running all 17 scheduled races in the team’s #4 entry. With veteran Tony Kanaan looking to finish his 23-season Indy car career on a high note, the five oval races for which he has secured sponsorship must be a slight disappointment for him and his fans. Kanaan will be joined in the iconic #14 cockpit by free-agent Sebastien Bourdais (four races) and Indy Lights veteran Dalton Kellett, eight races and a ride in the Indy 500 in a third Foyt entry. The Canadian has languished in the Lights series, finishing 7^th, 12^th, 10^th and 7^th in the previous four seasons that featured small fields: only 12 cars in recent years. Will this two-car, four- driver approach work well in Foyt’s second entry given race set-up problems that have plagued the team? Satisfying four drivers with different car set-up preferences will be something to watch for as the season progresses.
• The Indy Racing League (IRL) ran three events at the Richmond, VA oval from 2007-09 with mixed results. Richmond is back on the Indy Car schedule in 2020 as the series returns to an oval that replaces the Pocono tri oval. Richmond is in NASCAR country and had relatively small crowds when the open wheelers ran there. With Roger Penske’s purchase of IndyCar as well as the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, many wish that the former track promoter (think Michigan International and currently the Detroit GP) would take a second look and rejuvenating the shuttered Milwaukee Mile or find a date for a double-header event with NASCAR Cup at Chicagoland or Homestead, to bring more ovals aboard. If the series wants to keep its oval track heritage, somewhere beside Richmond may be a better answer, or will the series have an all road/street course schedule other than the Indy 500 sooner than later? Keep watch.
• Fernando Alonso can’t seem to win as he searches for a repeat of his strong run for McLaren/Honda/Andretti Autosport at Indianapolis in 2017. After failing to qualify there in 2019, the two-time F1 champion desperately wants to chase a win at Indy. The deal to return to 16^th and Georgetown was almost a done deal with AA Honda until the Japanese firm nixed the deal last week. With competitive open seats in the Indy field almost gone, it is hoped that the Spaniard, who severed ties with McLaren recently, can connect once again with McLaren Chevrolet which is associated with Arrow SP for a one-off IMS run and perhaps a few later season events. Time may be running out for this season and beyond, as Alonso hints at a 2021 F1 return.
• Indy Car testing at the Circuit of the Americas (COTA) commences for two days (four sessions) on Tuesday/Wednesday, February 11,12. Of many items that the teams and Indy Car will be watching closely, one stands out, and that is the addition for 2020 of a protective halo (roll hoop) over the cockpit with a windscreen covered with layers of tear-offs. Next week’s COTA test will be the first large scale test with multiple cars on the track. With the curve of the aeroscreen around the halo, things like distortion, light reflection, aero effect, dirt/rubber/oil buildup and rain on the screen are of prime interest.

With that in mind Indy Car approached Racing Optics, a company with twenty-plus years of experience covering larger and somewhat flatter NASCAR windshields.

“So, naturally they came to us and asked if we could help them with solutions for the aeroscreen that at the time was being developed,” explained RO president Bart Wilson at the recent PRI show. “One significant issue that we quickly addressed was they have a thin wicker that runs down the front of that two-part screen. That meant that we had to provide two separate parts (right and left) with a seam down the middle likely requiring its removal by a crew member during pit stops.” As with tear-offs on a driver’s helmet, a small tab can be pulled to remove the protective film. But with two sections on the Indy Car screen, a driver is unable to reach out of the cockpit on a pit stop to pull each section off. “It is likely that IC will add an extra person over the wall during a stop to remove the two sections,” added Wilson, the son of 1950-60’s Indy 500 driver Dempsey Wilson. “Aero effect while running during the multi-car test will be another thing to watch for as drafting with that small wicker on the screen will have some kind of effect.”

Visual distortion with four or more layers of the poly-carbon material will also be measured closely, especially where longer races like the Indianapolis 500 require more pit stops than a shorter road/street event.”

Much will be learned in many areas during next week’s testing, and with the series’ opener at St. Petersburg just a few weeks away, driver feedback will be important as it is quickly applied to their cars. Time is of the essence.

Paul Gohde

Paul Gohde heard the sound of race cars early in his life.

