Legends of Racing: The Bettenhausens | FULL FILM

foreign there's a famous line in Carl hugness's book about the Bettenhausen family a reporter is looking at Merle Bettenhausen Merle says to him you're looking at me and I know why you feel sorry for me but you don't know why I feel sorry for you I'm able to live at the at the intersection of forces that you don't understand and to do something that the average human being can't do when you have control over a powerful machine and you've hit that cushion just right and you've made that move at the right time to go underneath that flag and take the checkered flag to have that moment and you've paid attention to all the forces that's got to be one of the greatest feelings on Face the Earth the minute you do that the next thing you want to do is to do it again and do it again and do it again since 1946 at Bettenhausen has made this walk through Gasoline Alley 44 times as near as I can tell the thing about the bettenhouses is that they willed themselves to be great drivers the number 44 is by the thousand feet fairly missing Tony Bettenhausen suddenly it is a race Tony raced at Indy in the 1950s and the Legacy he left his three sons was his unfulfilled dream of winning the race Gary with the 1991 Lola with Buick power turning in the fastest slapping qualifying today at 224.843 his four lap average oh yes Jackie you said I was a passive driver in a field I think I'm just driving the fastest car in the field Gary comes along fear that's what we call them God he screamed at me and told me I was an idiot and didn't know anything about racing and what a [ __ ] you shouldn't own a car oh my God it was wonderful we just laughed he was a funny guy but he was intense I don't know of any drivers that I ever met that wanted to win the Indianapolis going to Speedway more than the betting houses this dirt car accident four weeks ago in California left the Indy 500 veterans seriously injured I goofed myself up once before it's uh you know those cards on the wall make it a lot easier [Music] you don't know how many more years this family can give to this place any thoughts now about that I have to start counting days again vapor at the right rear of the car and then suddenly Bettenhausen was into the wall the tragedy to the Benton houses you know got how much can one family take it would be probably a hell of a documentary it really would foreign [Music] we had a chance to buy that uh Merry-Go-Round and we spent about it's been almost two years restoring it and it's got 30 horses on it and no horse is the same you know you got to carry yourself that's both curious well it's much classier my mind my brain was dead mural worked for me for 15 years and he he helped us with our advertising as you know we were part of forming Bettenhausen racing and Associates and I was glad that I got to be a part of that and he was a great friend and a wonderful person and we still miss him I'm Ray Skillman I'm originally from Owensboro Kentucky I moved here the first day of 79 been here ever since and I've been interested in racing as far back as I can remember I had lots of Heroes back then you know uh Tony Bettenhausen was was one of my heroes Jimmy Bryan was one of my heroes Bob schweiker Roger Ward Johnny Parsons senior Sam Hanks you know that's that's the era that I that I started with [Music] most of these cars these midgets were hand built by people in garages locally all over the United States a lot of these guys were post-world War II guys that had worked in the aircraft factories and they were so skilled in metal work and it's just amazing what they could all these cars are metal I mean they're not like today where and everything comes out of a mold so to speak it was made in different sections they would section it cut it and hit it with a hammer and weld the piece in and draw file it Bill vukovich Johnny Parsons all these great names Tony Bettenhausen they all came out of [ __ ] racing 75 to 100 yards and they flashbacks to start Brian where the two winningest Indy car drivers of the 1950s Tony Bettenhausen dominated the 1951 season Tony won eight of 11 races in Indy cars that year mostly on dirt and Gary and Merle and Tony his sons carried on the tradition gentleman start your engines qualifications 100 000 fans the race two hundred thousand 433 Acres of people to watch men and machines race 500 miles Tony Bettenhausen 42 year old national champion has won more races and big cars than any of the others but not at Indianapolis my dad was larger than life at the racetrack but at home he was just a dad and we lived by Dad's rules and nobody else's [Music] my dad's name is Melvin Eugene Bettenhausen that's his Christian name it was kind of wild when he was young he used to get a lot of fights and his hero was Gene Tony the boxer honey lands a perfectly timed right and Gibbons is down so he like he talked about him and I hope he tried to emulate him or not but they started nicknaming hey Tony and then Tony changed to Tony started racing in midgets in 1938 and his saying was uh do it right or don't do it at all Tony Bettenhausen senior was Every Man's hero he was the guy that your average common fan could relate to and he was a master on the dirt miles AAA champ in 1951 USAC national champion of 58 missing from his resume was in Indianapolis 500 win Tony Bettenhausen woke up in the morning talking about how he was going to win the Indianapolis 500 and went to bed at night talking about how he was going to win the Indianapolis 500. former National Champion Tony Bettenhausen knows what it means to take the wheel here on the bricks Tony in a qualifying run three years ago he was on his way to break the record in number 99 and ran into real trouble lots of mechanical problems he was kind of Jinxed here at the speedway another car another year out of the North turn into the home stretch tail first he finished three times in his three finishes were second fourth and fourth and another 500 this time with the temperature breaking records exhaustion he loved racing on dirt more than they did pavement and that jokingly back in the 50s he said I wish they'd dig it up and make it dirt Then I then I'd show him how to get her on there [ __ ] rhythms of the band beat out the last few minutes of a year of waiting for the drivers for Al Keller 38 years old fourth year at Indianapolis for Paul Russo 44 and a grandfather 12th year at the 500. Bettenhausen 42 13 years here they come and the race is on he won many races at Milwaukee he won at Indianapolis here at the fairgrounds and never won the big one but probably the biggest day the biggest happiest memory was in 1958 that was the first year he led the Indianapolis Motor Speedway [Music] Bettenhausen has holed up on Brian and entering the fourth turn he stands on it and charges into first height my dad came down the front straighter when he was leading the race and we we sat in Tower terrors the whole my mom and us kids and when my dad came by leading the race my mom started crying because you know she'd been there since 1946 and this is the first time that my dad ever lived a race and that was it was pretty cool that housing is pushing the pace to 141 miles per hour in 1955 he finished second but he never never led the race if your whole life has been coming to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and just seeing your dad leading the race and then ended up finishing fourth I remember that like yesterday when your dad's racing everything I mean the smallest race is the biggest race because then they have roll bars back there didn't have safety belts back then every time you saw your dad get in a race car might be last time you saw your dad Ryan Bettenhausen and sax hide it out down the back stretch Paul Russo brings his number 15 Novi special into the pits under its own power and reports to his crew what has happened on the third turn Paul rooster was his best friend and uh they they've been teammates he was a co-driver with my dad he spent the winter in 1960 at our house we were constructing a a dryer for for drying corn and soybeans and my dad worked for the champion highway safety program he was on the road and Paul lived with us kind of like a stepfather taking care of us so