it's a natural progression in sports a competitor will come in find success for a few years and eventually fade away it's less common though for this to happen to an event not erasing that event might be the Pocono IndyCar race [Music] it's coming the shaper 500 at pocono for speed the third and final leg of the Triple Crown of auto racing Pocono Pennsylvania [Music] [Music] the Pocono 500 is an event that was once prestigious but lost its luster much like the southern 500 in NASCAR the Pocono 500 was a crown jewel race whose reverence diminished it was once the second biggest race on the IndyCar schedule one of the largest sporting events on the East Coast and Pennsylvania was crazy for IndyCar racing but while the southern 500 made a return to glory it's unclear of Pocono ever will ironically even at its height in the 1970s the relationship between IndyCar management and Pocono is tricky bizarre moments in its history include trying to run the race days after a major hurricane two high-profile lawsuits and financial losses to understand what happened to this once-great race we need to go back to the beginning [Music] when Shrek construction began in July 1965 the Pocono Mountains were one of the hottest vacation spots on the East Coast data also said that behind Indiana Pennsylvania had the highest number of spectators at the Indy 500 the tourists in racing crowd made it the perfect place to build a super speedway Construction was led by a group of businessman headed by dr. Joseph Mattioli a Philadelphia dentist who had built resorts in the area a 3/4 mile infield oval track was the first to be finished in 1968 its inaugural race in October of that year was rained out located in the clouds 2,000 feet above sea level rain would be a recurring problem for the mountain top track [Music] the first race of the infield oval was rescheduled for May 1969 a 100-mile Supermodified race unfortunately marred by tragedy Troy Ruttman was a former Indy 500 champion who made his final start at Indy in 1964 the car II drove then was turned into his super modify driven at Pocono by Troy Rutland jr. the eighteen year old was in his first race when he suffered a stuck throttle on lap 65 after hitting the turn three wall and knocking Rutman unconscious the car continued at full throttle onto the front stretch where went through a guardrail and landed upside down at the base of the grandstands Ruttman died instantly in front of a small crowd of 3,000 people the race was stopped after the crash in mid-february 1970 was announced that USAC would hold an IndyCar race of the Super Speedway in July 1971 Pocono also paid $50,000 for a guarantee you would be the only 500-mile IndyCar race in a 13 state East Coast area in addition a 500-mile USAC stock car race would be held in September 1971 as the race drew closer Pocono was immediately treated as one of the sports premier races it was part of Indy cars new Triple Crown of 500-mile races joining the Indy 500 and the Ontario 500 it quickly got the nickname Indy of the East because of its expected size as an event the state of Pennsylvania loved it as well state officials salivated at the thought of drawing people from around the country to the Quaker State with 40 million people within a four hour driving area it was estimated the Pocono 500 could easily become the fourth largest sporting events in the country ahead of the race the first driver to make a lap at the track was Mike Mosley in April 1971 as part of a Firestone Tire test ironically Mosley was seriously injured in the Indy 500 and would miss the first Pocono 500 the track also signed a contract with Schaefer beer to sponsor the event making it the first 500-mile race to have a corporate sponsor [Music] 47 cars were entered when practice began on June 19th for the next seven day his teams got nine hours of practice each day when including a final practice before the race teams got 67 hours of practice in total [Music] [Music] it was expected that over 100,000 people would attend the race at the track and only a few two-lane roads leading to it and fears of major traffic jams scared away thousands a slightly disappointing crowd of only 75,000 people saw 33 cars lined up on race morning joining the race from Indianapolis Tony Hulman gave the command to start engines Tom Carnegie was track announcer both men resumed those roles for several years [Music] the pace laps are underway for this recovering chaser 500 is Pocono Pennsylvania New Mexico the green flag is ready for the inaugural event the pace car moves off the track hit on the pit area the cars are cutting gone to the starting line appropriately enough the race itself was dominated by Pennsylvania natives mark Donahue and the Roger Penske own car started from the pole and won the race by a little over a second it was the first IndyCar win for both men Penske would eventually win the race 11 times IndyCar returned for the second race in mid-june 1972 this event would be the first major challenge to the relationship between track and Series practice began on Tuesday June 20th amid a threatening backdrop later that night Pennsylvania was devastated by Hurricane Agnes in several days of constant rainfall part of the state had 19 inches of rain and some river levels rose over 30 feet at a cemetery 25 miles from the track over 2,000 caskets were washed out of the ground and bodies were found on local rubes and in Vaisman --ts over 50 people were killed and the state suffered over two billion dollars in damages the storm was the worst disaster to ever hit Pennsylvania but USAC insisted that the race continued one week later Pocono had roughly 7 inches of rain and after the hurricane delay practice resumed the following Tuesday the next day USAC and Joseph Mattioli had a lengthy meeting to decide whether the race would continue is scheduled