By Al Stilley
Senior staff writer

Popular NASCAR driver Kyle Larson, a graduate of USAC midget and sprint cars, said he believes that the Driven2SaveLives BC39 midget car race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway will grow into something special. But he is passing up the inaugural dirt track race Thursday after recently racing four nights in winged sprints in Pennsylvania.

The winner will take home $15,000 of the $75,000 purse. The two-day event has attracted a series record 118 entries and will precede three days of NASCAR events on the 2.5-mile oval.

“For Indy to put up a purse like that is very special; hopefully it will allow them to build something huge at the Speedway,” Larson said. “I would like to see this race grow into something bigger and better. “Short tracks like this are good for midget racing. The dirt track has a good surface and is wide. Anytime you put midgets on a small track, it’s a good race. It will be fun to watch.”

The Chip Ganassi driver is hopeful of snapping a 34-race winless drought by winning the NASCAR Monster Energy Cup race at the Brickyard. Larson, 26, has five runner-up finishes this season and has confidence heading into the Brickyard 400.

“We are solidly in the playoffs,” he said. “Our game plan hasn’t changed; we’re going out and trying to win.” Larson is known for his bold rim-riding style on pavement, a style that was developed on various dirt tracks.

“Racing on dirt in all sorts of different race cars has helped me to adapt on pavement and get up to speed quickly,” he said. “Dirt track change lap after lap, so I never considered running the same line lap after lap. That has helped me because racing on pavement changes during each race too.”

Larson was in Indianapolis Aug. 22 to hang a street sign with his name at the corner of Georgia and Illinois streets.

The 25th running of the Brickyard 400 unfolds Sunday at 2:09 p.m. Defending winner Kasey Kahne will take the green flag at Indy for the last time as he is retiring at the end of the season. Former winners in this year’s field include Kyle Busch, Ryan Newman, Jimmie Johnson, Paul Menard, Jamie McMurray and Kevin Harvick.

The race is the final event to determine the 16 drivers in NASCAR’s playoffs. Johnson and Denny Hamlin were expected to qualify for The Chase at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway Saturday night. However, Newman and Kahne are among many drivers who need a win at the Brickyard to make it into the playoffs

In an Aug. 29 interview at the dirt track inside Turn 3, IMS President Doug Boles said, “We have received unbelievable support across the board from the short track, racing and NASCAR communities. We knew we would get support, but the amount of support has been overwhelming.”

Boles said the track needs more banking in the corners. Some of the Musco LED lights used at the U.S. Nationals will be moved to the track for temporary lighting tonight and Thursday. The track, slightly under one-quarter of a mile, utilizes part of the ground where a smaller dirt track was developed for Tony Stewart. Bryan Clauson was part of that special day.

The race (BC39) is named for Clauson, who was killed last year in a midget car accident in Belleville, Kansas. Boles made his remarks after watching former 500 driver Sarah Fisher, who raced USAC midgets, take the first official laps around the track. Fisher is married to Beech Grove native Andy O’Gara, and they reside in Franklin Township.

Team owner Fisher has entries for twotime USAC national midget champion Dave Darland of Lincoln, Ind., Kyle O’Gara of Beech Grove and Ryan Smith of Pennsylvania. J.J. Yeley, who has raced in the Indianapolis 500 and the Brickyard 400, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Landon Cassill, Xfinity series driver Christopher Bell and Eldora Speedway truck series winner Chase Briscoe are among NASCAR drivers in the dirt race.

By Al Stilley
Senior staff writer

The tributes to NHRA Pro Stock legend Bob Glidden, who died Dec. 17, 2017, poured in during the 64th Chevrolet Performance U.S. Nationals at Lucas Oil Raceway in Brownsburg. The tributes took place Friday:

• Widow Etta Glidden accepted Indiana’s highest honor, the Sagamore of the Wabash, presented in memory of her husband, who won nine Nationals and 10 Pro Stock championships.
• Opening day of the Nationals pro competition will be known as Bob Glidden Day at the track and throughout Hendricks County.
• Pro Stock cars and drivers lined the return road adjacent to the drag strip in his honor. • Two white and blue 1978 Pro Stock Ford Fairmonts went down the strip in Glidden’s honor.
• Funny Car competitor Bob Tasca III raced a 2018 Mustang with red and white Motorcraft colors of Glidden’s famed 1988 Thunderbird.