Growing up in suburban Milwaukee, just north of Wisconsin State Fair Park in the 1950’s, Paul had no idea what “that noise” was all about that he heard several times a year. Finally, through prodding by friends of his parents, he was taken to several Thursday night modified stock car races on the old quarter-mile dirt track that was in the infield of the one-mile oval -and he was hooked.

The first Milwaukee Mile event that he attended was the 1959 Rex Mays Classic won by Johnny Thomson in the pink Racing Associates lay-down Offy built by the legendary Lujie Lesovsky. After the 100-miler Gohde got the winner’s autograph in the pits, something he couldn’t do when he saw Hank Aaron hit a home run at County Stadium, and, again, he was hooked.

Paul began attending the Indianapolis 500 in 1961, and saw A. J. Foyt’s first Indy win. He began covering races in 1965 for Racing Wheels newspaper in Vancouver, WA as a reporter/photographer and his first credentialed race was Jim Clark’s historic Indy win.Paul has also done reporting, columns and photography for Midwest Racing News since the mid-sixties, with the 1967 Hoosier 100 being his first big race to report for them.

He is a retired middle-grade teacher, an avid collector of vintage racing memorabilia, and a tour guide at Miller Park. Paul loves to explore abandoned race tracks both here and in Europe, with the Brooklands track in Weybridge England being his favorite. Married to Paula, they have three adult children and two cats.

Paul loves the diversity of all types of racing, “a factor that got me hooked in the first place.”

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The post 2020: More Looking Ahead appeared first on RacingNation.com.

by Paul Gohde

With snow and cold swirling outside the window, it’s difficult to realize that the NASCAR and IndyCar racing seasons begin at Daytona and later at St. Petersburg in just a few weeks. Let’s look at some stories that may make news as racing returns to the sports pages.

• Fernando Alonso returns to the Indianapolis 500 after two tries there in the past three years. He ran strong for Andretti Autosport Honda in 2017 only to drop out with the lead in sight, and then posted a DNQ for McLaren/Carlin Chevrolet after a month of mechanical problems coupled with a damaging crash. After cutting ties with his former F1 team recently, Alonso is again dealing with Andretti to take another crack at the mythical “Grand Slam”: capturing the F1 championship, winning at Le Mans, and that elusive Indy 500 crown. If a deal can be worked out soon, he could be positioned to complete that Slam before he returns to F1. Will we ever see Alonso and Kyle Busch compete together at Indy? Kyle better hurry up.

• Some off-season race scheduling is difficult to understand and could lead to tough decisions for race fans. Why would the NASCAR Cup races at Chicagoland Speedway be scheduled on the same dates as the Indy Car weekend at Road America? Both events draw from much-the-same Midwest fan base and “Joe Fan” will have a tough time deciding where to spend ticket money on that weekend. RA and Chicagoland are about four hours apart and many events at both facilities are attended by the same ticket buyers; but not on June 20-21. We hope tracks and sanctioning groups get together before this kind of scheduling boondoggle occurs again.

• Pre-season team lineups for the 2020 NTT IndyCar Series tell us that as of this writing 24 car/driver combinations are scheduled to compete full-time on the 17-race schedule. A J Foyt Racing recently named Charlie Kimball as a full-timer in its #4 car replacing Matheus Leist, but their iconic #14 entry could be headed for an Indy 500 only run as 15-season supporter ABC Supply will only sponsor (for perhaps Tony Kanaan) that entry for the 500 after previously withdrawing its full-season support for Foyt’s teams. The team continues to search for another sponsor for the remaining 16 races.

• NASCAR has begun some scheduling changes that will continue full speed into the 2021 schedule. Pocono has already been compacted into one weekend with a doubleheader Saturday/Sunday two-race format being tried for this season. Next year could see the return of a Cup race on a dirt track, an additional road course event, and a once sold out track or two having one race dropped if rumors come to fruition. It would be nice, if an additional road course race materializes, that Road America would be considered due to its support of the annual Xfinity series event held there. An often-discussed Indy Car/NASCAR Cup doubleheader weekend would also pump life into both bodies scheduling. The two groups seem to find reasons why it would be difficult for that plan to happen, however. Creative thinking is needed in this case. The “which race would get the Sunday date argument” sounds like kids fighting over who gets to sit in the front seat of mom’s car.

