“Region Racers” — Ray Nichels

By: Wm. LaDow
Speedway Sightings

April 18, 2016

By the time Hoosier Ray Nichels got around to the Month of May at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 1957, he had already set the racing world on its collective ear.

It started in February when at the request of Semon “Bunkie” Knudsen, head of the Pontiac Division at General Motors, Nichels and his team of Dale “Tiny” Worley, Pat O’Connor, Dick Rathmann, and Ed Oldert ventured to Daytona. Once there, the Nichels Engineering team performed in a record-breaking fashion. Nichels and his two NASCAR drivers, Banjo Matthews and Cotton Owens, captured the pole (Matthews) and won the race. (Owens) 

This undertaking was accomplished at a record-setting speed of 101.541 miles per hour on a racecourse just over 4 miles in length. One straightaway was the shore of the Atlantic Ocean, and the other an asphalt strip known as South Atlantic Avenue named so due to its being part of Route A1A, that begins just below the Georgia state line and runs to the Key West International Airport.

nascar-daytona-beach-course-1957.jpg

His chief racing partner through this period was North Vernon, Indiana native Pat O’Connor, who Ray introduced as his new driver in 1955. O’Connor had made his Indy debut in the 1954 race and gained the respect of his racing peers by virtue of his stellar skills. On top of his initial Indy success, O’Connor had built a strong career as an AAA sprint car driver, winning back-to-back Midwest Sprint Championships in 1953 and 1954, a feat never before accomplished. O’Connor was intelligent, articulate, tremendously talented, and one of the smoothest drivers on the AAA circuit.

Nichels and O’Connor’s next stop was at the behest of Firestone in the month of April. The two Hoosier racers were directed to go to Europe to do tire testing for a terribly important race scheduled to run on June 29, 1957. A year earlier, Duane Carter, Director of Competition for United States Auto Club, and Giuseppe Bacciagaluppi, President of the Automobile Club of Milan, formulated a plan to pit America’s 10 best open-wheel drivers against 10 of their European Grand Prix counterparts. An auto racing competition like this had never been attempted. With World War II just a dozen years past, it seemed like the perfect opportunity to pit the world’s best drivers against one another. It was officially labeled the “500 Miglia di Monza (500 Miles of Monza).” It later became known as the “Race of Two Worlds” and ultimately known as “Monzanapolis.”

360

The site of this epic challenge was the Autodromo di Monza, located on the former palatial estate of the King of Italy, about 12 miles north of Milan. The speed complex consisted of both a road course and a newly built speedway. The new high-speed track was just over 2.6 miles long, with two long straightaways held together by two 38-degree banked turns. By comparison, the banking at Indianapolis was only nine degrees, and the turns at Darlington were in their mid-20s. This was clearly the world’s first truly high-banked super-speedway. It was constructed of reinforced, precast concrete sections that had been erected to form the race circuit. The concern among the racing community was that the high speeds on the terribly rough Monza track might be too taxing on the tires. A resulting tire failure at high speed could be catastrophic at a track so highly banked. That meant that Nichels and O’Connor, under contract to Firestone, had to conduct tire tests at Monza to gain an understanding of the challenges of racing on such a circuit.

Over the course of the few days they toiled at Monza, the Ray Nichels-prepped Hemi-powered Kurtis-Kraft, in the hands of O’Connor, eclipsed a series of world speed records. Pat ran a total of 226 miles at an average speed of 163.377 mph, and for good measure, he set the track benchmark when he turned a lap at a staggering 170 mph. When the news reached the outside world, there was a collective gasp. In the weeks following, the European race driver community slowly began to withdraw their commitments to the race at Monza. O’Connor and Nichels had run so fast they had put a chill into the Monza air. It soon began to appear that the only racers who were willing to run the high banks of Monza were Pat O’Connor and his American teammates.

With that task completed, Nichels and O’Connor returned to the States. Next on Nichels Engineering’s racing agenda was America’s palace of speed, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Nichels and O’Connor had been planning for this Indianapolis 500 since the final lap of last year’s race. In 1956, after starting on the front row, a failed magneto late in the race robbed him of his chance to finish with the leaders. In 1955, with just a handful of laps left, they were in a position to win the race. While chasing eventual race winner Bob Sweikert (who was running low on fuel), O’Connor’s mount was felled by a failed fuel fitting worth no more than a couple of dollars.

For the 1957 Indianapolis 500, Nichels and O’Connor had a new car owner, a Terre Haute, Indiana industrialist by the name of Chapman Root. The Root family earned their fortune, beginning in 1901, first by being glass makers. Root Glass Company earned its second fortune by being the glass firm that patented the design of the cocoa-pod-shaped Coca-Cola bottle in 1915. The company was not only a major producer of glass bottles for Coca-Cola but also reported receiving five cents in royalties for every gross of coca–cola bottles produced by any other glass maker. The Root family eventually left the glass manufacturing business, and during the next 30 years, Roots’ Associated Coca-Cola Bottlers became the nation’s largest independent Coke bottler, with plants scattered across the United States.

