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A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts - Dave Foreman - Indy 500 Long Time Attendee
35 Plays20 days ago
It is the month of May and it is all about the 2 and a half mile oval. This week we talk to Dave Foreman, he has been to 60 + Indy 500's. A long time Indy westside resident with lots of great stories! Plus a quick this week in history with Lynk and of course Joke Of The Week with Brett! It is a great show and a lot of fun. Enjoy!
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Transcript
Introduction & Welcome
00:00:00
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
A solid four beer thoughts. Pop a cold one and get interactive with us on YouTube, Facebook, X or Instagram. And away we go. Congratulations. You made it back. I'm so happy for you.
00:00:12
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
I know. Link's here. Jeff's here. Brett's here. Dave is here. Dave's home. and Better yet. We'll be talking to Dave. We'll tell you about Dave. here He's like, ah you know, last week we talked to John who had a lot of stories about the 500, but I got a feeling Dave's going to take it to another level. yeah We might go long this week. We might go long.
00:00:36
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
You know, that happens every May, though. They seem to get longer and longer. So that's a great time for you to like and subscribe. A solid four of beer thoughts wherever you get your podcasts. Check us out on Facebook, TikTok.
00:00:48
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
Instagram, all those places, and ah be sure to follow us because you never know what might come next.
Meet Dave Foreman
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A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
um So tonight, like I said, we're going to be talking to Dave Foreman. He's ah another relative of Brett's.
00:01:01
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
I've got him everywhere. beside Some I know about, some I don't. He's in breeding Westsiders. this is a ah This is a relative of Brett's that he's known about his whole life. Truth. That's a win in and of
Racing Events & Sponsorships
00:01:15
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
itself. Oh, my gosh.
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A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
ah yeah but uh so accurate statement but he's known about all them since high school according to your allegedly so she told you about it i'm sure she did anyhow so we'll be talking to him he'll have some great stories about the uh 500 because we are in the month of may and the month of may around here means that's all we talk about for the month of may so um big race yeah ah a a race i should say not a big race coming up this weekend as a matter of fact the what is it Sanzio ground yeah don't even know that company is I don't either but we can google it later but uh they make sans sans yep and Zio and Eos and Eos and Eos it's a merger I think it's a merger
00:01:59
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
But ah that'll be going on out there. So ah the first weekend where you'll get to see some cars going around at least the road course. And then we're a couple weeks away from um the big show. And we've got good stuff lined up for you all the way there. So it'll be good.
Derby Day Bets & Experiences
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A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
So, Jeffrey. Tommy. Did you do anything fun over the weekend? I lost a shit ton of money on the on the Derby Day races. What did you betting on horses for? Please forgot about the Derby. Let's talk about this. Completely forgot about it. How much did you lose?
00:02:31
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
About $250. Holy. I won $7. Did you really? Yep. So my problem was. You won $750? $7. Oh. That beats a sharp stick in the eye. It does. It's better than Jeff's story.
00:02:44
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
Yeah, so races start at, what, 1030? I think we got over to the derby party we were going to at about 130 or two. Shay and I were betting here at the house. think I cashed a couple of tickets here at the house. Went over there to the party. Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.
00:02:57
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
Yeah, we cashed some tickets. There's races all day. Sorry, dave he's married to Link's sister. Yes. My sister! My sister! They cashed tickets. They didn't lick stamps.
00:03:09
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
Or do the laundry, as we say in my house. Or do the so yeah It's the folding laundry you don't like. folding sucks. It was a small loader. I did it by hand. Yeah, yeah exactly. when When does that happen?
00:03:24
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
Often. yeah To Tom and Maribel night. Every time. It's like a pistol grip now. So the pre-races, we're betting all the pre-races. There was a ah period there where four or five straight favorites came in in five straight races. And I don't i hate betting favorites. i just i I like the middle odds. It was so nasty. It was.
00:03:45
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
It was. I didn't think any of the not favorites really stood a chance just because of the weather. Yeah. Yeah. So they... I don't know. It was just, i couldn't hit, couldn't, none of us in the group. There was about 20 of us over there. None of us. And some of the guys are serious horse gamblers, handicappers. Oh, yeah. You know, they they've got the books out. Right. Like autistic or?
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A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
yeah Yes. Yeah. Rain man. Wow. That's Alan Keller likes. I don't know that that's an autistic. It's not. yes That was terrible. I take that back. Lord, don't put me in hell for that one. Wow.
00:04:18
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
um So, yeah, then the derby came along. Yeah, the derby came along, and we were in this pool, and we had damn near every horse covered three ways from Sunday. Swimming pool? And you still couldn't find any money? There was way.
00:04:33
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
we did hit it We did hit a trifecta, bet $126 on it, and the payout was absolutely horrendous for a derby. Right. Because that's a big-ass pool, shit ton of money. Right. try I mean, there
Parenting & Social Anecdotes
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A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
were there were two of the four favorites came in, and there was a medium shot that came in. Yeah. We were expecting...
00:04:52
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
600, you know, on a trifecta box. You bet what, 126? 126 bucks. To get 129 back? I think it was 142 or something. It wasn't that bad, but it wasn't that bad. It was like 216 bucks something. We doubled our money, which is ridiculous. We should have won a hell of a lot more than that. I saved 100 bucks because going put 100 on Cool Battle.
00:05:13
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
And he came in 11th. Yeah. I couldn't find a way to bet. So I'm like, I figure I can't. Somebody who's looking out for you. so I it was Cole Burner, but it was Cole Battle.
00:05:25
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
So, yeah, good weekend. I love Derby Day. I haven't missed one. i yeah since um want I want to go to that event live. Yeah, yeah. You wouldn't to have been there this weekend. Absolutely. yeah was I had a much better weekend than that. Could you imagine the wet t-shirt contest there in the infield?
00:05:39
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
If anybody watched that race or any of the pre-races. No, Jeff. What are you talking about? yeah Just guys walking around in white t-shirts. Oh, okay. I dated a girl in the 80s. One of them was different size than the other.
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A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
And I put her in a wet t-shirt contest. She came in first and third. Wow. So... but What? This is how this is going to be. There we go. This is going to one.
Household Woes & Humor
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A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
Dave's going to fit right on. All right, Linko, you. After that, got nothing. I mean, no. I watched some hockey, watched some basketball, whatever, whatever. So, yeah.
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A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
Any golf jokes? I don't Nope. no got nothing so yeah i ordered a new garage door that's about the excitement oh good so yeah what happened to your you haven't been in that house that long no that's our house our house is falling apart it started with the cabinets now it's moved to the garage door upgrading all over the new bidet garage door did you build on a sinkhole out there i must have an indian burial ground a linkle the freaking uh freaking the roof is leaking into our house now. Holy shit. Yeah.
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A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
And that covered under warranty? I mean, if the cabinets were covered, certainly the roof's covered. superintendent originally in an email told us no. You need a roofing guy. And my wife said, ah that's a bunch of BS. Sorry, my current wife said, that's a bunch of BS.
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A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
you get your You haven't even come and looked at it. Hey! Hey! That's That's my current wife.
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A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
I didn't know that was a safe clip. That's all I have. That's all I have. That's all have. That's all I have. You do not want her to get on the warpath with you in an email. I can imagine. She'll rip you new one. dude.
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A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
Yeah, dude. She gets on a a mission and it's over. Good. For the other side. Good, dude. Yep. So you got a roof. we're going to look at the superintendent who told us it isn't a warranty hadn't even been to our house yet oh of course nope not on warranty i'm like you haven't even seen it yet right how do you know right according to the insurance adjuster his roofing guy he said it was due to faulty installation he's like no it wasn't you know this that this and that and he goes so yeah yeah anyway if you get that what the fuck are you doing down there what is that
00:08:05
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
What are you doing? What is that? this I'm done. Bush apple? No, I'm done. Go. What? It's part of my weekend. Oh, gotcha. Oh. Okay. You drank apple and beer? brett just I did not. I did not. A bush light apple. I'm drinking it never seen a bush light apple.
00:08:20
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
It existed, and they did away with it uproar, so they brought it back for a limited time. Taco Bell does that shit all the time. Sure, sure. The nacho fries are back. So my kids are like... and Chicken nuggets. Yeah, try bush apple.
00:08:32
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
So... ah ah Big Cat's birthday is tomorrow. And I spent the weekend in a gym with Kylie. She was training at the place we were wrestling at. Drinking Bush Apple?
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A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
I'm going to try one. I'm going to try one. on youre Hang on. This is my first episode. She was training.
Indy 500 Stories with Dave
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A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
She's an athletic trainer. Oh, got it. The question was, it sounded like you were drinking beer at that wrestling tournament. That was a lot like that. God, I would be such a better coach. you're listening. I go complete shooter on somebody and go out on the mat. Give us a review of the Bush Light. I will. I've never seen that. Just to get guys in the front lines, they call it BAPL.
00:09:19
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
Just so you guys know. So that's my weekend. Happy birthday, Matthew, because I'll forget later. Shouldn't it be Blapple? I don't question the kids. I don't question the apple. should be Applebush.
00:09:30
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
Applebush. Applebush. Does that take us to your weekend, Dave? Not exactly. So for some reason, that just reminded me of a story. Of course it did. At one of my old, old jobs.
00:09:44
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
old old jobs there There was a girl who was, she was redhead. She had lot of freckles. so and cheese and
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A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
Somehow, somehow, some way us coworkers started referring to her as freckle snatch. Oh, Jesus Christ. I don't know how. I don't know got started. did get through HR? I,
00:10:08
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
HR wasn't around back then. That was the I got it. Email was frecklesnatch at ims.com. Yep. Wow. Anyway. There you go. Tommy. Yeah. So prom happened Saturday. Oh.
00:10:17
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
yep wow anyway be fire by yeah ah you go holy tommy yeah so ah problem happens ah yeah oh Big time. You had a date? Tear up. My sophomore girl had a senior boyfriend, so she got a pass from the school to go to prom. Okay. Seniors in 62 and over or seniors? No, seniors in high school. Oh, okay. Sorry, I was confused.