• Perhaps the most interest by fans and competitors alike will result from the unexpected purchase of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the NTT IndyCar Series by the Penske group. The future “stewardship”, as Roger prefers to call it, will involve some needed upgrades at the track itself, some being projects not completed from the 100th race. What is intriguing, however, is the series purchase and what could result in the area of scheduling new tracks, bringing a new engine supplier on board and perhaps further down the road a move back to racing in Australia and Japan. Roger is known to take his time before making major business changes, but you know that his note pad is his constant companion. Perhaps even paved parking at the “Greatest Race in the World” is on his list.

• Next week we’ll look at the new Aeroscreen and check up on the Indy Lights Series.

Paul Gohde

Paul Gohde heard the sound of race cars early in his life.

Growing up in suburban Milwaukee, just north of Wisconsin State Fair Park in the 1950’s, Paul had no idea what “that noise” was all about that he heard several times a year. Finally, through prodding by friends of his parents, he was taken to several Thursday night modified stock car races on the old quarter-mile dirt track that was in the infield of the one-mile oval -and he was hooked.

The first Milwaukee Mile event that he attended was the 1959 Rex Mays Classic won by Johnny Thomson in the pink Racing Associates lay-down Offy built by the legendary Lujie Lesovsky. After the 100-miler Gohde got the winner’s autograph in the pits, something he couldn’t do when he saw Hank Aaron hit a home run at County Stadium, and, again, he was hooked.

Paul began attending the Indianapolis 500 in 1961, and saw A. J. Foyt’s first Indy win. He began covering races in 1965 for Racing Wheels newspaper in Vancouver, WA as a reporter/photographer and his first credentialed race was Jim Clark’s historic Indy win.Paul has also done reporting, columns and photography for Midwest Racing News since the mid-sixties, with the 1967 Hoosier 100 being his first big race to report for them.

He is a retired middle-grade teacher, an avid collector of vintage racing memorabilia, and a tour guide at Miller Park. Paul loves to explore abandoned race tracks both here and in Europe, with the Brooklands track in Weybridge England being his favorite. Married to Paula, they have three adult children and two cats.

Paul loves the diversity of all types of racing, “a factor that got me hooked in the first place.”

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The post Fourth Turn: A Look Ahead To The 2020 Season appeared first on RacingNation.com.

by Paul Gohde

This was to be a “Bucket List” visit that had lingered, unfulfilled, long after numerous trips to Europe. There had been visits to the Nürburgring, Brooklands and Reims-Gueux tracks, but the Autodromo Nazionale Monza and its iconic history was the missing circuit. A recent trip to Italy finally checked that track off the list.

Built in just 110 days back in 1922, the track, located in one of the largest public parks in Europe, is just a 15-minute trip to the suburbs by regional train from Milan’s Central Station. As with the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Monza was first built primarily as a test facility for automobile manufacturers, but as with Indy, testing soon turned to racing, and the Grand Prix track, along with a shallow-banked oval, opened for competition in autumn of that year.

Much of the original 3.4-mile (now 3.5-mile) Grand Prix circuit remains mostly unchanged from the original, and is used primarily for the Italian Grand Prix and Moto GP motorcycle racing. Several renovations, especially after WW II destroyed much of the circuit, have brought the racing facility and its spectator amenities up to modern racing standards.

The original oval was torn down in the late 1930’s, but was replaced in 1955 by a very high-banked 2.6-mile concrete oval that played host to a pair of Race of Two Worlds events in 1957-58, among other events. Those races matched Indianapolis 500 roadsters against various F1 cars of the day. Jimmy Bryan and Troy Ruttman won those 500-milers but that track remains unused for racing since 1969 (except for the annual Rally of Monza). The dangerous oval still lies in a state of some decay today; a wall of concrete whose banking many visitors still try, but fail, to climb.

