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The Indianapolis 500 is a race immersed in tradition. From the drinking of the milk, to the singing of Back Home Again in Indiana, it’s traditions are long and are staples of the speedway. As the number of entries for the 102nd Indianapolis 500 grows, it looks like there will be one tradition that will return this May, Bump Day.

In Early January, 1977, two cars turned up to the 24 Hours of Daytona, fielded by the Inaltera Motors team. Ford Cosworth V8 power launched the cars to 3rd and 4th on the grid. Although both cars did not finish, in result of an accident and a suspension failure, they caught the attention of the spectators there, and International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) President John Bishop. Bishop was intrigued by the cars unusual design, and felt that if given a class, could intrigue the American public.

America has a long and rich motorsport history, stretching back to the late 19th Century. Throughout American motorsport’s history, however, many moments have been forgotten. Whether it be an amazing comeback drive, an underdog drive, a milestone, or just an amazing lap, these moments deserve the recognition that not many people know about. Here are 5 Moments in American Motorsport that have been forgotten.

In the history of auto racing, there have been only a few cars that have truly been so dominant, that it was deemed unfair. The Brabham BT46B “Fan Car” comes to mind, as goes great cars like the Porsche 917/30 of Can Am fame, Audi 90 GTO in IMSA, the 1988 Ford Thunderbird in NASCAR, the McLaren MP4/4, or the Lotus 72. All of these are great cars in history, but none could be called “dominant.” Not compared to the Penske PC-23.

When you think about Porsche in Motorsport, most think of their long and storied history in Sports Car racing, but throughout the 1980’s, the story was their craving to get into CART and have a shot at Indianapolis.

Mikey Thompson was already known by 1963. He’d built cars for the NHRA and Indianapolis in the past, most with radical and game-changing designs. For the 1963 Indianapolis 500, Thompson designed a radical new car. The Sears Allstate Special, as it would later become known, was built around the twelve inch tires it used to grip the track. Thompson planned to enter three cars in the 1964 Indy 500, all designed after his 1963 car. Thompson needed drivers to harness the power of these cars, so he adopted one of, if not the most, promising sports car drivers in the country, Dave MacDonald.

Most of the time when someone mentions the 1964 Indianapolis 500, people think of the deaths of Dave MacDonald and Eddie Sachs in a massive Turn 4 accident at the start of the race. It’s one of the scariest stories and horrific incidents in the history of the speedway. However, it not only created a legend around the Mikey Thompson car that Dave MacDonald had sparked the incident in, but it camouflaged the legacy of another.

The world’s most famous Chevelle was developed by Smokey Yunick for driver Curtis Turner and the 1967 Daytona 500. So many myths have been spread about the car, most untrue. I don’t usually write about cars, but this single car is so interesting that I had to. First off, there was never just one Chevelle. There were 3, the most famous being the 2nd one. This car was built by Chevrolet Engineering in Detroit. It was then transferred to Smokey’s Garage in Daytona Beach, Florida where it was finished by Smokey and a group of Chevy Engineers. The “1966 Chevelle” was ready for action.

On Sunday, Fernando Alonso will be running in the Indianapolis 500. All eyes will be on him, but a sole car, lining up 33rd on the grid, will be driven by James Davison. The car he will be driving is for the low-budget Dale Coyne Racing. This car was the fastest car in the State of Indiana, until Turn 2 on Lap 3 of Saturday qualifying. Driver Sebastian Bourdias had set the 2 fastest laps of Qualifying, and the first 2 laps in the 231 mph range. In Turn 2, on his 3rd lap, something went wrong.

On Sunday, hundreds of millions of eyes across the globe were concentrated on a former field in Indiana. The same could be said on May 28th, 1989. 28 Years ago, with half a million people were in attendance, millions watching on TV, two of the greatest drivers in the world battled for the ultimate prize in motorsport, an Indianapolis 500 victory.

With Fernando Alonso running the Indy 500 this year, the entire Motorsports world is focused on the Indy 500, and many F1 fans who have not watched IndyCar are now interested. Being an IndyCar fan first and foremost, I’ve decided to write about the modern history of IndyCar to help out any F1 fans who have questions about this form of racing. I will be covering the seasons between 1994 and present, as 1994 really marks the true start of the event that would shape IndyCar as it is today.

In 1966, the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile, or FIA, created a new category of race cars, Group 7. The series these would be driven in was called Can-Am, which would be sanctioned by the Sports Car Club of America, or SCCA. The series would consist of six races, two in Canada, and four in America. The cars would have to be purpose built, two seat race cars, have two doors, fenders, a self-starter, headlights, taillights and a dual braking system. That’s it. The car designers and team owners had free reign. They could do whatever and however they wanted to do it to win.

It’s 1984. Richard Petty won his 200th NASCAR Winston Cup Race, Niki Lauda beat Alan Prost by Half a Point for the Formula 1 World Championship, Stefan Bellof was dominating the World Sportscar Championship, and Cale Yarborough had just won the Daytona 500. IROC had been on a 3 year hiatus from it’s first years because of lack of funding. The series had not been able to find a car manufacturer to supply a car after Chevy could no longer fund and supply Second-Generation Camaros to race.

