INDY 500: Bizarre IMS archive photos, Part 2

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. We've all seen the iconic shots from the first 99 runnings of the Indy 500; here's a look at some more of the lighter side culled from the IMS archives...

Ralph DePalma takes the checkered flag at the 1915 Indy 500 beneath the bravest plank-walking flagger on the planet.

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According to IMS historian Donald Davidson, the Norge refrigerator company – a division of Borg Warner – provided their products for use on pit lane in the late 1930s. We see Jimmy Snyder and Louis Meyer here enjoying Indy's traditional glass of milk, but the most interesting refrigerator use came from drivers who kept spare helmets inside. Per Davidson, drivers would swap their hot, sweaty helmets for the ice-cold spares during pit stops. Brilliant.

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Indy 500 souvenir stand, circa 1951. Among the oddities, $3 plastic replica “Crash Helmets” with “Googles” (not goggles) were available along with an assortment of odd hats, seat cushions, and sunglasses. “Googles”…wonder if the Speedway is making money off of licensing the name to…

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The face of an angel: An 18-year-old A.J. Foyt poses for a photo at the Playland Park oval in Houston.

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Arizona-based mechanic Larry Bisceglia earned his claim to fame as the first person in line to enter the Speedway once the gates opened for the 500. He made the trek for 37 consecutive years, but in 1986, the streak ended when he was too ill to drive to Indiana. His first Indy 500 came in 1926, his last in 1987. Larry Bisceglia died on Dec. 7, 1988. His 1951 Chevy panel truck remains in the care of the IMS Museum.

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Johnny Carson, the king of late night television, dons a firesuit and records a segment with Rodger Ward and Parnelli Jones in 1967. Carson’s show was the most-watched in America, making his appearance at Indy to drive Jones’ STP Turbine a statement on the importance the great race held at the time.

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Indy legend A.J. Foyt appears to be engaged in a playful tussle with a lion. It wasn’t. The promotion, at the DuQuoin track in 1969, went sideways rather quickly.

According to Foyt’s longtime PR rep Anne Fornoro, the lion, restrained by a collar and chain with a stake driven into the ground, pulled the stake free, which prompted Foyt to start running for his life.

“The trainer told A.J. he shouldn’t have run because the lion’s instinct was to chase him,” Fornoro said. The lion tackled Super Tex, wrestled him to the ground, then shredded his firesuit—and some of A.J.’s skin—with its claws before the trainer was able to regain control.

Wearing a fresh firesuit and a few bandages, the American badass went on to finish third at DuQuoin that day.

Rain at Indy is nothing new, but rarely have we seen the 500 turn into a boat regatta like the 1975 race. Bobby Unser sailed home to victory (sorry, couldn't resist) in the rain-shortened Indy 435. 

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Former California governor Ronald Regan, shown with IMS owner Tony Hulman, visited the Speedway days before the 1976 Indy 500 to campaign for the GOP nomination that was eventually won by Gerald Ford.

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Journalists and luminaries once took part in a pre-Indy race of their own as they raced 33 lawn mowers around the 2.5-mile oval. Seriously, they really did...

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A.J. Foyt is mobbed by adoring fans after winning the 1977 Indy 500. Forget rushing a basketball court after victory – try running onto a racetrack with moving cars…

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David Hasselhoff was not only a part owner of the Indy 500 entry driven by Arie Luyendyk in the mid-1980s, he also stepped up to sing a lounge-style rendition of the national anthem in front of a few hundred thousand people at the Speedway.

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The toughest man the Speedway has ever known, Parnelli Jones, riding a scooter…with a gift set of golf clubs. Even our heroes look ordinary on occasion.

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Indy 500 star Rodger Ward poses with a bulldog wearing goggles. Why? No one at IMS knows.

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One of the great IMS photos that hasn’t aged well. Emerson Fittipaldi poses with the $1 million he won after capturing the 1989 Indy 500 and, in light of his recent financial trouble, the bundles of cash surrounding his car would come in handy right about now.

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Despite her God-given high center of gravity, famed race queen Linda Vaughn, also “Miss Hurst Shifter,” was able to hold onto the Hurst shifter platform while circulating around the Speedway in 1972 with the Hurst Olds Pace Car.

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When Sponsors invade. Scott Atchison's 1988 Indy 500 entry was sponsored by Otter Pops, a flavored frozen sugar-treat (with a powerful chemical aftertaste) that kept kids bouncing off the walls. The company wheeled out cutouts of their mascots to fill the garage opening, which might have worked better than the SCCA Super Vee champion's car. Atchison was bumped from the field during his only attempt to make the 500.