sprigeteer wrote: "A bit of unban legend, some of that."
And just WHAT, pray tell is "legend". And your evidence for saying it? For
the record, Jones had been spewing oil for lap after lap, and the officials
were endangering drivers by refusing to black flag him. I think that you will
find that Colin Chapman had legitimately raised the issue of WHY Jones was not
being black flagged and removed from the track. This raised the Armenian ire
of Agajanian, already one of the richest and most powerful men in American
racing, and who ruled racing in California with an iron fist. Not accustommed
to being defied, Agajanian kept arguing with the officials, but most certainly
NOT that the car was no longer spewing oil, but whether it was bad enough to
black flag him! So instead of exercising their independent judgment to make it
a safe race, and abdicating their responsibilities by allowing it to become a
debate, they let Agajanian continue to argue until Jones' oil level finally
dropped so low that it stopped leaking. The fact remains, he was leaking it,
and leaking it badly enough to warrant black flagging!
"After the race Clark was quoted: 'Parnelli Jones drove a great race. I would
have been sorry to see him black-flagged'."
That's a new one on me. However, I will say that it is completely in keeping
with Clark's gentlemanly demeanor at all times.
"Sachs did punch Jones, but not on behalf of Clark."
No, I never said that he did. But neither did Sachs say it was because he had
spun in Sach's oil! His words were definitely to the effect that Jones should
not have been allowed to win the way he did.
"If you've never heard Sid Collins' eulogy of Eddie Sachs, which he delivered
spontaneously during the red flag that day, find it somewhere and give a
listen, but beware, if you're a race fan, it'll bring tears to your eyes. "
Surely, no one who heard Collins that day as I did could not have shed more
than a few tears. Collins was the consumate race announcer, and he lived and
breathed the Indy and all of those who raced init. He became a legend,
himself. I also remember how, sometime in the mid-70's, I was startled to tune
in, and for the first time, I did not hear him on the air. It was a long time
before I learned that he had committed suicide days after being diagnosed with
ALS...Lou Gehrig's Disease.
Buster Evans
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