but it had nothing to do with Paul [Music] May 12 1961 Paul Russo was having trouble getting his car going so he asked my dad to drive it and they did that back in the day where they guy jump in another guy's car and helped him and the fourth lap coming down the front straightaway both fell out of the suspension [Music] foreign Bettenhausen gets the call from the racetrack about Tony's accident in 1961. and somebody called and said it's bad and she said something like all the way and they said all the way [Music] he called me at noon and how he had some brake shoes being worked on for one of the tractors or the combine or something and he asked me to call see they were ready that was noon and 10 minutes after two Jeff Beckley called me and he was gone [Music] everybody says the big question your dad died driving a race car and then you got in a race car and and drove it then I say everything in our life everything that had value we look around that came from racing so our whole life was racing and what it produced and the man that racing produced which was my dad his personality the way he was as a father every everything was driven off the success he had driving and that related into who he was as a man [Music] my dad died 60 years ago on 12th of May who was an educated man but to think that his name is being mentioned daily and racing and I bet he's up in heaven looking down saying you know what I think I raised a few good kids they've kept me alive for 60 years but there's still talking about me so I must have did it right when I raised him [Music] uh [Music] after my dad's funeral and we were farming 500 Acres at that time and and been a very wet spring and we hadn't even been out in the in the field yet and I remember looking out at all these Acres that still had weeds in them and had been planted and and thinking life goes on so I I grew up pretty quick there Gary and I did it the first year and then Gary got married and went off and did some other things and race go-karts I stayed at home and and did the farming and then Uncle Sam was after me this is 64.65. [Music] Vietnam was just starting up in if you were 18 Uncle Sam said we want you they told me I had to wait a year to get an OCS and then a three-year commitment after that and I'm wanting a race and it was funny because back then you had three choices if you're a full-time college student you didn't get drafted if you were married with a child you didn't get drafted everybody else got drafted Gary got married I told you young and had a little boy so he got out of it so I was I'm the only one that served my country see if Gary started racing in 1963 after a couple years of go-karts and then I I didn't start racing until I was almost 23 years old that's right I've got Merle Bettenhausen with me and Merle is about to run in his first championship car race my dad had a saying experience as best teacher and since this is my first time in an actual competition in a big car I'll just go out there and try and get all 100 miles under my belt maybe next time or the time after is really starting to get racing one of these Earl Bettenhausen thank you very much thank you [Music] I raced in New Zealand and Australia and this is a picture of me in 1970 at Auckland New Zealand uh we're racing there and I want this then I went to Sydney Australia actually racing in Terre Haute and this is winning and winning a race in Auckland New Zealand and there I am as a Young Man [Music] by any standards these Championship cars are the ultimate in racing sophistication the lightest fastest and most powerful machines ever to run on a closed course oval they're considered by most to be the epitome in open cockpit racing today here at Michigan International Speedway this Championship division of the United States Auto Club is rewriting the record book [Music] Bobby unsers holds the night Eagle starting up front is the white number six Gordon John Cox starts alongside in the Gulf of McLaren 24. in the second row the Sunoco McLaren 7 is driven by Gary Bettenhausen the start of my IndyCar career I actually drove for Grand King at at the speedway I was teammates with Steve chrislov the cars we were driving this is 1972 where copy of the McLaren cars that Gary doe for Roger Penske so I go to Michigan 26 cars there I qualified 18th everything's fine [Music] the car is is at its driving best with about 20 gallons of fuel in it now they've put 70 gallons of fuel in the car so I started the race with the basically the car was bottomed out turbulence off those wings and I'd never been in a race before never been in traffic my head's buffeted back and forth [Music] third lap I got too high coming off the second corner suddenly it happened for no apparent reason Myrtle bettenhaus and lost it coming out of turn two and crashed into the outside rail bringing out the first caution flag of the day Jimmy hertabies who was following Bettenhausen said Merle started fishtailing through the turn then lunged toward the rail his right front wheel hit and the car seemed to explode is turbocharger hit the wall the right front wheel comes back ruptures the 35 gallons of methanol on the right side car catches fire and and I'm fighting the fire and I'm still wondering why Kim I had some Choice adjectives and different words used here too did you get out get out of this sop and I turned look down that's where my arm was gone and I yelled oh my God help me help me please Merle was taken to the hospital in Ann Arbor to be treated for third degree burns and where it was later learned that he lost his right arm due to the accident Roger Penske withdrew his car from the race so his driver Gary Bettenhausen could accompany his brother to the hospital this entire area in my face was skin grafted the end of my nose fell off and and I was I was pretty creepy looking they told me that probably uh another 45 seconds to a minute my eyeballs would have melted or a couple minutes I would have died of loss of blood because of my arm being gone that it was laying on the racetrack and so since July 16 1972 I've been blessed man because I could have easily been blind or easily easily could have been dead so every day has been a gift since then [Music] foreign [Music] 116 Merle Bettenhausen and 16 Sam Eisenhower the highlight of my life who came after I lost my arm when I started racing again it was 11 months later I started racing USAC midgets and and second in the dash won my heat race tonight had some 10th Place finishes 11 12 7. look out Bettenhausen Austin the back half of the pack goes wild with cars scattered all over the track each time let's get more comfortable burrow was a good little [ __ ] racer and then he makes a comeback with his hook and he's a better race driver with one arm than he was with two August 31st we had a race in Johnson City Tennessee and the yellow comes out about the 14th or 15th lap and I'm running fourth and the power steering hose breaks so I thought if I had Ducks they'd drown race restarts and I get into third place and I'm driving without power steering now then I get in the second the next lap bill engelhardt and I followed him and I was faster than him so I waited and waited and and the last lap the last corner I went to the outside got alongside him and came down and I beat him by about six inches [Music] he beats Billy Engelhart in a [ __ ] race in Kentucky on the last lap which is I think one of the great stories in racing and and he knew you know I'll I'll never get another chance at Indy but all I can do midgets after Murrell makes his comeback in 73 then Gary gets hurt in 74 so Merle just quits I was second in [ __ ] standings when I retired in in 1974 and ifans and butts are candy and nuts would be Christmas every day but I promise you that I'd have been a media Champion that year she has picked him out and if she can pick on somebody she will and she she was barking and and growling at him she doesn't mean anything but she'll nip and pull your clothes and so I got her she's tied to a race car she's just fine I just swapped places with her okay let's get over here and this this is this is the way it was for 40 years or 50 years or and this is a car from the late 40s or early 50s and and the Tire Rack but did you drive