“When the cars lined the return road, it brought tears to my eyes,” son Rusty Glidden said. “It was an unbelievable tribute from Pro Stock competitors.” Tasca was 12 years old when he met Bob Glidden at an NHRA race. “That was the first car I saw him drive,” Tasca said. “He was more than a driver and champion. He took me under his wing and showed me that it took determination and passion to win.”

Glidden’s older son, Billy, competed in Pro Mod, where he continued to struggle at the Nationals. Racing a smaller Ford engine boosted by nitrous oxide, he was mired in last place until his final run of 5.955 seconds, too slow to make the 16-field finals. His crew chief is wife and Greenwood native Shannon Springer Glidden.

Whiteland native and second-generation racer Joey Shipp reached Stock Eliminator and Super Gas semifinals Monday before being eliminated. Shipp, 30, made it to the four-car finals by outracing five foes in each class through Saturday night. His best run in SE was 8.74 seconds.

The Franciscan Health respiratory therapist was edged by only 3 feet by Texan Jerry Emmons in SE semis Monday. In Super Gas the difference was eight-hundredths of seconds to winner Steve Hoyt. Each run ended Shipp’s best experience in the Nationals.

“This was really exciting because this is my home track. All my runs were good and without any real trouble. All my races were so close.”

He was the most successful of four Shipp family racers at the track. Patriarch Randy Shipp reached the third round before outed, while daughters Randi Lynn and Kristi did not make it past the first round. Greenwood’s Rob Goodrich fell in the first round.

Defending Pro Stock champion Drew Skillman qualified 12th (207.43 mph) with a new motor that powered him to a semifinal berth. In his first elimination race Monday, Skillman edged No. 5 qualifier Chris McGaha with a perfect .000 hole shot by eightthousandths of a second.

Later he was slower off the line by thirteen-thousandths of a second and lost to former teammate Erica Enders. U.S.

Nationals pro winners: L.E. Tonglet, ’03 Suzuki TL, motorcycle; Tanner Gray, ’18 Camaro, Pro Stock; J.R. Todd, ’18 Camry, Funny Car; and Terry McMillen, ’18 DSR dragster, Top Fuel.

By Al Stilley
Senior staff writer

When Greenwood’s Mike Hadley Jr. raced in his first two World Figure-8 championships, he figured that it took more luck than speed to win. He reversed his thinking last year when lining up for his third three-hour high-speed endurance race at the Indianapolis Speedrome – and won, completing 406 laps.

“I always thought I had to be lucky than fast,” Hadley said while recalling his $20,000 payday. “I was able to get by a few of the early incidents, but I also had the fastest car so I could stay in front at the end.”

Hadley proved that his No. 4 winged Chevrolet with a 350-cubic-inch engine and 650 horsepower was fast. He held off runner-up Ben Tunny for the final 30 minutes, never making a mistake and getting through lapped traffic without getting passed.

“My mindset early in the race was to stay out of trouble, and we led early,” Hadley said. “Then for the last part of the race when I was leading, I knew I couldn’t worry about the lapped traffic. I had to keep the lead.”

Hadley and former champions Doug Greig of Southport and Mark, Ben and Austin Tunny also return for the 42nd running of the event, which attracts drivers from several states. Greig will be competing for the 29th time. Racing for Hadley is a family affair with wife Katie, mom Tracie and brother Mason with him at the Speedrome.

Away from the track he is a construction worker. He began racing quarter midgets at the age of 5 at the Mini-Indy track at the Indiana State Fairgrounds. He has raced at various venues in Indiana but considers the Speedrome home, where he races in the longer distance figure-8 chases.

