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There is no shortage of lists of superlatives when it comes to the Indianapolis 500. Everyone has their list based strictly on their opinion of best driver ever, best to never win, best to run in a front and rear-engine car, best to…well you get the idea. I am going to add one to the long list of lists, which is also based strictly on my opinion – the best grid ever.

Some will say the best grid ever was in 1992, when there were a record ten former winners of the Indianapolis 500 (which is only one more than this year). While there was a lot of talent in that 1992 starting-field; my pick for the most talented overall grid goes to the 1967 Indianapolis 500.

The group of thirty-three drivers from five countries, three continents and multiple racing series would eventually earn ten Formula One championships, twenty Indianapolis 500 wins, twenty-one IndyCar championships and three NASCAR titles.

The eleven rows of three consisted of iconic names like Foyt, Clark, Hill, Unser, Jones, Stewart, Gurney, Andretti, Hulme, Johncock, Leonard, Rindt and Rutherford. There were several excellent drivers that didn’t have an Indianapolis 500 win or IndyCar championship by their name that were legendary in their own right. Names like Ruby, McCluskey, Dallenbach, Veith, McElreath, Pollard and Kenyon helped make this the most talented Indianapolis 500 field in history (in my opinion, of course).

I have fond memories of that 1967 race. Although the 1965 Indianapolis 500 was my first race and I learn to appreciate what a spectacle the event was – it was the 1967 race when I felt truly immersed in what I was seeing. I was still not yet nine years old, but I had two older brothers that kept me up to date on who many of these drivers were. Both of my brothers grew up to be engineers and were much bigger gearheads than I ever was. They did their best to indoctrinate me on the differences between an Offy, the Ford V-8 and the turbine.

We left my mother behind as the rest of us traveled to Pole Day. It was the first time we had taken in qualifications and it was almost as big a deal as the race. To this kid, there seemed to be almost as many people in attendance as Race Day. I will never forget the sight of the turbine of Parnelli Jones being wheeled out of Gasoline Alley and into the pits. I had never seen day-glo before. Although it was overcast at the time, that car just seemed to glow (hence the name).

Watching each car go one at a time, gave me a whole new perspective and let me learn about each car and driver, rather than the sensory overload I experienced on Race Day in 1965.

At the time, I did not know who Dennis Hulme was; but I knew I liked his car – the traditional gold and black that Smokey Yunick always painted his cars, although I didn’t know who Smokey Yunick was at the time, either. All I knew about Jochen Rindt was that he had a funny name and my brothers and father didn’t like him. I was certainly familiar with Graham Hill and Jim Clark. I knew they came from Formula One and they had won the previous two 500s. I also knew the name of Jackie Stewart. It was the NASCAR guys I had never heard of – Cale Yarborough and Lee Roy Yarbrough. I figured they had to be brothers. It wasn’t until a few years later that I learned their last names weren’t even spelled the same.

I felt very fortunate to be in attendance that Month of May. Most of my friends had no idea what the Indianapolis 500 was, but they were jealous that I missed a little bit of school to go. But I knew what it was, and by this time I was getting a pretty good idea just what a big deal it was. Even a nine year-old can figure out that when someone comes halfway around the world to race in an event – it’s a big deal.

Now as an adult several decades later, I feel even more fortunate. I’m not sure that any of us, no matter how young or old we were at the time, had any clue of the talent and greatness placed before our eyes during that Month of May. Some lost their lives at an early age in racing. Others met their demise in other ways – like Graham Hill, when he crashed his Piper Aztec in November of 1975. Many died of natural causes and a few of the legends are still with us; like Foyt, Parnelli, Andretti, Johncock, Kenyon, Rutherford, Yarborough and Stewart. George Snider and Larry Dickson are also still around, but I’m not so sure I would label them as legends.

I’m sure there will be some who strongly feel another year had a stronger grid. Some might point to the 1952 race that had the great Alberto Ascari racing against the likes of Jim Rathmann, Troy Ruttman, Jimmy Bryan, Sam Hanks, Bob Sweikert, Johnnie Parsons, Rodger Ward and Bill Vukovich.

For my money, the 1967 Indianapolis 500 featured the best from USAC Champ Cars, Formula One, Sprints, Midgets, and NASCAR. The starting lineup read like a Who’s Who of current and future stars of motorsports. I’m not sure we will ever see such a collection of racing stars in one race ever again.

George Phillips

This entry was posted on May 3, 2023 at 4:03 am and is filed under Indianapolis 500. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.