in any of these cars I was the last one to drive the Ford 4 cam number two and I also was one of the guys that drove the maroon 46 cars Back in 1970 I I drove them both in 1970s so the maroon 46 car was my first that was a champion car it was my first race and I ran Springfield and I finished ninth in it and it was a different experience from going from a little [ __ ] to one of those on a mild dirt track so yeah it was quite quite interesting and then I don't know how much you got into the overhead Ford the number two car but that was the last one to drive it the engine broke and they they quit they quit racing it after that so so I made that thing go away but yeah it's all never never drove uh all you know my dad drove all these Hungarian you know back in the day [Music] you just spell your name first again please and a n n e Savage m-i-s-s-a-v-a-g-e-m-d I'm the director of the Burn Unit here at the UC Davis Medical Center so I'm not sure what would you say is probably well he's going to end up with some scarring on both wrists from the Burns that had to be grafted there he's going to be probably in too much pain to be able to do any driving for maybe another couple months because of the rib fractures we've all seen pictures of the disastrous car crashes and and fires that can occur and they're back to their car as soon as they can manage to do it this this type of thing you're no stranger to unfortunately you and your family so what keeps you going at A Moment Like This I don't know you know what it's crazy I guess the lack of success we've never won the 500 and you just keep trying to do something that you that you want very badly so you're going to come back again this isn't going to stop I don't think it will here's the thing about the bent houses Star-Crossed yeah Tony gets killed testing Paul Russo's car because something breaks and he's got the fastest practice lap and he's got the best chance ever to win the race and then Merle loses his arm gets burned Gary comes along couldn't drive a greasy stick up a dog's ass the first two years people are like this is embarrassing but he was so determined to make it so determined to make it he made himself a race driver [Music] Gary came down when I was in high school from Tinley Park he was probably a senior I was maybe a freshman sophomore but he drove his 55 Chevy down and he had it tricked out we came down because he knew there was a drive-through teenagers go to like in the 50s 60s you know the circle they call it the pole we go around the pole slowly visit say hi to people so Gary and that's where he picked up drag races okay you know a brand new Grand Prix comes up around the circle in front of the cars and Gary sends his buddy out and the guy says yeah I'll race you I started him off and they drag race stop came back went back to the pole and Gary won 20 bucks and he needed every bit of that with that gear ratio to get back to Tinley Park there was nobody Lake Erie he was probably the closest thing to my dad the pretty carbon copies nothing was acceptable except winning his life was a trophy Dash everything was now I think Gary he's running the stock cars on dirt before I went to California that Summer 63 or so it was some tough First Years circuit he just kind of had to build himself into what he ultimately became [Music] the year was 1968 and Marietta Ohio's Larry Dixon had won six consecutive USAC sprint races the Gary was second generation driver Carrie betenhausen who was a rookie seeking to end Dixon's streak and win his first race at the Terre Haute Indiana action track Dixon could never find the handle and finished wealth in car number four the checkered Flags flew for Bettenhausen who won his first of 40 USAC Sprint car races Dixon went on to win the championship that year but it was the first of four consecutive years that Gary and Larry would trade the Sprint car title [Music] in the late 60s him and Larry Dixon start having this wonderful battle so the Larry and Gary show became must-see racing in the second round number two is Gary Bettenhausen with number one Larry Dixon on his side the 13 1968 and 1971 you know Gary was second in Sprint car points to Larry Dixon next year Gary was first Dixon the second next year Gary was first Dixon the second next year Dixon was first closing on him now in a bit for the second place one that time I didn't want to see somebody younger that may come in and just take over you know and I was going to make him work for it regardless of whatever happened I'd go to the racetrack every night there's no didn't matter where it was and I thought boy if I can beat Dixon tonight I can win it and it got to the point for four years where Larry and I were just racing each other and it was like nobody else was even there you know I knew that if I could beat Larry I could win it and I think he felt the same way the two of them won I think over 50 percent of the races in the USAC friend card to me there's always been rivalries and that just was that Generations now they became very good friends as time went on but at the time they were they were pretty tight Rivals no question about it [Music] now there are three High out of the fourth bucket with Bettenhausen on the outside he explodes past Dixon to take the second spot one can make the case that the the battle between Gary and Larry was a defining that's where the in many ways the term the thunder and lightning division was sort of built because they were so routinely going back and forth and I forgot what the statistic was like over this period about three or four years the percentage of times they both finished in the top three it was astronomical Larry Dixon and Gary Bettenhausen virtually owned the USAC Sprint car division during those four they each won two championships when they didn't win the championship they finished second to each other in fact to win a Sprint car feature you had to beat the Larry and Gary show and perhaps the best way to get these guys to reminisce is to feed them a beer or two and let them bench race [Music] we raced probably the first two years and we probably didn't say 20 words to each other and then it was later on as we both started to Mellow a little bit that we really got to know each other and appreciate each other I'll tell you what over the all the years and all the racing that I've ever done I can look back and I think all the fun I can still walk I can talk about it my feet work and uh I think it's just I think it's just a hell of a deal but what we did we're at the grant King Race Shop West side of Indianapolis uh halfway between Raceway Park and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway this is a place that Todd and I went to a lot when we were kids dad drove for Grant well basically a who's who of race drivers and Fabricators during the 1970s and on into the 80s either worked for or drove for a grant there's a lot of memories here Bill Throckmorton who's Grant's nephew resurrected this place turned it into a working Museum they still do fabrication work here but also it's a restoration of older race cars exactly it's a place where they do restore older cars and they've collected quite a bit of memorabilia along the way some of it has to do with uh dad and some of it certainly brings back childhood memories so if you want to take a look this was dad's first silver crown win Springfield 1978. that is one of us I believe that's probably my brother Todd but you know when we wore our coke bottle glasses when we were kids it's like the Piston there's no way to know for sure yeah we see ourselves in pictures and we try to figure out who's who one of his silver crown trophies from ducoin uh right here and quite a few pictures on the wall of dad you know back when he was racing for Evil Knievel here's one he hated that suit everyone else loved it but he he was not very comfortable wearing the Evil Knievel get up yeah I don't know if Carrie mentioned it but this is a grant King car and if you look at that car right over there that red one you can see that it's you know it's almost identical Grant's cars were very distinctive the shape of the roll cage and the shape of the body work so he built a lot of winning cars and there's two of them right there we could