Many of the cars in that first race drove faster, but Ray Harroun kept his speed at 75 and only had to change a tire four times, while the average tire changed in that race was 8 times. And changing tires in those days meant removing the tube and tire off the wheel and putting a new tube and tire on. :)
It's nice to see Mr. Ray Haroun in his older years, still way before my time, but every May you will see his smiling face as he sits in his winning car after the 1st Indianapolis 500. Also a young A.J. Foyt, both these men are true racing legends.
This is a priceless piece of video. When it was Bill Cullen's turn and he asked about "automobile," Betsy exclaimed an "Oh" and I wonder if that was because with her being from Indiana that she put two and two together with this show's episode was a week after the 1961 Indianapolis 500. And I believe this is the first video I have seen with Ray Harroun in the 1960s. Wonderful video. They would not be able to pull this off in today's world with the 24-hour news cycle.
Amazing to see those two great men together. I remember watching "I've Got a Secret" as a kid. This program aired in June 1961 when I was five years old.
There's an interesting about Foyt's first win...after seeing his mother admiring the official pace car, he promised her that he would give it to her if he took the checkered flag (the vehicle is presented to the winner). So Mrs. Foyt left Indy in her new Ford Thunderbird.
I lived in the suburban Detroit town of Wayne for years without making the connection between Ray Harroun and a local street of the same name. Turned out he manufactured cars there during the World War I era.
I remember watching the '91 Indy 500 (which was supposed to be AJ's last ever 500; He retired for good two years later during time trials for the 500) when he went out of that race and he referenced this show, and to be more specific, what Ray said to him about when you know the right time to retire. I dunno if he told him on air or not, but I don't remember what AJ said that Ray told him ATM. I have to look it up again.
I’ve been a race fan all my 57 years and amateur and semi pro racer most of my younger years. My teenage son is an amazing go kart racer hoping to transition into cars with some sponsor help. It’s so expensive these days and just can’t do it myself but this is the first time I’ve ever seen this great video. How amazing to see in my opinion the best driver ever to race an Indy car and probably one of the best ever to race any race car. AJ Foyt and to see him with Ray Harroun who won the first Indy 500 after having to be talked heavily out of retirement to run a race that was over twice the distance he’s ever raced a car and on top of that doing it alone in the days where a riding mechanic was a necessity for the main reason of being a “look out” for the other car’s positions on the track to let the driver know. Ray actually was the first race car driver to ever use a rear view mirror. Although he said it vibrated so bad he couldn’t see anything in it , it did convince the marshals to let him race it without a riding mechanic. Thank you for posting this fantastic video. It’s so different now a days watching these very talented “kids” racing these cars , when I was a kid they were the older men I so wished I could grow up to be now I see them as someone my son could be if only we could get the stars in life to align somehow and give a deserving and talented kid a chance. It Used to be a daring,talented driver with some decent financial contacts , a chassis and engine building contacts a fuel and tire changer and a truck a tool box and a trailer could race in the Indy 500 and have a chance to win. Now it takes multi millions of dollars, a huge semi tractor trailer with a machine shop on board and a team as the crew to just show up at the track to attempt to qualify. I was told by a very old retired Indy 500 driver when we were hanging out together at Road America for a Can Am historical race that a steering wheel alone on these cars of today cost more than 5 times of what the total team expense to run that race cost in the early 60’s. I know we are coming into the electrical powers of the age but nothing will ever take the place of a Cosworth turbocharged powered v-8 screaming past you on the front stretch at 220 mph. TV just can’t give it any justice. It has to be experienced in person.
