Diamond B. Sports presents
the American Sports Cavalcade.
A panorama of speed, color, drama, and excitement.
and the American Sports Cavalcade.
When the conversation turns to great endurance races,
you naturally think of the 12 hours of Sebring,
the 24 hours of Daytona.
When it's time to talk about the first great American enduro,
you just naturally think about the 1905 24 hours
of Columbus, Ohio.
The automobile was still in its infancy
when three cars spent a day circling the dirt oval
at driving park horse track on the east side of Columbus.
When the dust settled, Charles and George Soles,
driving a Pope Toledo, claimed the Silver Car Trophy,
having covered 828.5 miles.
Today, some 80 years later,
they're racing again in Ohio State Capital.
This time, it's the sizzling quick GTP cars
of the International Motor Sports Association,
flying through the streets of the Columbus Ford 500.
Hi, I'm Ed Bruce.
It seems an ideal combination
for a unique and exciting day of competition.
For the first time ever, these space age prototypes
racing on this 2.27 mile, 11 turn road course.
To get a feel for the course, the cars, and the drivers,
let's join my partner, Steve Evans and Brock Yates.
City government's concerned with the decline
of their downtown area
should really pay a visit to Columbus, Ohio.
Where, under the guidance of Mayor Buck Reinhardt,
downtown is dedicated to the fun of it.
Ice skating and band concerts, dramatic arts,
marathon runs, riverside activities,
it's all in downtown Columbus.
And as of this weekend, an annual festival of speed
and excitement called the Columbus 500.
And your honor, it's been less than a year
since you first walked into City Hall
and told the staff,
I got a great idea in the shower this morning.
Yeah, that's right, they all thought I was crazy.
Everybody except for Jim Truman.
This is great for Columbus.
It's a great city, but we've not been very strong
on marketing our strengths.
And also, it's a chance for us to show
what we can do in the city to make it alive,
and festive, and active, and fun,
and those type of things.
So we're proud of this.
I felt it when I got off the airplane.
The town was pulling together as a unit.
Everybody's been working on this for a year.
We've had volunteers, we've had people
out of the private sector who volunteer their own time.
And of course, the racing people have been great.
We've had an excellent relationship with Emsa
and the insurance people.
Even the engineers, we had guys out here the other night
working through the middle of the night with no pay
to put up fencing.
So that's the kind of excitement we want in Columbus.
And the realization of the mayor's dream
is about to unfold, and Brock Yates
is with the pole-setting driver.
Thanks, Steve, and what a job they've done.
That's the mayor's office up here.
Just a few months ago, he was doing business,
but now it's a racetrack.
And down here on the starting grid,
I'm with Klaus Ludwig, who set the track record here,
of course, and put the Ford Probe on the pole.
Klaus, first of all, congratulations
on winning the pole here in the first 500 at Columbus.
What are your feelings about the racetrack?
It's a very tiny, smart racetrack.
It's a driver's track.
It's hard for the cars and for the drivers,
and I'm looking forward to it.
OK, your strategy with Doc Bundy is to start the race
and then let Doc run it.
Is it going to be just the two, or will you run three times?
We have two pit stops, so we change two times.
I have to do two hours.
Doc has to do an hour around that,
and I hope we will survive.
Going to be a lot of gear changes.
Oh, yeah, that's a lot.
45, one lap.
45 gear changes on each lap.
In my car, Porsches maybe only do 21,
because they can use second, where I have to use first.
It's a little different.
I hope your right arm is in good shape at the end of this,
Klaus.
Thank you very much.
Congratulations, and good luck.
And speaking of his co-driver, Klaus Ludwig,
as he gets ready to get into the car,
Doc Bundy gave us a ride earlier around this very difficult
and very challenging Columbus circuit.
The slow-moving Scioto River becomes the centerpiece
of a brilliantly laid-out street course,
and an interesting one.
The starting line is located at the head of a long straightaway
so that the drivers have a chance to sort themselves out
before slamming into a tight right-hander.
The finish line, well, that's at City Hall
where we just saw Brock and Klaus Ludwig.
Now, even with all of these tight 90-degree turns,
it's still a fun course to drive because the turns are wide.
You can slide these cars.
The drivers rate this the perfect 10
as far as street courses are concerned.
And no one enjoyed it more than Klaus Ludwig and Doc Bundy,
who have put the Mustang Probe on the pole
at a minute 30.9 seconds.
That's an average speed right at 90 miles an hour.
Klaus Ludwig's co-driver, Doc Bundy,
truly enjoys street racing.
A former LeMans champion,
and he also won the Miami Street Race in 1984
for the Jaguar team.
When Doc graciously invited all of us
to go along for a ride of the Mustang Probe,
we quickly accepted.
The first thing you're gonna notice
is the track is a little bit bumpy.
Now, that's just an inherent quality of a street course.
Manhole covers and the like.
The finish is located just past the corner
of Broad Street in front.
The laps will be counted here, so that's where we will start.
You're in third gear past start-finish,
shift into fourth.
Under the bridge, careful of the bumps.
And back down the box to first gear,
nail the gas, slide out to the wall,
shift up to second, third, fourth,
setting up to go under the bridge.
And at the bridge, we discovered
the narrowest part of the circuit.
That's really a railroad trestle.
And now we blast down into a specially
constructed keyhole turn.
As you approach the new fabricated turn
for this course, you're hard in fifth gear,
about 180 mile an hour.
Tuck it in towards the guardrail.
Aim at the corner of the guardrail
as you come back out onto Long Street.
We're approaching the underpass in fifth gear.
Just tuck it to the right, flat in it.
Come off of this.
You're gonna tuck it back to the left.
Aim for the corner of that wall.
Drop down into fourth.
Heavy on the brakes.
Third, second.
And then hard in it in first gear.
Let her slide to the guardrail.
Quick shift to second.
And here you see why I call the river
the centerpiece of this course.
The bridge on your left, that's the Broad Street Bridge.
We've just made a hard right onto that bridge.
And then we hit Washington Boulevard,
a very tight left-hand turn that sweeps over
to the Town Street Bridge, where again, we make a left.
We're in third gear on Marconi,
approaching the Broad Street Corner.
Slide onto the bridge.
Quick shift up to second.
And then let her go up.
Over on the bridge.
Quick shift into third and hard on the brakes.
Okay, this is that left-hander onto Washington Boulevard
I told you about, over a rather bad bump
that it bends at very high speed to the right.
Doc is now rocketing down towards the Town Street Bridge,
where again, we make a left.
We're on top of the hill on Town Street Bridge.
Third gear, approaching Civic Center Drive.
Hard on the brakes, out to the wall.
Grab second.
Up to the third, it's bending around to your left.
Now fourth, now hard on the brakes.
Drop her down to first gear, to the right.
Aim right at the wall, keep it in tight.
Stay to the right.
Now back to the left, onto Broad Street.
Nail it.
Slide to the wall.
Second, third, and now we're crossing start finish.
Wow, Doc, don't be trying that any of Monday morning.
You'll collect about 200 tickets from Columbus Spiders.
Again, our thanks to Doc Bundy and Ian Dosser,
the crew chief of the Mustang Pro.
A lot of people will tell you that
temporary city circuits can be a bit Mickey Mouse,
but Columbus is a definite exception.
The long straightaway separates the men from the boys,
and of course, that little tunnel and the two bridges
are unique aspects of a very, very special road circuit.
I think they've done a super job
laying this track out, Steve.
Oh, I agree, Brock.
In fact, when you drive it, as we just did with Doc Bundy,
it doesn't feel like a street circuit or streets at all.
It feels like a real racetrack.
Well, the problem is most city streets
are laid out in rectangles and squares,
and all you do is end up with a whole bunch
of 90-degree corners.
But with the bridges and with this long straightaway
and some more than 90-degree corners that we've got here,
it becomes a very unique and interesting track
and seems a whole lot quicker than the 90-mile-an-hour
average speed that put Claus Ledwig on the pole.
Of course, we're going to see 180-mile-an-hour top speeds
before they break down to that hairpin
at the end of the straight.
And also some very interesting maneuvering, we might say,
on some of these tighter corners at the beginning
and the end of the bridges.
That's where a bunch of action is going to take place.
But, Brock, I think it's the width of these turns
that makes this course work.
