INDY 500: Bizarre IMS Archives photos, Part 1

The Indianapolis Motor Speedway’s photo archives are filled with tens of thousands of photos from the 1900s to 2016, and some are simply bizarre, or funny, or a mixture of the two. Take the one above of actor Dale Robertson, best known for his roles in westerns like "Tales of Wells Fargo," who joined Andy Granatelli's pajama-clad team for a photo opportunity at the 1965 Indy 500.

We've all seen the iconic shots from 99 runnings of the Indy 500; here's a look at Part 1 of the lighter side culled from the IMS archives:

Ray Harroun, winner of the first Indy 500 in 1911, is shown here in one of two single-seater airplanes he built on his own. Shown here in 1910, the renowned engineer/driver is believed to be on the grounds of IMS.

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Indianapolis was a great attraction for unique vehicles built for other disciplines. Here we have the Mormon Meteor II, built by Duesenberg with a V12 airplane engine as a land speed record car, at the Speedway in 1938. The strange vehicle was successful in setting multiple records, and was also reportedly driven for more than 20,000 miles on the street!

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Groundskeepers work to clean up the derelict Speedway infield after the 500 went on hiatus during World War II and the great track fell into disrepair. 

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That definitely isn’t an Indy car. More than 50 years before the Brickyard held its first sports car race, Jim Hall went to the Speedway to conduct a tire test with his Chaparral 2 sports car in 1965, and was said to be impressively fast around the 2.5-mile oval.

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Bobby Unser or Frank Capua? Frank Capua or Paul Newman? Rislone or Crawford? Newman’s role as Indy 500 driver Capua in 1969’s "Winning" was filmed in 1968, the year Unser won his first 500, and with light sponsor and driver name modifications to the car, it isn’t hard to pick the wrong Unser photo thumbnail from the archives.

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Men’s bathroom the day after the 1972 Indy 500. This might be the most disgusting photo ever taken at the Speedway.

Above: A puzzled-looking Gordon Johncock sits atop one of the gifts he received after winning the 1973 Indy 500: an “air cycle” personal hovercraft.

Here's more from the IMS Archives:

If winning his first Indy 500 wasn’t enough of an accomplishment in 1961, A.J. Foyt also felt the need to prove he could ride a unicycle.

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Denny Dutton, a member of the Gordon Pipers, was responsible for the song "Speedway Romance," which is featured on a poster to the right below an autographed portrait of IMS owner Tony Hulman. The kilt-wearing, bagpipe-playing Gordon troop are still in existence today and remain and Indy 500 staple. To date, they've yet to top the minimal sales produced by Dutton's "Speedway Romance" 45 rpm record.

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Racer-turned-safety apparel manufacturer Bill Simpson sets himself alight on the Speedway grounds in 1971 while wearing one of his firesuits to prove the value of his product.

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The young Andretti clan, circa 1967, with three future Indy 500 starters, including the three on the right: Michael, John, and Jeff. 

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1963 Indy 500 winner Parnelli Jones is on his knees surrounded by a fairy godmother and other actors during filming in 1966.

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Woodstock had nothing on Indy’s infamous Snake Pit.

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If ever a driver was born for Indy...and its Snake Pit. 1976 Formula 1 world champion James Hunt rocked up at Indy in 1977 out of the blue, drew great interest from fans who wanted to know if he was there to race, professed his interest, then retired before he could attempt to add his name to the likes of F1 champions Jim Clark and Graham Hill as winners of the Indy 500.

Stayed tuned for more bizarre photos in Part 2.