expecting nearly 100,000 spectators once more the governor of Pennsylvania advised the track to cancel the race local roads were still washed out and firemen and laborers were busy in other parts of the state USAC offered to bring the necessary people in from Indianapolis while the track urged postponement USAC threatened to take all the cash Pocono posed and prize money and never returned to the track again the stage was set for a climactic battle at 8 a.m. on Thursday morning when practice was set to begin teams push their cars out of the garages and were stunned with what they found locked gates and armed security guards blocking access to the racing surface Mattioli held the keys there was no way around it the race would be postponed no matter what new Sachs said reactions of the dramatic events was mixed and there was doubt IndyCar would ever return an outraged Gary Benton Heusen was quoted as saying the should grow very tall before a race at Pocono again on the other hand his car owner Roger Penske was on you sacks Board of Directors and in support of the track he threatened to pull his teams out of IndyCar racing if the track wasn't treated fairly saying quote if you SEC doesn't resection this race for this year I'll resign as Eastern vice president not only that I'll consider withdrawing my cars from championship competition and maybe I'll start my own sanctioning organization amid these threats USAC agreed to reschedule the race on Saturday July 29th one day before a previously scheduled stock car race the IndyCar stock car doubleheader was successful but confusing late in the race a scoreboard error place talents are in the lead instead of actual leader Joe Leonard both men pulled into Victory Lane while the race was reviewed for an hour Leonard was given the victory the following day Roger McCluskey beat Richard Petty Al Unser and Dave Marcus to win the stock car race [Music] 473 IndyCar returned in Pennsylvania embraced the event even more the Pocono 500 festival was a week-long celebration of the race including a parade in Philadelphia when the race came the infield was packed with rowdy partying after the build-up AJ Foyt won in a thrilling finish with leader Roger McCluskey ran out of fuel on the final lap Al Unser suffered a minor concussion in a lap 11 crash and the race was red flagged for 45 minutes to repair the boilerplate ball in 1974 Johnny Rutherford won Indianapolis and Pocono in the same year also that year NASCAR's Winston Cup Series came to the track for the first time one of the biggest problems facing the Pocono 500 was the weather almost every year after their hurricane race had rained most had at least some practice washed out the 75 race was shortened when a storm hit with 30 laps to go after a week of rain leading up to the 76 race the starting lineup was set by a random draw despite its problems the race continued to be prestigious for IndyCar through the late 1970s crowds had nearly doubled since 1971 to the point where 120 thousand spectators showed up on race day by the end of the decade it was the second highest paying race on the schedule behind only Indianapolis and drivers view the track is safer than indeed mainly because the speeds were slower the worst injury came in 1977 when Mike Mosley suffered a concussion in a crash sidelining him for two months in 1978 Al Unser was the first to claim the triple crown when he wanted Indianapolis Pocono and then at Ontario he drove the entire Pocono race without changing tires but if rainy days were the biggest problem for the track a larger storm on the horizon would permanently damage the race in 1979 at the end of 1978 IndyCar racing was split between the two series of you second Kart as discussed in another video on this channel Pocono stayed on the USAC schedule while most of the major figures in IndyCar went to cart making matters worse Kart banned their teams from competing in to use sack races while Pocono had traditionally been a race for 33 cars it only attracted 25 entries in 1979 it was a weak field of aging drivers and teams that failed to qualified Indianapolis Danny young gaius was the only cart driver who raced at Pocono and he was fined $5,000 for defying the ban on Gaius and AJ Foyt were the only two prominent drivers to compete and attendance was terrible the race itself was bizarre delayed 40 minutes when dozens of spectators walked onto the track during the pace laps several dozen spectators have gone through the fence from the infield and the retaining barrier and I've been standing in the exit area of turn number one at trackside each time the fields take a parade lap now whether that's going to have an effect on the start I can't tell you there's still sort of meandering back to where they're supposed to be is the infield crews are trying very hard to get them back there to safety behind the barriers a caution came out again on lap 167 when more people walked onto the track during green flag racing Eli gold had a down and turn one Varney's a couple of people apparently if you can believe this ran across the racetrack while the track was under green flag racing so you kassak observers quickly notified the tower and the starter stand Dwayne Sweeney has put out the yellow flag once again AJ Foyt won by two laps in 1978 the race attendance was about 110,000 in 1979 it was roughly 40,000 losing nearly 70,000 customers in one year destroyed Pocono because the race law so much money the track nearly went into foreclosure to save the track Indianapolis Motor Speedway actually stepped in and agreed to lease Pocono in 1980 and promote its races the deal allowed track management to retain ownership and pay off its debts at the same time NASCAR races at the track were very competitive a good rules package meant cars could draft and slingshot for several years the NASCAR race at