00:10:46
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
You think I'm going to let my kid leave the house with a 62 or over? It probably would have worked out better for you. I don't know. So anyhow, yeah, so she went to prom. She was good. She was beautiful. she so Pictures were great. up Yeah, she did great. It was good. So um i don't I don't know that I'm ready for it, but it's going to happen no matter what. so Did you well up?
00:11:08
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
ah No. No tears? No. No, no I'm not going to cry about that kind of stuff. There's things I'll cry about, but that ain't what I'm going to say. At least in 62, if you tried anything, you'd get him a for assault with a dead weapon.
00:11:20
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
so Wow. This is open mic. I like it. So, yeah, so that that happened Saturday, and ah I found out that I don't like it, um the whole dating thing.
00:11:33
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
No, it's tough. It's not fun at all. No, it sucks. No, you've been through it. i bet you You didn't have a daughters, Jim. Brad takes everything. The three of Brad takes everything like, oh, it's fine. It's fine. I don't do that. But it's not. um I couldn't find a date until I graduated high school. Not Your kid. Your kid. Your daughter. Your girl's first date. How's that saying go? It is different girl versus boy. We know how the saying goes, Jeff. You don't have to say it.
00:11:57
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
How is it? Right? you Yeah, you don't have to say it. He's got two daughters, so. Oh, yeah. Let's not go there. Yeah. That's all good. So. And then, ah yeah, we watched some of that Derby. um I placed a few bets. And like I said, I came out with $7.
00:12:12
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
seven dollars And that was...
00:12:15
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
two races. You're up 257 on Jeff. So the Derby and another one. Off to our races. So I came out seven bucks ahead, so I wasn't upset. Because I pay zero attention to horse racing.
00:12:26
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
The only reason I placed the bets was because it was the Kentucky Derby. And FanDuel happened to send me an email that morning saying, hey, you can now bet on horses on FanDuel. I was surprised that not all betting apps allow Kentucky Derby betting. DraftKings just got it a year or so. yeah so and i don't and that But that gave me a question. Why?
00:12:44
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
yeah i don't I don't know why horse betting well cuz is different than all the other stuff because like um well before you had to go through like TVG yeah actually twin sp or twin spires actually know this because I looked it up on Saturday so like oh I can't we what's the why it depends on the size of the horse's car That seems silly.
00:13:05
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
It does. yeah so So I was sitting back for my microphone. How did I know? yeah I was thinking about making have a horse cock joke. yes so some Some allow horse cock betting, some don't. just sit back Just let it go. In some states, it's illegal, I guess. But but i don't I just don't understand why it's not on all. And even when you when you bet on horses on FanDuel, it takes you to like a different site inside of FanDuel. Yep.
00:13:33
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
DraftKings used to do that. yeah so it's It's completely separate. and i don't i don't know My guess is, if I had to guess, is the tracks want to control and maybe that that that betting. that could very yeah Twin Spires is huge. that yeah ah That's at Louisville. i'm right yeah I know at least one of the horses in the race was a gilding.
00:13:51
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
How do you know that? Well, I saw them talk about it because they said he wasn't going have any value afterwards for siring or anything like that of his attitude. So they made a gilding out of him and he's I in a race.
00:14:03
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
There hadn't been that many gildings. They run in that race, yeah. So this isn't a joke, Dave? No, no, it's a joke. I thought it was a joke. I thought it was a joke. was like, here we go. This is the beauty Dave right there. You never know if that's legitimate. The coolest stat about the Kentucky Derby was that every horse in that race was a descendant of Secretariat.
00:14:23
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
All of them Every single i thought one of them was American. Every single one of them. but that is descendant of secretary i I thought Farrow was a Secretariat descendant.
00:14:33
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
Oh, maybe. I just know they were all, yeah. and That is inbreeding at its best. or hell yeah yes That was 73 when Secretariat won the Triple Crown. so That's how long this is easy his genes are going. And how much money that family has who owns Secretariat. It's unbelievable.
00:14:51
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
Selling money. Anyhow, now it's time for the ever-butter part of the show. This week in history. This week in history. 1626, boys.
00:15:02
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
long time ago oh these books wow ah so native american indians quote Air quote, sell Manhattan Island. They didn't sell shit.
00:15:13
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
Quote, kind for that's why I air quoted. And beavers. hey Beaver pelt, yeah. i'm ah Since i'm American, going to call them the Lenape tribe, a.k.a. also the Delaware tribe. but ah Sold it to the Dutch think it so will not be but West India Company.
00:15:31
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
not the East India Company. for Those guys were assholes. Approximately $24 in goods, beads, tools, cloths, and buttons. Manhattan a $24 total? things.
00:15:49
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
twenty four dollar twenty four dollars cinema boches of good of nuts and pelts and things yeah ah Yeah. What's Sacagawea involved in that? I'd pay $24 for a good beaver pelt.
00:16:03
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
Well, $24 back then, that was lot money. They didn't know the art of the deal. Correct. That is true. ah So apparently, the ah the i again, Lenape, Lenape. I'm not French, Tom, so they're Lenape to me. Lenape idea of purchasing land is totally different than the Dutch idea of purchasing land. Of course. um There's debate on whether they actually truly meant to relinquish total ownership of the of the land. They didn't.
00:16:32
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
Right. no Anyway, so the name Manhattan is derived from the Lenape word that means a thicket where wood can be found to make bows.
00:16:46
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
That's what Manhattan means. So there's one word for those 12 words you just said. See. See. Yes, there is. Yes. So anyway. And it was Manhattan. Manhattan. Yeah. There you go.
00:16:58
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
So if you ever want... You lost me Thicket. A Thicket where you can ah find wood to make bows. Just say, oh, the man hit the Manhattan, just right down the street. Turn right. yeah I thought it was a lot before we got ripped off.
00:17:11
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
Yeah. This would answer your 1937. ah The Hindenburg explodes in Lakehurst, New Jersey. Oh, the humanity! This week in Issue 1954, British runner Roger Bannister breaks the four-minute mile. Hey, let's see that bitch do it while drinking four beers. Right, boys? Hey, by the way, we are at the anniversary time, a couple weeks behind a beer mile. We need to do that again. Yeah, there you go. After May's over. And that's it.
00:17:37
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
That's all you got? Yeah, I told you shortly. Let's go. We get to our guests. Less of me, more of Dave. So Dave has graciously joined us. they First, let's ask him some questions. how many How many 500s have you been to? 61.
00:17:55
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
60 consecutive? Yes. have you Okay, so you did. In 2020, was outside the gate on 16th. Everybody got a pass on that one, though, right? ale and um Right. 61 races,
00:18:09
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
out of sixty one races Do you have a favorite? i enjoyed the first one because Clark was my favorite. Right. You know, the rear engine and the green and yellow car. was all It was all very cool.
00:18:23
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
So your first one is 65? Okay. he won that year. Yes. Okay. Yeah. So... yes okay yeah so And i the the reason is I think it's kind of interesting. None of us were born.
00:18:35
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
Yeah, by the way. There's that. But a lot of people say their first one was when I was five years old, six years old. Yeah. You weren't that young. No, I was 11. So you were old enough. and You were at that age where you can actually remember oh going to that first race that you ever went to. My buddy and I were 11 years old. We sold papers for the Times.
00:18:55
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
Right. And we walked over there to sell papers. We got him free. And we went over to the fourth term. My dad and my uncle from Phoenix were up in the fourth term, so we went up and sat with them. Had some chicken and Coke.
00:19:06
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
Cold chicken? It started filling up. No, it was pretty good already. okay. And people showed up and said, hey, we got people aren't going to be here, so if you guys like to stay. you know So we threw our papers away where we had left and sat down. Yeah. the race you know that's awesome so after that i i like 12 13 14 i think i went over the next four or five years just by myself you know we walking in and walking around and right the ah story is uh the kid that went with me dave becker he lives two doors down from me and uh we did a lot of stuff together we grew up together he moved out when he was 12 but dave becker boom who whoa whoa whoa listen he moved out of
00:19:44
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
He moved out of Indianapolis to Mooresville. thought you made him move out of his house and went out on his own. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Stop. Stop. But he is now the owner of First Internet Banking. Oh. Really? cool Yeah.
00:19:57
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
So if you listen to Dave, hi. So he made a good choice. Yeah. Yeah. He was a very smart guy. So did you ever sneak into the track through the little river? The creek there? The creek. Yeah. Yeah. We...
00:20:11
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
yeah we ah uh they were building a golf course actually back then back in the early 60s and they had a huge amount of dirt back there and so we went snuck our bikes underneath the fence and uh rode down the hill and crashed a few times oh there you go so nobody ever chased us so for for perspective where did you grow up in relation to the track yeah i grew up on arcadia street which about three blocks north right behind right behind it yeah yeah And one time, i don't know if you guys remember, Kitty Land was back behind the Eagledale Shopping Center.
00:20:43
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
Well, somehow one of us got a got a hold of one of those metal boats that goes in a circle, you know. That dude was heavy. we put on yeah yeah We put it on a wagon.
00:20:54
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
Honestly, god we put it on a wagon. And you that little creek through there that led into the speedway was pretty much flooded. So we got... north of 30th street and launched it in there and we took turns getting in and out of that thing and a street well of course it didn't work and so what the you can hear the music playing in the background though I'm sure so
00:21:18
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
ah we floated that we floated it all the way all the way to the golf course where the fence is like drain pipe drop off we just let it over the edge and walked home I don't know what happened to it but Yeah, i was that was pretty interesting. I can tell you what happened to it. Some guy went out there and goes, what the hell is this? I got to get this damn thing out of the crease.
00:21:42
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
Yeah, that was a heavy rascal. It took about three of us load things in the wagon. So as an 11, 12-year-old kid, you go to your first race, what is it that you're like, I got to come back?
00:21:54
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
what What attracted you to it? i think just uh just everything the pre-race ceremonies you know um just you know the gordon pipers were there for jimmy clark that year and uh the bands i got there early enough you know you're watching the purdue band going around and and just and the balloon release just you know i wish that still quite a lot of you too how quiet it got and it still gets me when they play taps sure that many people i mean it's just you know If you don't get teary-eyed, there's something wrong with you. We've said that on here before. multiple What's our favorite part lean up? and I think somebody said if if you don't get emotional during taps, you ain't right. Or back home again in Indiana. If that doesn't move you, know then that's... I miss Jim Neighbors big time.