Forgot to mention the Indy 500 driver I was talking to was George Follmer. My young son and sister had the privilege to pick up him and his beautiful girlfriend Bobbi up at the Milwaukee airport and drive them around all week and weekend for the 2021 Road America 50th year Can Am Historical race. They are awesome folks, George was 86 then and he was asked to do some parade laps in the 1974 Can Am Championship winning Shadow DN4 chassis 1-A that ironically his rival Jackie Oliver won the championship in. Jackie was not allowed to leave his home country because of the Covid situation so George drove the car a few laps. He said he hadn’t even sat in a race car for over 20 years and he climbed right in that almost 1.000 Hp aluminum big block Chevy powered car with the Hewland 4 speed manual trans and never stalled it or caused it to buck around while driving it very slowly in the pits getting onto the track. Quite a few of the other drivers were stalling their cars or causing them to buck around pretty bad trying to drive them slow but “Just ask George to do it” was as smooth as could be in that beautiful race car.
@@dannystephen591 Racing sold its soul to the devil back in the late 60's when they first allowed big money sponsors. Top level racing was always expensive, and money was always a struggle, and they thought having big money come in would ease the struggle and give the teams who got sponsors a competitive advantage. Instead, other teams just got their own sponsors and the result was you couldn't race competitively without one and they became a necessity. Of course whoever puts up the money in any business is going to have a say in how the business is run, so the sponsors became the driving force in racing. And it didn't even ease money struggles, because a race team is going to spend whatever money it gets, and it becomes a struggle whether you have 10 thousand dollars to run your team or 10 million dollars. The money is never going to be enough, so might as well struggle on 10 thousand and not be beholding to the sponsors. But it never works out that way. I was watching a documentary recently on the Apollo moon program, and they were talking about the "enormous" expense of it-20 billion dollars in 10 years to get to the moon. Nowadays in Formula One racing they'll spend that much money in five years just to run around in circles in races that are pretty much decided in the first few laps and in which only two or three cars have any chance to win. What a ridiculous and pointless waste of money it all is. At least we got to the moon for the money we spent.
@zeeman1913 Ray worked for Walter Marmon at the Marmon company. Ray designed built and raced the Marmon Wasp and I believe you are correct that Walter was the owner.
It really would depend on who you got. By all accounts, both Palmer and Bill Cullen were pretty bright people. In fact, Cullen was a pre-med student before financial problems forced him to drop out. He also did a little amateur racing
I love watching the footage from that first race…Ray, just sitting in his car all calm and collected with that slight grin in his face, having no idea the significance of what he had just won. I’d give about anything to know what Ray is up there thinking in regard to the car’s capabilities today.
That is so cool, are you a Hoosier? I was a bit surprised when Ray said he was from Anderson. I love the track in Anderson and wish I lived closer, I'd build another car if I did. I raced there a handful of times but it's a long haul from Louisville. The Marmon Wasp is usually sitting front and center in the museum when I visit, usually during the dreary days of winter. You must be very proud, I know I would be. Ray still looked like he did when he won, he looked old when he was young. LOL
I grew up in Anderson, and never heard anyone mention his time there and I had several family members who were fans and racers of some type , along with half of my parents ,aunts , and uncles working for either GM or other auto supply businesses. After looking up his bio , he must have moved there to work with the GM plants , as he was born in Pennsylvania.
The fact that Harroun was the only one to drive without a mechanic makes his win all the more special in my opinion. From what I've heard the bumps in the track made his rear view mirror pretty much useless.
I remember when I was growing up if you were pretty fast if you were really fast on a bike or anything they would say "who do you think you are AJ foyt"
There's a considerable controversy as to whether Harroun actualy won that first race. The judge's stand was destroyed in an acciendt and the judges scattered in all directions. Ralph Mulford took the checkered flag. There was confusion about which lap Mulford and Harroun were on. Mulford was ordered to take three extra laps and by the time he came in Harroun, a local hero, was in the winner's circle. The race records were destroyed after Mulford's appeal was denied.
thanks mr foyt and mr harroun. i want to perform the worlds largest kareoke concert in indy for the kids and the travis pastrana triple jump for mr knievel and kids . best wishes to everyone around the world. eric stewart american trucker biker kareoke singer swimmer daydreamer. monroe city indiana happy trails yeeha
Kerry, I hate to disagree however the calendar does not lie. JFK was killed almost six full months prior to A. J. Foyt winning the 1964 race. And, yes, it was indeed five years prior to the first moon landing.