Arriving in Monza for a morning tour of the track involved a 15-minute taxi ride from the train station and a walk to the infield where an “Infopoint” office signed us up for a 90-mph ride around the road course and an English-language tour of the facility. Tours are available on most days when there is no on-track activity. We made arrangements on line for the visit prior to leaving for Italy; a plan that had been highly recommended.

After seeing so many Italian Grand Prix races on TV over the years, the high-speed van ride was thrilling, with the chicanes leaving a lasting impression of how 20 open-wheel racers manage to get through those tight apexes safely (which they often don’t). The iconic names of Ascari, Fangio, Moss, Hill and Clark hung heavy over the track as memories of their races from long ago jumped out in front of the van.

After the ride, the infield paddock area offered several souvenir shops and a café where we had a bite to eat before our afternoon tour.

Our tour guides for the day were two college-age girls who were well versed in the track’s history and provided an informative time for the two of us plus an Italian gentleman (the tour was given in both English and Italian).

The hour-long walk took us to the media center, race control, the pit and paddock area and the post-race winner’s podium among others. No celebratory champagne was provided however.

After the tour ended, the Infopoint office served up the highlight of the day. Knowing that I wanted to walk on the old high-banked oval, they pointed out a path through the woods and an open gate that allowed us to finish-off the Bucket List visit to the historic banked track. We spent a half-hour trying to crawl up the steep banking, shooting pictures and walking for a while on the concrete surface, thinking about the James Garner movie “Grand Prix” that was filmed here back in the mid-1960’s dramatizing American Phil Hill’s 1961 World Championship-clinching race.

A slow walk back to the paddock and an expensive stop for some souvenir items ended the day, but the real memories were brought home with the thoughts of finally making a dream come true. Thanks to all at the track for making this memorable day possible.

Paul Gohde

Paul Gohde heard the sound of race cars early in his life.

Growing up in suburban Milwaukee, just north of Wisconsin State Fair Park in the 1950’s, Paul had no idea what “that noise” was all about that he heard several times a year. Finally, through prodding by friends of his parents, he was taken to several Thursday night modified stock car races on the old quarter-mile dirt track that was in the infield of the one-mile oval -and he was hooked.

The first Milwaukee Mile event that he attended was the 1959 Rex Mays Classic won by Johnny Thomson in the pink Racing Associates lay-down Offy built by the legendary Lujie Lesovsky. After the 100-miler Gohde got the winner’s autograph in the pits, something he couldn’t do when he saw Hank Aaron hit a home run at County Stadium, and, again, he was hooked.

Paul began attending the Indianapolis 500 in 1961, and saw A. J. Foyt’s first Indy win. He began covering races in 1965 for Racing Wheels newspaper in Vancouver, WA as a reporter/photographer and his first credentialed race was Jim Clark’s historic Indy win.Paul has also done reporting, columns and photography for Midwest Racing News since the mid-sixties, with the 1967 Hoosier 100 being his first big race to report for them.

He is a retired middle-grade teacher, an avid collector of vintage racing memorabilia, and a tour guide at Miller Park. Paul loves to explore abandoned race tracks both here and in Europe, with the Brooklands track in Weybridge England being his favorite. Married to Paula, they have three adult children and two cats.

Paul loves the diversity of all types of racing, “a factor that got me hooked in the first place.”

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The post A Monza Visit appeared first on RacingNation.com.

by Paul Gohde

The Indy 500 seems to be gaining some momentum lately. That thought may sound silly given that the race has been around since 1911. You’d think that after 102 races they’d better have it going in the right direction. Let’s look.

For many years after World War II the nation was hungry for any kind of good entertainment. The 500 was an All-American institution that the country loved before the war, and when Tony Hulman saved the track and the race, fans beat down the doors when it started up again in 1946.

The 1950s through the 1990s were strong years for the Speedway and its race. But the split of open wheel racing had begun to take its toll and interest slowly began to wane.

But with the 100th race celebration on the horizon in 2016, a strong effort by track management planted an idea in race fans minds that this would be something special and just maybe they should be a part of it.

Conscious efforts were made to make personal contact with ticket holders both past and present. The Month of May had been shrunk to three weeks but with the birth of the Indy Grand Prix, fans were given a new race with a road course spin to it. Concerts were booked for 500 race weekend to bring a new demographic into the track, even if most of the concert-goers never saw a wheel turn on the track.