00:22:38
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
For sure. Don Cornelius, is he's good, he he' but Neighbors is... When we talk about you know from the first time you went to today when you go...
00:22:50
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
How much of that pre-race ceremony has stayed the same?
00:22:57
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
I'd say virtually the same except all the balloons. Yeah. Yeah. so And I think that's the amazing part. There's no flyover back there. Right. I don't know. I'm asking. I'm assuming no. It was a hot air balloon, by the way.
00:23:10
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
Oh, yeah. Jim neighbor's autograph. He's pulling out of the scrapbook. Oh, we are. So when did. it says It says to my mother, says to Peggy. Or yeah, it says to Peggy. Gomer says, hey. wilders and Wow. That's pretty cool. And then background on on your mom, where she worked and the connection she had to race. That's Yeah, they built ah built the ah suites in 74, and she worked the golfer's lounge, but the homens had her.
00:23:36
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
They hired her for the personal hostess because they were elderly then from 74 to 79. Over in turn two? They're turn two suites. Okay, right outside turn two. Yeah. So that was – She met a lot of people, not a picture of her and evil Knievel together in here and everything. So she, you know, she got me a lot of autographs and, and it was good.
00:23:56
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
I, uh, dad and I, uh, one of the stories we went over in 66, went over to qualifications and first day of qualifications, you know, just be be packed and they, ye to commemorate the balloon races at my uncle,
00:24:09
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
was in back in the early nineteen hundreds That's crazy. they yeah They had the ah balloon race on the first day of qualifications. Yeah. And so we're we're sitting in the fourth turn.
00:24:22
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
That's my dad's favorite turn. We're sitting outside the fourth turn. And they're letting the balloons off. Well, one the balloons got away. And it starts going down like home in boulevard, like kind in the middle of the track. Yep.
00:24:35
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
And these guards had these little Honda Dream scooters. And this guy was chasing his balloon like he's going to grab onto it. I'm thinking. Yeah, good luck. So you may have heard the story. I don't know, but we witnessed it. And the balloon was scraping across the ground, just scraping across the ground, a fourth turn, hit the outhouse, knocked it over, and two women come crawling out of the ground. Oh, shit. Yes, sir. Yeah. Yeah. A ton of shit. Yeah.
00:25:00
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
And then it lifted off. Finally, it got some air, and it just made it over the Northeast Vista. And it landed down in 38th and College, somewhere like that. hu All they found was a gondola.
00:25:13
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
The balloon was gone. you know like kind of It disappeared. It was red and gold. I remember it was red and gold. But for years, i don't know if it's still there. it was until a few years ago on the new ah outhouse they built back there, the brick one.
00:25:30
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
There was a red, white, and blue balloon painted out for years. why That's why it was there because that balloon knocked that outhouse over. andly And my dad and I were sitting there and saw the whole thing.
00:25:40
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
Wow. That's cool. That's crazy. That was crazy. Yeah. The yeah women don't, I think they were too happy about
00:25:50
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
it. Yeah. They're on a podcast right now telling that story. But if you remember those outhouses, that was probably the best thing that happened to one. Yeah.
00:25:59
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
so so do you have a favorite driver or a favorite team that you've followed through the years or often i mean obviously there's been some changes over that many races but has there been a team that favorite that guy died tom your your team that that you've kind of followed through the years uh well you know most of them were back in the day i mean you know um Al senior was probably one of my favorites.
00:26:24
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
He was so smooth. And whenever you approached him in the garage, he was a real gentleman. Right. He really was. He took time talk to anybody, you know, right. But his driving talent and he was just smooth, you know, sure. And I was a little, a little weirded out when he won an 87. No, I wasn't expecting that. was pulling for Guerrero and I was sitting that year. I was sitting in a front stretch. I haven't sat there.
00:26:47
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
know, I don't like sitting in the front. I'm sitting in the third. Yep. And, uh, But anyway, he's, Guerrero comes in, the you know, and he's leading, got that STP car. I happened to work out there that year for Miranda Electric. I helped put those computerized signs in.
00:27:01
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
Okay. The first antiquated ones. yeah So we had a pass and everything that year. And so anyway, I'm pulling for Guerrero when he comes in and he's sitting in the pits, sitting in the pits. I'm like, so I'm screaming, man.
00:27:12
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
And then I didn't realize until later that he'd hit that tire. the benton housing lost him and killed that guy in the north end oh really yeah he hit that he hit that lane was loud kirkenbaum yep out of wisconsin ah yeah yeah 13 million dollars out of court i think on that so yeah wow he was dead tired yeah he yeah but yeah that's why he died but guerrero came in they were duct taping the nose on his car and all that and i realized he he lost his clips you know and i didn't know until after the race but couldn't believe Al on its fourth then, you know, but I still, I liked Al.
00:27:45
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
It's crazy as you hear the stories, like you guys that follow racing to the nth degree, like know every detail of that race and you're talking about stuff. You're like,
00:27:57
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
just the level of detail that comes back with the stories like man that is ah truly a a fan of the event right 100 well it's just i remember you know as a kid uh it was it was just great you walking around behind the pagoda it was all grass then it wasn't like it is yeah and they had all these i remember 69 particular 50 69 pace cars sitting back there. i mean, they used to really put them out. Yep.
00:28:21
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
And, they you know, just tops down and everything. Nobody around them. I'm just kind of wandering through like, wow. So girls were showing their boobs back then too? Yeah. Tops down? Yeah. Okay. That was going on too. It was the summer of 69. Not too far from there. Tops were down. Oh, and I was going through the the snake pit back in the Hells Angels and all that stuff. Oh, yeah. I was just a kid, but you long as you kept your head straight and you know just didn't didn't get me by trouble you were okay yeah no snake pit's weird because dickster took us through and i swear as like a 10 year old kid and like that's so against like his norm he's like no come on kid come on son we're gonna snake pit learn about titties today i've told him i've told him too many times when like that's a first pair of titties i ever saw i'm like it just i mean you you've known him for a long time it just didn't add up that he would take us through there but i do remember he left mom in the stands like we'll be back ah it was just me and john and him going through a snake bed it's a boy's moment
00:29:26
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
it was what's like yeah like first like first beer you know right yeah exactly my first beer with my kid and i'm gonna yeah and i think for those that listen to the podcast that may not be local the the three people that listen somewhere other than indianapolis um i think the thing about the 500 is that if you're a west side kid in indianapolis it's it's a rite of passage right it's it is part of growing up it's part of It just becomes part of that fabric of your life because of where you and there's even people that live in Indianapolis, but not on the West side that still don't get it right. And don't don't don't understand.
00:30:09
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
And I think that's what makes the West side of Indianapolis very unique in a lot of ways is because of the impact of that of event and the impact it's had on the people that live on the in this part of the city. there i went to school 61.
00:30:30
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
public school 61 it's just north of 33 back here in the old falcon yeah yeah and you know no air conditioning so we'd have the windows open oh yeah you can hear him we could tell you his kids what was running down the back yeah yeah yeah what engine it was smoky units chivvies or whether it's a lotus or an orphan house where we could tell you same thing went to st christopher for like eight years yeah i had what like four blocks, five blocks away from the Speedway. Yeah, it's crazy. Every May, like, yep, windows up, no air. Windows up, you're like, oh, cars are out. Well, and I think that goes and that goes back to a time when everything was the full month of May.
00:31:07
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
Yeah. You had practice, but then you had two weekends of qualifying and, you know, bump day and all that excitement leading up to And then they scaled it back and consolidated all of that. But for years, that literally was four, four, four weeks, four, four weeks of go to the track, figure out a way to go to the track, because every single day there was something going on, which facilitated plenty of reasons to not go to school or, you know, skip out of work or whatever. Because there was always action at the track for the entire month. Well, some of the drivers pull their kids out of school and put them in our school.
00:31:46
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
throw the mate Chuck Holt's kids. Oh, really? Yeah. And then we had our Pinewood Derby, and we had drivers like Al Miller came over was the starter for our Pinewood Derby for the Boy Scouts and stuff like that.
00:31:59
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
So, you know, they were all in the community. you know right And Bill Finley, the builder, you ever heard Bill Finley? He drove, I think, Mike Mosley drove for him back in the day and all that.
00:32:10
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
He had a shop right across the Northwest High School off Mola Road. yeah out The new garage is still there. The garage is big if the builder bigger than the house because I went to school with his son, Ron, Ron Finley, and we graduated in 71 Northwest.
00:32:24
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
And that was his dad, Bill. He built those cars in the garage right there. ah but when You weren't the space pioneers yet, right? You were just the pioneers. No, we were the space pioneers. Oh, back then? Oh, wow. Oh, I didn't know that. And you mentioned it. Because space was big in the 60s.
00:32:40
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
Sure. Oh, okay. When it was built by the 65, 66. Well, they still thought the Earth was round.
00:32:46
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
Sure. Yes. Yeah. But nobody ever landed on the moon, Tom. No, they didn't. I mean, we know that. That was on the soundstage and pop. No, but ah you touched on it in one of your comments ah a few minutes ago about how ah first day of qualifying used to be – I mean, I i've worked at the Speedway when I started in 85. Yeah. ah And first day of qualifying – like my My very first first day of qualifying working at the Speedway, I think I was an hour late, maybe an hour and a half late for work. So I'm like, did couldn do traffic no, that is true. I was like, oh, whatever, just normal day work. And i I was like, I called my boss. I was like, I don't know what's going on, but I can't. Like, traffic is not moving. Are you guys having an event? They're all going to the same place you're going. Oh.
00:33:39
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
uh yeah you didn't know was like nobody told me mean birthday qualifying was like race day i mean 200 250 000 people in there just to see qualifying for the indy 500 oh yeah it was crazy i mean it's just well like tom carney up there you know it's a new track record or Mario slowing down in the back. One of the other. Sorry, Mario. But, ah yeah, I mean, and when Sneva hits a 200-mile mark and stuff, yeah I was out there. I mean, it the place goes crazy. It just went – it was absolutely –
00:34:14
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
It was great, you know. And tell you what, carb day nowadays is almost like race. It is. Right. Oh, yeah. you're really crazy. They've done a nice job of resurrecting that whole yeah whole thing. Yeah, I agree. And kind of getting out the IRL days and and making an event. So you have a question, sir?