“I just don’t like doing the 50-lappers,” Hadley said. “I would rather race in the one-hour, 90-minute, 150-lap races and the three-hour."

He finished second in the Jake’s 150-lap figure-8 earlier this season in a Chevrolet owned by Jon Wilson of Plainfield and third in the onehour figure-8 Saturday. Third-generation driver Chad Sizemore won his first one-hour race in a final 32-second dash with third-place Jesse Tunny claiming his fourth season championship.

More than 50 entries are expected with 28 starters and all drivers who qualified going into the race as cars drop out. The race is the brainchild of former track owner and Greenwood business owner John Stiles.

Open practice at the track, corner of Kitley Avenue and Brookville Road, is Thursday at 5 p.m. Qualifying races are Friday at 7:30 p.m. with Thundercar and FWD competing in figure-8 races. The World Figure-8 starts Saturday at 7:30 p.m. Info: 317-353-8206 or www.speedrome.com.

Hall of Fame broadcaster Marty Brenneman was the honorary pace car driver. It was the first NASCAR race he has attended since 1967 when he was a sports reporter for a radio station in Salisbury, N.C., and covered the World 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

“It was so loud that I made a pact with God: Do not send me to another NASCAR race,” Brenneman said. That pact was in effect for 40 years until Saturday night when he ceremoniously led the 40-car field. “I think they’re crazy, but I have a lot of respect for these drivers,” he said. “I was only one car out there, so multiply that by 40. These drivers are so precise to be able to do what they do.”

Brenneman said the Cincinatti Reds should not fire first-year manager Jim Riggleman because he manages with an iron hand and the players know it.

By Al Stilley
Senior staff writer

A unique way to honor the late Bryan Clauson, who raced for the Greenwood-based Byrd family in
IMS building dirt track; Speedrome figure-8, fireworks three Indianapolis 500-mile races, has led to an expansion of Brickyard week in September at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

The IMS is building a quarter-mile dirt track inside Turn 3. The track will be the site of a two-day event, Driven2SaveLives BC39, for United States Auto Club Midget Series competitors Sept. 5 and 6, before NASCAR practice, Xfinity and Monster Energy Cup stock car races Sept. 7-9.

The midget car event honors Clauson, a prolific open-wheel competitor who was killed in a midget car accident two years ago at the Belleville (Kansas) Midget Nationals. Clauson was an organ donor, and parents and family supporters formed the Driven2SaveLives organization to promote the cause.

Tentative plans for the race call for a $70,000 purse, heat races Sept. 5 and qualifying races, main events and a 39-lap feature. NASCAR and midget-sprint car driver Ricky Stenhouse Jr. was on hand for the announcement in late June at IMS.

The inaugural event could attract Stenhouse, Kasey Kahne, Ryan Blaney, former Silver Crown champion Ryan Newman and Kyle and Kurt Busch. The Speedway was also the site of Goodyear tire tests for the Brickyard 400 Sept. 9. Those testing included previous winners Paul Menard and Jamie McMurray and second-year Cup driver Daniel Suarez of Mexico. Menard started on the pole Sunday for the 400-mile race at Chicagoland Speedway.

Menard, who races for the famed Wood Brothers, has gone 249 races without a win since his Brickyard triumph in 2011.

“There will be a little less aero downforce by about 200 pounds,” said Menard of the Brickyard race. “There are four different corners although they look very symmetrical. You have to keep your speed up through the corners and get off the corners – it takes the whole package.”

Suarez, who races for Joe Gibbs, finished seventh last year in his first Brickyard race. He has four top-10 finishes this season.

“This place, for whatever reason, suits my driving style,” Suarez said. “Hopefully, we get a win soon for the team and for those who have supported me on this journey. There were no drivers from Mexico when I made it because it was a difficult path. I feel very proud that I have made a path.”

Figure-8 and fireworks

Fireworks and the 75-lap Mike Greig Sr. Memorial Figure-8 highlight events Saturday at the Indianapolis Speedrome at Brookville Road and Kitley Avenue. Forty-six drivers have competed this season with Jesse Tunny leading the Brown’s Oil Service Late Model Division.