The early 1970’s were a bloodbath for F1. 7 Drivers had already died by the time F1 reached its 3rd Grand Prix in the 1974 Season. The only requirements to fill the shoes of the fallen on the grid were money and balls. A team had to have the money, and the driver had to have balls. That’s where Hesketh Racing comes into the picture. Lord Hesketh was born rich. He came from one of the richest families in England, and had everything a person would want in life. The story of what came to be a winning operation, and the birth of a F1 legend is truly one of F1’s greatest untold stories.

Our Story starts in February, 1987. NASCAR is in Daytona for the 29th Daytona 500. Bill Elliott, in the Red and White Coors Ford Thunderbird went out for his qualifying lap, Elliott and his Melling Racing fielded car had already set the track record for the 2.5 Mile oval 2 years prior, but there had been a redesign of the Thunderbird over the offseason, and Elliott was quick to show it off. Elliott immediately went to the top of the charts, with a new track record. Elliott had gone 210.364mph. The fastest any NASCAR race car had gone in a qualifying session.

It’s May, 1992 and NASCAR’s best drivers have returned to home base in Charlotte for the Winston race. This year, there’s a twist. For the first time ever, the Winston race will be run under the lights. It’s the first time ever a racetrack of any sort over half a mile will be lit up at night. 20 NASCAR Winston Cup Series drivers will take to Charlotte Motor Speedway’s 24 Degree Banking. What commenced was a 70 Lap, 3 Segment Slugfest between Kyle Petty, Davey Allison and Dale Earnhardt, but a night that started with such promise ended up in near tragedy.

In the history of Motorsport, some races have written paragraphs. Some have written pages. Only a select few, however, have written entire books. In my opinion, one race, and only one, has written an entire series of novels into the world of racing. That race is the 1992 Hooters 500.

It’s October 26th, 1997. A Jacques Villeneuve and Michael Schumacher pull up to the first 2 grid slots on the frontstraightaway of Circuito Permanente de Jerez. Both drivers qualified with identical lap times, and Villeneuve’s William’s teammate Heinz-Harald Frentzen qualified 3rd, with the same time. Villeneuve and Schumacher were separated by 1 point in the Championship standings, with Schumacher out front. If Villeneuve finished ahead of the German, he would have the Championship. Schumacher was determined not to let this happen. He turned out to be a bit too determined.

Suzuka, Japan, 1989. Two McLaren MP4/5’s rolled up to the first two grid slots at the Japanese Grand Prix. Ayrton Senna on pole position, Teammate Alain Prost in 2nd. Prost was 16 Points ahead of Senna in the Formula 1 World Drivers Championship, and in the penultimate race, Senna knew he had to somehow dethrone Prost. Prost knew if Senna didn’t win at Japan or Adelaide, the Championship would be his. Both knew their McLaren’s were the cars to beat in the race, and that as long as they did not take out each other, one would win. However, no one knew which one.

CART (Championship Auto Racing Teams) was an Open Wheel Racing Series that had been a rival to the IRL (Indy Racing League) for the many years since IRL’s Tony George had separated from CART. CART had boasted that their cars, tracks, and drivers were much faster and that their races had much more excitement than IRL. This marketing trick worked, and CART was rivaling NASCAR in American Motorsport. CART, looking to expand further, added one of NASCAR’s tracks to the 2001 CART Schedule, Texas Motor Speedway.

The 44th annual Daytona 500 was an absolute thriller, and I’ve chosen to dive into the race in detail. The 2002 edition of the race was one of the wildest Daytona 500’s in the race’s 58 Year History. A new aerodynamic package encouraged drivers to be much more aggressive when overtaking and also in their blocking, the race being after NASCAR legend Dale Earnhardt passed away in the 2001 edition of the race. The 2002 Daytona 500 had a reputation to live up to before the race even started, and it delivered that afternoon.

The evil contraption on the top, wing and splitter, nearly killed NASCAR as a whole, and put the mentality that the racing needs change in the heads of high-ranking people in the organization. It was ugly, slow, too dependent on aerodynamics and it ruined the racing. So why would a high downforce monster like this be created? And why was it changed? Well it all starts with a dark day in 2001.

The Aero Wars It’s 1970, and NASCAR has turned into a war-zone. After 2 consecutive championships with David Person, Ford was on the top of the world. That is, until Chrysler dreamed up the “Winged Warriors” in late 1969, making a debut at Talladega. Dodge and Plymouth dominated the 1970 Season with the Superbird and Charger Daytona, with Bobby Issac winning the championship. Meanwhile, Ford and Chrysler were taking a loss in the showroom, for differing reasons. Chrysler was taking a loss because of the amount of money put into the Winged cars and how few were being sold.

Restrictor Plates, the single most debated part in NASCAR history. Before we get into the list, here is a quick history lesson.