[Mr. Mojo]

Indy racing in Bobby’s era was the best. Back when the cars were driven by Americans. The Unser brothers, Foyt, Andretti, Donohue, Ruby, Revson, Mears, Rutherford, Johncock, etc. And Bobby was as good as any of them in his prime. Took more chances on the track than his brother Al, who was steadier. The Unsers pretty much owned the Pikes Peak run for a long time.

[rdl6989]

I tried to watch the indycar race yesterday but it was horrible. No familiar names and all European drivers.

[ghost of nixon]

Loved Indy car racing in that era - Bobby Unser was my favorite. I believe he was pursued by the Feds for trespassing in a wilderness area with a snowmobile a while back. I believe he got lost & was in trouble, but no mercy from the Feds.

[PAR35]

Back when the cars were driven by Americans.

Jim Clark won the '65 Indy. Bobby Unser finished 19th. Jackie Stewart led most of the '66 race, and Clark finished 2nd. Graham Hill won it. So the mid-60s weren't exactly the American era at Indy.

[TribalPrincess2U]

Yes, those were good days!. I didn’t meet Mario until after moving to Fort Worth from Indy, sometime in the 70s, I think.

[Augie]

American Indy car racing has been going downhill since CART split from USAC in 1978.

Cookie cutter cars and cookie cutter drivers with names that can’t be pronounced. No thanks.

Dirt track sprint car and midget racing, on the other hand, has never been better than it is now.

[smokingfrog]

I seem to remember both Unsers as being very consistent racer, almost always placing near the top.

[sphinx]

Indy racing has been NASCARed, and it's painful to watch. The 500 used to be all about speed. Then came 1973, a disastrous year. Basically the cars had simply outgrown the track; they were trying to take off and fly, and the Brickyard ain't big enough for that. Everything the 500 has done since '73 has been to limit speeds. That quickly pushed everyone into cookie cutter cars, which have been standardized to cut costs. It's now just open cockpit NASCAR. Pretty boring.

We used to go regularly with a friend whose family has had tickets high in the fourth turn since before the last ice age. That ended when the kids' school calendars made it impossible to get back to Indiana for Memorial Day. I'd go again for old time's sake, but it's not the same spectacle. The magic is gone. Heck, Jim Nabors ain't even there anymore.

[blue state conservative]

I went to high school in Colorado Springs in the early 70s and it was a big deal when Bobby Unser entered the Pikes Peak hillclimb. I think it was the first time such a big name had entered. He wiped the field and set a course record. Left the city soon after so I didn’t know he continued to race it and his brother Al raced as well but not surprised they continued to dominate.