00:34:31
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
No, ah just in your years. Apparently you did, Dan. In your years of going there. No, sorry, but I'm going to ask it. What are the greatest improvements, whether it's with buildings, whether it's with whatever what technology, what's the greatest? What do you like about it now?
00:34:46
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
What do you hate about it? When you were, when you were going to qualifications back in the day, it would be a half a lap. they'd be on the back stretch before you learn the time and speed. took a that Yes. Oh, that's, yeah. Oh yeah. Now it's instantaneous. Yeah. at all Yeah.
00:35:03
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
I mean, that was, that's some, the restrooms, of course, big improved. I mean, you have to go there. You know I'm Not so much the troughs, but, uh, they still got the troughs. I know that's why.
00:35:15
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
But, uh, yeah. And, and things, some things I don't like, I mean, I, I liked, I liked it when, You could go up, clear the fence in the first turn and the fourth yeah turn and all that stuff. You know, I mean, it was, so you miss a few things, but, you know, progress, you know, sure and and the trees that were cut down, yep things like that, you know, just little things. hey john John mentioned the trees last week.
00:35:36
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
You used to be able to see bits and pieces of the whole track, and now that everything's grown up, you just can't see it. Right. Well, I mean, the trees, like in the fourth turn particularly, they a big tree out there and they cut it down. We call that a thicket.
00:35:50
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
oh yeah you can make bows out of that tree dave i don't know if you know oh man had manhattan man manhattan the man hu and manhattan jr inside of turn three so yeah um so anyway so biggest like then biggest improvement like you had pick one is at the time you see the speed and time instant safety yeah oh yeah safety is number one i mean pioneers in the wall you know, the, so same of barrier hunts yeah you know, I mean, the in Indianapolis has come up with a lot of innovative things anyway, you know, including the seatbelt, rear view mirror, things like that. But yeah, the safety in those cars, I mean, you don't worry.
00:36:31
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
so much about the drivers used to, I mean, man, I, you know, he's a worry to death because, you know, Gordon Smiley yeah incidents like that, ye but I feel there's so much safer now. Yeah. um really look at that Scott Nixon wrecked in the race. Oh yeah. way Went upside down and South. side fence And then, um, who's the dude in turn before that got in the fence?
00:36:50
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
Um, same thing he walked away from it you look at that wreck and you're like man there's no way this is how do you lose there's no way this guy's right out of this are you talking about uh timing uh halfway around the the track before you knew what the previous lap was yeah well we used as a as a kid i still remember taking my stopwatch out and my dad would take a stopwatch yeah and you would sit there and watch it in in in the paper the newspaper yeah this we would would have the speed chart chart so you knew how many seconds it was and it would equate to a certain speed and you'd be like oh and then you'd be you every time that you you'd get close you'd be oh look dad look dad i got really close that time so anyway that yeahs yeah as a kid i remember doing that just did a little hand stopwatch right and you know you had to you had the information faster than everybody else yeah yeah don't know how accurate it was but it was close anyway you know
00:37:45
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
So I remember the first, the first memory I have of the track actually probably like 1958, before I ever started going to race. My dad took me over there and it was all dirt. When you walk around those roads, there was no pavement and it was like talcum powder.
00:38:00
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
I mean, that stuff was fine. And he'd walk me around that track two or three times. We walked from the house and walk around the track. Man, I remember, and but the first name I remember hearing,
00:38:11
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
Bill Cheeseboro because as a kid as like 1958 because I thought I thought I said Bill Cheeseburger so that's the only reason I remember that is like 1958 Bill Cheeseboro that name but yeah he used to walk me over there and I said I got to ask this what's the uncle art like to go with to the track let's see some kind of funky hat that never looked really good and Some kind of big American flag pin, and his binoculars draped across him like this. Okay. Binoculars were a necessity. Army binoculars draped across his chest, yeah.
00:38:51
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
He was... he He guarded prisoners of war in Germany right after the war. He was quite interesting to grow up with. You can ask Brad. I don't know a lot of stories. Uncle Art scared me for a long time. I seriously scared me. Me too.
00:39:07
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
Binoculars. Binoculars for one. If you're sitting outside of turn one, so you could look into the snake. That's why you really need him. yeah ah He's got 8mm movies somewhere at home you know of all this stuff. I know he's got Jimmy Clark on here and stuff like in the hits welcome by and all because uh our neighbor across the street his name was his name was hunk richardson and he worked for mobile oil so hump hunk because he looked like a movie star a good looking guy he's from linton indiana uh-huh but uh yeah hunk great friends of ours but we go over there and course they'd have the fence around the garage and all that thing yeah you know and uh
00:39:46
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
Hunk got us a lot. of I was working in his. lot lot of. Axes. Axes. Axes. okay. thought you going to another word. Yeah. Yeah. A few A few Yeah. A A few S's. Yeah. few S's. Yeah. A few S's. Yeah. A S's. A few Yeah. Yeah. few Yeah. Yeah. A S's. few Yeah. Yeah. few Yeah. few S's. Yeah. A few S's.
00:39:59
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
Yeah. Yeah. few Yeah. few S's. Yeah. A few Yeah. A few Yeah. few Yeah. few few few S's. Yeah. A A few S's. A Yeah. A Yeah. few S's. Yeah. few S's. Yeah. A few few Yeah. Yeah. A Yeah. Yeah. A few S. Yeah. few Yeah. Yeah. few A few S. Yeah. S. Yeah. few over the years, Jeff, can you rephrase this? for How has, how has access changed? I mean, back in the day, was it, was it more accessible to get into the garage? The, you know, in those areas than it is today? no Was it still as restricted?
00:40:28
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
yeah but you know that you has it has it changed the show tom well you know they didn't let women in the garage any women until 1977 what really ah the good old days i was you guys it was raining one day they were all making sandwiches it was raining one day and a lady comes up to the fence and had the car keys She couldn't come in the garage area, but it raining. She needed to give her keys. was Art Pollard's wife. Oh, really? Yeah. and She was not allowed. Not allowed. ah Driver's wife can't get in.
00:41:02
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
And that was until 77? That's when Janet Guthrie started driving. Wow. And then they started letting them in. And things kind of, I'm sorry, ladies, but. There was a lot of distraction in back there. Yeah. There was a lot of distraction though. yeah But so now it is, but yeah, I was, I was going there and I was 16.
00:41:20
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
So I looked. It's a prelude to joke of the week. Well, used to be that, you are you you know, if you were in the pizza garage, you had to have long pants, uh, no sand, no shoes, all that. they They've won't take tops. Yeah.
00:41:34
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
Yeah. They've changed all that. So, but it was, uh, It was interesting when it was the old wooden garage areas. I tried to get out there from Rand Electric in 86 to work in a garage area. I didn't make it. I made it out there in 87 though. so you so and So even back then, you still had to buy that access?
00:41:51
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
Yeah, pretty much. yeah My mom got bronze badges through right somebody, and bri she didn't use them, so I did. You had to be on a list. all list And I will say, I somehow procured a safety patrolman's badge.
00:42:07
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
That was... I want to hear the somehow part. Bullshit. Somehow, part so i have bullshit yeah somehow I don't know where I found it. until they hit It was at the bottom of that boat we sent over the creek.
00:42:26
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
and Until they had the photo IDs that came out, I used that badge probably for 20 years. i put it on jeans. did you procure this? and some Somehow a week ago I got laid too. I definitely remember how. Just saying.
00:42:42
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
I was doing long day. Yeah. was doing long day. Supposedly it was left up in the suite by someone. I don't know. And then it made its way to me. That's all I'm going to say. And that's your story and you're sticking to it. Well, you're not going get trouble, are you? It's in my case with my other badges and stuff. That's awesome.
00:42:58
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
And it's on the list of lost and stolen badges. Wow. For real? Yeah. He's cross-referenced. Oh, okay, okay. That's why we're toning that down. There you One day I went in or the entrance off Georgetown Road, and ah friend of mine,
00:43:12
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
was working to get yellow shirt and I didn't realize Tommy, he's passed away now. So anyway, he saw me come through there and he saw that pass and goes, wait a minute, because I get like $50 for turning you in. Oh, shit. Your buddy was going to turn you in? No, he let me slide. He let me slide.
00:43:35
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
I went on there, but one time had, you know, I'll give you a $50. I'll give you $60 if you shut up. $87 or $88. eighty seven or eighty eight I had the big video camera, you know, yep I had that badge on.
00:43:45
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
And back then they still had to creak up in turn one, yep you know? Yep. I walked right through, right past the ambulance, sat on the edge of the creek, and was just sitting there with my camera video tape and the car was coming out. Act like you knew what you were doing. Oh, yeah. crazy That's the thing. I'll tell you what. You go around there.
00:44:02
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
if you act like you know. If you don't cause trouble and act like an idiot, you it. Back in the day, if you just acted like you knew what you were doing, oh, I'm supposed to go through this gate, or I'm supposed to be here, nobody ever bothered you. Nowadays, you can't do shit. Oh, yeah, you get 100 questions. But anyway.
00:44:17
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
Especially when they the black shirts out there for the brickyard. you know They didn't have yellow shirts. They had their own people working the stands. Really? Yeah. basic so So Brickyard, NASCAR, i don't know.
00:44:28
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
But anyway, from what I understood, they basically just opened up the track and NASCAR took over. na NASCAR did everything. Timing and scoring, like everything. Security and concessions. they They were just, yeah anyway, cool that's that's what I understood.
00:44:43
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
My grandson and I rented the venue. My grandson and I played general admission. We went over turn three. there hardly by there, you know, it was kind of, and, uh, I told the guy, I said, Hey, don't you just want to put some butts in the seat, make it look better. yeah No, you can't come over that. yeah yeah So we hung back and I told my grandson, I said, there'll be a bums rush in about 10 minutes. yeah and we'll just walk through That's what we did. If you know the place, you know, so yeah. All right. So question you've sat in a general admission, spark this for me, cause it's a very different experience depending where you're at in that track. Turn one is very different from four.