Pocono had more lead changes than Daytona while the best IndyCar drivers stayed away in 79 the NASCAR race off 56 lead changes local spectators soon shifted away from IndyCar and were hooked on NASCAR in late 1979 Pocono management filed a lawsuit against cart seeking six million dollars in damages as a result of the ban when you second Kart briefly merged in 1980 Pocono was again on the schedule while the lawsuit was ongoing the two series split for Goods shortly after the race for 1981 Pocono joined Indianapolis is the only to you second II car races held that year once again cart banned their drivers from racing and once again Pocono was devastated there were so few entries that sprint cars were added to the field as fillers after a rain shortened race Joseph Mattioli again sued cart for banning their drivers from racing at the track claiming this violated antitrust laws the track wanted nine million dollars in damages Pocono is left off the IndyCar schedule in 1982 while the lawsuit was ongoing without going to trial a settlement was reached in early May of 82 the track was allegedly given a large confidential settlement in Pocono is a very late addition to the Kart schedule a race was scheduled for August three months later an agreement was also made that cart would lease the track and promote the Indy car races of Pocono for the next five years instead of letting the track handle it [Music] in the first race of the card era Rick Mears won easily in front of a decent crowd of around 60,000 people Johnny Rutherford suffered a broken right hand when he crashed hard and turned one [Applause] through the mid-80s the Triple Crown was again a major part of Indy cars annual appeal with a 500-mile race now in Michigan a driver would win 1 million dollars if they could win all 3 unfortunately for Pocono in the 80s crowds never returned to their level in the 70s lower estimates claimed that 35,000 people attended each IndyCar race while 70,000 fans came to the NASCAR events when carts five-year contract expired at the end of 1986 the future of the Pocono 500 was in doubt the track was unhappy without cart was promoting the race and felt they could sell more tickets if they were in control hoping to get back to 70s success the track signed a 3-year contract to remain on the schedule beginning at 87 Pocono would regain promotion of the race instead of cart but the track found out they couldn't do much better over the next three years attendance barely reached 50,000 people the track lost money every year [Music] making matters worse drivers were very vocal in their complaints about the bumpy surface and aging boilerplate metal walls after 1988 Quaker State left the racist title sponsor Mattioli said it was because of all the driver complaints oddly enough the track still called the race the Quaker State 500 in 1989 despite not getting any money from the oil company the company issued a statement saying they no longer had a relationship with the track and Pocono claimed the name was in reference to Pennsylvania's name as the Quaker State [Music] keepo tonight has already lost it here at this point and impacts hard with that boilerplate that surrounds this racetrack it's one a few that has that that ring around at the outside wall is actually iron there you see it and that impact has in fact it appears put a hole in the wall at turn one Jimmy Horton really has hit the wall hard his confrontation with the wall has knocked a hole in the boilerplate and it could be that we will have to there's the hole could be that we're gonna have to be caution here for quite a while while they replace this barrier now as he went into turn one he was on the outside Luke cycle eight-speed might've lost an engine at least he lost the car and great hit him and they both hit through that wall bricks ex hit it hard with the right front and then the car gets upset that starts rolling over in turn number one and again we're going to be delayed considerably because the wall has given away once again it's pretty thick and it's pretty solid so imagine if you will hurtling down at about 175 miles an hour and blowing a hole through almost a half-inch thick piece of boilerplate these guys are really wrecking the rate card during the 1989 race Mario Andretti said the drivers wouldn't return to Pocono in 1990 the track wasn't repaved and concrete walls were added Mario maintained that Pocono was his favorite Super Speedway to race at the track needed to be updated the driver threats didn't matter three days after the 1989 race Joseph Mattioli informed cart that they no longer wanted to run an IndyCar race Mattioli claimed the track was losing up to three hundred thousand dollars with each event he believed the crowd was permanently alienated by the 79 split didn't like Indy cars increased focus on Road course races and instead latched on to the NASCAR race he was quoted as saying our fans don't like races that are run on road courses and in parking lots despite its problems cart and its drivers were disappointed to lose Pocono in 1989 the prestige that came with the 500-mile super speedway race couldn't be replaced anywhere else the Triple Crown a major storyline for the last two decades was dead for the next 20 years Poconos NASCAR events grew in the early 2000s they attracted over 100,000 spectators reaching the levels of the IndyCar races in the 70s in January 2012 Joseph Mattioli died at the age of 86 under new leadership in a different racing landscape Pocono wanted IndyCar back in 1971 my grandfather and my grandmother brought in the car here with that with the help of the home and family and Tony Holman and all the great folks out in Indianapolis and today it's a with great pleasure and and tremendous honor that we officially welcome back the IZOD IndyCar Series to Pocono Raceway in the tricky triangle as we