As a kid growing up in Carmel, Indiana, I remember three things very clearly:
- Lots and lots of corn. Everywhere.
- Lots and lots of basketball. Everywhere.
- Bob Lamey announcing the Indianapolis 500 on the radio every May.
You see, if you lived in Indianapolis, you couldn’t watch the race live unless you had a spectacular satellite dish – and even then it was usually blacked out.
Indy natives were expected to go to the race.
If not? You had to listen on the radio and settle for the Tape Delay later that evening.
While I was fortunate to attend the race once, my (and I anticipate many Hoosier natives’) defining memories of the race will live eternally in the voice of one man – Bob Lamey.
Most people know Lamey to be the voice of the Indianapolis Colts. Real Colts fans have “turned down the knob and turned up Bob” during Colts games. But he is also the greatest racing announcer in history.
I can’t think about certain races without hearing him narrate them.
1989 is eternally linked with the sound of “THEY TOUCHED WHEELS!!! THEY TOUCHED WHEELS!!!” in my memory.
However, even that can’t top this.
I present to you, the greatest clip in the history of the Indy 500, complete with Lamey screaming “ONE MORE TURN TO GO!!!!”
*****
For more great moments, make sure you read Josh Tinley’s Top 500 Moments in History.
About Jon Washburn
the one thing I remember growing up in Indiana and the 500 was the tape delay on television was in June and usually on a saturday night after the news…this tape delay to primetime the same day was something that came along in the 90s if I remember right. That was a big deal to see it that same night.