00:45:20
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
General admission is totally different. Like commoners, Willy Wonka ticket at some level, depending where you're at. So, yeah um, your favorite place you've sat in, in that venue.
00:45:32
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
Current, which is turn three high in turn three, section 10. I mean, you get to see them coming out of two. you can see them jockeying down that backstretch, going into three coming out out of three and the four. I mean, to me, those are the best seats in the house. And if you,
00:45:47
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
walk down there and walk along where the handicap section is during the race or something that is to find John. No, sorry. That is where you take. And other people have said that too. That's where you get the greatest feeling of speed, the closest you're going to get right there. The only other place I could say, and I, and I think John hit it on last week is the, uh, the, the, the crossover.
00:46:16
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
So, outside on the south end, if you had a golf cart, you could not get it be behind because the tunnel was there. the main The main tunnel coming off 16th Street. you had to pull underneath the stands, in front of the stands for about seven, eight sections, and then back down underneath the stands to get over that tunnel. Oh, yeah.
00:46:36
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
And the cars come out of turn one, and they're within... feet oh yeah of the wall right and they're going 200 something miles an hour past you.
00:46:47
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
And if you're up against that fence, you literally are 15, 20 feet away from him a car on the other side of the wall and ah in a chain link fence. going 200 plus miles an hour right past you i think you're closer than that in turn three if you walk up there i mean because you've just got that small gap yeah fans and you know they it's it's very close up there when they come out of three come we're getting four when they're up to the wall when they're just heading into three okay oh yeah at the very end of the back stretch yeah i got you i got you i mean there ye but i mean
00:47:19
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
Yeah. The epitome of speed, it seems like. It is. And it it's a totally different perspective than being yeah halfway at the stands or whatever. I mean, if you're down there close and those cars zip by you at 200 plus miles an hour, it is crazy. You can feel it.
00:47:35
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
You can smell the fuel. You can smell it. Yes. Yeah. and when a wreck happens it you feel the heat you know you feel everything it's almost it's a very different sporting event to watch you almost have to learn and sort of train yourself how to turn your head and would follow what you want to follow there's so much going on it's it's tough to take it on yeah there's someone with some minus standard jump tough goes oh and nothing's going on. We've all seen that. We've all seen that. They talk about racing and a few years ago people were talking about racing was better but in reality the
00:48:11
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
so you know they talk about raising how and you know a few years ago people told me about how racing was better but you know in reality if you were If you had 10 cars finished back in the 60s, you would have done pretty good. The attrition rate was terrible. two Two on the lead lap, you were fortunate. Exactly. I mean, races, I mean, between accidents and and engine failure, things like that.
00:48:34
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
right So the racing now is, man, it's it's as competitive as it's ever been. I don't disagree. yeah Yeah, it's excellent. It really is. It has so been for several years. So back in the day, oh, sorry. No, you're good.
00:48:45
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
Back in the day, did anybody was follow? He to anyway. the series i mean and what did that series look like was that well i i know it wasn't like it is now but did anybody follow those racers beyond indy i'm sure people did but as a kid i really didn't i mean you know if it it wasn't as accessible on TV as it is right now.
00:49:09
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
So, you know, you knew about the Milwaukee Mile, right things like that, but now you've generally Indy was it, man. Indy had the history. Indy was the history. But back then, didn't they also do...
00:49:20
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
um wasn't silver crown racing and midgets and sprints a part of the what wasn't that a part of the people the the racing and little people yeah it was racing series right aj would go race the hoosier 100 or holman 100 whatever's called out there at state playground right saturday night then he'd go run the indy 500 right you know the next day yeah and uh they several others they did some uh stock car racing out at Raceway Park to have a road course right you know with the Goldsmith Foy and ready all those guys there you know so could you imagine going back there and watching that but as a kid didn't hear about it but it's pretty nice to go out and see it oh yeah sure yeah so somebody asked earlier you've been going 60 plus years said you became a big owl fan yeah you're Jim Clark fan prior
00:50:14
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
uh i like al jr too i like i think everybody like lula yeah i like little alec is like the quintessential nicest guy you'd ever meet right everywhere you see him he's just social now john doesn't feel that way we established that but until he leaves his wife on the south side of 465. oh yeah i mean hey who has not had that thought tomato tomato But I mean, I thought about leaving mine in Auburn. Mary, it's a long walk from Marquette, Michigan. am we we But we've talked about this before to some degree because we've all had experiences at the 500. And no matter what, one thing about the drivers that you meet, most of them are very everyday kind of kind of guys, right? They're easy to talk to.
00:51:03
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
they're they're not a whole celebrities or what have you they they just seem like they're they're so in that moment and that that event that and they're and they're truly grateful for the fan support whatever that looks like and and they just always seem very gracious in my opinion i think they're very approachable yeah i found to be approachable good The year Will Power won the race, right I was over in the garage area, and it was misting.
00:51:35
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
you know Not quite raining, but misting. Nobody around. Garage doors were closed and everything. Ashley Judd gone? ah Yeah, but her breasts were still there. There we go. One in the first term, one in the fourth.
00:51:51
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
ah So Will's standing at his garage door, the small door by himself. He's my grandson's favorite driver. So I said, Will, you mind I get your autograph? No, no. He goes, come on in.
00:52:03
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
So he invited me inside the garage. So I thought it was very cordial. It was really cool. You know, he didn't have to do that. Sure.
00:52:11
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
So, yeah, I've always i always found them to be, you know. So Dave dave brought us a scrapbook, a bunch of cool stuff in it, it looks like. So that's what Brett's doing. Different autographs and and things like that. And I'm guessing these are through many, many, many years.
00:52:29
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
of the of indy 500 history so your mom worked the your mom worked the turn two suites yeah there she was hospitality whatever right did you ever sit over there and watch a race in the suites she might be one of the nicest people like she's top three nicest people in the world i've ever been around never met a stranger yeah hosted i mean you guys grew up in a ah smaller house those guys from new york came in forever yeah uh everybody just went to that place uh race weekend yeah i mean they were very cordial people both them i'm at my dad went over and he used to park the van by the suites because she was over there a lot ah and he'd go up and help out and everything nice
00:53:13
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
But no, I went over and watched some practice of qualification was never from from there. yeah Yeah. So that was cool. And I got to miss meet Mr. And Mrs. Holman. Yeah. And I never got their autographs or anything. I didn't feel like getting sure. Sure.
00:53:25
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
Yep. But funny story. My dad had a 69 Torino GT and that's where I took my ah driver's test in. As a matter of fact, in 69, 69 Torino GT was back. Oh yeah. And, back oh yeah and She was over there at the suite, and Governor Whitcomb was going to drive Tony over to the to his penthouse.
00:53:46
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
So he borrowed the keys from my mom. yeah Back in a borrowed car. So he gets in the car. She forgot tell him. It had power disc brakes, but they were extremely touchy. So he didn't have seatbelts on.
00:53:57
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
And he drives them over. Almost put Tony through the windshield. He came back said, Pat, you didn't tell me about those brakes. Oh, I'm so sorry. But, yeah, almost put Tony in the windshield. That's funny. Oh, my God.
00:54:09
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
so ah so So Tony Jr., I guess. Tony George. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. yeah ah I don't think I've told the story before.
00:54:20
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
So apparently ah when Joey Chitwood was the president of IndyCar. Yep. When it was Indy Racing League back then. But when he he was president over there. and Joey Chitwood grew up with his dad and grandfather, I'm assuming, doing the ah auto thrill show. yeah so he was ah like As a kid, he was in auto shows where they were doing stunts and jumps and all kind of cool was a later Evel Knievel. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
00:54:50
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
Well, apparently he was trying to teach Tony George a maneuver where you're driving backwards and you do a... Spin the wheel. spin the wheel, and then all of a sudden you're going forwards.
00:55:02
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
And ah ah um guess i from what I heard, the story was he damn near totaled the car into a light pole behind the offices 16th Street, hu or he did hit a pole.
00:55:17
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
But ah anyway, yeah, there was a day there was a day when everybody was talking about that. They were like, ah yeah, apparently Tony ah either either crashed it or almost crashed. it Was cocaine involved? but that Not then. not that i don't think so. No, no, no. No. Wow.
00:55:32
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
Anyway. Yeah, my mom used to give ah Tony George free Cokes down the golfer's lines when he was a kid. Different Coke. Well, yeah. That was a different kind of Coke. Coca-Cola. It got the good stuff later. The drinking Coke, not the powdery.
00:55:47
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
All right, so what what's your race day? weekend festivities, what what's the routine for you now? Well, my relatives come in from New York. they Still.
00:56:00
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
And they've been doing that for? 30 years, probably. I'd say since I've been around, or since I remember it. he's He holds the yeah tickets for us. He buys the tickets and all that. he's He's a year older than me, I think.
00:56:12
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
He's retired now, and he's I think he's the mayor of Lockport, New York now or something. He's a mayor? Yeah, he took over. no shit? Not exactly mayor, but he took over as head administrator or whatever he is. Yeah, don't know Wow.
00:56:26
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
He's got all kinds of money, so he doesn't matter, so. I got it. Come on, boys. Hang did he buy Manhattan for $24 a beat and fucking beaver belt? He had a beaver belt.
00:56:38
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
He was 22 and his wife spilled. That was only worth $2 back
00:56:45
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
then? Same downtown. You'd get him anywhere. You'd get him anywhere. Oh, wow. I could be in trouble. Yeah, you're good. We're not going to send him in the link this podcast. Hang on, though.
00:57:01
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
Two years ago, you guys ever watch Fast and Loud, Richard Rollins? ah You never watch that? Mm-mm. Oh, yeah. I don't think so. Okay, it was a... Anyway, one of the stars in that show, I ran into him at gift shop, and Tom, and, uh, messing around. He told a couple jokes. wanted to know if he could use them. Yeah, I got it. Yeah, because I got a... I got some jokes.
00:57:20
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And, uh, So anyway, I say, you guys got tickets. We got two people are going to be here. So he ended up buying tickets and and sat with us up at turn of three and the people recognize him. Come up, get his autograph. That's cool. awesome yeah Yeah. He was on that show with Richard Rollins for two or three years.