Indy

When Chapman Root came to race at Indianapolis, he came in earnest. He started with plans to enter three cars in the May Classic. For 1957, Root’s flagship entry was Pat O’Connor in the No. 12 Sumar Special Kurtis-Kraft 500G2-710 Roadster. Nichels personally oversaw the construction of the O’Connor’s car during the previous winter, spending several weeks at the Kurtis-Kraft factory in Southern California and being involved in car assembly of the car himself before it was shipped east.

On Pole Day, May 18th, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway filled with an all-time qualifications record crowd, estimated at 150,000 fans, to see the greatest drivers in the world claim their place in the May classic. With nineteen cars already in line for the 11am start for qualifying, it began to rain. For almost four hours, it drenched the speedway. Then a break in the weather finally allowed qualifying to start. Nichels and O’Connor calmly waited for their opportunity. When it came, just like Monza, O’Connor gently pulled out of the pits onto the immense speedway. As Pat gathered speed, Nichels could hear the Offy running smoothly as he disappeared into the first turn. The engine sounded as strong as ever as O’Connor began to gain speed running down the backstretch. Following his warmup, O’Connor did what he had been doing all week, running smooth and fast. His best lap, at 144.046 mph, brought his four-lap qualifying average up to 143.948 mph.

Rain finally ended the day’s qualifying with nine cars making the race. Irishman O’Connor could be seen smiling as he stood in the rain, realizing his childhood dream: being on the pole at Indianapolis. It was a dream shared by many, as O’Connor, Ray Nichels, and Chapman Root had just become the first All-Hoosier race team ever to claim the pole for the world’s greatest race.

So impressive was his collective performance during this four-month period, Ray Nichels was named Indianapolis 500 “Mechanic of the Year,” clearly making him our best “Region Racer.”

 

Photos from the Nichels Engineering Archives and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway

Image  —  Posted: April 5, 2023 in Uncategorized

1-Page 1966 2-Page 1966 3-Page 1966 4-Page 1966 5-Page 1966 6-Page 1966

— Pontiac Racing

It all started at Rudy Nichels Place

Image  —  Posted: January 18, 2023 in Uncategorized

— Written by Alex Walordy for Speed Merchants Magazine —

Image  —  Posted: August 24, 2022 in Uncategorized

Image  —  Posted: July 13, 2022 in Uncategorized

Image  —  Posted: July 6, 2022 in Uncategorized

Winner Ericsson Receives Largest Payout in Indy 500 History

INDIANAPOLIS (Monday, May 30, 2022) – The Indianapolis 500 purse record was shattered after a wildly successful 106th Running of the Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge, with race winner Marcus Ericsson taking home $3.1 million from a total purse of $16,000,200.

It’s the largest purse ever in the century-plus history of “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing.” The Chip Ganassi Racing driver’s prize is also the largest winner’s payout ever for the world’s largest single-day sporting event.

SEE: Official Box Score

Prior to 2022, the biggest Indy 500 purse was $14.4 million for the 2008 Indy 500. This year’s average payout for drivers was $485,000.

“The Indianapolis 500 is the greatest race in the world, and these drivers lay it all on the line for a chance to drink the winner’s milk and kiss the famous Yard of Bricks,” Roger Penske said. “This year’s record-setting purse is reflective of their tireless pursuit of history and the world-class talent they display on every lap.”

It marks yet another major milestone this Month of May as the Indianapolis Motor Speedway opened its gates to race fans with no restrictions for the first time in three years. More than 325,000 race fans attended Sunday’s race, making it the largest-attended single-day sporting event in the world since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Second-place finisher Pato O’Ward, of Arrow McLaren SP, took home $1 million, marking the largest take-home prize for the second-place finisher in nearly a decade.

Seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson earned Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year honors for his historic and electrifying performance during the Month of May for Chip Ganassi Racing. Johnson earned a $50,000 bonus for being named Rookie of the Year, adding to a total take home prize of $207,900.

The Indianapolis 500 purse consists of Indianapolis Motor Speedway and NTT INDYCAR SERIES awards, plus other designated and special awards. Purse awards are presented annually at the Victory Celebration, held this year at the JW Marriott in downtown Indianapolis Monday night.

The next NTT INDYCAR SERIES race is the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix presented by Lear on Sunday, June 5 at the Raceway at Belle Isle Park in Detroit. The race will be broadcast live on USA Network and the INDYCAR Radio Network starting at 3 p.m. (ET).

INDIANAPOLIS (Sunday, May 29, 2022) – Marcus Ericsson won the 106th Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge in a wild scramble after a late red flag Sunday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, earning his first career victory in “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing.”

Ericsson, from Kumla, Sweden, won under caution in the No. 8 Huski Chocolate Chip Ganassi Racing Honda after Sage Karam crashed in Turn 2 on the final lap. Before the race-ending incident, Ericsson and Pato O’Ward were locked in a fantastic duel for the lead after the restart with two laps to go after the red flag, snaking around the 2.5-mile oval in one of the most breathtaking finishes in the century-plus history of the race.

