porsche club of america • santa barbara region august 2011

A Trip To The 100th Indianapolis 500 With Andy Granatelli
At The Indy With Andy
By Suzi Sheller
All it took was a tip in the Editor’s column of the
Montecito Journal, an email, and we hooked up with
Andy Granatelli for the trip of a lifetime. We were
going to the 100th Anniversary of the Indy 500 with
88-year-old Mr. 500 himself!
Our Gulfstream Jet - the only way to fly
Thursday morning, May 26, we boarded a private Gulfstream
jet with 11 other friends of Andy and a crew of three for the
flight to Indiana. Our friends were right – we never want to fly
commercial again. We were met at the airport in Indy by Andy,
his family, and his assigned police escort, loaded into vans
and police cars and whisked away to the speedway with sirens
blaring and lights blazing. We were scheduled for 180 mph rides
with Mario Andretti in the two-seater Indy cars. Suited up, with
the first four ladies in the cars, the light drizzle turned into a
downpour and we were rained out. Everyone was disappointed,
but Bob and I have since gotten a raincheck and were offered a
second chance June 28.
Then, it was on to the
Auto Racing Hall of Fame
Induction Ceremony
banquet in downtown
Indianapolis, where
we were surrounded
by such great racers as
Parnelli Jones, the Unsers,
Emerson Fittipaldi, Dan
Gurney, Benny Parsons,
Arie Luyendyk, and
so many more racing
Mr. 500 - Andy Granatelli
legends. All of this in just
the first day!
The next 3 days were packed with great food and drink; a
congenial and often hilarious group dynamic; wonderful sessions
with Andy and his brother Vince reminiscing about their early
days in car development and racing; and, of course, experiences
at Indy unavailable to the general public but open to us because of
the respect Andy is accorded in Indy.
We enjoyed access to:
• The Andretti garage (the Granatellis won their first 500 in
1969 with Mario driving)
• The vault at the Hall of Fame Museum featuring cars rarely on
display
• A 360 degree view of the track from a suite in the Pagoda for
the Indy Lights race
• A tour of the control room where one man monitors all track
action on 24 video screens
• Front-row center seats at the drivers’ meeting conducted by Al
Unser, Jr.
• Tower 4 suite and refreshments for the 500 race
• Police escort and squad car rides everywhere we went
On Sunday, after watching 180 laps of the race, we beat the
traffic (over 300,000 fans trying to leave through one exit) by
leaving for the airport at 2:15. Yes, we missed the exciting finish!
Thanking Andy and giving him a kiss goodbye (he is Italian,
after all), we boarded our jet for home. Once in the air, the pilot
announced the race winner, we were served dinner, and almost
everyone fell asleep in their plush leather seats. Bob and I couldn’t
sleep - we didn’t want to miss a single minute of this adventure.
We arrived in Santa Barbara at 4:10 our time, where our cars were
waiting, trunks open for our luggage, and disembarked. After four
days of VIP treatment, where we couldn’t raise a finger or spend a
dime, it was a real let-down to be back in the real world.
Not only is Andy Granatelli a living legend, he is a warm and
generous gentleman. We are indebted to him for allowing us to
accompany him and be part of his family on this historic 100th
anniversary trip, and we salute him with his signature email signoff,
sempre amore, Andy! =
The pre-race drivers’ meeting
Photos by Bob Roe & Suzi Sheller
www.pcasb.org • Porsche Club of America • Santa Barbara Region • August 2011
21