00:57:36
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
He was out of Texas. He was pretty funny guy. So so the relatives come in New Yorkers come in, right? They come in. They probably get in Friday night.
00:57:47
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
Used to when the brickyard was gone, I'd have as many as 14. people from New York at our house. Holy shone. 2000 square foot house. So, you know, that was a little crowded. yeah So anytime I go to New York, I got a place to stay, no matter who I can talk to. him That's awesome. So, uh, but yeah, we, they come in Friday night and things are different this year. My wife's going through some chemo right now. yeah But, uh, other than that, uh,
00:58:12
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
Everything should be normal. but bri ah We used to we' go walk down Georgetown Road. i mean i was That was a big thing back then. We um mentioned it last week, but we never got into it. Hit some stories there.
00:58:26
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
because youre That's where shit really... because because That's really race stuff right that's right stuff. Because people come in for the weekend out of town And they go to the parking lots and they go to the campgrounds. They have nothing to do. Right. Because once you're parked in those parking lots, you can't go in and out. Right.
00:58:44
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
So there's nothing to do but mill around the speedway. Oh, I love going out. That's what we're going to get into And most those people just drank excessively. and back in the day before the roundabout and the closed off street, you made the lap, right? You, you went, Georgetown back and forth, everybody walked back and forth and every, every lap you made, you saw something new. I mean, you could have walked up and down there a thousand times and you saw something new every time.
00:59:15
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
Well, uh, the year Ray Hall didn't make the show. I forget what year it was, but, uh, We were walking down so Georgetown Road. We got up at 16th Street. There was a cardboard cutout that someone got from a liquor store, had an extension cord running it over and had a trouble light hanging on it.
00:59:32
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
Bobby was holding a sign that I need tickets. that was That was a cool thing. It was like, yeah, that got a lot laughs. That's hilarious. They re-ran that for Graham, I think, a few years ago. Ouch. Ouch.
00:59:49
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
Yeah, but didn't miss leg, take care of what's Justin's leg. Oh, yeah yeah. And then he got back in. Yeah, yeah we were over there one time, and we're walking down there, and my cousins had like four or five of us, and Johnny was with us, my cousin Johnny.
01:00:07
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
And we were just walking along. I think he was walking front us, and some guy of sudden came up, and like he was a friend of his, but we didn't know it. And he acted like he was going to beat him up or something like that.
01:00:19
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
i' suddenly had five of his He was like, whoa. Yeah. And we realized pretty quick that he wasn't farming. But yeah I think John remembers that. Yeah. Well, there's that thing. Because they're from New York, and these guys are. Yeah. yeah yeah But there's that thing. It's like we can make fun of whoever we want in our group. We want somebody else outside of. Yeah.
01:00:41
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
Messes with the group. It's like, hey, hey, what are we doing? We crossed the line here. um I remember 77. My cousin and I were. He'd come down from New York. He wasn't one races. Just him and my uncle came down.
01:00:54
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
And it was a crazy year that year, 77. We were on Georgetown Road, oh so yeah north of twenty fifth Street. And there were a lot of signs, show us your tits. And then these girls had signs out, show us your guys.
01:01:10
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
And then here come a ah he comes a black limousine coming through. Not exactly a limousine, but a stretch Cadillac. ah And it had TV and 10 on it. And was playing like a whole bunch of different songs on the horn.
01:01:24
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
And he happened to be an African-American and in that crowd. ah And so somebody walks up and he ripped the antenna off the car. you know they like They didn't do anything else much, but they drove through. But then some girls in a Volkswagen come driving through and had their windows down.
01:01:40
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
Guys were reaching in there and grabbing them. It was not a good place back then. So they drove up to 25th Street, turned around, and they headed back full speed. and hit some people on the bridge knocked one guy off the bridge broke his leg and all yeah it was uh and the same night there was a guy in a black corvette a new corvette come driving through there slowly and some guy had his pants down around his ankles belt and everything underwear and he come walking and he jumps on this guy's hood jumped right on the guy's hood belt buckle everything man yeah it was like oh my god so the guy takes off in the corvette
01:02:17
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
hits the brakes, rolls the guy off. He's all skinned up and all. And he comes walking back. Same way, you know. Good to go. Do it again. it again. My cousin was like, my God, it the like is like this every year?
01:02:29
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
I said, no, this is pretty good this year. His team. And that was the thing back then because you could walk and there were cars on the road. Yeah. People drove through. Driving at a walking pace. yeah yeah At least up to 25th Street. Then after that, it was, now one year,
01:02:47
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
you know, we're walking down and there was a, there was a house over there by the VFW. It was an elderly lady. She had an eight foot fence around her property. Yep. Right. Okay.
01:02:57
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
The entire street was just trashed except in front of her house. ah All the trash. I mean, it was like someone drew a line at her property. yeah All the trash was in her yard. Yeah. They threw bicycles, coolers, you name it. her yard Over the fence. They were completely trashed.
01:03:12
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
She was on the news after that and, and the Speedway bought her house and tore it down. Yeah. Yeah. They ended up buying a house. But I mean, it was so funny. we walked up there. The street is completely clean. What the? And all this trash. Everybody, instead of throwing it on the ground, they're like, let me throw it over this fence and into this lady's yard. She would open her fence and just out there wave at people.
01:03:32
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
wouldn yeah Yeah, it have done it. That was their thing. and yeah Location. It's like building a house on a golf course, right on a golf course hole, not expecting golf balls in your house. Exactly. So you had you had said something earlier about Jim Neighbors and and the autograph that you got from him.
01:03:48
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
Yeah. A little birdie flew on my shoulder. Oh, okay. I think I know where you're going with this. Yeah. can you Can you elaborate on that think story? Can you confirm or deny that story? A little birdie came on your shoulder? Yes.
01:04:02
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
We, uh, we normally after the race, we, my sister lives, her house was off the third turn. So we just parked over there and walked back. But, um, we decided to walk over by the pits that day after, you know, the gasoline alley after the race over. So we walked down the backstretch. Do you remember the, I'm sorry, Dave, not to interrupt. Do you remember the year roughly?
01:04:20
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
it'd have to be 1906. nineteennots It was early nineties. Okay. Yeah. That late. Wow. Okay. Okay. And, uh, So we are partaking of God's lettuce. Yes, God's lettuce. Hippie lettuce. Yeah, yeah. And I happen to be partaking of it. And here comes a golf cart with Jim Neighbors and somebody else riding in it.
01:04:44
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
So I
Humorous Encounters & Work Stories
01:04:46
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
stopped him. I stopped him and took the joint out. Pardon me. so so Took the weed. Took God's lettuce out. Switched hands and put my right hand. I said, hey, good job today, Jim. And shook his hand and everything. You know, yeah he said, hey, thanks, you know So they drive off. My cousin says, did you see it was on the back of that cart?
01:05:04
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
I said, no. big old state trooper he was standing right on the back of the cart you know and i'm talking to jim holding the joint like hey so uh yeah he he never said anything so he just drove off and did he partake jim did not take any he didn't no he was uh he was uh he did not want any of that okay so you know uh he probably took some later yeah yeah you know when off the subject a little bit you know when rock hudson died he didn't have a lot of friends but he neighbors up the
01:05:51
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
that is it sorry touch off subject i'm sorry for that that's hilarious it's fucking hilarious oh Oh, I was going to say, anybody over 50 will get that joke. Yeah. Wow. all yeahs You have to Google Rock Hudson. Jim did. He Googled all over him. you Damn.
01:06:20
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
all week yeah your daughters what are they into the five hundred the whole thing or no ah Oh, Amber likes to go over to Carb Day and to the Cosworth and stuff like that. Autumn, not so much. Okay. and But I used to take them over when they were real. yeah I took them over. And in 87, matter of fact, they were doing the Pan Am games.
01:06:40
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
Yeah, I remember that. That was their opening ceremonies. Earlier, I'd worked out at Fort Bend. I was electrician, so we were putting um fencing wire, sound sensing cable all around the bottom of it, crawling around and rain suits on the football field and stuff. Yeah.
01:06:57
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
putting electric wires on the fence. They had like eight miles of fencing. but In the rain? Yeah, electricians were working everything. So anyway, we we got to the track. It's not as dangerous as you think.
01:07:08
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
You're not a fucking electrician, Tom. Come on. Just stay grounded. You're fine. yeah Just keep your foot on the ground. Everything's good. That whole he and water thing, it's overrated. So by then, April or so, I was working out of the track, and ah the Pan Am gamers were going to have this stuff. So yeah I'm working, and they bring a Mickey Mouse balloon out.
01:07:27
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
And it's the big head of a Mickey, you know, so I call my wife, say, hey, hey, come out. And it was a hot air balloon. I said, come out check this out. So she brings the kids out, you know, and they were like tiny, you know, two. And my daughter was watching it. And then they decided to deflate the balloon.
01:07:46
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
the tears were flowing. Yes. Yeah. She was pretty hysterical. Yeah. yeah she's watching mickey deflate i'm like oh god didn't get him out here soon enough so so yeah maybe that's why she doesn't go the track much i don't know but uh no but one daughter likes it and the other daughter doesn't i ask because same with same with my kids my daughter who i never i don't know you never know like i'm not a racing fan per se but this month it's like but you're a 500 fan it's just It's just the whole
Family Memories & Racing Culture
01:08:18
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
thing. And for me, I've said before, it's the people, it's the event, it's it's the people watching.
01:08:23
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
The cars, though, there's nothing like that that I've ever experienced in any sporting event. right so It's so fast, it's so dangerous, it's so cool, it's almost hard to comprehend. If you haven't seen a person, you don't get it. You just don't get it. We've talked about this before, but at my house,
01:08:46
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
my girl goes to the 500 the boy wants to go to the u.s nationals every year okay so he doesn't have the patience to sit there and watch those cars go around a few hours three hour race he wants to see that action at the drags the girl she went one year and was so into just not just the race but just the event sure and and that was cool to see and it's cool it's always cool to see when your kids are as yeah into it as you are you know that's awesome so it's always it's always different you know i can't get my wife to go because she gets bored she's i don't even get it i don't you know and that's fine think of but um
01:09:31
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
um yeah we uh and i think that's that's the way it is for people though that aren't from here right i know as a kid 1966 we're sorry it's inside job knife yeah don't worry about it just keep going my dad laughed it came to my mind it didn't come out of my mouth keep going experiences like uh 1966 my dad and i were over at the speedway motel having having
01:10:02
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
lunch or breakfast something like that my mom was serving you know and sitting at the table next to us jackie stewart and jim mckay holy shit yeah i didn't go get the autographs or anything my mom's got jackie stewart's autograph i but they're just sitting right next to the table eating you know it's like that's stuff you remember oh oh yeah so stuff you yeah those were icons yeah and uh nineteen seventy seven i went over and packed lunches one time, just help out. They were packing lunches for the people, you know, chicken and apple and all this crap, you know.