always say in Pocono we do have the best fans in all of Motorsports without a doubt and they made it perfectly loud and clear this year that they wanted IndyCar back here we're truly honored to to help them out and give the fans what they want not only that the Triple Crown was back as well if a driver could win at Indy Pocono and Fontana California they would win 1 million dollars and we are in the Rolling Hills in Northeast Pennsylvania in Long Pond for race number 11 in the 2013 IndyCar season welcome to the IndyCar Series at Pocono in 2013 IndyCar returned on its traditional fourth of July weekend to respectable crowds of around 30,000 people the first few years of the return were clean and fast races in 2014 the average speed was 202 miles an hour and set the record for the fastest 500-mile event in auto racing history but as early as that year the events future was again in jeopardy a major drop in ticket sales after one year was called scary by the track president an attempt to get more spectators the event was moved from July to August the change seemed to help with a competitive rules package the race in 2015 broke a record four lead changes the tragic accident of Justin Wilson however overshadowed an exciting race but increased ticket sales and improved racing convinced IndyCar and Pocono to stay together [Music] Grayhawk going through the lead hunter-reay trying to come with them and on trying to come back better I'm not sure how you can raise much better than this is Graham Rahal goes back to the front around Tony Kanaan now here's canonic get to the front horse and here's Graham ray halt popping down to the bottom once again this is every lap these guys have been passing each other for the lead the race in 2017 shattered the record for lead changes with 42 but things started to unravel in 2018 a new body kit for Indy cars made passing harder perhaps it was because of this difficulty that drivers were extra aggressive a crash before the green flag was embarrassing Robert Wiccans crash on the first green flag lap was horrified [Music] tract was heavily criticized for his fence repair [Music] after the bad start the race was cleaned and went caution free for the remaining 475 miles but it also had 31 fewer lead changes than the year before returning in 2019 it seemed likely this would be the final IndyCar race at the track another first lap crash didn't help the track's image is dangerous in the minds of some weather that's deserved or not Rosenquist continuing a bad tradition the race was shortened by rain but the event had several positives the attendance continued on a steadily increasing trend estimates at around 30,000 fans were in the stands roughly the same as the return in 2013 the race was also IndyCars most-watched race on a cable network since 2017 drivers voiced their opinions on whether the event should stay the feedback was seemingly split by experience level with series champions like Scott Dixon willpower and Simon passion ODEs strongly in support of the track I will completely understand if any car takes Pocono off their schedule but with more people in the stands and higher TV ratings this past weekend I'll often understand if they keep it on the schedule I don't envy their position but will respect them either way expected Lee Pocono did not return to the IndyCar schedule for 2020 both the series and track at least publicly said they wanted to return and the decision to split seemed financial [Music] the Pocono IndyCar race is an unusual story it's an event rich in history that seemingly wasn't appreciated it's hard to state how big the Indy of the East was before politics heard its image it seemed there was always fighting surrounding the race track versus Series drivers versus track track versus mother nature in its return in later years more problems continued it was an event hurt recently by rule changes that reduced passing enforced drivers to act more aggressive adding to that the shortened schedule caused people to say drivers weren't prepared entering to race in eyeteeth 71 teams got 67 hours of practice in 2019 to once again Poconos departure left a void in IndyCar it leaves Indianapolis is the only big oval the only 500-mile race 2020 will be the first season since 1914 that IndyCar will have no races in northeastern states it's especially ironic considering that IndyCar continues to be dominated by people from Pennsylvania and ready Ganassi and Penske here all from the Quaker State what used to be so significant is gone maybe Pocono could have been Indy cars throwback race maybe it would be the perfect track for an IndyCar NASCAR doubleheader or maybe the race is gone forever [Music] [Music] you [Music]
Iām probably in the minority of people that will miss this race. We flew up there in 2013 to see the return to Pocono once it was announced and had a fun time, plus my dad grew up going to the Schaefer 500 in the late 70ās-early 80ās and has some neat stories about being up close with the old cars in the paddock and sitting on the turn 1 infield guardrail every year. Lots of family nostalgia there
I made a point to go this year in case it was the last time. Aside from the fact that I really wanted to watch live single car qualifying for the first time and it didn't happen, and the race ending early, I thought it was cool.
The triangle has a historical and also very scary and ominous feeling to it, yet it's beautiful. I thought the grandstands and garage/paddock were nice, and the showers in the campground were new. I had a great time despite a lack of track action. And the speed- it was my third IndyCar race but first superspeedway. Incredible!
As a native Richmonder, I'm happy to have a home race coming, but sad to lose Pocono from the schedule.
Hopefully the track and series hash out a deal and bring it back on the schedule for 2021.