go through this place forever there's so many pictures so much memorabilia [Music] we all had the same childhood when we grew up in infields going to races every weekend a lot of Dad's career took place when we were very young we were probably five years old when the Larry and Gary show kicked into high gear a lot of that stuff happened early enough in my childhood were I probably took it a little bit for granted you don't think about it that way because you know you get up and go to school and eat breakfast and watch TV and all that other stuff and he's just a normal guy until he gets to the racetrack three times on the 1 very successful [ __ ] racer in his own right Gary Bettenhausen car number 96. no racing was serious it was how our family made a living once you were at the racetrack you didn't dare bring up anything but how we were going to run good that day you know they met only two or three years after our grandfather died so she you know she knew what it was all about mom was all in you know she was always there to support him she'd sit in the infield in the lawn chair with a paperback book and read unless you know Dad was racing and she would keep stats she hand wrote The Times yep you know we worked on The Cars Since we were old enough to get started really always closely supervised I think he was definitely hard on us we got yelled at a lot but we deserved it and we learned from it I think he only raised its hand once or twice that I can remember as a kid after that all he had to do was raise as a voice he had a reputation of being really Brash you know strict disciplinarian yelling at people all the time things like that but really I mean he was very soft-hearted you know I do remember times when things were tough financially and there was discussion a dad having to go get a real job it never happened though he he managed to uh make his living exclusively from auto racing which didn't happen as much back then as it does now the cars are pushed out for the main event Gary Bettenhausen will start in the seventh row Mel Canyon will start in the rear [Music] as the gentlemen start your engines command AJ pushes up the Astrodome in 1969 I just remember just the place was so incredible and it was like one of the Seven Wonders of the World back right and you know getting on an airplane and flying down there you know when I was five I remember rolling mud balls in the grandstand I remember the sound of that offie [ __ ] [Music] that's that's a good one that's I have to agree that's probably the the first one that I remember when Dad won running for Bob nowicki and he always stuck around for the last autograph which is something that he got from his dad you know we I can't tell you how many times they turned the pit lights out and Mom would be saying come on Gary we got to go and he was still there making sure that everybody got their autographed for every last person yep and that that's probably the the part that that makes me prouder of him as a person and as a race driver was how he was with the fans rather than what he did on the track you know he made time for everyone every single person Johnny Rutherford still the leader in the Springfield 100 we're coming to you live remember second place Al Unser and in third place number 16 Gary Bettenhausen in the race that is named after Gary's father the late Tony Bettenhausen he was two-time champion in sprint cars he was two-time champion in silver crown cars and this was before 1974. you know he wins a race for Thermo King I think at Phoenix and Phil Casey's mechanic and they got it's a good little team but Roger Penske says come with me boy here's Roger Penske golfer racing driver automotive expert he moved to Sunoco for custom blending once I tried custom blending nothing else was good enough you know Roger's thinking was right he he said look I got a stock car for you to drive you don't need to be driving midgets and sprint cars and dirt cars when you're gonna bust your ass well he breaks his arm at Toledo in a Sprint car and doesn't get fired but we're all like schmuck his nickname was the schmuck by the way which he found endearing is great schmuck don't [ __ ] up this Penske ride I mean I you can win the 505 times Mark Donahue is making his fourth attempt at the 500. Mark Harris is his teammate Gary bettenhauser they all pilot two RV powered McLarens owned by Roger Penske all right go register Jerry Bettenhausen determined to make this his year 47 and 1500 seconds for 7.50 one lap speed 189.474 the first 500 that was won by either Gary or I was going to be for our dad so that that was my dad's win and then the ones that came after that were going to be for each one of us individually so it was a it was pretty powerful a wheel-to-wheel duel develops between teammates Mark Donahue and number 66 and Gary bettenhaus in a number seven here Bobby Unser is slowing through turn forward he coasts into the pits with a dead engine with unzer out of the race Gary Bettenhausen and the Sunoco McLaren takes over the lead [Music] ER Bettenhausen a pit stop his first year was 68 but in 72 it was time for Roger Penske teammate was Mark Donahue and he led 138 laps out of 200 time in the pits cuts his lead and Mike Mosley is breathing right down his back Mike passes Gary and takes the lead three laps later Mosley loses A Wheel in the number four turns he crashes into the outside wall teammate Donahue keeps up the pace and keeps Gary well in sight he was getting ready to lap Mark Donahue who's running second Gary Bettenhausen has led all but seven laps since Bobby Unser dropped out but now something seems to be wrong he's going very slowly through the number three turn the engine had developed a serious problem foreign flag Falls for number 66 as Donahue completes his 200th left [Music] penske's first win should have been with Gary driving he just fellow the race with 18 laps to go nobody deserves to win the Indy 500. to earn the win at the Indy 500 every little thing has to be right everything has to go your way make no mistakes now Gary deserved the win in 1972. and that was without a doubt but just being a participant doesn't mean you're you're you earn a win I remember the 72 Indy 500 as a kid you know I was eight I just remember you know I remember Mark Donahue pulling into Victory Lane yeah but you know I tell people that day in 72 you know okay he didn't win it this year he's going to win it next year you know that's kind of how I felt about it just because that's how how great I thought he was he didn't you know he he cried after the race and everybody cried and they hugged him and all but by the next day he was like you know my old man didn't win it he's a great race driver I'll get it someday I mean he you know he was all ready to go again I remember growing up with my dad and when the race was over and it used to be always on May 30th when my dad raced his next his next thoughts were involved with what he was going to do a year later so Gary was very similar I don't know of any drivers that I ever met family or non-family that wanted to win the Indianapolis Motor Speedway more than the betting houses [Music] Cody bettenhausen's son great opportunities but great burden I mean and he did struggle you know his his cars weren't very good and he struggled you've had your problems here a couple years ago weren't you leading it and then once the bottom fell out on you yes uh I let it for 71 Laps on a coil wire fell off the engine and put us out so I hope we do a little better today and there is Gary Bettenhausen isn't that number 16. and uh it doesn't look like he knows any more than we do exactly what is wrong with it Gary Bettenhausen with me Gary you stopped quickly for an oil leak I understand early in the going what finally put you out well the same old four-cylinder story uh not enough fuel and trying to run the engine too hard to compete with the eight cylinders and uh we finally just burned a piston he made himself into a race driver that was the story is about after his accident came back said volumes and we'll be back with racing activity at Syracuse New York in just a moment [Music] well then he bust his ass at Syracuse in 74. he gets fired in his hospital bed he couldn't blame Penske nobody