O’Ward ended up 2nd in the No. 5 Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet in his best career “500” finish in 3 starts.

“I knew the Huski Chocolate car was fast enough, but it was still hard,” Ericsson said. “I had to do everything there at the end to keep him behind. I can’t believe it. I’m so happy.”

Former Formula One driver Ericsson became the second Swede to triumph in the “500,” joining 1999 winner Kenny Brack. Ericsson and Brack spoke via videoconference during the winner’s press conference Sunday afternoon. Ericsson’s best finish in three previous Indy 500 starts was 11th last year.

This was the first victory in “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing” for team owner Chip Ganassi since 2012 and his fifth as a solo owner and sixth overall.

Ericsson took the lead in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES standings with his third career victory, boosted by the double points awarded in this event. In a fateful twist, all three of his victories have featured red flags, as his wins in 2021 at Detroit and Nashville also included race stoppages.

2013 Indy 500 winner Tony Kanaan finished third in the No. 1 The American Legion Chip Ganassi Racing Honda, as the Ganassi team finished a dominant Month of May by putting two cars in the top three. Kanaan recorded the fifth top-three finish of his illustrious “500” career. Felix Rosenqvist placed fourth in the No. 7 Vuse Arrow McLaren SP, as Arrow McLaren SP placed two cars in the top four.

Alexander Rossi, the winner of the 100th Indianapolis 500 in 2016, rounded out the top five in the No. 27 NAPA AUTO PARTS/AutoNation Honda after starting 20th.

2021 winner Helio Castroneves finished seventh after starting 27th in the No. 06 AutoNation/SiriusXM Honda, gaining the most positions from start to finish in the race.

Ericsson, who started fifth, took the lead for good on Lap 190 when “500” rookie Jimmie Johnson made his final pit stop out of sequence with the leaders. Ericsson led O’Ward by 3.2869 seconds and appeared to be on Easy Street toward a spot on the Borg-Warner Trophy with one of the largest gaps by a leader during the 200-lap race.

O’Ward chipped away over the next four laps, pulling to within 2.7 seconds. But it still looked like Ericsson just needed to keep his car in the racing groove for the win.

Then the script was flipped on Lap 194 when Johnson spun into the SAFER Barrier in Turn 2, triggering the fifth of six caution periods in the race. INDYCAR officials decided to red-flag the race in an attempt to finish under green, so all cars pulled into the pits for nearly eight minutes while the debris from Johnson’s crash was cleared.

“I couldn’t believe it,” Ericsson said of the red flag. “You can never take anything for granted, and obviously there were still laps to go, and I was praying so hard it was not going to be another yellow, but I knew there was probably going to be one. It was hard to refocus, but I knew the car was amazing.”

Green-flag racing resumed on Lap 199, with Ericsson snaking left and right on the front and back straightaway to try and break O’Ward’s aerodynamic tow. Heading toward the white flag, Ericsson dove toward the pit entrance and then back to the center of the racetrack, trying to break away from O’Ward.

The gap between the two was .0445 of a second at the flag stand with one lap to go, with O’Ward making a run toward the outside of Turn 1 on Lap 200. He pulled slightly ahead of Ericsson entering the corner, but Ericsson held the low line and forced O’Ward to lift the throttle.

“He was going to put me in the wall if I would have gone for it,” O’Ward said. “We were alongside each other. It’s frustrating. It’s bittersweet. I’m so proud, but it definitely stinks.”

Said Ericsson: “I was not going to put him in the wall, but he had to work hard to get around me there. I knew I could hold my line. I was going to go flat. He was going to have to go two-wide through (Turn) 1 to get there. I knew if I went on the inside into 1, I could keep my foot down. I was hoping I could keep my foot down. That was my plan. It worked.”

Ericsson started to pull away on the back straightaway after repulsing O’Ward, speeding toward Turn 3, when Karam crashed in Turn 2 in his No. 24 AES Indiana DRR Chevrolet. The fifth incident of the day in Turn 2, the race’s calamity corner, triggered the caution period that ended an event featuring a thrilling 38 lead changes among nine drivers.

NTT P1 Award winner and six-time NTT INDYCAR SERIES champion Scott Dixon appeared to be the driver to beat, as he led a race-high 95 laps and became the all-time lap leader in Indianapolis 500 history with 665, surpassing the record of 644 by legendary four-time winner Al Unser. But Dixon was assessed a speeding penalty entering pit lane as he stopped from the lead on Lap 175 in the No. 9 PNC Bank Chip Ganassi Racing Honda.

The subsequent drive-through penalty dropped 2008 Indy 500 winner Dixon through the field, and he ended up a disappointing 21st.

“It’s heartbreaking, to be honest,” Dixon said. “I came into the pit and had to lock the rears and kind of locked all four. I knew it was going to be close; I think it was a mile an hour over or something. Just frustrating. I just messed up.”

The next NTT INDYCAR SERIES race is the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix presented by Lear on Sunday, June 5 at the Raceway at Belle Isle Park in Detroit. The race will be broadcast live on USA Network and the INDYCAR Radio Network starting at 3 p.m. (ET).