Six different drivers have won on the figure-8, led by Ben Tunny’s five wins. Factory FWD, Thundercars and Faskarts race on the oval Saturday at 7 p.m. with figure-8 action at 9:05 p.m., followed by the USA Insulation fireworks show.

By Al Stilley
Senior staff writer

For most of the 102nd Indianapolis 500, team owner Dennis Reinbold could see Dreyer & Reinbold Racing drivers Sage Karam and J.R. Hildebrand in position for top-10 finishes.

Longing for a 500 win, the veteran team owner witnessed Karam’s rise from 24th starting position to sixth after 150 laps in the No. 24 WIX Filters/DRR Chevrolet and Hildebrand’s drive from 27th to fifth midway in the race with a different fuel strategy in the No. 66 Salesforce/DRR Chevrolet.

Karam, who avoided three accidents, found himself in a sliding car in the fourth turn on Lap 154 and struck the outer wall for 28th place. 

“It just snapped around,” Reinbold said of Karam’s accident. “He said the car had not felt like that all day. It’s disappointing because he was up to seventh and was in position to move up.”

In his fourth consecutive 500 for DRR, Karam later said he may have had a cut rear tire.

“We had a car to race into the top five,” Karam said. “I feel badly because the DRR crew worked so hard to prepare a good machine this month. Then this happens. I love Indy so much and now my race ends like this.  I know I want to come back here next year and race hard again.”

Hildebrand pitted on Lap 168 and soldiered to 11th place, making DRR the seventh different team among the top 11.

“Obviously, we aren’t happy with 11th,” said Reinbold. “He (Hildebrand) had some great restarts and drove hard all day.”

Byrd team 
The return of Jonathan Byrd Racing turned from optimism on the night before the 500 to disappointment on race day.

Driving the No. 33 JBR Chevrolet, James Davison started 19th and encountered handling problems from the get-go. On Lap 48 he drove high into Turn 1 and was struck by 2017 race winner Takuma Sato. Davison finished last.

Team principal David Byrd II said one night earlier that the crew had found the right combination that enabled Davison to qualify 19th on Pole Day after being on the bubble on Bump Day.

The Byrd family expects to return to the 500 next year and continue the racing legacy of the late Jonathan Byrd, a Greenwood native.

Rossi’s drive
No driver has won the 500 from the last row, but 2016 winner Alexander Rossi was in the final eight-lap, five-driver duel that unsuccessfully challenged eventual winner Will Power.

Driving the No. 27 NAPA Auto Parts Honda, Rossi was 26th after 10 laps, 12th after 73, third after 160 and led Lap 173 before making his last pit stop. He finished fourth, 5.223 seconds behind Power.

Inaugural winner Ray Harroun in 1911 and Louis Meyer in 1936 each started 28th; Johnny Rutherford started from 25th before winning in 1974. 
​
Team Penske’s winnings with Will Power were $2.5 million from a $13 million-plus purse as announced at the Victory Banquet Monday.

​Will Power (left) pumps his fist after winning his first Indy 500, the 17th for team owner Roger Penske. Power’s wife, Liz, equally excited about the win, gives her man a victory kiss. SOUTHSIDER VOICE PHOTOS BY NATHAN PACE

By Al Stilley
Senior staff writer

“We’re just crazy people who love racing; what more can I say?”

With those words, Jonathan Byrd’s Racing matriarch Ginny Byrd explained the family’s return to the Indianapolis 500 after a year’s absence. Neither she nor her sons, Greenwood natives David and Jonathan Byrd II, didn’t fathom that qualifying for the 102nd running of the Indianapolis 500 would be this crazy.

The team co-owners of the No. 33 Dallara/Chevrolet driven by Australian James Davison had their share of drama for three days at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Davison crashed late Friday into the SAFER Barrier in Turn 2. He suffered only a bruised knee, but the car was badly damaged. Repairs were completed in Gasoline Alley by 3 a.m. Saturday, just a few hours before tech inspection and Bump Day.