Well, it sure has attracted a great feel of cars
of course, headed by Claus Ledwig on the pole.
But we've got Bob Wallach on the outside.
32 GTP cars, Steve.
No GTO, no GTU machinery in here.
These are just pure, all-out race cars
that are going to contest here at Columbus today.
And an international cast of drivers,
Claus Ledwig from Germany, Bob Wallach from France,
Brian Revin and David Hotz from England.
A great race to come.
This special presentation of American Sports Cavalcade
is being brought to you by B.F. Goodrich,
makers of high-performance T.A. Radials.
We make cars perform.
And by Ford and your local Ford dealer,
who invite you to see the 1986 Ford Cars and Drugs.
Have you driven a Ford lately?
We're about ready for the start
of the Columbus Ford Dealers 500.
A beautiful aerial view from the Fuji Blimp.
You're going to see that terrific shot
during the course of this race.
As you watch the automobiles starting down
that long, straightaway, Florida green flag, Steve Evans.
Well, the cars are just now coming off of Front Street Rock,
where the finish line is located.
And they're heading down towards the starting line.
First, they'll go through that keyhole turn we talked about,
which was specially built for this course.
And just forward of the keyhole turn,
they will take the green flag.
Now, we talked earlier about the location of the pit area.
Well, it's across the Broad Street Bridge.
Just how unique is it?
Well, it's so unique that Brock and I got up early this morning
to have a look.
Lay out a racetrack on the streets
like you do here in Columbus,
and you've got to make some compromises.
For example, here on Pitt Road, we've got a very restricted area.
The cars enter right here, they exit right here.
The separation only by a concrete wall down the center.
Now, how does all that work?
Well, I can't really tell you,
but the man who has the answers to mysterious stuff like this
is my pal, Steve Evans.
Well, Brock, one of the most interesting turns on the course
isn't on the course, it's in the pits.
Because as you said, if you enter up there and you exit up there,
somewhere you've got to make a 180-degree left-hand turn,
and that's done right here, right around this concrete buttress.
And interestingly enough, it is done right under a no-left-turn sign.
Now, the drivers, when they first got here, they went,
what? Well, that's bizarre, but everybody's adapted rather well.
I knew you could explain it for us, Steve.
We're about ready for a start.
Out of the keyhole, they've got it. A green flag is out.
Klaus Ludwig off the pole.
He is down Blonde Street with about a four-car lightweight over Bob Wallach.
Look at Klaus go, and if you were wondering, yes, we do have an in-car camera.
The 67 machine up Jim Busby that finished second just a week ago at Watkins Glen.
We have 20 cameras total, 10 miles of cable,
and a tip of our hat to Galen Holloway
and the entire technical crew for American Sports Cavalry.
What a job they have done, as you are about to see.
All right, as they sweep off the ridge, it's Wallach, Holbert,
and right behind him, Drake Olsen and the first Jaguar, Bob Julius,
all in a big scramble for second spot.
Out front of them, of course, it's Klaus Ludwig who jumped off the pole in that Ford Pro.
A Ford chased by three Porsches and a Jaguar.
And, Brock, the leaders are on flag line, civic center drive,
and it will be Klaus Ludwig, the first to make the right hand turn
up the hill on the Broad Street.
Well, this is right past the mayor's office,
and you can be sure he and the entire staff are looking out right now
for the place is packed.
The city of Columbus has turned up to watch these GTP cars go at it in the Springs.
Indeed they have. We are now on Front Street.
In fact, now making a left onto Spring.
Well, right now, Klaus Ludwig is set goodbye to the three Porsches
as Bob Julius brings up the fifth place Jaguar.
But Al Hobart seems to be trying to challenge Wallach for second spot, Steve.
He's going to try to get him going into the keyhole.
He has done it.
Al Hobart, blue and white, number 14 Porsche now in the second spot.
But look at Klaus, he's way up there.
Well, you can see Hobart's got his lights on.
I don't know exactly for what, but in the event he runs into some cross street traffic maybe,
but in any event, he has now carved out a little bit of a lead over Wallach
for that second spot.
But look at this.
From the Fuji Blimp, we can see that Klaus Ludwig is way out front in the fourth probe and pulling away.
It's interesting.
It seems as if that probe's got good speed on the straights,
but also it's just running the corners like it's on rails, Steve.
All right, here they go out onto Washington Boulevard.
You can make a lot of speed here, but you have to be careful as you enter Washington.
There's a big bump there.
A lot of cars have been getting off the ground.
And now towards the town street bridge.
A hard lap that as Bob Wallach pulled it very closely by Drake Olson in the number 16 red Porsche.
Well, we've seen that young man do so well in prior races as here comes Trulius
and John Paul Jr. in the March Buick.
We have seen those cars go so well.
They're triple charge V6 Buicks in March chassis.
John Paul Jr. and his teammate Bill Adam have qualified very, very well in so many races only to break.
Let's see how John does here.
There's the Corvette of David Hobbs.
And one of the best races is a little bit back in the pack.
Number four, Chip Meade, is in the privateer V8 powered Corvette that is ahead of the factory car.
But right on the bumper of number four, Chip Meade, comes Pete Halsmer in the 68 Porsche.
And that's one of the two cars.
The other car, the 67 car, of course, is team leader Jim Busby.
We put our camera on board.
Chip Meade, something of a surprise.
That car has kind of been around for a while.
It's a Lola Corvette, normally aspirated V8.
It hasn't gotten quite the ink that the number 40 car of David Hobbs has gotten.
But I'll tell you what, Chip's doing a fine job.
He's up among the leaders, and he's ahead of David at this particular point,
who's at the back car on your screen there, the number 40 black and silver Corvette.
In between them, that, of course, is the Pete Halsmer Porsche 962.
And obviously, no town in the world has concrete walls in its city streets
and this kind of chain link fencing.
It all had to be installed in just a couple of evenings by hundreds of volunteers.
What a job they have done.
A good, fast, safe racetrack.
Well, all this stuff will go down within a matter of hours as well,
because Monday morning, the folks will be back at work in their offices around town
just with some black tire marks across the bridges and around the corners
that weren't there when the weekend started.
As we watch, the 68 car of Pete Halsmer being chased now by David Hobbs
in that very potent Corvette Lola.
Steve, remember that car we saw at Watkinsland?
That 40 car ran 201 miles an hour up the hill at Watkinsland.
Not quite that quick here, but also a very, very potent automobile on the straight.
And if you remember Watkinsland, it didn't like the few bumps that that track had,
so it certainly is not going to care for this one much.
So as we watch Hobbs chase Halsmer onto the Spring Street straight,
let's not forget that that engine is producing somewhere around 800 horsepower,
and the people, including Hobbs, who are concerned with the human transmission,
just won't take that kind of power.
Well, the green and white car number 44, that's Bob Tullius with a normally aspirated V12 Jaguar.
I love the sound of that car.
What he doesn't love is the rear view mirror he's got right now full of John Ball Jr.
as the turbocharged Buick V6 trying to cobble up the Jaguar.
One of the neat things about IMSA GTB racing right now
is that we've got such a variety of power plants, single turbo, twin turbo,
normally aspirated V12s, V6s, flat 6s, you name it.
And they're all pretty competitive with each other because of the variance in the roles.
As we watch John Ball Jr. duck inside the Tullius Jaguar coming off the Broad Street Bridge.
So John Ball Jr., of course, one of the best drivers in this business, is on his way toward the front.
Jim Busby, sitting back there in 12th spot, sending up some beautiful pictures out of his Porsche 962
and giving us an idea of exactly how close you've got to squeeze against these concrete fences
as you go around this Columbus circuit.
And the car just in front of Busby is Jim Truman, the president of Auto Racing of Columbus,
the man that designed this course.
And the man who is, of course, the owner of the Mid-Ohio racetrack just up the road.
Look at this!
The second-place driver, Al Hovert, the man who has already clinched a series title,
is slowing Brock and maybe even going to come to a stop.
A $100,000 bonus might as well be at the bottom of the Scioto River.
The Goodyear Tire and Rover Company put up that amount if any driver could win both the Ohio races.
Mid-Ohio, which Hovert won, a win here today.
And he was looking so very strong, sitting in second place, having disposed the wallet.
And, of course, with Klaus Ludwig out front, with all due respect to Klaus,
that car has not been the most reliable so far, still in the development stages.
