As you may know, the Weekly View was one of the sponsors of the #98 Dallara Honda of rookie Gabby Chaves. On the Thursday before the race, the Boss and I got to go to the track and visit the Bryan Herta Team garage to see our car. I wound up getting a closer look at it than we might have normally done. It was a fascinating and very informative afternoon for us and the Boss got some very good pictures. Chaves was the fastest rookie qualifier and started 26th. His crew chief Mark Mattes told me that they would carefully monitor Gabby during race with the idea that finishing in one piece was the primary team goal. Gabby drove smoothly and carefully during the race and by lap 174 was in 8th place. However, late in the race he was rear ended and though he stayed in the competition, he dropped to 16th position by the finish. He did complete the 200 laps and was named “Rookie of the Year.” It was a great deal of fun for all of us at the Weekly View and for me in particular.

The term pool is generally used as the generic name for American pocket billiards. This came from the common practice of players putting  a pot or “pool” of money for the winner to take at the end of a game. The game of pool became very popular in America during the 18th century, and was a popular indoor pastime up to and during the Revolutionary War. John Hancock, Thomas Jefferson, Dr. Lyman Hall, Button Gwinnett, Dr. Benjamin Franklin, Edward Rutledge, Lewis Morris and other members of the Continental Congress spent much of their off time playing pool to relax and recover from the strain of putting together a government for the 13 colonies while the meetings were in recess. In fact, there is a story that Franklin was able to convince fellow Pennsylvania delegate Judge James Wilson into supporting the Declaration of Independence while playing a game of billiards during the debates about adopting the proposal. The sixth President, John Quincy Adams had his own pool table brought down to the White House from his home in Massachusetts during his presidency and was attacked for it by supporters of Andrew Jackson in the election of 1828, for promoting gambling in the Executive Mansion. Ironically, Andrew Jackson was a pool player and had the reputation of being something of a pool shark as a young man. President Ulysses S. Grant was an enthusiastic player and had a pool table installed in the White House during his term as President. He often played with his close friend and principle adviser, General William Tecumseh Sherman, who was Secretary of War at the time. Frontier lawman Wyatt Earp was a skilled pool player and it was during a game of pool that he and his brother Morgan were playing that Morgan was assassinated. The incident happened during the Earp-Clanton “war” in Tombstone, Arizona in 1882. Not surprisingly, “Mark Twain” or Samuel Clemens enjoyed playing pool and played with President Grant and Bat Masterson among others during his life. During the Civil War and into the late 19th century professional pool players emerged as recognized sports heros, along with boxers, and baseball players with players like Jacob Schaefer Sr. achieving almost legendary status with their pool playing prowess. Their exploits were covered by the national press and their faces were recognized everywhere they went. They even had their images on collectible tobacco cards.
Billiards seems to have first appeared in France in the 15th century as an outdoor game for the nobility. The game was played outdoors on grassy lawns. Leather bound balls were pushed around a field with long, blunt-ended poles called maces in almost a croquet style. By the 16th century the game had moved indoors and had spread from France to Britain, Spain and Germany and all over Europe. The first billiard tables came into use about this time. The tables were covered with green cloth to simulate grass and simple wood rails were added to contain the balls. Eventually, padding was added to these walls and they became known as banks. The cue stick was adapted in about 1675 along with ivory cue balls and the balls were struck rather than being shoved. The cue ball was introduced in the mid-17th century. The first true book of rules for playing billiards appeared about this time and people from all levels of society were playing it. Women were even permitted to play but had to use the maces. When the British colonized North America they brought the game of billiards with them.
The dominant pool game in the United States in the 17th and most of the 18th century was American 4 pocket billiards. It was played on a twelve foot table with four balls, two red and two white. The term “pool hall” was first used in connection to horse race betting parlors, where bettors anted into a collective pool of money to be shared by those who bet on the winning horse. Many of these betting parlors installed billiard tables so the gamblers could have an activity to pass the time between races. Over the years the term pool hall became synonymous with billiards rather than horse racing and got the reputation as places frequented by criminals and other unsavory characters. Sixteen ball, eight pocket billiards first appeared in 1870 on the Mississippi River and within a few years became the most popular pool game in the United States and remains so to this day.