blamed you oh we all screamed at Gary what type of pressure are you getting to walk away from racing or at least that form of racing and what are your thoughts right now about curtailing the sprint cars and the silver crown dirt cars with the Gary Bettenhausen racing career well put it this way I have been guaranteed by my family my wife and my sons and my mother that I would be coming back here to Methodist in the near future if I didn't give up Sprint car dirt car racing but it wouldn't be for burns right right I think it would be from personal injury from my wife when Gary got hurt in Syracuse it turned out that the he stretched out of the car so bad that he had nerve damage in his neck that went to the controlling muscles to having Bend his arm and so we could never Bend his left arm again you know at least lunch time it used to be great was unmersible because that was his best friend and vuki go hey schmuck show us your Indy 500 Rings oh that's right you were too stupid you got fired by Roger Penske because you wanted to be a dirt Racer oh my God it was wonderful we just laugh and and then so then Gary comes back with one arm wins the first race and comes back with it he velcros his arms with the steering wheel at Fort Wayne [Music] wins the 100 lapper with his arm velcroed to the steering wheel because he can't and it falls off during a yellow once he finally gets it back onto the steering wheel and you know that just shows you the determination single-minded bullheaded and tough and he wanted to be great he raised from 1974 to 1993 with with his left arm that he couldn't bend he had to time his pit stops so that when he came in there was nobody near him because he he couldn't turn the car quick enough to get into the pits and that and in part he never wanted anybody to know how bad his arm was because he kept thinking he could get another great Indy car ride they came back and first race I only won good afternoon everybody from the action track in Terre Haute Indiana hundred it could all come down to this race here this afternoon there are four [ __ ] races remaining two in Arizona two in California this is the last race in the Midwest and it is a biggie [Music] it always followed the Hoosier hundred the Hoosier hunt was on Saturday and the history of the Hoosier 100 at one time it was the second highest paying race in the world we'd have 40 50 cars there so then they'd go over to Terre Haute the next day of The Midgets and the year before this in 76 Howard Lenny challenged AJ foyt said hey I got a [ __ ] you know on Floyd was getting big he says if you think you can fit in the thing I'll give you a ride tomorrow in 1975 and foyt took the challenge and went and set past time hadn't been in a [ __ ] in years I mean that that's what the hundred meant to those guys position would be Gary Bettenhausen and sixth is Belle Kenyon I worked at the bettenhausen's and whenever Gary drove this car for Howard Lenny out of Mendota Illinois but Howard would they've wheeled and dealed and bettenhausen's bought cars from me and when we would go to the races I would go with Gary and when you went to the track I mean we had a tire machine you'd bust the tires we sold fuel Bettenhausen ran the shop tell me what those big drums are there Maya the best facilities I have the best way to hauling fuel is just in a basic 55 gallon drum how many tires do you bring to a typical Sprint race and hope to sell I usually bring between about 60 and 100 and and hope to sell anywhere from 10 to 20. and I mean you go back in there and Gary would come in and they give you a list you put the fuel in the car you'd strap the driver in the car I mean you you whatever it took to get the car on the tractor race you did it so Gary was a heck of a mechanic if he saw you doing something he didn't like he wouldn't be shy about telling him even after he hurt his arm I helped him Bend tubing dude he was a fantastic welder and Gary built the most beautiful headers I've ever seen by himself I mean he was very talented can you tell us when you worked on this car and and why it's kind of special to you well Gary won the 100 in 1976 at Terre Haute it was 100 laper 33 midgets 11 rows of three kind of copied the speedway and uh you know Gary won the race drive in this car that day so it was a Big Thrill to be part of that and Gary was a traditionalist and winning uh the HUD 100 and races like the Hoosier hundred you know the mile dirt races this car here is a real piece of History because the Bettenhausen family uh believe it's the one Victory they got in the HUD 100 and uh it just meant an awful lot to Gary to win that race Sunday May 30th 1982 the 66 running of the Indianapolis 500. it's time then to meet the people who are inside these cars Johnny Parsons son of an Indy winner makes his eighth appearance here and Tony Bettenhausen namesake of a famous father [Music] and Gary Bettenhausen is the elder brother of cloning it's time now time for Mrs Mary Holman to give the most famous command in American sport [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] racing in Indianapolis and it's mirrors in point going into the first turn AJ foyt it appears going for the lead he's got the lead force your eyes to look at the crowd and the things that are going by in the background because they are going through these turns at 200 miles an hour and watch also how low they go so oh a crash another one a wild side it's car number 16 That's Tony Bettenhausen Tony Bettenhausen Jr son of a famous father his brother Gary also in the race they're one of the four Central Brothers in this race the yellow flag out of course right away turn it up for me [Music] my kid brother was born 1951 October 30th Tony started racing stock cars down in Houston Texas at Myers Speedway he was dying for Gordon van Liu who invited fresh orange juice company whenever anyone at your house needs a break make it an orange juice break he sponsored him and he went and drove in NASCAR late it was called late model Sportsman and he raised stock cars down there for several years the 17th row has Tony Bettenhausen in car number 24 and Tony comes along and Tony's stock car driver and he runs Daytona and he's got uh Gordon van Liu funding him and he said I'm gonna be like my brother so he comes back and they build him a [ __ ] so Tony starts his USAC [ __ ] career and he's hopeless he's just off yes car number 16 Tony Bettenhausen got up into the cushion just a little bit too far Charlie it's fun you'll watch the top of your screen here you can see the car got into the loose stuff broke loose and spun with him my first year in Midland racing in 75 he was my chief mechanic for a couple races Tony was and I remember we were getting ready to start my [ __ ] if I said how do I start this he goes how the [ __ ] would I know I drive stock cars oh okay Row one Steve landshaw Tony Bettenhausen he starts out in 76. so he sucked in a [ __ ] they got him a Sprint car he was worse I remember Tony and I made our we went to Winchester the same day there was a inside Lane at Winchester that you warmed up on and that's where Tony ran the first hot lab session vukovic has gone nuts look at that schmuck he's not even about to track that [ __ ] pussy's not even on the track so Tony pulls in and it was true he never got up on the bank and and they're all over screaming at him he was my buddy so I tried to stand up for him I said Jesus Christ it's his first time and Gary said shut up you look like a [ __ ] out there too okay sorry one of the real stories here today has been Robin Miller and car number 40. Robin is a sports writer for the Indianapolis Star newspaper I think not only were the fans here surprised at the good qualification run by Robin Miller but Robin was also a little bit surprised at the great job that he did in qualifying here this afternoon Robin Miller car number 40. so I was kind of a the fourth Bettenhausen for a while those two those five years I had a Benton housing [ __ ] Gary screamed at me and told me I was an idiot and didn't know anything about racing and what a [ __ ] you shouldn't own a car all the things which were true incidentally so it was tough love being in the Benton housing family but Tony was really good indoor [ __ ] Racing