So Hovert crippled and limping toward the pits.
His chances of victory are about nil.
Good race, though, here between Julius and Jim Meade in that No. 4 Corvette.
Steve, he has shown some real strength here today with that big V8 engine in that Lola.
You bet he has.
There might be some factory people on the wall kind of wishing they were all over that car.
So that's a race for the sixth spot.
Bob Julius, of course, in here with his fabled two-car Jaguar team, running well.
And right behind him, Hallsmer, Whitney Gans, and David Hobbs bringing up the rear.
Whitney coming into the downstream bridge in the 45 Buick.
He spins.
David Hobbs in the Corvette spikes the brakes, gets back on the right.
No damage done.
And right behind them in gaining ground in the 04 Jaguar is Brian Redmond.
So Brian slips inside Whitney after he gets that Buick part sideways.
And look at Ludwig streak down front streak.
He has said the German equivalent of audio so long and goodbye to everybody in this field so far.
Ludwig leads it, strackels it in second spot, followed by Bob Wallach in a Porsche.
You're looking down on the Ford Dealers 500 from Columbus, Ohio,
and that is the Mustang Pro of leading it with Klaus Ludwig at the wheel.
So a Ford leads the show, but don't count your chicken, Ford fans,
because Drake Olsen back there in the 962 Porsche is closing.
Hal Holbert lift the number 14 Porsche into the pits.
The crew is attacking the drive-on of the car,
and there you see one of the mechanics with one of those sophisticated Porsche tools
trying to beat some of the pits off of a broken half-trap,
and yeah, it has broken, Brock, right where it goes into the differential.
Steve, I didn't even know that they allowed hammers in Porsche pits.
I always thought the legend said that they worked on those things with jeweler's instruments.
Well, I'll tell you, here's a new development out on the racetrack.
We've got a new leader, Drake Olsen, in the 16th car ahead of the Mustang Pro of Klaus Ludwig.
So while Porsche woes continue to mount with Hal Holbert's car,
Drake Olsen steps up and takes the lead away from the Mustang Pro.
This young man, we've said it before,
I'm afraid we're going to have to say it a whole bunch more over these next few seasons.
Drake Olsen is just coming out like a freight train in this kind of competition.
Well, he's already got two wins this year, Brock, so I'd say you're absolutely right,
and he seems to have found a very compatible,
simpatico driving partner in Christophe,
who will take over and drive the middle portion of the race.
Now, when car owner Rob Dyson bought this automobile from Bruce Lemon early in the season,
a lot of people said, well, who's Rob Dyson? Who's Drake Olsen?
What are those guys going to do with a really fast car?
I'll tell you what they're going to do.
They're going to win races and smoke off a lot of punks that have bigger reputations.
This young man and the team that Rob Dyson has put together is a formidable force.
And I give Dyson credit for not going to Europe with some higher guns,
instead finding a couple of kids who know what it's like to sleep in your truck,
a campaign, a former Atlantic car, and various other kinds of race cars with no money.
They've earned this right.
And here you see the half shaft out of the 14 car.
It's definitely history, probably couldn't cost more than $3,000 or $4,000.
Well, they're putting that car back together, but poor Al,
he is out for the day as far as an overall victory is concerned.
And look at this, the 04 Jaguar, a Brian Redmond, into the pits.
It starts out like a routine stop, the fuel hose on, they're going to lift the car off of the air jacks,
but also the crew is going to work to lift off that rear hood.
See those Zeus fasteners being taken off there?
That means that rear cowling is going to come off
and some work will be done on the drive frame or the engine.
Tough break.
You know, Steve, I wonder if this racetrack is starting to tear up gearboxes and half shafts
because of the bumps and the constant acceleration and deceleration.
Well, here's another victim, Brock, as the attrition continues.
This is Jip Meade, who, as you said, was running so well in that independently operated V8 Corvette GTP car.
He appears to be out for the day.
OK, here's a good race for ninth place.
That is Whitney Gans in the blue and white March Buick.
And right behind him is a man that has been out of IMSA competition for a while,
that's Gianfiero Moretti, right behind Whitney there in that 45 car.
Moretti's car is powered by a Cosworth, a punched out Formula 1 V8,
and a little car that he calls a Momo.
It's an Italian-built GTP car, very light, 4.9-liter engine in there,
a lot of power, normally aspirated and well-suited for short, tight street circuits like this, Steve.
And Moretti in that red number 30 car looks like he's trying to find an opening to get around Whitney.
He may have the power to do it.
Whitney Gans, an up-and-coming young race car driver from Laguna Niguel, California, down there where I live, as a matter of fact.
Well, the big advantage, of course, Steve, for Cosworth engines, Jaguars, the normally aspirated V8, Chevys, and whatever,
is that they don't have that turbo lag.
A turbocharged car takes a little while to get the boost up, and they come off these slow corners.
The acceleration isn't as good.
Here's a yellow flag, and that is for David Hobbs in the number 40 Lola Corvette.
It is slow as he heads off the town street bridge.
A tough break, Steve.
And look at this, somebody else out here as well.
That is John Paul Jr.
Right now, I would say the score is racetrack five, racer zero.
The track is beating him to death as far as drivetrains are concerned, right?
Because these are not blown engines. We can see that.
That's right. It must be either half shafts or gearboxes or something in the drivetrain
that the strain of this racetrack is taking its toll on.
All right, that is Bob Wallach in the number 86 Porsche 962.
Putting a lap on Dennis Ossie in the number five car as Dennis moves out of the way to let Bob through.
Bob right behind Klaus Ludwig in the number seven Mustang Probe right there.
Remember, he was passed by Drake Olsen to take the lead, but holding on now to second place.
But maybe going to be challenged here pretty quickly by Bob Wallach, who's driving.
There he is. Wallach got Klaus in his sights and seems to be catching up on him a little bit, Steve.
Wallach, a many-time winner of the Porsche Cup. He's won at Daytona.
In fact, he won this year at Sebring along with A.J. Foy.
And here is the view from Jim Busby, sixth place Porsche,
as he makes that right-hander onto the Broad Street Bridge.
Now, let's see if we can detect the bumps that many people have been complaining about
as he makes the left turn onto Washington Boulevard.
What's the car? There it is right there.
Well, of course, crew chiefs and drivers have complained about almost any racetrack having too many bumps on it.
They wouldn't be happy, I don't think, if they were racing on pool tables.
And that, unfortunately, is just an aspect of a street race.
You're going to have bumps on it, and you're going to break some cars
as we watch Jim come off the town street bridge and head back along the edge of the Scioto River.
He's got himself a clear racetrack ahead right now, so he may be able to gain some time on the leaders, Steve.
Indeed, Rotten. And you know, when you're laying out a course like this, you're doing it in a street car.
Oh, there is David Hobbs. He is apparently done for the day.
He had high hopes of doing well here because the Englishman just bought a car dealership at Columbus.
It would have been good free advertising.
Well, here comes the leader, Drake Olson, slipping underneath Jim Truman in the Cosworth-powered car of Jim's.
Jim, an eighth place, a lap down, but still doing his hometown proud here.
The man who really had so much to do with creating this event, along with Alan Wilson
and all the rest of the racing staff here at Columbus.
As Drake Olson continues to late it, Klaus Ludwig in second, but being challenged by Bob Wallach.
They're coming, and they're tough to beat.
The 86 Ford Rangers, even tougher to beat this year.
Its V-6 engine is the most powerful of any small pickup.
And there's Ranger's new super cab that carries up to five people or extra cargo.
Also new this year is Ranger's new electric cuts drive that lets you shift from two-wheel to four-wheel drive on the fly.
See the tough to beat 86 Ford Rangers now.
The best-built American trucks are built for tough.
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Join me with Florence Henderson on Country Kitchen, right here on the Nashville Network.
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From Radio City Music Hall, Mickey Gilley and Ricky Skaggs host a two-hour country music spectacular.
Featuring Exile, Lacey Jane Alton, Mo Bandy and Joe Stampley, Charlie McLean, Mark Gray, and special guest star Ray Charles.
It's the encore of Radio City Music Hall welcomes the Nashville Network.
Monday at 3.30 Eastern, 2.30 Central, 12.30 PM Pacific on TNN.
