THE SHAPE OF THE FUTURE

[Music] [Music] bye [Music] [Music] [Music] the hands on the steering wheel belong to mario andretti in 1965 his rookie year at indianapolis he placed third in the 500 and went on to win the coveted united states auto club national championship race drivers like andretti are the test pilots of the automotive world their high-speed discoveries of today on the racetrack are reflected in the shape of the future on the highway andretti's speeds climb higher as he prepares for qualification he passes the 160 mile per hour mark with ease and continues to push his speed toward a new record [Music] but at these speeds disaster begins in a split second the wounds inflicted on the track are healed by mechanical magic here in gasoline alley then it's time to go out again and fight for a place in the starting lineup of the 50th indianapolis 500. [Music] [Applause] [Music] the pace car for the first 500 in 1911 was a white stoddard dayton carl fisher who built the speedway was behind the wheel [Music] three years earlier in 1980 fisher attached a similar car to a balloon and successfully sailed it over the city of indianapolis that was a long time ago but there are still some who remember well i think as far as engines are concerned we'll see horizontal opposed engines because uh one good reason for it is the only way that i know of and i guess it's true with a lot of engineers [Music] of arriving at a perfect balance the winner of the first 500 draws some conclusions not about the past but about the shape of the future but the future for roger ward is now he won in 1959 again in 1962 and hates to qualify after missing the show last year he is determined to win a spot in the 50th 500 starting field a happy champion first man to qualify 7 [Music] on the track graham hill from london turns four laps at an average of 159.243 miles per hour the european road racing champion took his first look at the speedway in 1963 but did not enter the race now he has won a place in the 1966 500. [Music] the national champion mario andretti drove one unofficial lap of 168 miles per hour during morning practice on the first day of qualification an hour later he has to do it all over again and this time the pressure is on whatever speed he makes is official and his starting position for the race hangs in the four lap performance he must make this record under the watching eyes of more than 200 000 first aid racing fans [Music] his fastest lap is 166.328 a new all-time official track record the four lap average is 165.899 mario andretti has put the pole starting position almost beyond the reach of his competition a scotsman named jimmy clark came to indianapolis last year and did quite well he won the race now another scotsman tries his luck jackie stewart a rookie driver makes the field on the first day his speed 159.972.97 carly jones was the first man in history to break the 150 mile per hour barrier in qualification that was in 1962 now four years later his qualifying speed reflects a 12 mile per hour increase the full lap average is 162.484 the former winner will start in the second row jim mcelryth was third man in the 1965 national point standings now in a new car and in a new year he qualifies for the biggest event on the championship trail his average speed is 160.908 miles per hour wow [Music] a light touch on the wall and passing snowballs into a jolting crash for aj point he climbs from the car unhurt but floyd will not qualify today afternoon winds slow down qualifications jimmy clark last year's winner waits until very late in the day for the best track conditions he is mindful of the speed he must attain to win the pole position and he's been there before his speed climbs into the 164 mile per hour bracket a full mile an hour slower than andretti speed clark takes the checkered flag and pulls in he will start the race in the middle of the front row 154.144 the next day a very thoughtful aj fight considers the situation the best starting positions are gone and waiting for the second weekend to only put him further back in the field in a spare car he takes to the track and turns 161.355 but he's very very careful about how close he drives to the short chute wall suddenly in the main straightaway bob's bite on fire a split gas line ignites and bites pulls to the inside as emergency equipment paces him around the trap rubber fuel cells protect the gas supply the blaze is confined to the back of the car device stands up in the cockpit as emergency crew teamwork gets the fire out before the car is stopped in the week that follows drivers try every which way to build speed [Music] nothing about the 500 is easy for man or machine but in the second weekend of qualifying connolly jones talks about progress [Music] there's an old pal of mine yeah pornelli we found this when we were going back to the storeroom back there and we thought we'd just bring it out to show how far we've come in just four years you know i think it was on this particular tire that just uh four years ago you broke the 150 mile an hour barrier qualifying isn't it right it's hard to believe i ever even run something like that yes it's quite a difference from this year's tires showing here by comparison and uh in just these uh four years since that time how far is it now that we've come along in qualifying speed well actually it was uh 1962 four years ago i ran 150 miles an hour on that tire andretti just run 65 on these it's quite a quite a difference i'd say that uh more than 10 miles an hour of it strictly due to the tires the shape of the future in passenger car tires wide tread low profile arnie knepper on the track qualifies at 159 plus miles per hour take a good look while you can at a modern day antique bobby grimm qualifies the only front engine roadster to make the race [Music] the field fills up only a few places are left al unser teammate of jimmy clark qualifies for his second 500. he posts the fastest time of the day 162.272 and gets congratulations from dad on sir time grows short and drivers try to find a place in the fastest field in history [Music] the colorful noisy novi cars have been a part of the indianapolis scene for many years but this is