Oilpressure

Congratulations to Rick Johnson, for winning this year’s Oilpressure.com Trivia Contest…again. I’m losing count, but I believe this is Rick’s fourth win. Rick only missed two this year, which far surpassed any of the other entries. As usual, there were a couple of answers that I allowed when there seemed to be some gray to the answer. Thanks to everyone who played along. I hope you had as much fun playing, as I did putting it together. Here are the correct answers:

1.  Name a legendary fabricator whose nocturnal work habits earned him a notorious nickname. What was the nickname? Don Brown. The Prince of Darkness.

2.  Name at least one team that placed second in the Indianapolis 500 four times, yet never won. Panther Racing

3.  During the 70s, only one foreign (non-US citizen) driver finished in the Top-Ten. Name the driver and year. David Hobbs finished fifth in 1974.

4.  Three drivers have the dubious distinction of having been named the First Alternate Starter two separate times. Name the three drivers and the years. Eddie Johnson (1953 & 1954), Paul Russo (1961 & 1964) and Rick Muther (1969 & 1975)

5.  After Wilbur Shaw did away with milk in Victory Lane (instead offering “Water from Wilbur” in a silver cup); who was the first driver to drink milk in Victory Lane along with the water? Pat Flaherty in 1956

6.  What car number has won the Indianapolis 500 more times than any other? What was the last year that car number won? Car No. 3. 2009 with Helio Castroneves

7.  What Indianapolis 500 winning driver rode in the first Daytona 200 motorcycle race? Bill Cummings rode in the first Daytona 200 in 1937.

8.  Name a driver who would later obliterate the one-lap and four-lap record, who served on the winning pit crew in 1923? Ralph Hepburn

9.  Jigger Sirois Is infamous for waving off his last qualifying lap, that supposedly would’ve put him on the pole for the 1969 Indianapolis 500. What was his father’s nickname? Frenchy Sirois, who was a well-known mechanic in the Indianapolis from the mid-forties to the mid-sixties.

10. There was a driver in the 1950s who drove for two separate teams, that had car names made up of a combination of people’s first names. Who was the driver and what were the names of the cars? Jimmy Daywalt. The Sumar Special (named for the combined first names of the wives of owners Chapman Root and Don Smith; Susan Root and Mary Smith); and the Helse Special, which was the combined names of Herb and Elsie Johnson.

11. There was once a car whose primary sponsor was an NFL Franchise. Who was the driver, what was the NFL team, what was the year and where did the car finish? The Atlanta Falcons, Mel Kenyon finished fourth in 1973

12. When Billy Arnold won from the pole in 1930, it was one of the most dominating wins in Indianapolis 500 history up to present times. Who was originally assigned to that car to begin the Month of May? Harry Hartz

13. Dempsey Wilson started thirty-third and finished thirty-third in a car qualified by someone who stepped out of the car and refused to drive it during Carburetion Day. Who qualified the car? Jimmy Daywalt

14. Who was the first driver to qualify a front-drive car for the Indianapolis 500? What was the year? Dave Lewis in 1925

15. What driver gave Team McLaren its first Top-Ten finish in the Indianapolis 500? Carl Williams, who finished ninth in 1970

16. In 1946, Jimmy Jackson finished second in a car painted green, despite the fact that green was considered very unlucky by traditionalists. Why did he paint his car green?.  Jackson went to Tech High School in Indianapolis, and they were known as the Big Green.

17. The main welder for famed car-builder AJ Watson, had a brother who won the Indianapolis 500. What was the welder’s name and who was his race-winning brother? Ronnie Ward, Rodger Ward’s brother

18. What two drivers missed the 1952 Indianapolis 500 due to military service overseas? Jimmy Davies (in Korea) and Jerry Hoyt (in Germany)

19. Walt Faulkner was once sponsored by a company founded by someone who drove in the inaugural Indianapolis 500. Who was the 1911 driver, and what was the company that sponsored Faulkner? Charlie Merz, who later founded Merz Engineering. Walt Faulkner drove the Merz Engineering Special to a fifth-place finish in 1955.

20. Who was the first female driver to be entered into the Indianapolis 500, but to never qualify? What was the year? Desiré Wilson in 1982

21. Before Roger Penske won the race three years in a row, from 2001 to 2003; who was the only car owner to win the Indianapolis 500 three years in a row? Lou Moore, from 1947 to 1949

22. In 1947, Bill Holland was not originally assigned to the car that finished second in a controversial finish. Who was the original driver assigned to that car? Tony Bettenhausen, who gave up the ride when a driver’s strike was threatened though ASPAR

23. Who was Honda’s very first race car driver, driving for a few years in Formula One before coming to the Indianapolis 500 and starting three times? Ronnie Bucknum, who had three starts at Indianapolis from 1968 to 1970

24. What is the name of the creek that runs underneath the main grandstands along the front straightaway, and then goes underneath Turn One? Dry Run Creek

25. For a period of time, points were awarded in the Indianapolis 500 that counted toward to World Championship. During that time, only one Grand Prix (Formula One) driver qualified for the Indianapolis 500. Who was the driver, what was the year and where did he finish? Alberto Ascari finished thirty-first in 1952, scoring zero points in the World Championship

26. During this same period referenced in Question 25, who was the only American Indianapolis 500 driver to ever race in a European Grand Prix? What was the year and where was the Grand Prix (what country)? Troy Ruttman drove in the French Grand Prix in 1958

27. One year there were two rookie drivers fatally injured within a span of nine days at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, while driving the exact same car. This ultimately led to the the development of what is now known as the Rookie Orientation Program, which went into effect the following year. Who were the two rookies, what was the year they were fatally injured and who was the car-owner? Johnny Hannon and Clay Weatherly were both fatally injured in the same car, owned by Leon Duray in 1935. Hannon in practice, and Weatherly during the race.

28. Dr. Jack Miller, who started in three Indianapolis 500s in the late 90s, is often referred to as ”The Racing Dentist”. He is not the first dentist to race in the Indianapolis 500. Name at least one other dentist who started and raced in the Indianapolis 500. Alfred Moss a dental student in Indianapolis at the time, started in the 1924 Indianapolis 500. He was the father of legendary Formula One driver Sir Stirling Moss.

29. What driver holds the track record for when the track surface was entirely brick? Leon Duray

30. In the rear-engine era under the “old” qualifying format, a car was qualified and then bumped – making that car ineligible to qualify again. A supposed scramble took place to find another car, when in actuality the team simply disguised the car that was bumped. The car was immediately disallowed, when it was discovered it was the same car. What year did this happen, and who was the driver of the car? Sam Posey in 1973

31. Who was the first driver to ever hit the SAFER Barrier? Robby McGehee during practice in 2002

32. What driver led 266 laps in his career at the Indianapolis 500, yet none of them past Lap 99? Rex Mays

33. What was the reason Dan Gurney started running car number 48 in 1968? Dan Gurney was a fan of Les Richter of the Los Angeles Rams, who wore No. 48

Tie-Breaker: What driver was once married to a Playboy Magazine Playmate of the Year? Bill Engelhart, who started twenty-second in the 1980 Indianapolis 500 and finished eleventh, was married to 1963 Playmate of the Month June Cochran. She was also a Hurst Shifter Girl with Linda Vaughn.

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