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We know by the helmeted presence of this man that the leader of the Columbus Ford Dealers 500 will soon be making a pit stop.
That is Price Cobb, co-driver with the leader, Drake Olson.
And he looks like a bull rider getting ready, Brock, with calisthenics.
He's working on that right glove that will handle the shifter.
While we heard already that Klaus Ludwig said he was going to change gears 45 times a lap, not quite so many times for the leader as we see him coming down here.
That is, of course, Drake Olson in the number 16 car.
And right behind him is Klaus Ludwig, who's made up some ground on him and may be ready to challenge again.
I wonder, Steve, if Klaus backed off after leading the first few laps just to see what Drake had in that number 16 turn.
Now he's going to try to take the lead back. Look at this!
Now Klaus is taking a wider line in these turns and then sliding the car almost like a dirt track car, Brock, a totally different style than Drake Olson.
He lost some line. Oh, look at this, Drake coming into the mix.
Now I think this is a scheduled stop, as we saw earlier. Price Cobb was ready to go.
So Klaus will go on unimpeded in a while and take hold onto the lead.
But, of course, he's going to have to stop and give way to a co-driver, Doc Bundy, as well.
Now, Price Cobb, a little bit bigger driver than he is Drake Olson.
You saw him slide that insert out of the seat so that the car is comfortable for both of them.
That's a very efficient team in the pit area. A good stop here will go a long ways for him.
Oh, there goes Klaus Lipick on his way, trying to make up as much time as he can.
Move as far ahead as possible while this pit stop goes on.
They're long agonizing stops for these cars simply because of that driver change, Steve.
Well, in this case, the drivers have changed while the crew is still putting tires on it.
So they have done their job.
Okay, the left rear wheel was the last one to get buttoned on.
And here goes Price Cobb, accelerating onto the pits.
Now is going to have to take that U-turn you talked about at the end
to get around and back up this very odd pit road.
That eats up some time. Of course, it's even for everybody.
All right, as Price Cobb gets ready to get underway and try to regain the lead,
let's go to Steve with Drake Olson.
The co-driver can't ask for any more than you to bring him the car in the lead, Drake.
Well, I was happy to do it. As a matter of fact, I was really happy to do it.
A lot of cars breaking down with drivetrain problems, half shafts and transmissions.
How does yours feel?
Everything feels real good on the Dyson car right now.
Should I look at you or the camera?
Just please.
Okay, and no, everything's fine. Everything's really good.
And you'll get back in, I would assume.
Yes, sir.
All right, good job by Drake Olson as Klaus Ludwig carries on in the number one spot here at Columbus.
Had himself a terrific qualifying session.
Put the car on the pole at the opening laps and seemed to back down a little bit to let Drake Olson through.
All right, that is the number 86 car. Bob Wallach out.
And his co-driver, Mauro Baldi from Italy.
Mauro is a well-known endurance driver and has some reputation in the Formula One scene as well.
One of his first races in this kind of racing, though, as Mauro takes the wide turn and gets back on the right.
Jim Busby out on the racetrack.
Steve, still he's got himself a clear racetrack.
Indeed he does as he comes onto the Broad Street Bridge.
And remember, if you go straight off this bridge, you go right into the pits.
In fact, you can see the pits dead ahead of him.
The gas light is on in that car, the fuel warning light.
Busby wheels it in, and if we see a driver change, it'll be Rick Newk going in.
Well, it is. You can see him there on the right side of your screen.
Rick Newk, as he climbs into the car, Busby out.
Looks like he's going to change all four tires.
That takes a little time on these vehicles.
And look at this.
What a tough, tough race for this automobile.
That is Whitney Gans and one of Phil Conti's Turbo Buicks.
And I'll tell you what, Phil must be about ready to tear his hair off.
Those cars come in here, run like rockets at the beginning,
and just seem to have reliability problems that makes them almost totally snake-bit.
And they don't ever seem to be motor problems.
Here comes Rick Newk in the 67 car.
He'll now be the man with the onboard camera from Laguna Beach, California.
He and Jim Busby have been co-driving together for a couple of years now.
Got his start in the GTU category of MSO.
Good driver and a good guy, Rick Newk.
As we watch the number 44 car, Bob Tullius moved all the way up to second place.
I think Bob and the Jaguar crew came in here with good feelings
with that normally aspirated V12.
Good torquey motor to come off these corners and run these short straights with.
They give up a little bit on the long shoots, but here they should be in good stead.
So Bob Tullius in second place.
Well, he's inherited that to a certain extent through attrition, broken cars, and so forth.
But not Klaus Ludwig. He has earned his lead.
In fact, here comes Ludwig right now, the white car coming over the Broad Street Bridge.
Let's see if Ludwig goes into the bench.
I believe he's going to as he's slowing.
Yes, Klaus Ludwig into the bench.
His co-driver, you can bet, will be suited up at waiting for it.bundi.
This is the Zaxpeed crew, part American, part German.
They're going to work on that automobile.
Notice the air jacks lifted off.
They're going to change all four tires.
There comes Klaus, and Doc Bundy is a little bit bigger.
He's going to climb into that race car and carry on his.
Now we're looking at the potential third leader of the day.
That's Bob Tullius in the 44 Jaguar.
If he can come around and cross the start-finish line before this man gets underway, that's Doc Bundy.
He will inherit the lead.
So the good doctor is down off the air jacks, gets a hand push.
There's not a lot of low-end torque.
They don't make power until that turbocharger really starts to sink.
Now here's Bundy going down to execute the turn at the end of the hairpin-shaped pit area.
Now this car does not have a particularly wide...
Oh, look at this.
Bundy is going to have to grab reverse, which he does very quickly.
So Doc Bundy lost a second or two right there.
The car just doesn't turn tight enough to make it.
Now we mentioned earlier the reliability problems with the Mustang Probe.
Well, they may well be solved because he and Klaus went into strong fourth in a 500-mile last weekend.
Let's go down to the Pro Pits right now.
Brock is with Klaus Ludwig.
Klaus, it's taken a toll.
Oh, you're tired.
So-so.
How's your arm?
You told me you were going to shift a lot.
Is it beating you up pretty good?
It starts to get a blister, so I shifted with the fingers.
But no...
Race car handling?
Well, good stop.
Had to be pleased with that.
Yeah, it was a good stop.
Good deal.
Thank you.
So a smiling West German Klaus Ludwig.
And here, Bob Julius has gone around Doc Bundy here, Brock.
He's going to take a driver a couple of laps to get up to speed,
to get used to the car that doesn't feel the same after it's been out there this long as it did in practice and qualifying.
Things start to wear out.
The car has a different feel to it.
You've got to get accustomed to it.
So Julius goes right by Bundy.
And Julius leads it here.
So we've got a Jaguar out front, followed by a Ford with a Porsche back in third place.
A typically exciting race in MCGTB.
This one's from Columbus.
While we were away from Columbus, Ohio, Bob Julius, the race leader, did install co-driver Chip Robinson.
But Chip only got as far as Front Street before something went wrong with the 12-cylinder Jaguar.
Here we see the green and white beautiful cat with some serious maladies, apparently,
as he is trying to coast it somewhere near the pit area, but that's a long ways away.
And also, with problems on the Broad Street Bridge,
that is the Mustang probe.
He would have taken the lead with Robinson's problems, but no.
Doc Bundy has no power at all and is trying to get it to the pit area.
Well, he's only got a few more feet to go.
In fact, there he goes entering the pit lane.
But what a tough break.
So a sudden change of events here puts Price Cobb, who is currently second.
But I'll tell you what, Steve, if he can get around before either one of those two automobiles were both in trouble,
he's going to take the lead again.
And he just did that.
Yes, he's got the lead.
And look at this, what a tough break for these guys.
You know, the same thing happened to Doc Bundy at Road America this year.
As soon as he got in the car, he didn't finish one lap before it overheated.
Always seems to be the poor doctor that has to take the blame for this stuff, but it really isn't his fault.
Oh, what a tough break.
They're going to have to take the rear engine hood off.
They're going to work.
It looks like it's something maybe in the gearbox or maybe in the rear end, as we've seen before.
All right, in the meantime, this is Rick Newp.
Now, we've gotten word from the pit that his car is showing an oil light.
And he is wondering, apparently, whether or not he should come in.
That's what means a drop in oil pressure as we watch Rick in that number 67 car.