01:10:31
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
yeah So, Mr. Schwartz, who was the manager of a Speedway Hotel, he had a, at the third turn, there was two houses the Speedway owns, and there was two gates there that you can get in and out.
01:10:43
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
So, about two or three in the morning, probably, he, I need, you know, I was done packing lunches and all. So, we hop in the golf cart, and he drives me in a golf cart right down the middle of the track cleared his third gate entrance so i could get out and then walk home but they could still work on their cars back then sure so we're in the middle of the track there's nobody there you can hear some of the cars revving up but you hear the crowd outside uh-huh at even at three in the morning yeah it was just I'll never forget that experience. It was a beautiful night, clear night, driving to golf cart, Jesse and I, and you can just hear that. You can feel the energy. Yeah, that's awesome.
01:11:23
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
I get chills thinking about right now. It really was that cool. So then he goes along like the gate. and In fact, one of those houses, I know ah it's probably grown over now, but it's probably it's still there. But one of those patios in one of those houses, all bricks from the speedway.
01:11:37
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
Really? no yeah cool He made his entire paddy out those 1911 Culver bricks. They're still there and growing over. ah They're still there. Yeah. yeah Wow. but So outside of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, have you been to any other races on IndyCar on any other
Race Experiences & IndyCar Appeal
01:11:55
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
tracks? Been up to Chicagoland.
01:11:57
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
Okay. Yep. and They raced there for what, a hot five, six years maybe? Yeah, something like that. Yeah, IRL. And one year Johnny and I had our nascar license where we go to the tracks went down talladega and spent the whole weekend down there in talladega that was that was a really interesting yeah ah and uh we drove across the backstretch to get into the parking area i swear to god i thought i was looking at a wall and it was the track 33 degree we had total access so we watched both races from the pits and everything i mean i was just
01:12:33
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
it was really cool. That's cool. enjoy yeah it's So awesome you and John are a prize lap sponsor. Oh, let price that price. bond yeah is that so Yeah. Explain what that is. First of all, for people who don't know, uh, 200 laps, you have people can sponsor lapsing multiple apps or whatever for companies or whatever. But John and I have been sponsoring the, uh,
01:12:58
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
Grand Prix, Indy Grand Prix for last four years. Okay. Trying to get on this list. And so finally we're, we're on this list and we're sponsoring lap 46. Oh, wow. we're sick It's an exclusive. It's an exclusive. I'm chugging a beer on lap 46. So there's 200 laps. Yeah.
01:13:16
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
And so, yeah, you, that's a big thing. Yeah. And so at the end of the race, so whoever, whatever driver is leading on that lap, whatever, ultimately gets that prize money. Gets your money. la right you and farther Is it still per lap?
01:13:32
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
i remember where who vulnerable yeah It used to be $500. It was about $1,300, and we split it. $1,200? So it's up $1,200. Oh, it's $1,200. You get a silver badge, and you get a couple tickets for the Carb Day and couple qualification tickets and all that. Carb Day tickets are going be $100 before you know it. Yeah, they are.
01:13:53
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
And you get your name and the program. name is forever. There's a page in there, Lap Price sponsors. It shows them all. yeah so yeah that's That's crazy as Is FEPCO, F-E-P-C-O, still a big sponsor out there? They used to be. They used to be on there. They sponsor lap 45. Yes. 69. One through 45. 69, that's where everybody drives around backwards.
01:14:19
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
jo Now they had lap 45. Only half of them. We're riding between 45 and 47, so I guess we're the Biden lap. 46. I don't know. I see what you did.
01:14:34
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
I hope they remember where they're going. Do you guys get to pick the lap number? Because I would think like lap one. They had some available, and John picked the lowest number, right? Yeah.
01:14:45
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
Lap one is different. Probably sponsorship level. It's been 200. 100 and 200. No? a month like No. They're all the same? Yeah, but ah but some some some have been lap price sponsors for years. They had same the same. Some them back in the day when they had all those pace cars, I think they used to either give them a ride or let some them take cars home.
01:15:05
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
o my My dad's boss was Logan Blackburn, and he he was a millionaire back in the day. And he raced with ah Paul Newman. They were teammates at team dots or nissan whatever and uh logan and i remember my dad drove home a 67 camaro pace car one year wow yeah oh awesome how would you like to have it some but i like that i'd like to have pictures though nobody took pictures yeah but yeah it was uh it was awesome remember that camaro you you do the uh turbo that i brought over to your house That was a Trans Am? Okay. oh GTA g or GTA. Whatever it was. Whatever the pace car was that year. Freaking badass. Little Smokey and the Bandit. So he would he when he worked there, he would have a day or two with... He'd get a pace car because he was a employee there.
01:15:50
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
And most times he'd always come out and... being you know I'd gotd call the family yeah so there were six siblings I usually call everybody and be like hey okay everybody I'm Tuesday night I'm stopping by your house and i'd I'd go to all my family let him let him drive the car around for a little bit the GTA I lay down the east side then we took that out unfortunately white and silver wasn't yeah yeah the to yeah the gold banding around it it was a badass car well so he goes want drive i go
01:16:23
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
22 22 years old go oh well fuck yeah yeah i do Hell yeah. yeah But they they also had some ugly ass pace cars out there. that seventy How about the 73 Eldorado?
01:16:37
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
See, I don't remember. Yeah. It was a big white with red interior convertible Cadillac. Yeah. There's one of the, at least there used to be one of the basement. It sounds bad. 90 was a Beretta, I think. Yeah. Jesus. The Yeah.
01:16:54
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
um on Yeah. That little Baron. yeah That's what I was just going to say that. Yeah. He brought a Baron at one time. Then that Cadillac Cimarron. think the Cimarron was pace car out there one year. Yeah.
01:17:05
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
It was a Cavalier with Cadillac badge. up Yeah. That's what it was. oh Yeah. Pretty bad. But that Beretta was the ugliest. It was an ugly car. Yeah. It was a horrible car. You know, I heard that Boyd in 67 down that.
01:17:20
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
turn down that pace car because it didn't have air conditioning or power windows something. So he didn't even take the car. really keep it So the, so the winner of the Indy 500, what Dave's saying, the the winner gets a, a pace car, rep whatever as one of their prizes.
01:17:35
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
Right. So, yeah. So he turned it down. That's what I heard. yeah He had enough money. yeah whatever he yeah ah yeah Do you have a, a favorite story you haven't told or go joe ah let's see.
01:17:49
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
How about a, um, ah crowd reaction story okay there was a okay okay i was i was uh not to that dude i thought the tire with his face right no no no that doesn't involve midgets if everybody if everybody i talked to that saw that guy get killed was in that stand stand would have collapsed yeah yeah i was there you know That's all I'm going to about that. i so They say it's like Woodstock back in the day. Oh, yeah, yeah. I at Woodstock. I'm sure you were. 100 billion people were at Woodstock. I'm sure you were.
01:18:21
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
i was It was 1981, I think. I was trying to get an electrical apprenticeship. That was Andrew, Eddie Unzer, wasn't it? Yeah, that was a debacle. yeah and ah But I'd been working for electrical contractor as a, you know, keeping books and ah running the company, basically. Well,
01:18:40
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
the union was trying to get me in So I went, I was trying to get an apprenticeship and I'm working at a Holiday Inn airport and they had like three stories up. They had these rails you paint, you know, and I was working just to kill time and I had money put back, but you know and, uh, I was working with these kids from Ben Davis high school and, uh, what those are turds. I wouldn't have, I wouldn't have done that. Mark mark Tudor was one of them.
01:19:04
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
I don't know if you guys knew him. He's passed away now. Sorry, Mark. But, and, uh, he had a friend named Byron. And I don't know Byron's last name, but it was a fourth turn out there, and it was still clear up to the fence before they put form the formula track in and all.
01:19:19
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
And, you know, you get rainy days and you get a big old mud puddle out there. Oh, geez. Okay, right? And then you get a nice sunny day. Okay, well, here comes Byron. He's got like a 60-something Chevy truck with a utility bed on it and stuff, you know, and and we see him coming, and we see what he's going to do, and there's nothing we can do about it.
01:19:42
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
was cruppling so he's gonna hit this big mud puddle and splash it like oh this is only it was a sunny day and people don't want that so we're watching him and here comes i ah he hits that mud pool and that stuff splashes I mean guys with these boom boxes and stuff and people laying out in blankets and all he keeps driving and About 50 people were chasing after him. They were right on his ass.
01:20:12
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
He pulls up, makes a left, throws his truck up in the park, and gets punched in the face immediately. Several times, he was pummeled pretty good. He was he managed to get his truck started and drive out of there. wow and yeah he He didn't stick around that day.
01:20:29
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
And we saw him the next day. He was pretty pretty beat up. And we just laughed. We said, dude, yeah we saw you coming. We couldn't do anything about it. said, what were you thinking? Because that mud just everywhere. And these people were not happy. Oh, yeah. All right. So it was pretty cool. It looked like it really a Hollywood movie. I mean, 50 people just running full blast after this truck. And when he stopped, it was like everybody wanted to take a shot. You know, it was excellent.
01:20:54
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
Yeah. um If you've been to the track multiple times and don't have a story, you're like, yeah I probably made a bad decision. theres the track Then you haven't experienced the track. no In 86, cousin rode their motorcycles down from New York. He used to ride their motorcycles down quite a bit.
01:21:11
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
From New York. Yeah. Holy shit. So I think it got rained out. I think it was 86. It got rained out completely. Yes. They held it the next week. That was my first race. They rode their motorcycles back for the race. Hats off to them.