like at the fairgrounds Coliseum there'd be 75 cars he'd be in the top ten he won an indoor race in Louisiana and I think it was because you had to be smooth and Merle kept saying listen if we ever given an Indy car he'll be just fine because speed doesn't bother him and he'll have time he just isn't good with this but he'll have time I said an Indy car the [ __ ] guy can't make the [ __ ] feature in Kokomo are you nuts [Music] [Applause] rookie son of the three-time world champion in row six number 16 is Tony Bettenhausen in his first ride at Indy he gets an old hand in 1981 and him and Paul theatlovich put it together and he qualifies and I was as happy for him as I would have been if I would have been I was that happy for him because I knew what he'd been through well this is the battle on the racetrack Pancho Carter and Tony Bettenhausen for the lead and then he probably wins Michigan if they don't scream in scoring and he runs he's at Atlanta racing with Johnny Rutherford and Rick Mears Atlanta going 200 miles an hour and Bobby Grim Jr and I who beat him like a drum every time we race midgets with him are standing in the infield going are you kidding me Tony Bettenhausen is Racing for fourth place against Rick Mears and Johnny what is going on here so Tony's turn around was amazing and then he started his own team I'm Tony bettenhauser GMC truck has been the official truck at the Indianapolis 500 for many years I mean I guarantee a dad picked on him for for being a slow Sprint [ __ ] driver but once he got to Michigan boy he proved everybody wrong Tony was a great guy wonderful personality didn't have this didn't grow up under my dad's thumb because he was 10 years younger than Gary never had any major wins or anything but was a great owner operator he was one of those owner owner mechanic drivers that that just did a great job [Music] oh he was just fun I mean he was he was fun he had a great personality um you know we we'd go up to Canada fishing he had a cabin dad had a cabin about I don't know a quarter mile a half a mile apart and you know Tony was just the life of the party you know he could keep everybody laughing and he was just a he was just a pleasure to be around oh okay I'm glad the scene is so uh remote to the best of my knowledge uh the uh the left engine was against this tree the right engine was over here in this oil patch and or there's a yeah there's a hole in the ground over there which might be where it was located but as we I'm standing about where the nose of the plane was and working my way aft and all these ashes are of course the cabin area and if we look this is what we've been searching for okay we think that's what we've been looking for but we'll find out when we get back of course right there that that dark area right in the center of my frame is where we found the ring [Music] oh he got a pilot's license probably about 1990 and had a 172 and used to fly around at 17 1800 hours you know I flew with him probably 15 times in his old single engine plane and then he got a twin engine Beach Baron I think but Tony wasn't a daredevil in a race car or an airplane he just he just I think he just misread his map and he flew into this ice storm was on Valentine's Day and he was flying over Lexington Kentucky his wife and two business partners all once they got ice and he requested permission to go up above the ice and and as he went up he got more ice and the plane quit flying and went into a flat spin and and just went down I have the fortune or Misfortune and it's probably both of standing next to my kid brother Tony Bettenhausen and his wife Shirley Ann mcary betenhausen and they both perished in an airplane crash on February 14 2000 and this is a cemetery I chose I was the executor of Tony's estate and I was a guardian of his children they were 14 and 19 when he when they passed in the crash and uh I had this signature on the will that said I was in charge of all this but I didn't know anything or what to do and kind of shot from the hip but and I just thought this would be the best place West Side close to Indy and by the way there's 53 other race drivers that are buried here in in Crown Hill and and so this this will be uh I don't know if they call this immortality but uh or whatever their final resting place it's it's terrible to be here but it's nice to have them in a nice place [Music] Saturday morning Illinois State Fairgrounds in Springfield the track is wet and sloppy for the Tony Bettenhausen 100. instead of race cars we get road graders scheduled to drive in the race named after his legendary dad who was killed practicing for the Indy 500 in 1961 is the Tinley Park Express 42 year old Gary Bettenhausen Tony's eldest son a 14-time Indy veteran himself if given a choice Gary would rather drive on dirt these are what I call real race cars where the driver is still a little bit in the control of uh how fast he's running and how well he does I think in any car you're more more or less at the mercy of how good your race car is Gary's car sponsored by the Terre Haute First National Bank is nine years old in design it is very similar to what his dad raced at Indianapolis in the 50s as the track dried Gary get ready to take some practice laps you'll notice he has limited use of his left arm result of a crash in 1974 but he continues to drive when I'm when I told Gary I was going to quit and Gary said don't ever change your mind it's it's it's it's kind of the secret love that you have between each other I mean from the time I was old enough to remember race tracks I worried about my dad getting hurt or killed in a race car it's just it's the way it is and then the same thing happened when I had Gary older watching him especially as competitive as he was that he could get hurt or killed same thing with Tony and even though you you want see you want somebody to do something in your family that comes from your heart and if your your heart and your mind tells you you want to drive race cars you encourage them to drive race cars [Music] the slippery track Gary got a few problems the engine had developed a serious oil problem he headed back to the pits then an hour before the race was scheduled to start the decision was made to change engines Chief mechanic Robert gallis and his crew worked feverishly while Gary could only sit and think well you can't really can't do anything about it you have to take what comes and what I'm doing right now is just trying to think about what gear to put in it and what tires to go with for the feature seconds before the race began from the pits getting a push start from a tow truck came Gary Bettenhausen it was pure Hollywood and the fans loved it foreign but it was not to be he had second for a while but Chuck Gertie and Dave Blaney finished in front of him but Gary got an award anyway just they just awarded you a trophy for most improved position yeah 225 it's driving I mean you know from 30th to a lot more work starting back there yeah gotta eat a lot more dirt yeah Gary Bettenhausen says he'll keep racing as long as he's got a chance to win then he'll quit and as he puts it get an honest job looks like he won't have to do that for a long while most people go to work but they do their eight hours they get done they go home see we're the lucky people in life we know something we do something that makes us feel like nothing else can make a man feel in his life if you knew what the feeling was to win a race to be the best on that particular night and withstood the danger the racing thing lives in your soul and you just love it forever and and it's worth the risk because of the pleasure you you personally feel and that pleasure lasts forever the 1989 Holmen classic and here is the lineup starting on the inside of row number one a two-time former champion of this division Gary Bettenhausen the two-time defending Champion is on the outside in row number two Jeff Gordon and Mark Alderson it's a great race it's a very very competitive race fire is still going on Gary a lot of smoke out of it he's unloading is up out of the car Gary Benton is out on the ground and the car continues to uh go on its own it's coming to a stop well this is Carrie Bettenhausen one of Gary's twin Sons give us an update