Remember, his co-driver is Jim Bosby, driving well, but maybe headed for the pits,
because who's to know what that oil light means?
That's right, Brock.
You hope it's just a faulty light or a faulty sensor on the motor,
so you keep watching the mechanical oil pressure gauge as well.
I'm sure Newp is doing that right now, because he does indeed have a low pressure warning light on.
No question about that.
So he may stop.
It depends on what the crew tells him.
He has radio communication with his pit, and you can be sure that he's gone and said,
hey, guys, I got a light on.
Do you want me to stop or what?
All right, the probe.
And they are working on what appears to be the gearbox, either the linkage or the gearbox itself.
But they have longstanding trouble.
See him rock the car there, Steve.
We are told that it is the linkage.
In fact, Doc had no gear available to him whatsoever.
We're back with Rick Newp, who is still blind.
Now, there's smoke, Brock.
There's smoke starting to come up inside that car.
Absolutely into the hairpin now.
He's got fire.
Yes, a whole bunch of fire as he comes out of the keyhole.
He's going to have to get out of that thing mighty quick, Steve.
There is a bunch of fire in that 962.
Well, this is about as bad a blaze as I've ever seen in MC Racing.
Here comes Newp.
He appears to be all right.
He looked a little disoriented, Brock.
I don't think he knew where he was.
Oh, my God, that is a $250,000 blaze.
And a guy with a little tiny fire extinguisher.
That is not going to work.
He's going to need a whole lot more help to get that giant fire out.
As the rest of the crew you see there, Christ God, just weave his way through this month.
The car is right in the middle of the racetrack.
Fortunately, though, Steve, it's at a very, very slow part of the car.
So there shouldn't be too much trouble.
Caution is out, though, all the way around the racetrack.
Well, poor Rick Newp standing on the sidelines helpless.
But what a good job the corner workers have done.
They appear to have that fire under control.
We'll be back with more from Columbus.
Burning Porsche 962 right away from the corner they call the keyhole
or the camel corner here at Columbus.
You can see also the pace car leading the field around at a very slow pace.
We've got a ways to go. Let's go to Steve.
Well, it appears that Rick Newp escaped that inferno in the 67 car unsinged.
Are you OK?
Yeah, I'm fine.
Jim was theorizing that an oil line broke and filled up the motor compartment with oil.
Well, I was radioing into the crew that the oil pressure light,
which we have on these cars, started to blink.
And I told them that I was going to pit on that lap
because I'd looked over at the oil pressure gauge
and all of a sudden it went a little bit to a level that we don't like to run it at.
And I knew that the motor was getting sick so I was going down the back straightaway there
and all of a sudden a rather large vibration happened
and I looked in the rearview mirror and the whole car was up in flames.
So I, at that time, started looking for some support from some of the turn workers that we have here
who, by the way, were excellent.
And I parked the car and by the time I parked the car all the flames came forward.
I couldn't see where I was so I just, at that point, just got out of that thing
and make the fastest I've ever gotten out of a car.
And I think the car is all right but I'm just glad as hell I got out of it.
We are, too, a master of the understatement, our pal Rick New.
All right, let's go to the leaderboard.
We've got three Porsches, Cobb, Morton and Baldi,
and a lap down, a pair of the Cosworth-powered cars,
the Miller-Moretti car, Heimrath and Truman.
Okay, while the caution's still out, let's go ahead.
I'm standing here with a man who, over the course of a few years
and a lot of races, has become a good friend.
This is John Bishop, who's the president of Emsa.
John, how are you doing today?
Well, fine, thank you, Ed.
We've got a lot of European drivers out here.
What effect is Emsa having on European racing?
We've always had a few from the time we started GT racing.
But in the last year or two since we started these, since prototype racing
really came into its own, an increasing number of Europeans have come over to race
and you know who they are from the entry list.
But next year I think we will see the center,
the focus for world racing of this kind of car center right here in the Camel GT.
Well, is it the prize money?
Is it maybe more exposure here?
What is it?
For one, our rules are working better.
They have attracted more sponsorship interest and more interest from the manufacturers.
Next year, for example, BMW will join our series with a major effort
with major international racers.
Sounds great, John.
Let's go back to Brock and Steve for more of today's racing action.
Okay, thank you, Ed, and John Bishop.
The pace car coming over the Broad Street Bridge,
the beautiful skyline of Columbus behind it.
The lights are off in the pace car.
We are going to go racing right now.
Price car for the number 16 car, full on the gas.
He is the leader.
He's got himself a clear racetrack, Steve,
and an opportunity to really stretch the lead.
But something you should be noticing,
the right front fender on that Porsche is badly cracked.
Now, that thing could come off.
It could get into the suspension, could tear up a tire,
so you can be sure that he and Rob Dyson and the rest of the crew
are very concerned about that right front fender.
He must have banged it in the early going
because it's been cracked right from the start,
but it seems to be getting worse.
And ever so gradually, that tear does worsen.
Way back over on Civic Center Drive is Mauro Baldi.
Now, he's on the inside of the white car, 86.
Now, he has just gotten around the 12th place runner.
That is Bob Aiken in the number 5 Porsche.
He's a couple of laps down.
Now, there's a lot of traffic and a lot of distance
between Baldi and the leader number 16, Price Cobb.
And between the two of them is the 68 car with John Morton.
Here is Mauro Baldi.
He's a good deal smaller than his co-driver, Bob Wallach.
I really don't know how they made that driver change
as efficiently as they did, Rob.
There's a lot of cushions, I would imagine,
as Mauro Baldi comes over from Italy with a big reputation
in these cars and all kinds of European racing.
Comes in here to do a good job.
Got that thing in the third.
Here is your leader going across the Broad Street Bridge.
We've got some skid divers down there, Steve.
When a boat's in the event, one of these guys goes off the edge.
That's highly unlikely as we watch Mauro Baldi
trying to catch up going down that long, long straightaway.
They're going to knock out 180 miles an hour
on this part of the racetrack.
Pretty spectacular driving for inside a major city
like Columbus, Ohio.
Indeed it is, and you know we also have a report
on that fire of Rick Nukes.
The in-car camera survived as well.
Not shooting a whole lot of pictures right now
because the windshield's a little smoky,
but thank goodness the camera survived.
Unfortunately, the engine compartment,
that's another story entirely.
I'm afraid Jim Busby's got some heavy work ahead of him.
That is his other car, though.
Jim's hopes are still alive in the form of this automobile,
the John Morton Pete Hallsmer car, currently in second place.
Of course, Morton, one of the good guys in this business,
drives very hard.
He and Pete Hallsmer worked hard all season long in this machine.
Now the old board Jaguar is back on the racetrack.
You can see it right there behind Morton.
That is Hurley Haywood, and we get a report
that there was a broken throttle cable.
It took a long time to replace it,
but he's in the sixth position, two laps down.
Well, he and Brian Redman worked so hard in that car,
did so well on these short circuits.
It's unfortunate that they had to fall out
with that broken throttle cable
because this car is well suited for this racetrack.
And when we talk about racetrack,
we don't really mean racetrack so much
as we mean a temporary street circuit,
one that has been developed over the years
after Long Beach created it a long time ago,
back in the 70s, and has been really perfected
through a series of developments
with these concrete barriers
that you can take instantly overnight
and convert a bunch of city streets
into a race course.
Earlier, Steve had a chance to look
at the unique and highly specialized technology
that goes into developing these concrete barriers
for a racetrack like this.
Street racing became a safer and more practical activity
some years ago when the organizers
of the Long Beach, California race
came up with this idea, precast concrete walls.
Now the sections are 10 feet long,
9,000 pounds apiece,
and the bottom of each section is a knot
so that they can be forklifted on and off
of a flatbed truck.
Also at the end of each barrier,
a pair of very heavy-duty cable loops
so that fencing can be very easily installed.
Now there's thousands of them
in the streets of Columbus today
at a cost of over three-quarters of a million dollars,
but ask any driver who's ever hit one.
They will last forever.
Guaranteed, Steve, unless somebody bounces off them too hard.
And right now, that just hasn't happened
in such a great race for fourth place
between two Cosworth-powered cars,
that's Steve Millen and the little Momo,
and right behind him, Ludwig Heimrath, Jr.,
in the car that he co-drives
with Jim Truman.