01:21:22
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
Yeah, they wrote down and back. Then they wrote down and back again. These guys are Rays fans. think a little you know And you guys thought I, back-to-back days, going up to Chicago for rained-out baseball game? You thought I was an idiot. well See?
01:21:35
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
believe Normal people do this stuff. I'm telling you guys. You a Gummy fan? ah Not really. No, they took me up for Father's Day one time. We drove all the way up there. The game got rained. Turns out that year they celebrated Father's Day on Saturday and Sunday. Both days. Do you follow the the series nowadays? like do you Do you watch the ah other races on TV? Oh, yeah. oh yeah okay i watched I follow F1 and IndyCar. Not so much NASCAR, but I watch all the IndyCar races. I watch them win three out of four. and all that yeah He killed them. Oh, my God. Absolutely murdered them. He's smooth.
01:22:11
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
So he's got to be odds on favorite. well I think he is on the gambling side. But not Oval. he is oh on He's never won an Oval. Yeah, he's a road course guy. Road course, he's great. Santino. yeah you know and that's so And that's what I think is interesting about the series now with the combination of road course and Oval.
01:22:33
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
is that there are definitely drivers that excel at one or the other, but there's not, it doesn't seem to be a group of drivers that excel at both. Scott Dixon, Will Power, the only guys that... I mean, Pato's coming, is doing pretty good, but the reality is that there just seems to be drivers that do well at one or the other. You have a specialty. Yeah.
01:22:57
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
And I think that's what makes IndyCar very interesting, is that there's a combination of courses combination of different tracks they need more ovals yeah different different things going on and i and i think though if they did that if they had more ovals or or they had more road courses i think then your your favorites or your stronger drivers i think that that lineup changes a little bit right if you have more ovals which is the indy car or right right yeah right i think it I think it gets different really quick. Well, I watched that race on Sunday at Barber.
01:23:32
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
Did you lose 250 on it? No, I did not. I bet on that. I was actually going to bet on it. and I was going to bet below, but... would he Jay and I were watching your fucking you're gonna be lost that you could blow on Ashley judge titties yes when he made the first turn he went first in the first turn I go this race is over switch it over nobody's gonna catch you I mean nobody he's just so dominant this year all right David if you have you been have you been to the museum yet no I haven't been to the new museum
01:24:05
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
pretty cool what the hell been on I've seen some video of it you know but I'm John showing you pictures of it that's hilarious hey we used to ride our bikes and go up to the museum what is that on the corner of 16th and Georgetown was administrator on yeah where it was yeah it's just like a single building you could walk in there I think a buck and they had the cars lined up in the occasional motorcycle
Museum Tales & Nostalgic Moments
01:24:32
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
yeah that was very ah very cool i like that one that was i really enjoyed that it was so small and everything had just kind of been yep and i like the older museum too and i'm sure the new one's awesome yeah i'm sure it's it's just presented so much differently that it's um more a more museum it's updated
01:24:55
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
yeah but it's still... Because, I mean, the old museum was kind of like just... Thrown together. Stuff in Sort of. Yeah, yeah, yeah. yeah But they had a collection. They had a lot of cool stuff, though. Oh, um very cool. The old one was like good cool just a giant collection a bunch of collection car shit. Somebody's gigantic garage. that They were like, look at all this cool shit I've got from over the years. I kind like that, too.
01:25:16
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
what i's like I kind of like stuff like that. Just wandering through and on your own and reading things. The basement. I'll tell you what, the basement. That's what that's where I was going to go. Oh, really? the people People don't go into the basement. they I used to. used to go in. Because you worked there.
01:25:32
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
no judge But they had more cars in the basement. Yeah, they did. Link could probably talk about that. i would I would literally, as a dumbass, I don't know, i started working there when I was 16. As a dumbass before the administration building there on the on the corner outside Turn 1, I worked over in the museum building, and I would take my peanut butter and jelly sandwich and Doritos and I would go down. What flavor of Doritos? ah Usually not. Cool Ranch. Did you put the Doritos on the peanut butter and jelly? No, no, no. never did that. Why would you do that? I'm a taco Dorito guy. Weird.
01:26:12
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
but i don' Also Cool Ranch. Don't put chips on your sandwich, weird. Yeah, that's silly. Just eat the chips first. All right, go the story. Shut the fuck up, Tom. Oh, okay. so dumbass me. like i Mix your corn and your mashed potatoes, too.
01:26:26
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
this was ah This was early when i I couldn't drive. Like my parents would pick me up from school. They'd take me work. Drop me off at work. Drop me off at work and come back pick me up at 5 o'clock. That's just the way it was. now And so anyway, on the the full days when I wasn't at school, I would go. I'd take my Primo Jaili sandwich. I would literally go down to the basement.
01:26:48
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
Mm-hmm. sit in the back of some Model A, Model T, Model X, Model B car. No shit. No joke. And eat my lunch sitting in the back of this freaking car. You got jelly on the fucking stick shit? probably got jelly on the back of...
01:27:04
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
Ford's car. they're they're Mr. Ford. Were you reenacting the scene from ah Titanic? tatan No, I was not. No, because just me in that scene, he got jammed. He got jammed the stick. Yeah, somebody got jammed in that scene. My pants fell off. don't know what happened.
01:27:23
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
i don't know what happened there's still not room on this door that's so sorry yeah yeah bitch i still hate her for that but yeah but before so that's a cool ass story i mean but nobody that's nuts man ever okay this was before there was no security down there there was no cameras there was a and this was before they even had like like i think two full-time mechanics that were working on cars like constantly down there right I was literally the only person down there. That's crazy. and it Whatever. i mean, I was like, okay. and that was cool yeah That was just dumbass me. Nobody ever knew I did that. I never told any of the old women that I worked with. It's like, hey, I'm going to go downstairs and eat my sandwich. I'm going to lunch. Maybe you could have reenacted the scene down there. They were more interested in the gear shift. so wow wow I was at the museum. They raised me. They were all my moms. They were old enough to be my mom. It's not older. Yeah.
01:28:16
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
I was in a museum. It might have been 88 somewhere. I had my big video camera, you know, and bought that in 87. So I'm just in the museum and just kind of filming, just kind of moving like this. Some guy jumps up in front of my camera screaming like this, you know, David Hasselhoff.
01:28:32
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
Oh, wow. Are you shitting? The Hoff. The Hoff? I couldn't believe it. You've got the Hoff on video? Yeah. Don't hassle the Hoff. I don't, I mean, I guess he was there with group of kids. I didn't even see him.
01:28:43
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
I'm just filming over this way. And I don't know if he thought I was filming him or what, but he jumped right in the camera. Does all this. I was like, I jumped back and I was like, David Hasselhoff. I think, I think it was, you one of the coolest videos I've ever seen. You did a Christmas video of Santa Claus, right?
01:29:00
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. We had a my daughters were real young, real young. And, uh, i took a black ski mitten put it on and i took a stocking and cut it off so the white fur was around here and all that and i videotaped me setting out their presence me going in their room and checking them talking about the cookies and all this stuff until they were in high school they were convinced that was yeah are you i mean that's awesome i mean someone else gave me the idea but you know i went through and and then at the end you know i just kind of
01:29:31
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
waved to the camera, you know, and then it had some bells. It's just a hand. It was cool. It looked good. That's cool. The weird thing was you you you wore lingerie outside.
01:29:43
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
ah Actually, I wore nothing. Oh, the camera has 10 pounds. He had robe recklessly open. Yeah, and and the weird thing, the inside of that glove he wore was completely worn out. Yeah, just said yeah because he stayed in Merrillville last night. Yeah.
01:30:01
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
All right, man.
Conclusion & Farewell
01:30:03
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
Let's get out of here. Dave, it was awesome talking to you today. Yes, absolutely. enjoy this month uh i know it's special to you so uh yeah take take it all in and uh hopefully new memories this year new stories to tell and uh that's what we always look for she battles through some shit yeah absolutely best to your best to your wife yeah absolutely sure she's got keen actually 22nd 23rd to your current wife 23rd is the car baby you know she'll be better by then
01:30:33
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
there yeah there you are every face yeah we should know i or John the only caveat was you had to be quiet it close well now because we've all been so patiently waiting it has brought us to what everybody looks forward to every single week. It is time for... right, here we go.
01:31:09
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
We're going to tie it into cars. I had two that I going with. they drive cars in Utah?
01:31:18
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
right here we go we week weekek week week weekek weekek weekek week were tied into cars i had two that i was going with do ah we drive cars in utah They do. um mean In this case, in Utah, yeah okay what do you call a gay bus driver?
01:31:35
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
In Utah, what do you call a gay bus driver? Is this northern or southern Utah? Just ask a friend. Central Utah. That changes my answer. In central Utah, what do you call a gay bus driver?
01:31:53
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
A pork and Mormon. what well That's a pretty good answer. The pork and Mormon. nor mormon Pork and Mormon. No, it isn't. Spit it out, Tommy.
01:32:05
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
Any other answers? Spit it out, Swallow. Is that where they make the Mormon wasp? Oh. Look at that time. The name name of the first car in 1911. Can I hear the question again, please? You gave your answer. I know. What do you call a gay bus driver? In central Utah, what do you a gay bus driver?
01:32:24
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
And Central Utah has nothing to do with the answer. ah Mr. Neighbors, you just missed my bus stop. Neighbors up his head. Huh? No?
01:32:36
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
Hey, Brett. You called him by his first name, you homophobes. Oh, wow. It's a solid board of beer thoughts. Every single week, you get all this fun and excitement for absolutely no money.
01:32:50
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
I don't know why, but you do. Hmm. Like, follow us, subscribe, all that good stuff wherever you get your podcasts. Until next week, I am Tom. I'm Jeff. It's a new podcast record. I'm Tom Carnegie.
01:33:04
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
Well done. Thanks, Dave, for joining us. Yes, absolutely. Thanks for having me. I appreciate it, guys. Thanks, Dave. You survived another episode. Send us an email at foursolidbeers at gmail.com for show ideas and input.
01:33:18
A Solid 4 Beer Thoughts
Until next week, cheers. you