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Halfway through the Nationwide race last Saturday at Gateway, Wallace came off turn two and the lights went out... again. (Photo by Doug Benc/Getty Images) ยป More Photos
Before I tell you about the year I ‘won’ at Indianapolis Motor Speedway and about my name going down in the record books there, I must tell you about the night the lights went out at Gateway.
Saturday evening was shaping up to be strange early on because it was taking forever to get the National Anthem going, or so I thought. One of my crew members told me a lady was already singing it. Then we realized the power was out. Nobody could hear the poor woman singing her heart out, but folks in the grandstands finally caught on and sang along with her. It was great.
That was the first time I ever remember starting a NASCAR race without the caution lights due to a power outage. Then halfway through the race, I came off turn two and the lights went out again. NASCAR threw the caution and asked the drivers if we could still race in these conditions. I started chuckling because it was a lot brighter than any dirt track I’d ever raced on. We finished the race without power, which was no problem for me because I’ve been running little, pitch-black dirt tracks all over the country.
This weekend the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series teams are heading to Indianapolis Motor Speedway, a place that’s anything but small and dark. The Brickyard is just an unbelievable place.
I felt like
I don’t think anybody associated with NASCAR felt totally welcome at the Brickyard the first year. It took three or four years for Indy, everyone from officials to the town’s residents, to really accept us and understand we were there to stay.
I also think NASCAR helped the track through a really rough time. I’m guessing Tony George was thrilled to death NASCAR was around when CART and IRL split because I think NASCAR saved the day for him and filled the void.
Now it’s time for me to tell you about my first on-track introduction to Indy and how Herman went down in the record books there. I tell you this brutally honest story, not one of my finer moments, in hopes it will make just one of you feel better about themselves.
The first open test session at Indianapolis was in 1993 and I was testing for Felix Sabates. I was passing Ted Musgrave, and for some reason, he wouldn’t let me go. I couldn’t clear him, came off Turn Four, got loose and lost it. I backed the car into the wall at the entrance to pit road and broke my scapula.
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