1922 INDY 500: Two Boys, a Train and the Making of a Race Fan

1922 INDY 500: Two Boys, a Train and the Making of a Race Fan

Stephen Cox Blog Presented by McGunegill Engine Performance Here’s a short story to help you enjoy this year’s 102nd running of the Indianapolis 500. In the spring of 1922, Alton Hartley was a college student at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana. He and a friend decided they wanted to attend the 10th International 500 Mile Sweepstakes, as the race was then known, on Tuesday, May 30th. Having no car, Hartley and his friend needed a cheap method of transportation for the 65-mile southbound trip to Indianapolis and the local freight train beckoned. Hopping trains was illegal and considered trespassing in Read More

THIS Will Bring Fans Back to the Races!

THIS Will Bring Fans Back to the Races!

Stephen Cox Blog Presented by McGunegill Engine Performance The past few years have brought every gimmick imaginable to auto racing. NASCAR holds races that three people can win. The ever-changing playoff system (a gimmick in itself) functions like an automotive version of musical chairs. Indycar’s gimmicks are even worse. They tried mandating overpriced “body kits” to make their field of 33 identical Dallara chassis look like something other than a field of 33 identical Dallara chassis. Their “Fast Nine” and “Fast Six” qualifying gimmick hasn’t revived interest in pole day although it’s proven very effective at totally confusing fans. Instead Read More

INDYCAR: Lyn St. James on Indy, Driving Again & Advice for Today’s Drivers

INDYCAR: Lyn St. James on Indy, Driving Again & Advice for Today’s Drivers

May 23, 2017 Stephen Cox Blog Presented by McGunegill Engine Performance Indycar fans fell in love with Lyn St. James in 1992 when she won the Indy 500 Rookie of the Year award and kicked off a decade-long open wheel career that would eventually include nine starts at the Brickyard. She worked her way up through the road racing ranks, starting with a 1970’s Ford Pinto as her first race car. It took four years of sponsor hunting before she was able to land an Indy ride with Dick Simon Racing, which specialized in bringing new drivers to Indianapolis. Although Read More

UNSCRIPTED: WHAT RACERS THINK OF INDYCAR – Answers from 10 Random Participants at All Levels

UNSCRIPTED: WHAT RACERS THINK OF INDYCAR – Answers from 10 Random Participants at All Levels

March 3, 2014
The Stephen Cox Blog is Presented by McGunegill Engine Performance


“It's all about money nowadays. I don't think it matters about how much talent you've got. It seems like if you've got more money, you get the shot. People like Oriol Servia, he's out of a ride and a talented guy. You've got Alex Tagliani... me... people who could do it. It's really difficult to get funding.”
    - Katherine Legge, 2-time Indy 500 starter, to Autoweek magazine

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