And speaking of Jim Truman,
how can you forget that this man
has been so influential?
Look at this, Heimrath dives underneath Millen
to take over that fourth spot.
But in the meantime, back to Truman.
A native of Ohio,
grew up in Cleveland,
went to Ohio State University,
stayed here to create his motel empire,
became an excellent race driver,
a Can-Am champion,
and then bought Mid-Ohio.
And of course, when Buck Reinhardt
and his pals got the idea
for a race here in downtown Columbus,
who would they go to but this man?
More than anyone else,
it's got to be a thrill for you to drive a racetrack
that you designed, conceived, and executed.
Well, I...
I think it's a good racetrack.
It's tough.
I think everybody's having to work hard.
The cars are holding up pretty well, though, actually.
There's a few bumps that are starting to show now
that we didn't see before, so...
But it was fun going around and just being there.
And the thousands and thousands of man hours
that went into making it happen.
Well, there's a lot of people out there
still working hard, and I'm having fun,
so you've got to thank them, not me.
Always a modest man, Jim Truman,
and his teammate right there,
Ludwig Heimrath Jr.,
who made it to the fourth spot,
so it could be a great day all the way around
for this man, Jim Truman,
and all his pals who created this race.
Price Cobb, Drake Olson lead it here
as the Columbus Sport Dealers 500 continues.
This is the battle for second spot
between car number 68 John Morton,
first to the victor,
followed by Italian Mauro Baldi and yet another Porsche.
We are racing for charity in the streets of Columbus,
the Columbus Sport Dealers 500.
All the proceeds from this race
and in future years will go directly
to Columbus area charities.
It was the board dealers of Columbus
who first stepped forward with the kind of money
it takes to get this kind of a project underway.
Well, it sure has worked so far
as we watched John Morton in the 68 Porsche
holding on to second place,
but being challenged, in fact,
being taken by Mauro Baldi
in a brave, brave pass.
Mauro just kind of locked it up
and slid past John.
I think it may have surprised Morton.
Baldi was just right behind him
and all of a sudden he just kind of skated by him
and took over the second spot.
A gutty move by Mauro.
That was absolutely unbelievable.
We're going to have a pit stop by the leader.
The leader is in the pit.
This is Price Top scrambling out of that Porsche
and Drake Olson getting in.
Drake Olson, the man who started it out,
the man who was intended to finish this race,
this will be perhaps
their final stop
as they put fresh rubber on the Porsche.
They've had good pit stops
so far this season, Steve,
but not good at doing economy.
They may have to stop again.
Meanwhile, of course, we have got a new leader,
Mauro Baldi, who put that incredible move on John Morton.
Now we know why he's got
such a big reputation in Europe.
A brave man as the windshield gets cleaned off
and Drake Olson gets ready
to get underway in that number 16 car.
There goes the last, oh,
the last connection in the pit
off the car.
Mauro takes that big wide sweep,
locks the brakes up,
and he just gets around it.
I'll tell you, it's a wonder that we haven't cleaned off
a whole bunch of right front fenders on that turn.
All right, let's go to Steve
with Price Cobb who just got out of that car.
Price, a heck of a job out there.
What kind of a car did you turn back over to Drake?
The car is performing flawlessly.
You know, the farther I got in the lead,
the more I turned the boost down,
the sooner I brake, the sooner I shift,
and I was just trying to baby the car
in halfs. I wasn't going very fast, but I knew it.
You know, I was trying to shift before the bumps
and the car is performing flawlessly.
It was just a great ride.
Well, it sounds like you and Drake have exactly the same philosophy
to respect those bumps.
Absolutely, because I've seen a couple of
at least one halfs and one CV joint already brake.
You know, we only have to win
by being first across the line.
The margin of victory is inconsequential.
What a good philosophy.
That man is known as a charger,
but also a very disciplined young driver.
As he is going to stand by now,
as this man, his teammate,
goes on and tries to hold the lead.
Good race for fourth, Steve.
Oh, I'll say. How about Steve Millen?
That's the red 30 car. He is on the outside here
trying to get around Ludwig Heimrath Jr.
in 05,
as you said earlier, by Jim Truman.
Now, they've been swapping this thing back and forth.
I think these two guys are having a good time.
They sure are. These are two
lighter, smaller cars
with that Cosworth power.
The old engine that was developed
first for Formula One racing and now, of course,
in turbocharged form, powers all the
Indianapolis cars. So the V8 Cosworth
just screaming here in the streets of Columbus.
So New Zealander Millen gets around
Canadian Heimrath Jr.
Ludwig, a second generation race car driver,
his father was and is a fine driver.
Now, for Steve Millen, this is kind of a walk in the park.
When you're a rallyist and a championship
off-road racer, a few little bumps
don't mean a thing to you.
Well, one driver, Doc Bundy, is not as fortunate
as these two. He's not out there racing.
He's in the pits and apparently, for good, chatting
with Ian Dawson, the crew chief for the car,
and Michael Crannibus, the head of Ford Racing.
Let's go to Brock down there.
Doc, no fun this afternoon.
The car was running real well and then all of a sudden
that silly little thing in the shift linkage
and that was it. Is that what finally
put you out? Yeah, well, what happens
when they had to rebuild the shifter there
real quick?
We couldn't get the location quite right
in relation to where the shift
works are and all that sort of thing. So
I went out and I couldn't get low gear and we can't run
without low gear here.
So we come back in and they got it
but the linkage was pretty awkward.
So I may have just
beat it up. It feels like something in the gearbox
is broken. It's probably just a matter
of time before you miss a shift
when the linkage is so messy like that.
What happened early on when I
first lost the linkage, I was
going from third to fourth and I got
second again. Yeah.
So that can happen. We all know.
Well, we're awful sorry. You guys are running so strong
and I had great hopes but
we're sorry. We'll be back again.
Not to worry. I know that. Thanks, Doc.
Thank you, Brock. And someday for sure
we'll be talking to that man in the winner's circle.
You can bet on it. And thanks, Doc, for the
trip around the course earlier. Look at
this fight for the lead, Brock. This is
Marle Baldy in the 86 car. He's got the lead.
John Morton would like to avenge
that earlier pass by Baldy.
That embarrassed him a little bit.
Here they come out of the Broad Street Bridge
and Morton's got the inside line
and he will take the lead
from Marle Baldy.
And as you say, Steve, thereby
pitching that wild pass by Marle
a little earlier. What did they say about
payback? I'll tell you, he set Baldy up perfectly
using the traffic
they were about to lap to make it all work.
Great job by John Morton. Wow.
So the plot thickens
here at Columbus as John
Morton fights it out with Marle Baldy for the lead.
But remember now,
Drake Olsen back in third place
has already made his final
pit stop. The two leaders
are yet to go into the pits.
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You couldn't ask
for a more beautiful city or a better
car race, and we're enjoying today in Columbus, Ohio.
I'm Steve Evans with Brock Yates
and Ed Bruce, and we're continuing
with our coverage of the Columbus Ford
Dealers 500. That picture you just saw
courtesy of the Fuji Blimp who's been feeding
us those beautiful shots all day, Brock.
Oh, what a sight from way, way
up above this beautiful, beautiful
racetrack in this really great day
of racing here in Columbus, Ohio.
As we watch that battle for the
lead, John Morton holding
off a very determined Marl
Baldy. What these guys
have gone through all day long, shifting
as much as 40 times a
lap, just all over the
brakes about 10 times a lap,
accelerating, just working their brains out to
get around it. Here comes Morton into
the pits. This should be a routine stop.
It's a scheduled stop, I assure you of that.
And there is Pete Halsmer, a fine driver,
a lot of Indianapolis car experience, as well
as road racing. And Morton comes out of
the car, Halsmer goes in, and there's
your new leader over the Town Street
Bridge. That, of course, is Marl Baldy,
following the lap car of Bob
Aiken and Dennis Asi.
But look at this, braking for the
same bridge as the number 16
car, Drake Olson, not far behind
at all. Still buckling in,
Pete Halsmer is John Morton.
The windshield is clean, there's still
Bolton tires on it. This has been
a good stop, really, all things considered. Quite
a good stop. So Pete Halsmer
takes over, accelerates down
to the hairpin in the pit area,
currently in third place. But consider
this, that's probably his final
stop. Baldy will
have to stop and change drivers,
and Drake Olson, we know, has been getting
rather poor fuel mileage. He may have to stop
again. So it all
becomes very, very much interesting
in the closing laps of this race.