“Geez, everything was replaced,” David Byrd said. “The entire left side, gearbox, suspension components, left side uprights, right front upright, undertray, re-vinyl it, decals – my brother and I stayed with them all night. We were first in line in tech that morning.”

And then Saturday, Davison, the Byrds, co-team owners Brian Belardi, Brad Hollinger and A.J. Foyt sat on the bubble as competitors tried to knock them from the 33rd qualifying spot. Davison’s first-day qualifying speed was 224.798 mph. 

Crowd favorites Pippa Mann and James Hinchcliffe failed in their runs and were not fast enough for the starting grid, which was set Sunday. 

Davison made the biggest gain Sunday with a qualifying run of 226.255 mph, up from the slowest qualifier Saturday to improve 14 positions to Row 7. Foyt drivers, 2013 Indianapolis 500 winner Tony Kanaan (10th) and Brazilian rookie Matt Leist (11th), also are in the lineup.

David Byrd explained that he discussed this year’s venture with Davison after last year’s race. Team owner Dale Coyne tabbed him to replace injured Sebastien Bourdais. Davison started 33rd and led two laps before being gathered into a five-car crash with 16 laps to go.

Byrd eventually joined with Hollinger and Belardi for a third entry, marking a reunion with Foyt. In 1994 Greenwood business owner Jonathan Byrd, who died in 2009, teamed Foyt and driver John Andretti at the 500 and sponsored him in finishing the double in the NASCAR Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

The Byrd racing heritage goes back to 1982 with sponsorship of former Greenwood parks director Jim Begley in a late model at the Indianapolis Speedrome. 

The family’s return to the Speedway is somewhat bittersweet. JBR sponsored Rich Vogler in his first 500 in 1985 with a top finish of eighth in 1989 but was killed in a sprint car accident at Salem Speedway. They returned in 2015 with Vogler-like Bryan Clauson who was the first JBR driver to lead the 500 in 2016. He died in a racing accident in August 2016.

In 1996, Arie Luyendyk, driving for John Treadway and Jonathan Byrd, set one-lap (237.498 mph) and four-lap (236.986 mph) records that still stand. 

“Racing is in our DNA,” Jonathan Byrd II said. “The passion of our father leads us in this sport; it keeps us driven to succeed and to win the 500 one of these days. We’re at the point again where we want to compete at the highest level. It’s a matter of putting opportunities together to advance the sport and advance our business.”

JBR is associated with three entries in the Firestone Indy Lights Freedom 100 on Miller Lite Carb Day Friday at the Speedway. 
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They are partners with Belardi and 2017 USAC/AMSOIL National Sprint Car champion Chris Windom and sponsor cars driven by USAC sprint car leader Kevin Thomas, Jr. and third-generation driver Davey Hamilton Jr.  The three drivers will compete in the annual Little 500 Saturday at Anderson Speedway.

By Al Stilley
Senior staff writer

Indianapolis icon and IndyCar team co-owner David Letterman made an emotional return to his roots earlier this month at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

“I’m very happy to be from this state,” Letterman said. “I have a deep rigid, long strong relationship with this place; sometimes it’s hard to articulate what it means.”

Letterman’s first appearance was with team co-owners Mike Lanigan and Bobby Rahal and driver Graham Rahal, who helped explain the team’s support of SoldierStrong and Turns for Troops on the No. 15 United Rentals entry and the No. 30 Mi-Jack/Panasonic entry for reigning 500 champion Takuma Sato.

The team is donating $50 per completed lap by the two cars in the IndyCar Grand Prix and the 102nd running of the Indianapolis 500.

Donations have been made to SoldierStrong, which have enabled the organization to purchase three exoskeletons, used to help severely wounded veterans walk again. SoldierStrong also provides funds for advanced technologies for helping the rehabilitation of wounded veterans.

Letterman, 71, has been a team co-owner since 1996 and continues to be a popular personality at the Speedway.

“To me, my world is Indiana,” said Letterman, who lived here for 27 years. “I was born and raised here, my family born and raised here, Mom and Dad and grandparents from Indiana.”