first on your dance condition well I was down there at the uh at the area where he stopped and got out of the car and he appears to have second degree burns on the inside of both of his thighs you told me they're gonna fly him to Methodist Hospital to treat those Burns um yes I guess just because of the pain involved they want to get him down there and treat him for the pain as soon as possible now tell us what you have ascertained actually happened well we're not sure but since we haven't seen the car yet but uh apparently the drive shaft let go and our fuel pump is mounted off the back of the camshaft um right above the drive shaft between the driver's knees and apparently when the drive shaft let go it took the fuel pump with it of course those of us that have fun with Gary bettenhausen's career know it's been laced with great great talent but also some very terrible luck a very scary situation here at Raceway Park this evening that was my 15 minutes of fame I was a I was interviewed live on TV for that some things from people that may not know about that and Todd feel free to jump in if I get anything wrong here but Dad had a an engagement at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and this was of course he was running for John Menard at the time and I believe dad had some sort of a photo shoot or something to do earlier in the day he had taken pictures and he just had the outer part of his uniform on he didn't have the long underwear on him he didn't put his fireproof underwear on and uh second or third lap of the feature crankshaft broke uh at the rear main and just cleaned everything off the uh the motor plate and you know he was in a basically in a fireball going down the front straightaway jumped up out of the car up on top of the cage and one of the things that people don't know also when he tumbled off the top of the car we had a set of headers on that car that actually came I believe off of a stock block V8 Indy car with some modifications and instead of the headers coming out of the exhaust ports and going straight down toward the ground the headers pointed out toward the side of the car and he landed on the headers or he probably would have gotten run over by the left to retire well he got some you know pretty serious second-degree burns on the inside of his legs I think it was I think it was getting warm in a place where he decided he better get out of the car quick he was only in the hospital for a couple days and ended up telling the hospital Personnel you can either release me or not either way I'm I'm gone because and then he went to ducoin the following week and ran seventh racing Kenny Irwin Jr and Tony Stewart right up to the end of the race all burned up all bandaged up couldn't keep him out of a race car oh yeah Tim delrose donated this to the museum this is one of dad's silver crown suits when he was driving the the grant King car that would have been like circa 1981 through 80. he won six or seven he won the National Championship in 80 and 83 and those patches I guarantee you my mom sewed them on by hand so there's dad's suit yeah Dad wasn't much for memorabilia it was different back then but I've got a couple things here that I brought in this was the last helmet that he wore a 1996 U.S 500 and there's a great story to that helmet because I never asked Dad for anything and he never formally retired you know he just kind of slipped away which is how he wanted it and I asked him after it became clear that he wasn't going to drive anymore I said hey that last helmet you know could I have it and he's like oh sure and didn't think anything of it for a couple years and then I asked him you know hey can I have that helmet and he kind of got this look on his face like uh-oh I said what happened to it he said I loaned my snowmobile to the Monrovia fire department and the helmet went with it I said get that helmet back so he did so there's this last helmet and this one has a great story this was in the car that Dad almost won the 500 with in 1972 because Jim Travers the engine builder who was half of traco engineering when he tore the engine down he hung this on his back porch in Utah and it hung there for 45 years and after he passed away his entire estate was bequeathed to an animal shelter where he volunteered anyway the executor of the estate got this piston to us so this is probably actually the property of Mr Penske but here it is yeah and he said he hung it on his porch as a reminder just how difficult it is to win Indy Indy doesn't discriminate you sometimes you the lucky guy sometimes you're not but it wasn't a I don't think it was a selfish thing I think it was more for the family not for the individual just like Merle said when it came to the first one I think I remember as if when I first started it we all had in our mind that we'd win the first one for Tony and then the second ones would be for ourselves so it was just something that we wanted to do for him the most important thing in my Dad's life was winning in Annapolis and he never did and he ended up dying there and it went on to me and it's my most important thing in my life I think without a doubt we've given too much and it's almost too late to quit now I mean you got to keep going for what we're we've been trying to do for so many years you know what does this family have to do to realize that there's a better way than automobile racing the most gut-wrenching interview I think I've ever seen before the Annapolis 500 was Gary Betten Allison as he was at the end of his career because his boys just have situations that weren't going to allow them to race and and Gary was sitting on this deck saying how badly he wanted when the Indianapolis 500 his boys couldn't race you know Tony had girls and he said and he started crying since I'm running out of time foreign thinking about it we're running out of time I realize that I'm in the Twilight of my career there's Tony and that's it and he doesn't have any boys my two boys will never drive so we're gonna run it out [Music] they they worked hard enough they they paid their dues you know they've they got hurt they came back they got hurt they came back I mean when spring rolled around it was you know here comes Indy again today May 28 1989 it's the greatest spectacle in racing the 73rd running of the Indianapolis 500 mile race [Music] yeah in 1989 we had a Lola with a a Buick V6 in it and the car actually was an ex Pat Patrick Marlboro Lola from Emerson fittipaldi and it sat in our garage the winter before we actually started working on it and mom's car sat outside and here's an Indy car you know in the family garage not the race shop it was in the garage adjacent to the house right for the latter stages of his career he only raced one time a year you know which was at Indy and I think we probably all know by now that uh that's not the way to win Indy you have to be competing you know on the IndyCar circuit year round and it has to be a well-oiled machine I don't think the I don't think the the most skilled driver could go there without having that total package and having you know a team that's really sharp every Pit Stop has to be perfect or you end up in the back of the line exactly [Music] will the dream come true today he now begins to move toward his race car supported by his brother Merle rest of the family begins along with the crew to gather crows to give some moral support as they walk past Peter de Paulo's Duesenberg and out into the pit area it's now just 18 minutes to the start of the engines we'll be back [Music] and the green flag flies and we're racing at Indianapolis as the front row heads for the first term side by side and Emerson's been appalling sweep from the outside across the front of Rick Mears in allenser the Indianapolis 500 the 73rd running is underway Emerson fittipaldi is leading aerial bombs fire off overhead indicating the position of the cars on the track has been upon the already up into the third period and Emerson put a quality coming across the shortstop and streaming toward the start finish line now the fight Begins for third as Alice and tries to hold off on charging Mario Andretti to fight us for third place Brian Hammonds there is of course some concern about this