Also, Halsmer, a very tough driver.
He isn't going to give way to anybody in
this race unfold. Right, let's go
to his co-driver, John Morton,
who's with Steve Evans in the pits.
Well, first of all, it was John Morton
who had this crew on its feet
and the rest of the spectators in this racetrack as well.
And then a big cheer went up for the crew.
A fantastic stop, a fantastic drive,
John. Well, I don't know about the drive,
but the stop was really good. It got us
out. I think we're in pretty good shape now, because I
think, I think Levin's got to make
another stop, and I'm not sure if we do.
You're absolutely
right, John Morton, because here
comes Marle Baldy
with the Bruce Levin car, and
it'll be Bob Wallach who's going to climb aboard
that machine to finish out this race.
And Brock, here comes the leader. Drake
Olson is in. As soon as he saw Baldy go in,
he dashed in. I guarantee you,
this is going to be a gas and go. That's all
they want is a safety margin
of fuel in that car. You can
see him right now fueling the car. Nobody touching
the windshield tires or anything else.
Out comes Marle Baldy. In goes
Bob Wallach, and out of the pit
goes Drake Olson with
some fuel that should get him through.
Well, that move could spell a big
payday for the Brock Yison team,
because if they get that car onto the
racetrack before Pete
Hallsmer, who's on the back front of the racetrack, comes
around, they will have themselves
the lead once again today.
And should they win this race, some of that
credible have to go to the picture. They have an
excellent pit stop, but not so
right now on the part of Bob Wallach
and Marle Baldy. They are still trying
to get the belts adjusted. The clock
is ticking away and they are losing ground.
Here is 68. That's Pete Hallsmer.
He's in the second spot. And finally,
Bob Wallach rolls out of the pit.
He will go back out of the racetrack in third.
And how about Marle Baldy, Brock? He is
just disgusted with that stop.
You roll so hard and then you just gobble
up all that time trying to get those seat belts
faster. We've said so many
times this is an Achilles heel
in endurance racing that you can't avoid.
You have to tie the belts down.
I would like to see right now the expression
on Bob Wallach's face. I guarantee you
that man, that 86 car has got the
bit in his teeth. Well this man
can do it. This man is as hard a driver
as there is in this kind of competition.
So it will be
interesting because you can be sure
that pretty soon that 68 car
Pete Hallsmer, you will begin to see
that white 86
appear in his rearview mirrors. But right
now, it's Ray Colton in command
here at the Columbus Board Dealers
500.
It won't be long now, Columbus.
You'll know the winner of the inaugural
Columbus Board Dealers 500.
It will not be this man, Steve Mellon,
late pit stop, but maybe even out of the race
with the number 30 Momo car, Brock.
Oh, what a tough break and what a good
drive for Steve and his
teammate and car owner, Gian Piero Moretti.
And it looks like this stop,
as you say, is going to put him on the sidelines
for a long time. But it will move Bob Aiken
and Dennis Asi up into the pit spot.
They've been just kind of hanging on all day
and watching the attrition
work to their advantage. So we
watch a long and agonizing stop by
Mellon as that car, that
is Pete Hallsmer and
of course, Bob Wallach fighting it out
for that second spot. Good race
here. Now there's a lap car,
the green and white machine, the Aston Martin
Nimrod of Jack Miller. He's between
the second and third place runner, but he is
going to be there very long, because I'll tell you
what, he has got a wild-eyed
Frenchman behind him. Well, he's not
behind him now. He sure
isn't. In fact, it's Pete Hallsmer
that's got to worry about this madman
at the wheel at this particular
point. Bob Wallach
driving really hard as they head down
past the old Ohio State prison.
It's closed now, but before they shut
it down, oh, Henry wrote a whole
bunch of his short stories
in that place, Dave. Pretty interesting
history behind the joint.
That's what they call it. The prison is the joint. It's
for sale, but I could do a picture of the building of prison.
I'll tell you what, pit stops are over.
We're in the closing lap. Drake Olsen may be
up front somewhere in that red 16 car,
but the battle we're going to watch is
Pete Hallsmer in the 68 machine
followed by Bob Wallach
in the Bruce Lebanon car number 86
and Wallach is closing on him. He sure
is, and you can see Hallsmer using
all the racetrack because he's going to
get ready if, in fact,
Wallach gets up beside him to
use even more of the racetrack.
That Porsche of Hallsmer is going to get about
14 feet wide as they head off
the bridge, but you can see that
Wallach is now moving in pretty close
to him. This is going to be a mighty,
interesting finish. Watch some fire
come out of that turbocharger. That's just the
wastegate bleeding off some extra
fuel as he decelerates. Nothing to
worry about. Coming right into your
living room, the 962 Porsche,
and that is Pete Hallsmer, and you're right, Brock.
He is starting to really watch his marriage. You can see
his head going left and right as he checks him out
because he just doesn't have maybe quite as
much tire or quite as much power as
Wallach. I wonder if Wallach's using
that boost knob.
I think he's broken off.
So here they go. Hallsmer
in the 68 and the reverse number
86 of Bob Wallach
right behind him and moving
in. Now only about three car lengths
slowly gobbling up that
distance. I got a feeling there's going to be
a passing score here within a couple of laps.
Well, nothing compares to watching
two perfectly matched
world championship caliber drivers go
out of here, but this is wonderful. It's going to be getting
better, I think. Down around the keyhole,
around the camel corner, and a whole
bunch of people have accumulated here. This is where
the action is, is here
comes Hallsmer and Wallach.
Oh, indeed the grandstand just packed back there,
Brock. A lot of Ohio State students enjoying
this way, they guarantee it. In fact, they're studying
the cheer all the way around the course. Look at
this incredible pass. Is it a
pass? No. He couldn't make
it, but they are leaning on each other, Brock.
Beat Hallsmer, Bob Wallach leaning on
each other for a hundred yards.
Finally, Hallsmer says, get him out
of here. I'm on the outside. I can't make
a turn if he's glued to the side of my car.
Now it is Wallach and Hallsmer
says, whoa, I'm coming.
You don't think they stuck Dale
Earnhardt in that number 86 on
that last stop. That's some definite
NASCAR short track driving that
Bob Wallach is showing.
An incredible piece of work.
I wonder if they hurt those cars. That's
you know, those side pods have got oil
coolers and oil radiators in them, and
it is not like you're running a
short track modified. You can't
bounce these cars around like that without
maybe doing some damming.
Well, I bet there's rubber to rubber tire marks on
both of them, Brock. You know, road racing
used to be considered quite a gentlemanly pursuit.
Well, they got the gloves off today.
It's never been that really. These guys
are as brave as anybody when you
stick yourself into a really lightweight
automobile and run 200 miles
an hour like these guys are doing. It takes
some mighty, mighty brave men. All right.
Let's look at that one more time. That is
Wallach on the inside.
Wallach out against the fence
sandwiched by a very
aggressive Bob Wallach who says
move over, Pete. I'm coming
through, sweetheart. And look at this.
Gentlemen, forget it.
These guys are street fighters in this
particular case. Boy, those are
awfully expensive bumper cars.
And poor Wallach. He just had to give
it. He had to get off the gas. Who knows? Wallach
would have put him right on the fence as he turned right.
Now, there's the leader going down Marconi.
That, of course, is Drake Olsen in the red car.
Now, he's about a half a lap ahead with
only a few laps to go, Brock. Well, Steve,
I wonder about that bodywork. We talked about
that before. It's opened up a little bit more.
And, of course, we've also got
to factor the fuel. He's got a full tank
or at least enough to get him home. But it looks
to me like he's slowing down a little
bit. These guys aren't slowing down. That's
Wallach and Hallsberg hammering on
each other. And you can be sure Hallsberg
would be nothing he'd rather do
than get inside Mr. Wallach
one more time to pay him back
for that little pass. Oh, you are so right.
In fact, he tried to do it right there and just didn't
have the steam. You know, this crowd has been
wandering around throughout the city,
going in the garage area, looking at the trucks
and trailers that carry these cars. Everybody's on the fence
now. They are jammed into the grandstands.
No one wants to miss the conclusion of this race.