the end of an [Music] era hopes and dreams of some are lost in crumpled metal others find their defeat in the irrevocable figures on a timing clock but the field is filled there are 33 men and machines ready to start the 50th [Music] in 1916 dario rester drove this peugeot to victory even then a trend toward body streamlining was evident but it took another half century to produce these modern day shapes of the future [Music] can you [Music] 29 days in may have flown by the fastest 33 men in cars have been selected and now the whole money in fact a year of work will be reviewed in a matter of hours to determine what magic concept in speed will direct the trend of the future [Music] energy [Music] so so [Music] [Music] is [Music] [Music] the track is open in the middle one two three four five six cars perhaps a car hit the wall on the outside as just as the field got the green flag the red flag is out and the race has been stopped here at the very side we will get you a complete report of the cars that drivers involved as soon as well possible the remainder of the field is gathered here at the starting line and we will begin now to give you a rundown throughout the track area of the cars that are here at the starting line which means the cars that definitely are not involved in the accident at the south end of the straightaway first of all graham hill at car number 24 cornelli joel stunned the drivers wait for the track to be cleared there were no injuries there was one fire caused by a broken gas line but rubber fuel cells protecting the gas supply in each car averted what could have been a fiery disaster the race is restarted but one third of the field is missing before even one lap is run under the green flag there is more trouble [Music] johnny boyd leaves his car against the first turn wall george sally's beautiful speed creation joins the growing pile of battered cars again the green flag and again trouble jimmy clark has passed mario andretti and andretti has car problems [Music] [Music] smoke pours from the pole winning car and ready gainly stays with it hoping the situation will improve but it doesn't after one trip into the pits for fresh plugs andretti is forced to accept the fact that the race he hoped to win will go to someone else so [Music] while andretti is getting the bad news in the pits attention is shifted to the back straightaway chuck hulse and george snyder tangle coming off turn two and the field of cars scramble wildly to get around the wrecks with the rights cleared away the race settles down at least for the moment jimmy clark leaves [Music] lloyd ruby is second and parnelli jones is third in the pits clark's crew prepares for the first of two routine pit stops which every car must make clark comes through turn four [Music] [Applause] well he was going to make a pit stop anyway clark comes in for routine service and damage inspection the lead passes to lloyd ruby [Music] but with the caution light on others make their mandatory pit stops jackie stewart is in and out in a hurry then graham [Music] hill and lloyd ruby relinquishing the lead to clark again for roger ward it was not a pit stop mechanical problems made at the end of the race and the end of a 20-year racing career a champion retires and walks into history now clark leads and lord ruby trails by 19 seconds vodka is only to maintain his speed and schedule pit stops to win the race but park spins again this time in turn three he makes an unscheduled pit stop for inspection and the shoe is on the other foot floyd ruby now has the lead [Music] in turn three carly jones slows down and climbs out bearing failure on the left front wheel puts the former winner out of the race on the 87th lap [Music] this office is closed for the day [Music] at the midway point ruby holds his lead over clark [Music] finally ruby comes in for his second scheduled pit stop clark moves into the lead but by a very slim margin [Music] ruby storms out of the pits and four laps later catches clark at the start of the main straightaway ruby takes the lead and clark is sucking but he needs fuel and must come in this puts him in a position of having to worry about holding second place for jackie stewart is moving up rapidly [Music] [Music] [Music] back in the race clark is unable to maintain the pace set by ruby ann stewart he drops back and is passed by jackie stewart [Music] and lloyd ruby starts to slow down losing oil ruby comes in after leading the race for 68 laps the gentleman from texas draws a round of applause from the crowd [Applause] now two scotsman one englishman al unser and jim mcelryd dominate the race [Music] it's al unser at the beginning of the main straightaway he climbs out unhurt but his hopes of finishing his second indianapolis 500 are gone graham hill passes jimmy clark but clark thinks that hill is still a lap behind what clark doesn't know is that earlier on park's first spin hill had already quietly slipped up in the confusion jackie stewart begins to slow down his oil pressure is almost gone only a few laps left to go and all he has to do to win is finish but is not to be the card quits in the back stretch and the rookie scotsman heads for the finish line on foot [Music] graham hill is the leader just a few laughs from the finish he tours the track smoothly and takes the checkered flag [Music] the mekim racing team holds the celebration jimmy clark is second he pulls in to be congratulated by jackie stewart jim mcelroy is third the race is ended and graham hill of london england goes into victory life what kind of a man is he and does he compare with the preconceived image of what an indianapolis winner should be well hardened to start with he's the calmest man in victory lane and is a little puzzled by all the confusion he looks like an english businessman and didn't learn to drive a car until he was 23. but this great ambassador of auto racing was the 1962 world champion and is the first indianapolis rookie driver to win since 1927. it is traditional for the indianapolis winner to drink a cold bottle of milk in victory lane jackie stewart certainly did not win maybe he likes milk or just possibly he's getting in practice for the future [Music] you