Grandstands were redone on the front stretch and the facility was spruced up a bit. Management seemed to care about what it had to offer, and the IndyCar people began to see a more positive attitude growing among race fans old and new.

The celebration of the 100th race came with the largest crowd in recent memory. Everyone wanted to be a part of history. Even General Admission ticket sales were halted as space for fans became an issue. A good problem any promoter will tell you.

Formula One star Fernando Alonzo turned his back on the Monaco Grand Prix in 2017 and spent the month in Indy. He became the darling of the fans as millions world-wide watched as Alonzo took his rookie test. The words Indy 500 had once again spread around the world.

The 2018 running is just a few hours old as I write this; it’s fresh in my mind. Danica wound up her career today but seemed sad that it wasn’t more successful. The race itself offered strong competition albeit too many cautions that broke its momentum. It was hot, but it didn’t rain. A good guy won and there were 31 lead changes. Drivers came from the back row to finish in the top 10 and the race was a relatively safe one.

So, what about the future? There were enough entries to force “bumping” to be needed during qualifying; something not seen in years. The new aero package may need some work, but the final 50 laps saw more wild passing that drew gasps. New chassis and engine rules are in the offing and perhaps a third engine supplier may come soon.

The track told the exiting fans that they had until June 17 to renew their tickets for next year’s race, Alonzo may be back and perhaps McLaren with hm. Entries could be up and with them more interest in qualifying. A new Tv package with NBC should also bring the race into more living rooms.

Interest in motorsports has been weak of late. Even NASCAR is struggling. But a case can now be made that the Indy 500 seems to be heading in the right direction. See you next May and join in the fun.

Paul Gohde

Paul Gohde heard the sound of race cars early in his life.

Growing up in suburban Milwaukee, just north of Wisconsin State Fair Park in the 1950’s, Paul had no idea what “that noise” was all about that he heard several times a year. Finally, through prodding by friends of his parents, he was taken to several Thursday night modified stock car races on the old quarter-mile dirt track that was in the infield of the one-mile oval -and he was hooked.

The first Milwaukee Mile event that he attended was the 1959 Rex Mays Classic won by Johnny Thomson in the pink Racing Associates lay-down Offy built by the legendary Lujie Lesovsky. After the 100-miler Gohde got the winner’s autograph in the pits, something he couldn’t do when he saw Hank Aaron hit a home run at County Stadium, and, again, he was hooked.

Paul began attending the Indianapolis 500 in 1961, and saw A. J. Foyt’s first Indy win. He began covering races in 1965 for Racing Wheels newspaper in Vancouver, WA as a reporter/photographer and his first credentialed race was Jim Clark’s historic Indy win.Paul has also done reporting, columns and photography for Midwest Racing News since the mid-sixties, with the 1967 Hoosier 100 being his first big race to report for them.

He is a retired middle-grade teacher, an avid collector of vintage racing memorabilia, and a tour guide at Miller Park. Paul loves to explore abandoned race tracks both here and in Europe, with the Brooklands track in Weybridge England being his favorite. Married to Paula, they have three adult children and two cats.

Paul loves the diversity of all types of racing, “a factor that got me hooked in the first place.”

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by Paul Gohde

It was a long bus ride in late May 1961. I had a chance to go with an older Milwaukee high school friend to the Indianapolis 500 a year earlier, but parents being what they were in 1960, allowing a 14-year-old to travel with no adult to keep us safe was immediately vetoed.

But 1961 would be different. I had spent the year begging for another chance. Attending a few races at the State Fair Mile had proved to be no problem, and when my parents found a distant relative of a friend who would put the two of us up (different friend this time) and keep track of our every move, that proved to be the clincher. Tickets were ordered (Tower Terrace behind the pits with a great view of the start) and they arrived in early spring.

We skipped a few days of school and rode a Greyhound bus to Indy; a seven-hour ride with a change in Chicago and stops every half-hour in the era before Interstate highways. Bus rides, taxis and shuttles to the track on race day were new experiences that our wonderful hostess, Mrs. Magenheimer and her daughter helped us arrange.

