Quote:
Originally Posted by Bored5000
Funny you should mention the Jim Clark quote. It has ben several years I have read the Garner book, but that is one of the things Garner discusses in the book Garner indicated that the famous Clark quote may not have actually ever happened. Garner put an amazing amount of research into the book, and he could not find anyone who could confirm that the discussion ever happened (not even MacDonald's wife). Garner wrote in the book that Clark and MacDonald were acquaintances at best, and Clark did not have the type of personality to just go up to other racers and freely dispense advice.
Who knows what the truth really is?
Garner also went into depth on the career of MacDonald (and Sachs as well), and how a great racer has now been reduced to being known solely for causing the worst crash in Indy history. The Thompson cars had battled problems all month long with the front end lifting off the ground and becoming uncontrollable.
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Eddie, it would have been nice if Mr. Garner could have pinned down the quote / conversation between Mr. Clark and Mr. MacDonald. I wonder if Jim observed the skittish nature of the Thompson car when Dave was driving it, and felt compelled to have a private conversation with him. Even if it wasn't Jim's nature to offer such advice, it seemed like everyone was disturbed by the cars even before the race. There are other factors. Dave's driving style was daring. He liked to hang it out and tiger. Mickey Thompson had thought he was being savvy by not ever topping up the tank during practice, nor allowing Dave to turn many complete laps in the erratic car, Mickey's reasoning being that he did not want his competitors to know what the car was capable of. As it was, Dave MacDonald was a great racer, but this was his first Indy 500. It all spelled doom. Dave needed experience in the car of many laps to get really comfortable with it. Also, as I recall reading in the feature article in SPORTS CARS INTERNATIONAL, Dave liked to hang it out. So, on the second lap Dave is rushing through the field to get to the front where he believed he could run, and the car has a completely full tank of fuel, which he was NOT accustomed to driving this thing with, and then he loses it as you well know coming out of the last turn.
I get sickened writing these words because after many years I became a big Dave MacDonald fan due to his work for Carroll Shelby and his Cobras, King Cobras, and the Cobra Daytona Coupe. Carroll Shelby was very, very upset about the loss of his driver and friend. The Daytona Coupe is the one of the most valuable American cars ever, based on its auction price several years ago.
Some of those names you mentioned----Marshall Teague, Fireball Roberts, Pedro Rodriguez, Mark Donohue, and Bobby Thomson----
It is indeed a cruel sport. The sight and sound of the cars, whether they're racing or right before your eyes, drives us car nuts on, I would say.
----Brian Powell