A. J. and all the other drivers of that era had a big set of cojones. Those sleek front engine roadsters burned gasoline instead of the later ethanol based fuels which were less volatile. A. J. said he didn't consider it that dangerous. I wonder if he felt the same after the 1964 race in which Dave McDonald and Eddie Sachs were both killed in an early lap fiery crash. I admire the courage but always questioned the judgement after driving by a wrecked car with the driver sitting there getting barbequed.
They probably didn't even think twice about it. It was just part of the job. Look at the Bettenhausens. The three sons saw their father burned to death on the front stretch at Indianapolis and then all three took up racing just like it was nothing.
![What's My Line? - Toots Shor; Johnny Carson; Tony Randall & Martin Gabel [panel] (Feb 11, 1962)](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/0VK4jCnt3Nw/mqdefault.jpg)
Now this is what we call, History!!! This is absolute PRICELESS!!!!
75 mph, vs 139 mph, vs 2021 of over 230 mph. Amazing, and thank you for posting this.
I cant see it going higher. Not that much anyway. It was almost doubling over 50 years 😳
Many of the cars in that first race drove faster, but Ray Harroun kept his speed at 75 and only had to change a tire four times, while the average tire changed in that race was 8 times. And changing tires in those days meant removing the tube and tire off the wheel and putting a new tube and tire on. :)
It's nice to see Mr. Ray Haroun in his older years, still way before my time, but every May you will see his smiling face as he sits in his winning car after the 1st Indianapolis 500. Also a young A.J. Foyt, both these men are true racing legends.
its nice to just be able to hear the voice of the first winner, he seems mild mannored ray harroun
Now I see why I'm so damn short!
This is a priceless piece of video. When it was Bill Cullen's turn and he asked about "automobile," Betsy exclaimed an "Oh" and I wonder if that was because with her being from Indiana that she put two and two together with this show's episode was a week after the 1961 Indianapolis 500. And I believe this is the first video I have seen with Ray Harroun in the 1960s. Wonderful video. They would not be able to pull this off in today's world with the 24-hour news cycle.
I met Ray's son a few months before his death and he said that his dad talked about his win a lot when they were younger. Ray will always be a legend
Lucky!!
Amazing to see those two great men together. I remember watching "I've Got a Secret" as a kid. This program aired in June 1961 when I was five years old.
One of the coolest vids I've seen. Its very classic to have them together back then.
WOW!! This is priceless!! Thanks for posting it!
Bill Cullen was the AJ Foyt of game shows in his day.
There's an interesting about Foyt's first win...after seeing his mother admiring the official pace car, he promised her that he would give it to her if he took the checkered flag (the vehicle is presented to the winner). So Mrs. Foyt left Indy in her new Ford Thunderbird.
Awesome! Thanks for posting. He even pronounced our last name correctly!
Very cool. Two great Indy legends!
Love seeing AJ
Great posting, I enjoyed it immensely!
I lived in the suburban Detroit town of Wayne for years without making the connection between Ray Harroun and a local street of the same name. Turned out he manufactured cars there during the World War I era.
Very cool. I love anything Indianapolis related.
well i am indeed related
This is awesome.
I remember watching the '91 Indy 500 (which was supposed to be AJ's last ever 500; He retired for good two years later during time trials for the 500) when he went out of that race and he referenced this show, and to be more specific, what Ray said to him about when you know the right time to retire. I dunno if he told him on air or not, but I don't remember what AJ said that Ray told him ATM. I have to look it up again.