Race day was a blur of crowds, noise and excitement as we got to our seats, hung out behind the pits and looked for drivers we had seen in the Indianapolis News to which I had subscribed for the Month of May; kind of the website of its day.

Pictures that I took from our seats half-way up in our section were far away and somewhat blurry, but I still have them. And the official program and some post cards were treasures I took home for all to see.

Memories of the day included AJ Foyt’s Indy win and Jack Turner rolling his black Bardahl Spl. roadster down the front stretch, which was still a brick surface for one final time. Other less memorable lowlights were the metal troughs for urinals and toilet stalls without doors at the track; more information than you needed I’m sure.

We slept well that night and took the Greyhound back to Milwaukee the next morning, tired, but looking forward to another race next year.

Three more years of travel to the Speedway, mostly now with friends who had cars, and stays in hotels, cemented my love for the 500.

Came 1965 and another opportunity arose when a friend took a trip out west and came back with a copy of a racing paper called Racing Wheels published in Vancouver, Washington. I was now in college, had a decent camera, and nerve enough to write to editor Gary Sterner, convincing him I could write and photograph the 500 for “Wheels”, highlighting drivers like Len Sutton, Billy Foster and Art Pollard who were from the Pacific northwest. After all, I had seen four 500s.

Gary sent a request to Al Bloemker at the 500 for credentials, and though I was too young to be credentialed then, I was surprised to receive a letter telling me that I had been ok’d for a photographer/writer’s pass to cover the race.

Those early years started a string of covering the race for Racing Wheels, Midwest Racing News and today, Racing Nation.com. Weekly papers like National Speed Sport News are sadly gone as websites and blogs on the internet are the news source of the day.

The 500 this year will be race number 102, speeds are higher than in ’61 when 150 mph was just a dream, and the track has upgraded many of its facilities.

Watch the race on TV Sunday if you’re not attending in person, support the Verizon IndyCar Series when it comes to a track near you, and look forward to new chassis and more powerful engines coming to the revitalized series soon. Best of all, come to Indianapolis soon and see for yourself that magical pull that the 500-mile race will likely have on you, too.

And when your son or daughter shows interest in some activity you might not understand, give them a little room and encouragement to chase their dream. Mine did, and I’m grateful for that each time the green flag drops on another Indianapolis 500. Thanks.

Paul Gohde

Paul Gohde heard the sound of race cars early in his life.

Growing up in suburban Milwaukee, just north of Wisconsin State Fair Park in the 1950’s, Paul had no idea what “that noise” was all about that he heard several times a year. Finally, through prodding by friends of his parents, he was taken to several Thursday night modified stock car races on the old quarter-mile dirt track that was in the infield of the one-mile oval -and he was hooked.

The first Milwaukee Mile event that he attended was the 1959 Rex Mays Classic won by Johnny Thomson in the pink Racing Associates lay-down Offy built by the legendary Lujie Lesovsky. After the 100-miler Gohde got the winner’s autograph in the pits, something he couldn’t do when he saw Hank Aaron hit a home run at County Stadium, and, again, he was hooked.

Paul began attending the Indianapolis 500 in 1961, and saw A. J. Foyt’s first Indy win. He began covering races in 1965 for Racing Wheels newspaper in Vancouver, WA as a reporter/photographer and his first credentialed race was Jim Clark’s historic Indy win.Paul has also done reporting, columns and photography for Midwest Racing News since the mid-sixties, with the 1967 Hoosier 100 being his first big race to report for them.

He is a retired middle-grade teacher, an avid collector of vintage racing memorabilia, and a tour guide at Miller Park. Paul loves to explore abandoned race tracks both here and in Europe, with the Brooklands track in Weybridge England being his favorite. Married to Paula, they have three adult children and two cats.

Paul loves the diversity of all types of racing, “a factor that got me hooked in the first place.”

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by Paul Gohde

Paul Gohde and Dan Gurney

“He was the epitome of class,” Mario Andretti said. “It’s hard to believe he’s gone,” Gurney’s Le Mans winning Ford teammate AJ Foyt added.

