A HOOSIER HUNDRED LIFE LESSON
By: Richie Murray – USAC Media
(Part 1 of 4 in a series of introspective short stories from the Hoosier Hundred)
Indianapolis, Indiana (May 20, 2019)………In the hustle and bustle of working in auto racing, or life in general, sometimes it’s easy to get caught up in the next thing on the agenda. What do I have to do? Where am I going?
When do I need to be there? Sometimes that makes it easy to forget to stop and smell the roses, as they say, to enjoy the moment as its presented to you without any conditions.
That moment came for me in 2015. I was in my first full year working for USAC. In the midst of running from the USAC hauler to print more driver rosters and run them to the merchandise trailer, take photos, update social media, collect a few transponders, troubleshoot the video board, talk to teams who have questions about their Gerhardt starters (not in my realm), make sure the announcers have all the info they need, plus about 20 other things, I was sweating, stressed and, basically, running myself ragged.
I was hoping to have all this done prior to driver introductions, so I could grab a water, hit the bathroom one last time, grab my laptop and head into the covered grandstands to watch the race. As my eyes were darting and legs moving in opposite directions like a chicken with its head cut off, I heard the familiar voice of my mentor and friend, Dick Jordan, from the main stage on the front straightaway.
What he told me still resonates with me today, and every time, when I walk into or even drive by the Indiana State Fairgrounds. He turned to me and said, “Helluva deal. Remember this day. Now you can always say you’ve worked at the Hoosier Hundred.”
Immediately, everything around me began to slow down. As I finally turned my head and focused my eyes, I saw a full field of the most beautiful racecars on the planet, lined up and gridded on the front straightaway in anticipation for 100 miles. I glanced up into the crowd and saw where I once sat to watch the Hoosier Hundred year-after-year, dreaming that I could be standing down where I was standing at that exact moment.
Moments later, a booming voice came over the P.A. system, announcing driver introductions. This is the moment where I probably would’ve been sprinting like an Olympian through the infield, clipboard in hand, with tunnel-vision, completely focused on the next task I had to complete. Instead, I stood at the stage and took a few moments to enjoy a trip that took me back to my time as a kid watching my racing heroes from afar.
Instantly, seemingly every moment I’d ever seen at the one-mile dirt oval came back in a flood, as I transfixed my eyes on the front straightaway. I thought about one of my earliest memories, riding with my Dad and his friend while I sat in the bed of a pickup truck as they drove into the infield to witness the 1990 Hoosier Hundred. For the race, they had a lawn chair set up for me in the bed of the truck so that I had more of an eagle’s eye view of the on-track happenings.
Apparently, at one point, the excitement overwhelmed my four-year-old self, and the chair and I both fell over with a mighty crash in the back of that truck. This necessitated the first red flag ever caused by me, or so I thought. As I lied face first on the truck’s wheel well, out of my peripheral vision, as it turned out, my racing hero Jack Hewitt’s car burst into flames right in front us just moments later, causing the actual, official red flag, or so I’ve been told.
When I was a child, my bookshelf had a number of Golden Books and Disney-themed books that I would look through every night. For one reason or another, one centerpiece that was always on that shelf was the 1986 Hoosier Hundred program with Sheldon Kinser in Bey Leyba’s No. 6 on the cover.
I know for a fact there was a time or two or twelve, I had my mom read that souvenir program from cover-to-cover to entertain me as I drifted into dreamland. I’m not sure how that particular program ended up on that bookshelf, but I bet I was the only four-year-old who knew the names Terry Kawell, Manny Rockhold and Larry Hoppes, or what Warren Mockler’s nickname was.
From that day I mentioned in 2015, moving forward, I definitely haven’t taken a Hoosier Hundred for granted. Any moment you have in life, good, bad or indifferent, is fleeting. Enjoy what you have while you still have it, Hoosier Hundred or otherwise. And make sure bask in the moment of the first hot lap session, driver introductions, the start of the race and the final checkered flag. Perhaps those are the figurative roses you will take with you when you walk out the gate for the final time. If so, make sure you take the time to smell them every once in a while. I promise you won’t regret it.
"Hoosier Hundred" activities get underway with pits opening at noon eastern, grandstands at 3pm, drivers meeting at 4pm and practice from 4:45-6pm, with qualifications and racing to immediately follow. Tickets are $25 for advance adult general admission and $30 the day of the event. Infield tickets are $20, while general admission for children 11 and under is $10. Pit passes are $30 for members and $35 for non-members.
A great deal is available for those who don't want to miss a single lap of "The Week of Indy.” A Superticket is being sold for a savings of 25% off of the regular three-day prices for the Wednesday, May 22 “Tony Hulman Classic” for USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Cars at the Terre Haute Action Track, the Thursday, May 23 “Hoosier Hundred” for USAC Silver Crown at the Indiana State Fairgrounds and on Friday, May 24 for the Dave Steele “Carb Night Classic” Silver Crown race at Lucas Oil Raceway at Indianapolis.
For just $60, a savings of $20, a fan will receive general admission at Terre Haute and Lucas Oil Raceway as well as a reserved seat for the Hoosier Hundred. To purchase a Superticket, visit https://usacracing.ticketspice.com/2019-week-of-indy-ticket-sales.
For more information on any of the events, visit http://www.trackenterprises.com/, http://www.usacracing.com/, or call the Track Enterprises office at 217-764-3200.