car the 99 machine that belongs to Gary Bettenhausen the crew went out onto the straightaway and retrieved it they have quite a push to get it back to his actual pit area where they can first apply the tools to it and start to get it in performing order and hopefully into this field uh see Gary Bettenhausen now being pushed back in to the garage he had started from the middle of the fifth row his best opportunity for years that bettenhaus an obsession that long time saga continues certainly without a resolution today Jerry it's a very quiet Gasoline Alley for Gary Bettenhausen Gary this was supposed to be your year and you're out what happened we don't know something I think the cam broke or something was just the first gear warming up and all of a sudden the engine went popping and I quit running and your feelings though you know you you really had pointed towards this one and felt that this was the best shot you've had since probably mid 1970. how do you feel now truthfully I can't say it on air disappointed you know like I really felt I had a chance to run right up in the front today and with a little luck maybe even win the race because it's a 220 mile hour race car you said it before when we did the the story on the bettenhausen's you don't know how many more years this family can give to this place any thoughts now about that I have to start counting days again seems like a long time till next year foreign I guess we all kind of took it for granted back in the early 70s dad was such a hot Prospect and had so much talent and came so close to winning the race early in his career that when 72 didn't happen we all thought it was just going to be a matter of time before another betting house and ended up winning the family thought maybe there was a score to settle with Indy [Applause] oh man a man Constant Sorrow s in trouble all my days he called me at noon for one of the tractors or the combine or something and he that was noon until it's after two Jack Beckley called me and he was gone he's out of the race now guy who wants to win Indianapolis more than anyone I know one racist father wanted to win and never won in the Bettenhausen family keeps searching for that victory at Indy oh man sorrow okay I've got a disappointed Gary Bettenhausen with me Gary you stopped quickly for an oil leak I understand early in the going what finally put you out well the same old four-cylinder stories you'll notice he has limited use of his left arm result of a crash in 1974 but he continues to drive of course those of us that Gary bettenhausen's career know it's been laced with great great talent but also some very terrible luck I goofed myself up once before those cards on the wall make it a lot easier it's just a great thing I thought there was a problem the engine had developed a serious oil problem he headed back to the pits oh man of Constant Sorrow I'll never forget this we had a group of high school kids come back to Indianapolis raceway Park Mike Lewis was a general manager was kind of an educational day it was really kind of interesting and he had a panel of drivers who could take questions from kids and they were in the grandstands and somebody asked Larry rice you know the great Larry rice who was your favorite race driver coming up and he said I would tell you that my favorite race driver was Gary bet Nelson I didn't think that he had necessarily innate Warren talent but he had the desire and drive to be a great race driver oh Gary you've had a few laps out there how's it feel well the car feels real good but Larry would we had a little problem uh with the fuel system was plumbed wrong and we were about to 7 800 RPM short from what we should have been but the chassis is working good and that's the main thing uh so it doesn't wear this old man out but how does it feel to you is it like riding a horse oh yeah you know I hadn't been in a racetrack or in a race car since uh let's see a year ago last October and about three laps I was right at home again all right good luck well thank you and I just want to tell you uh keep your suit and your helmet handy in case I get tired Gary Bettenhausen yeah I mean we know he set records at the speedway we know he could have won we know the sort of tragic story about his accident and and the loss of use of his arm what could have been with Roger Pinsky what could have been in victories is it an American Racing tragedy and to some degree it is greatness is not just bestowed on those who win the major races it's the fight you carried in that mattered the most [Music] from Monrovia Indiana Gary with a 1991 Lola with Buick power turning in the fastest slapping qualifying today at 224.843 his four lap average this man has been beaming all month he is the fastest man in the field with Buick V6 Power Gary Bettenhausen who has such a long historic relationship with the Indianapolis Motor Speedway this has been your month Gary well yes Jackie you said I was a passive driver in the field I think I'm just driving the fastest car in the field it was an amazing experience just because Dad was so late in his career to be able to you know beat Penske and all the other top teams you know at least for four laps is something that goes in the record books it's something that'll that'll be there forever his Fierce determination probably the thing that most people remember and buying certainly the thing that I carry with me I remember one time before hot laps the person that didn't know us she pointed to Dad's car and he said I come here every year to watch that guy in that car go through that turn he was talking about that that's really cool I think you'll be remembered for how he treated the fans you know he met his son signed autographs there's thousands of people out there with memories like that and that's really what he left behind himself a veteran of 21 races at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Gary was racing that trophy Dash his whole life in 2014 his heart stopped one Sunday afternoon he wouldn't have done it any other way you know he did everything his way even when he checked out no one likes tragedy it's just it just breaks your heart because they become Your Heroes a person like me I'm for sure heartbroken that he that he didn't win but I think a lot of people don't remember all the races that he did win sure won a lot of other ones and every one of them felt great you know maybe another one of us will make it there someday but for me you know racing is it's more about family and the friendships that are made along the way you know than it is about success I think what it means to me right now is making sure that I raise the two best kids I can yeah foreign [Music] teach them all the stuff that Dad taught me to do and some of the stuff that I learned not to do and you can see the smoke keeps getting higher and higher than they put the red flag out and stop the race about 10 minutes after this picture was taken a guy comes up and he goes so you're going to race again with one arm I said yeah he looked at me goes you didn't lose your arm you lost your mind now that Tony's gone and dad's gone you know it's Merle Merle tells me things that I didn't know back in the day and look at you how many years later we're pretty close to him that was at Winchester they should have won the Indianapolis 500 by all due rights and they did it but those guys gave it they're all at all times and is that a tragedy no that's to be admired they went out with their guns blazing and I like that we we were young and and we love life and lived life the way you're supposed to and all I can say is that don't ever give up and keep moving forward [Music] over a love you you couldn't win had you ever thought or starting over starting from the bottom again [Music] okay so let's bring in Robin Miller now from Cleveland and Paul Tracy this is a guy that Sebastian bourde actually called washed up well I think when you're close to 40 you haven't won a race in a couple years Nicole if anybody needed a victory [Music] I think we have to start again sorry about that Greg that's really classic we're only on the bird it's okay sorry

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Length: 88min 18sec (5298 seconds)

Published: Mon May 01 2023