The 6’ 3” Californian won in his own Gurney Eagle in Formula One, Holman-Moody and Wood Brothers Fords at Daytona and a Shelby Ford GT40 at Le Mans. His Eagles also flew to seven Champ car wins with its owner at the wheel.

In this day of drivers racing in a very narrow career path (“I’m a NASCAR driver and won’t race in an Indy car.”), the likes of Fernando Alonso, Kyle Busch and recently Chris Bell have become rare commodities. But Gurney was all over the world map, racing and winning at Le Mans, France; Spa, Belgium; Riverside, California; Daytona, Florida (in both sports cars and stocks) and who could forget the Lotus Ford invasion of the Tony Bettenhausen 200 at the Wisconsin State Fair Mile in 1963 when Gurney finished third to his teammate and winner Jim Clark. France to West Allis; quite a trip.

The Twitter world erupted Sunday night with drivers, car owners and sponsors paying homage to the All American driver who many confessed to having been their hero. But whether you call him your hero, describe him as a gentleman with class, or best remember him as a champion driver/car owner or car builder/designer, he deserves to be remembered as one of the best of his generation.

Having said all that, I have two personal Gurney memories that will always stick with me. I took a picture of him as the car owner when his Pepsi Challenger Eagle ran at the Milwaukee Mile about 1981. I asked him to sign it at a future race, and after he saw it he asked if he could purchase a copy. He gave me his business card and I received the check in a short time (but still haven’t cashed it). I told him later that I was sorry if that screwed-up the books at All American Racers by not cashing it and he laughed and explained, “Don’t worry, we save a lot of money when that happens.” I was off the hook.

On Thursday of Indianapolis 500 week, the Indianapolis 500 Oldtimers organization and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Hall of Fame Museum hold a sold-out recognition dinner at the Marriott Hotel in downtown Indy. Many present and former drivers attend each year along with past and present owners, sponsors, mechanics etc. A select few are honored by induction into the IMS HOF each year.

In 2011 one of the honorees was to be Sir Jackie Stewart who almost won the 500 in 1966 and 1967. Stewart was in Europe, unable to attend the banquet, but asked Dan Gurney to come to Indy and accept the award for him and give a brief talk. Gurney gave an entertaining remembrance of Sir Jackie and hung around after the festivities much to the delight of the crowd.

I asked him if I could have a picture taken with him and a friend grabbed my camera while Dan arranged us for the photo. Standing somewhat shoulder to shoulder (he being inches taller) he suggested we “shake hands so we don’t look like we’re mad at each other.” We laughed and as I looked down before the image was taken I noticed that my photo partner with the sport coat and slacks was wearing an orange pair of Crocs sandals and no socks. Very California.

That picture hangs on the wall of my office to this day; a day when we remember a great in our sport. But somehow the orange Crocs and bare feet will always make me smile when I think of Gurney; just like they did on that photo.

Thanks Dan, not all memories are made at the race track.

Paul Gohde

Paul Gohde heard the sound of race cars early in his life.

Growing up in suburban Milwaukee, just north of Wisconsin State Fair Park in the 1950’s, Paul had no idea what “that noise” was all about that he heard several times a year. Finally, through prodding by friends of his parents, he was taken to several Thursday night modified stock car races on the old quarter-mile dirt track that was in the infield of the one-mile oval -and he was hooked.

The first Milwaukee Mile event that he attended was the 1959 Rex Mays Classic won by Johnny Thomson in the pink Racing Associates lay-down Offy built by the legendary Lujie Lesovsky. After the 100-miler Gohde got the winner’s autograph in the pits, something he couldn’t do when he saw Hank Aaron hit a home run at County Stadium, and, again, he was hooked.

Paul began attending the Indianapolis 500 in 1961, and saw A. J. Foyt’s first Indy win. He began covering races in 1965 for Racing Wheels newspaper in Vancouver, WA as a reporter/photographer and his first credentialed race was Jim Clark’s historic Indy win.Paul has also done reporting, columns and photography for Midwest Racing News since the mid-sixties, with the 1967 Hoosier 100 being his first big race to report for them.