Well, Hallsberg's staying
right with him now. Pete has
probably got just as
much power as Wallach. And he
got that pass put on him
really kind of suddenly.
In fact, you remember Mauro Baldi
put the same kind of pass on
Hallsberg's teammate, John Morton,
in exactly the same place. I wonder
maybe if that 86 car has just
better braking in that particular part of the race track.
You know, Brock, I think you're right. I think the 16 car
is slowing down. Not dramatically,
but maybe enough for
Wallach and Hallberg to still have a shot at him.
Drake Olson is not going as fast as he
was. Well, he may not have to, too.
It could be that the pit dog crew is just
saying back and down a little bit. You've got
enough of a lead to just coast at home.
That may be the case. Then again,
it may not. And I would tell you, he was not
in the pits long enough to take him on
really a whole lot of fuel. Maybe three or four
gallon stops. So, Wallach
gets himself a little bit of breathing
space from Pete. That's the corner that
he got him on the last lap. And right now
it's about 10 car lengths.
But I'm sure that Wallach's
spots now are not on Pete
Hallsberg. They're on that number 16 car
Drake Olson. You can be sure Wallach is
such a hard charger. He has not given
this race up by any means. Oh, no, no.
There's first place and no place for Bob
Wallach. But you know, it's at this point in the race
that we don't know. Obviously, we're not
in the cars. But when brakes start to get
a little shaky and maybe the shifter's
not working, you really don't know about the
innards of these machines and the challenges the drivers are
facing out home. Also tires.
This is Drake Olson. He is on his
final lap. But tires can give
way. This racetrack is bumpy.
Boy, look at this. He has definitely
slowed down. Steve, that's slower, I think,
than just being cautious.
Oh, absolutely, Brock.
I mean, he's not coasting, but he's certainly
using very little throttle.
You don't hear him shift aggressively.
And I don't think that that's just cool.
He can't afford to do that, not with Wallach
and Hallsberg behind him. Boy, look at him
take that big wide line through the keyhole
and just kind of ease it down that
straightaway. Look at these guys. They
are literally on the parallel
side of that keyhole. There's only
one corner separating Wallach
and Hallsberg from the leader.
There they go. There goes
Wallach into the keyhole. We
just saw Olson accident. So now
there's really not much more
than a straightaway separating because
Hallsberg got wide and lost some more ground.
He did. He bubbled there a little bit and kind of
missed his shift. So now it's going to be
Wallach, probably the only driver with a chance
to catch Drake Olson. Here comes Olson.
He is over the Broad Street Bridge.
Bob Wallach, the second place runner, is on
Marconi. He is headed for the Broad Street
Bridge. There is about a city block between
them, Brock. And about two
bridges, Steve. This is Drake Olson
going down to the Town Street Bridge.
If he could look out of his left rear window across
the Scioto River, he would see Wallach
coming off the Broad Street Bridge and heading
down Washington Boulevard. He would
also see that Wallach is catching him.
There is Drake Olson for the last time
negotiating Civic Center Drive. He
makes a right onto Broad Street.
He'll go up a mile hill, a left
onto Broad Street, and it is on
Broad Street where the finish line is located.
He is within sight of the checkered
flag. Drake Olson, which is
third Ipsa race of the year, to
Rob Dyson, who will allow the
Co-Driver Prize Cup. They love it.
And he immediately parks the
car because that automobile has
got some problems. Here comes
Bob Wallach going in
to take second place. And
it could have been a half a lap more to this race.
Bob Wallach might have been your winner. You see
Drake Olson up on the right there. He's such a
good kid. I guarantee you, he wanted to make
a lap around this course and salute the
great crowd here in Columbus. I don't know if he had
enough race car left to even do that. We'll
find out when we come back. We'll talk to him for sure.
When was the last time
you had a car like
this to drive
Talking about
the kind of car
that brings the road
alive
Remember when
How long
has it been
Put the key in, put your
foot down, let it go
You've got that feeling again
Have you driven
apart
And you don't know what to
listen
Have you driven
apart
Have you driven
apart
Then you don't know
what to listen
Have you driven apart
driven apart
Have you driven
apart
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The first
Columbus Ford Dealers 500
is history and Price Cobb
and Drake Olsen have come home winners
tight one over Bob Wallach and
Mauro Maldi. And now
Drake Olsen has nursed his crippled
portion of Victory Lane. A big round of
applause from behind Drake Olsen
All we need
down here is the theme from Rocky
as the young man from Connecticut
picks up his third
victory of the year. Being
caressed here
by car owner Rob Dyson
He won a solo victory at Lime Rock
teamed up with Bobby Rahal
to win at Road America
and now here in the streets of Columbus
and get your helmet off young man
We want to see that Connecticut
smile. I just heard
Drake tell the car
to Rob Dyson he had no brakes, no fuel
no nothing. Is that right? That's it
The
throttle was sticking when I got in the car
and it got progressively worse
and then what would happen is that
because the throttle was sticking it would force me
into the turns farther than I want to go and then
the brakes started to go away and then the
fuel light came on and we were
just having a ball out there. And all the time you're
looking at a flapping right front fender one of it's
going to hang on. My guys are telling me that the
other guys are catching me and I better pick it up a little
bit so it was fun.
How about that Price Cobb he did a fine job in the middle section
of the race. Price is a good man we're going to work
together a lot and
he did a heck of a job. Rob I have a feeling
you have found a real combination here in drivers
a Yankee and a Rebel. Well I'll tell you the guys
are really doing a great job and we've been
crossing the Mason Dixon line
racing all season I can just tell you that
these guys did a hell of a job.
And what a reception you've received here in Columbus.
Oh it's been great we made the mayor an
honorary member of the team a couple weeks ago saying
that nobody knew the streets of Columbus
better than the mayor.
We got a couple more guys that maybe know him almost as
well. Again congratulations Drake.
Oh thanks very much and thank you Budweiser
and Goodyear and Dyson Racing.
Let's go to Brock Yates with the second place finisher.
Bob a very good driver
you seem disappointed though. Well I was
second of course we like to be first yes.
Was there
did you feel you had a chance to run down
the winner if you had a few more laps?
I thought so because
Drake had to come in
very early for petrol
and we went in during
the yellow so we were
in pretty early
actually too early
to make only three pits
up so we came in again during the
yellow which I thought was going to
be our solution in the way to win
the race but it didn't work out I don't know why.
Probably a secret.
You
once you got by Halsmer
then it seemed as if maybe he was on
you a little bit was that a distraction with him
behind you near the end? Not at all
but I had to drive very hard to
catch him and actually
destroyed my rear tires a little
bit when they got very warm and I
had big slides so
when I actually passed him I was happy to
be in front of him and
I actually had the situation in
hand and there was no way he could pass
me you know I'm a sort of an old
fox.
Well a beautiful driver sorry you didn't win but
excellent race anyway. Next time it was a good race
I hope people enjoyed it because
it was pretty hard and pretty close.
I can see they did.
Thank you. Steve?
Well first it was John Morton in the 68
car battling with Bob Wallach
then all of a sudden you picked up the challenge Pete
what a battle for second spot.
Well we wish it could have been a little bit different but
you know that's the way it goes
I'm sure we'll hopefully win our share
down the road but Bob's a hell of
a driver and he just
had just a little bit more than we had this time.
When he passed he did it in spectacular
fashion. Well there was
a little argument there about who was going to get by
after he was gone by
but he ended up in front of me and that's what counts.
Well again a terrific
show for everyone here and I know the crowd in Columbus
loved every minute of that fight for second.
Thanks I really enjoy being in Columbus I look forward to
having a lot more races down here. We all do.
Well we'll second that Steve
what a great show in the first year of
the Columbus race. Our thanks especially
to Jim Truman and Alan Wilson
who made this organization just
saying. I'm Brock Gates along with
Steve Evans and Ed Bruce. Thanks for joining us.
The executive producer
of Diamond P Sports is Harvey
M. Palish. Produced and
directed by John B. Mullen.
American Sports Cavalcade
has been brought to you by
B.F. Goodrich.
Makers of high performance T.A. Radials.
We make cars perform.
And by Ford and your
Ford dealers. Have you driven
a Ford lately?
No.
American Sports Cavalcade is a presentation
of Diamond P Sports.
American Sports Cavalcade.