Priceless
I’ve been a race fan all my 57 years and amateur and semi pro racer most of my younger years. My teenage son is an amazing go kart racer hoping to transition into cars with some sponsor help. It’s so expensive these days and just can’t do it myself but this is the first time I’ve ever seen this great video. How amazing to see in my opinion the best driver ever to race an Indy car and probably one of the best ever to race any race car. AJ Foyt and to see him with Ray Harroun who won the first Indy 500 after having to be talked heavily out of retirement to run a race that was over twice the distance he’s ever raced a car and on top of that doing it alone in the days where a riding mechanic was a necessity for the main reason of being a “look out” for the other car’s positions on the track to let the driver know. Ray actually was the first race car driver to ever use a rear view mirror. Although he said it vibrated so bad he couldn’t see anything in it , it did convince the marshals to let him race it without a riding mechanic. Thank you for posting this fantastic video. It’s so different now a days watching these very talented “kids” racing these cars , when I was a kid they were the older men I so wished I could grow up to be now I see them as someone my son could be if only we could get the stars in life to align somehow and give a deserving and talented kid a chance. It Used to be a daring,talented driver with some decent financial contacts , a chassis and engine building contacts a fuel and tire changer and a truck a tool box and a trailer could race in the Indy 500 and have a chance to win. Now it takes multi millions of dollars, a huge semi tractor trailer with a machine shop on board and a team as the crew to just show up at the track to attempt to qualify. I was told by a very old retired Indy 500 driver when we were hanging out together at Road America for a Can Am historical race that a steering wheel alone on these cars of today cost more than 5 times of what the total team expense to run that race cost in the early 60’s. I know we are coming into the electrical powers of the age but nothing will ever take the place of a Cosworth turbocharged powered v-8 screaming past you on the front stretch at 220 mph. TV just can’t give it any justice. It has to be experienced in person.
Forgot to mention the Indy 500 driver I was talking to was George Follmer. My young son and sister had the privilege to pick up him and his beautiful girlfriend Bobbi up at the Milwaukee airport and drive them around all week and weekend for the 2021 Road America 50th year Can Am Historical race. They are awesome folks, George was 86 then and he was asked to do some parade laps in the 1974 Can Am Championship winning Shadow DN4 chassis 1-A that ironically his rival Jackie Oliver won the championship in. Jackie was not allowed to leave his home country because of the Covid situation so George drove the car a few laps. He said he hadn’t even sat in a race car for over 20 years and he climbed right in that almost 1.000 Hp aluminum big block Chevy powered car with the Hewland 4 speed manual trans and never stalled it or caused it to buck around while driving it very slowly in the pits getting onto the track. Quite a few of the other drivers were stalling their cars or causing them to buck around pretty bad trying to drive them slow but “Just ask George to do it” was as smooth as could be in that beautiful race car.
@@dannystephen591 Racing sold its soul to the devil back in the late 60's when they first allowed big money sponsors. Top level racing was always expensive, and money was always a struggle, and they thought having big money come in would ease the struggle and give the teams who got sponsors a competitive advantage. Instead, other teams just got their own sponsors and the result was you couldn't race competitively without one and they became a necessity. Of course whoever puts up the money in any business is going to have a say in how the business is run, so the sponsors became the driving force in racing. And it didn't even ease money struggles, because a race team is going to spend whatever money it gets, and it becomes a struggle whether you have 10 thousand dollars to run your team or 10 million dollars. The money is never going to be enough, so might as well struggle on 10 thousand and not be beholding to the sponsors. But it never works out that way.
I was watching a documentary recently on the Apollo moon program, and they were talking about the "enormous" expense of it-20 billion dollars in 10 years to get to the moon. Nowadays in Formula One racing they'll spend that much money in five years just to run around in circles in races that are pretty much decided in the first few laps and in which only two or three cars have any chance to win. What a ridiculous and pointless waste of money it all is. At least we got to the moon for the money we spent.
Amazing!!
@zeeman1913 Ray worked for Walter Marmon at the Marmon company. Ray designed built and raced the Marmon Wasp and I believe you are correct that Walter was the owner.
@ohiopower
Betsy Palmer, who guesses while Bill Cullen was still talking, was from Indiana, which is probably why she knew.
Foyt is no question one of the best of all time. With all do respect, I just can't stand to listen to him talk.
Awesome!!!
ha thats my great grandpa ray harroun
im related to him too! who are you?
Have you ever been to Spartansburg , PA his home town ?
If there was a similar show on today, would the panel would get the answers so quickly?