He is a retired middle-grade teacher, an avid collector of vintage racing memorabilia, and a tour guide at Miller Park. Paul loves to explore abandoned race tracks both here and in Europe, with the Brooklands track in Weybridge England being his favorite. Married to Paula, they have three adult children and two cats.

Paul loves the diversity of all types of racing, “a factor that got me hooked in the first place.”

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by Paul Gohde

Rain is never a friend of race promoters and Road America obviously suffered from a morning shower that hung around just a bit too long this Sunday morning. Attendance at the NASCAR Xfinity Series weekend here has gone down a bit since that first run when Cup driver Carl Edwards won back in 2010. Cup drivers won again in 2013 (AJ Allmendinger) and again in 2015 (Paul Menard), but support for the Xfinity race by big name Cup series drivers has been slim, if at all, over the event’s seven-year run.

The matter of Cup series drivers running in the Xfinity Series, or even the Camping World Truck Series, has been a matter of intense debate; especially when Kyle Busch dominates all three series’ events at Bristol as he did a few weeks ago.

Busch, Brad Keselowski, Joey Logano and other Monster Energy Series drivers usually enter the limited amount of Xfinity events each season that are allowed by NASCAR; and they quite often dominate. Twenty-two Xfinity events have been run so far in 2017, and 15 of those have been won by Cup regulars; five by Kyle Busch alone.

Whether Cup participation in those lower level series is good or bad can be debated over and over, but if those drivers continue to whine over the limitations put on their participation in those events by NASCAR, then, when the opportunity arises to support those races, where are they?

The Monster Energy Series was off this week; a perfect chance to support a race at Road America that could use a shot of adrenalin in the form of Busch, Logano, Keselowski, Kyle Larson and others. Road America is a world-class facility. NASCAR claims to be the top motorsports series in North America. Why not come and try it?

All of those Cup drivers have literally turned their backs on a chance to run here and support an event that could challenge their skills and bring the event some needed energy.

Back in 2010, when Edwards won in front of a reported 50,000 fans, Ron Fellows plunked himself down in the RA Media Center after finishing second and declared, “Two Words: Sprint Cup.” He was thrilled by the challenge of the course and the ambience of the event. Bring the Cup Series here; soon, he begged. That hasn’t happened yet, and it may never get scheduled.

But Kyle, Brad, Joey and all you others, you have another chance to come to Elkhart Lake. The 2018 RA Xfinity race is scheduled for Saturday, August 25th; a weekend that is again open on the Monster Energy Cup schedule. You need to listen to Ron Fellows. It’s not a Cup race, that’s for sure, but you do need to come and race at Road America; soon. Enjoy the brats, too.

Paul Gohde

Paul Gohde heard the sound of race cars early in his life.

Growing up in suburban Milwaukee, just north of Wisconsin State Fair Park in the 1950’s, Paul had no idea what “that noise” was all about that he heard several times a year. Finally, through prodding by friends of his parents, he was taken to several Thursday night modified stock car races on the old quarter-mile dirt track that was in the infield of the one-mile oval -and he was hooked.

The first Milwaukee Mile event that he attended was the 1959 Rex Mays Classic won by Johnny Thomson in the pink Racing Associates lay-down Offy built by the legendary Lujie Lesovsky. After the 100-miler Gohde got the winner’s autograph in the pits, something he couldn’t do when he saw Hank Aaron hit a home run at County Stadium, and, again, he was hooked.

Paul began attending the Indianapolis 500 in 1961, and saw A. J. Foyt’s first Indy win. He began covering races in 1965 for Racing Wheels newspaper in Vancouver, WA as a reporter/photographer and his first credentialed race was Jim Clark’s historic Indy win.Paul has also done reporting, columns and photography for Midwest Racing News since the mid-sixties, with the 1967 Hoosier 100 being his first big race to report for them.

He is a retired middle-grade teacher, an avid collector of vintage racing memorabilia, and a tour guide at Miller Park. Paul loves to explore abandoned race tracks both here and in Europe, with the Brooklands track in Weybridge England being his favorite. Married to Paula, they have three adult children and two cats.

Paul loves the diversity of all types of racing, “a factor that got me hooked in the first place.”

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