Robert K says:
The scene in question is the Indianapolis Speedway, at the old Pagoda. My guess that the painters had not got around to the pit wall yet for the 47 race is probably correct. Another guess is the picture was taken well in advance of the race for promotional purposes.
The car that paced the field was actually a two-tone. I was mistaken about Don Lee not being present at Indy in 46. He was there with his Alpha, a fellow by the name of Hal Cole doing the driving chores. At any rate, the picture you posted was apparently cropped. A different uncropped image reveals the old Pagoda. Also, given the Don Lee correction, the pit wall info lines up precisely with the 1946 500.
Jeez am I confused. Hope someone can help me out and make the pieces fit. As the 1947 date on the car door attests, Nash was the pacer for the 500 that year. The car clearly rests on an apron that is not part of the bricked track. A reasonable assessment would be that the Nash is resting on the pit lane and the low wall on the drivers side is the pit wall. Right? Spots for Sam Hanks, Don Lee Special and a car numbered 63 with Mobile sponsorship, right? Problem is there’s no record of Hanks even being at the speedway in 1947. And there’s no evidence of a car numbered ‘63’ in the record for 1947...DNQ, DNF, practiced or anything else. Don Lee did have two cars there in 47 though, the 154 Mercedes and the Alfa. Hanks did race in the 1946 500, and perhaps the pit wall was just a left over from then. But there’s no record of Lee being there in 46. What’s going on here?
ReplyDeleteyou are presuming that it's the Indy 500. It is not
DeleteWell, damn. I'm wrong again. What I should have said was, "I never said it was the Indy 500, and doubt it's the Indy 500, as that car sure doesn't seem to be up to the task of pacing the Indy 500.... and it doesn't say Indianapolis on the car, like I'm used to seeing Indy 500 pace cars mentioning."
DeleteThanks for the full accounting!