Indy 500

By Keith Maney

The Indy 500 needs no introduction to gearheads in this country - it's easily the most famous race run on these shores. It's also one of the world's Big Four, which also includes the Grand Prix of Monaco, the 24 Hours of Le Mans and, we can't forget, the Daytona 500. Of course, with any sporting event as famous and the Indy 500, there's rarely any shortage of coverage or attention. This is all good. Who among us doesn't keep tabs on the Month of May every year, and who doesn't watch the race itself either in person or on TV?

Most of this coverage is great. It would be nice, though, if the event coverage could spend a bit more time on the cars themselves. Not just general overviews - real mechanical stuff. With the bodywork off! Let me see the brakes, and the suspension, and the engine and exhaust. Gearheads want to see gears!

A group of us here at Year One were fortunate enough to be invited to the 2001 Indy 500 by Larry and LeeAnne Nash, the principals of LP Racing. LP Racing prepared and campaigned the Dallara-Olds machines raced by Sam Schmidt Motorsports in 2001, driven by Davey Hamilton until his unfortunate accident sidelined him at the Texas IRL race. The Nashes thought it would be neat if we could spend some time with them in the garage area of the massive Indianapolis Motor Speedway as they prepared the car for the 500. Actually, we thought it would be real neat, and they were nice enough not to toss us out as they thrashed on the car. Anyway, we managed to stay mostly out of the way as the LP Racing experts wrenched on the car, and we even managed to snap a few pictures in the process.

So, the following series of photographs and captions is a rare peek inside the garages of the Speedway as teams and cars are prepared for competition. We even got a few shots of practice sessions and the race. But the really cool part is getting to see these outrageous hot rods up close and personal. Each one is a work of art, and the people tending to them are artists. Notice in the photos how nicely turned out the LP Racing-prepared Dallara is. Most race cars look good from 30-feet, but actually become a little rough upon close inspection. The Sam Schmidt Motorsports car was immaculate everywhere, which speaks volumes about the engineering prowess and attention to detail shown by the LP Racing crew. You'll see what we mean as you look through the photos.

Special thanks go out to Larry, LeeAnne, and everyone at LP Racing for extending us this opportunity. It was fantastic, and we're very glad you will be joining us on the 2002 Hot Rod Magazine Power Tour with your 1967 Chevy Bel Air Wagon. We can't wait to see all the tricks on the car! To Davey, who is a great driver and as nice a person as you will ever meet, we hope to see you back on the track very soon. We're all pulling for you. A special thanks to Sam Schmidt, also, for allowing us to poke around his team while they were preparing for the biggest race of the year.

Click on the images below to go behind the scenes of the Indianapolis 500.