He started his broadcasting career on a local radio talk show and at WSBT-TV at Ball State University, where the communications building is named in his honor. He was a late-night talk show host for 33 years. 

Danica’s version of ‘The Double’

Danica Patrick verified last weekend that her IndyCar career is indeed relevant.

Patrick, who is on her “Danica Double” tour (Daytona and Indianapolis) before retiring, was among the Fast Nine for pole position Sunday. She wound up seventh at 228.090 mph in the GoDaddy-sponsored Dallara/Chevrolet.

“The end of the day (Saturday) was very stressful,” said Patrick. “There’s been such a gap in time to come back to downforce.”

Patrick’s 500 effort is with Ed Carpenter Racing, which has three cars in the first three rows: Carpenter is on the pole for the third time at 229.618 mph and Spencer Pigot, sixth at 228.107 mph.

Patrick made her name at the Indianapolis 500 as the 2005 Rookie of the Year and finished third in 2009. She won her only Verizon Indycar race in Japan. Her NASCAR career was not as spectacular although she started on the pole in the Daytona 500.

“Most of the races weren’t like that (Daytona 500),” Patrick said. “I missed being relevant.”

More horsepower
Beginning in 2021, IndyCar engines will have a new configuration that will produce 100 more horsepower than current engines. The twin-turbocharged V-6 engines will increase in size from 2.2 liters to 2.4 liters. Engines will continue to turn a maximum of 12,000 rpm. 

Series officials are hopeful that the new engine formula will attract more manufacturers to the series.
Dixon’s crash

NASCAR driver Jamie McMurray, who drives for co-team owner Chip Ganassi, was involved in a spectacular crash earlier this month at Dover (Delaware) International Speedway. McMurray survived several rollovers without serious injury.

Shortly after the accident, IndyCar Chip Ganassi driver Scott Dixon, who was involved in a airborne crash in last year’s 500, sent McMurray a text to see if McMurray was OK.
“I sent him the laughing emoji back, I’m like, ‘I have nothing on
you,’ ” McMurray recalled.

Carb and race days
Miller Lite Carb Day is Friday. Gates open at 8 a.m. with a one-hour final practice for the 500 at 11 a.m. The Firestone Indy Lights Freedom 100 is at 12:30 p.m.; the Indy 500 Pit Stop Challenge starts at 1:30 p.m.
Race day gates open at 6 a.m. Sunday with driver introductions at 11:38 a.m. and green flag at 12:21 p.m.

Pace car driver
Indiana Pacers star Victor Oladipo will be the pace car driver behind the wheel of the 2019 Corvette ZR1. Oladipo was named to the All-Star team for the first time and led the Pacers’ turnaround with 23.1 points per game as they reached the playoffs. He is a candidate for this year’s Most Improved Player. 
This is the 15th time a Corvette has been selected as the pace car and the 29th time a Chevrolet will lead the pack.

National anthem singer
Singer and TV personality Kelly Clarkson will sing the national anthem. 
Winners in the field
The starting lineup features six former winners: starting eighth, Helio Castroneves (2001, ’02, ’09); ninth, Scott Dixon (’08); 10th, Tony Kanaan (’13); 14th, Ryan Hunter-Reay (’14); 16th, Takuma Sato (’17); and 32nd, Alexander Rossi (’16). Castroneves can become a fourth-time winner and join A.J. Foyt, Al Unser Sr. and Rick Mears.

Penske’s record
Team owner Roger Penske has 16 wins, beginning in 1972 with Mark Donahue; Andretti Autosport, headed by Michael Andretti, has six; A.J. Foyt, five; and Chip Ganassi, four.

Rookies in the field
Four rookies qualified: Brazilian Mathias Liest, 11th; Canadian Claman De Milo, 13th; Californian Kyle Kaiser, 17th; and Canadian Robert Wickens, 18th. 
The last rookie to win the race was Rossi in 2016. Castroneves won his first 500 as a rookie in 2001.