It really would depend on who you got. By all accounts, both Palmer and Bill Cullen were pretty bright people. In fact, Cullen was a pre-med student before financial problems forced him to drop out. He also did a little amateur racing
I love watching the footage from that first race…Ray, just sitting in his car all calm and collected with that slight grin in his face, having no idea the significance of what he had just won. I’d give about anything to know what Ray is up there thinking in regard to the car’s capabilities today.
That is so cool, are you a Hoosier? I was a bit surprised when Ray said he was from Anderson. I love the track in Anderson and wish I lived closer, I'd build another car if I did. I raced there a handful of times but it's a long haul from Louisville. The Marmon Wasp is usually sitting front and center in the museum when I visit, usually during the dreary days of winter. You must be very proud, I know I would be. Ray still looked like he did when he won, he looked old when he was young. LOL
I grew up in Anderson, and never heard anyone mention his time there and I had several family members who were fans and racers of some type , along with half of my parents ,aunts , and uncles working for either GM or other auto supply businesses.
After looking up his bio , he must have moved there to work with the GM plants , as he was born in Pennsylvania.
i wished a two team (driver and mechanic .. would have won that first indy 500 race.. ....damn it
The fact that Harroun was the only one to drive without a mechanic makes his win all the more special in my opinion. From what I've heard the bumps in the track made his rear view mirror pretty much useless.
I remember when I was growing up if you were pretty fast if you were really fast on a bike or anything they would say "who do you think you are AJ foyt"
Dan Wheldon: I won the Indy 500 50 years from now.
This comment did not age well, and made me a little sad for what could have been.
@mouseworxion, nice Ray is my grandmothers cousin! Seems we are related! :)
i am related too
huh so am i
Foyt won the race 4 times.
4 wins as a driver. 1 win as a team owner exclusively.
@@billythekid3234 4-times as driver BIG fella.
There's a considerable controversy as to whether Harroun actualy won that first race. The judge's stand was destroyed in an acciendt and the judges scattered in all directions. Ralph Mulford took the checkered flag. There was confusion about which lap Mulford and Harroun were on. Mulford was ordered to take three extra laps and by the time he came in Harroun, a local hero, was in the winner's circle. The race records were destroyed after Mulford's appeal was denied.
thanks mr foyt and mr harroun. i want to perform the worlds largest kareoke concert in indy for the kids and the travis pastrana triple jump for mr knievel and kids . best wishes to everyone around the world. eric stewart american trucker biker kareoke singer swimmer daydreamer. monroe city indiana happy trails yeeha
I wished I lived back then. The girls were not all fake and they knew about auto racing.
57delray
57delray
57DELRAY
My wife would have known this, even now.
Is it me or does Foyt look like kind of like Michael Shumacher here, lol.
He has that big chin, jaw that Shummy had
JFK was president and this was quite a few years before Neil Armstrong stepped on the moon.
Kerry, I hate to disagree however the calendar does not lie. JFK was killed almost six full months prior to A. J. Foyt winning the 1964 race. And, yes, it was indeed five years prior to the first moon landing.
This show was done about a week after AJ Foyt won his first Indy 500 in 1961. 50 years after Ray Haroun won the first 500 in 1911.
@wschmrdr Sad to say Mr. Wheldon cannot say that anymore. Damn shame.
A. J. and all the other drivers of that era had a big set of cojones. Those sleek front engine roadsters burned gasoline instead of the later ethanol based fuels which were less volatile.
A. J. said he didn't consider it that dangerous. I wonder if he felt the same after the 1964 race in which Dave McDonald and Eddie Sachs were both killed in an early lap fiery crash.
I admire the courage but always questioned the judgement after driving by a wrecked car with the driver sitting there getting barbequed.
They probably didn't even think twice about it. It was just part of the job. Look at the Bettenhausens. The three sons saw their father burned to death on the front stretch at Indianapolis and then all three took up racing just like it was nothing.
@@RRaquello I agree. Two of them suffering debilitating injuries themselves. They define the word passion.
How is it that know recogizes AJ Foyt from winning the Indy 500?
Lol