The Depression in the 1930s saw a sharp decrease in the popularity of pool and it developed a reputation as an activity for idlers, thugs, and gangsters. Willie Mosconi was the country’s top pool player in the middle of the 20th century and had a reputation as an honest and upright sportsman with legendary cue skills. During the 1940s and 50s Mosconi and his playing skills were covered in magazines and newspapers as well as displayed in movie shorts and later on television. Mosconi was a friend of Ed Sullivan and Sullivan featured him performing his trick shots on stage on his Sunday television variety show on a number of occasions. The game of pool enjoyed a surge in popularity after the movie The Hustler came out in 1961 and made a celebrity out of Rudolf “Minnesota Fats” Wanderone. Jackie Gleason portrayed a character based on Wanderone in the film and Wanderone became quite a showman himself. By the 1980s the game of pool had regained its position as one of the country’s most popular and profitable leisure time activities and participant sports.
Jeanette Lee, the “Black Widow” is one of America’s most feared and respected pool players. She was the number one ranked female pool player during the 1990s and has maintained her ranking into the 2000s. She gained her nickname from her ability to absolutely devour an opponent in a game of pool. Her list of titles and accomplishments as a professional pool player is almost inexhaustible. She and her husband George Breedlove, who is also a professional pool player, are residents of Indianapolis.
Paula’s note: She’s from Mooresville originally and our own C.J. Woods played pool with her when he visited his kids in Mooresville.

Forty eight years ago this month (61 years ago adjusted for today’s date), Rufus Parnell Jones became the first Indy car racer to break the magic minute mile. That is, he averaged 150 miles an hour on a qualification run. Today of course that’s not even warm-up speed, but in the first half of the Speedway’s history, that speed was considered the “Holy Grail” of Indy car racing achievements.
There is an old saying, “There are old race drivers and there are bold race drivers, but there are no old, bold race drivers,” For the first 50 years, that seemed to be the rule. Speeds at the track increased slowly as track conditions improved and tires became better, but it was often the daring of a particular driver that caused speeds to jump. In 1928, Leon Duray became the first driver to break the 120-mile an hour barrier by averaging 122 miles an hour on a qualification run, with a fast lap of 124 miles an hour. That record would stand for nine years.
In 1939, Jimmy Snyder became the first driver to break the 130 mile an hour barrier. Snyder had become known as a top qualifier when he took the pole at 130 mph. He would be killed in a midget race later in the year.
The next great Indy car qualifier was Jack McGrath. The first “Flying Scot” came to the Speedway in 1948 and qualified for the 3rd starting position. He would qualify for the front row on six separate occasions. But it was his 1954 run for the pole that was most memorable. He became the first driver to hit the 140 mile an hour mark. Before that, many racing experts were convinced that 135 miles an hour was the ultimate speed mark for the track. Go faster then that, and you would fly off the course. However, race car designer Frank Kurtis came up with the “roadster” in 1949. The engine and drive shaft were offset to the left, giving the car greater stability and holding the track better. McGrath and his rival Bill Vukovich made the roadster viable with their success in the cars. However, both drivers were killed racing in 1955.
By the mid 1950s, experts had to reevaluate their theories of maximum speed at Indianapolis. In 1958 both Dick Rathman and Ed Elisian were flirting with 148 mile an hour practice speeds and more than one stop watch had Ed at 150 on a couple of laps. Unfortunately they were also the cause of the first lap racing disaster that took Pat O’Connor’s life. Elisian was killed racing in 1959.
In 1960, rookie Jim Hurtibise made a third day qualification run of 149.050, so close to 150 he could almost touch it. After the run, Herk’s first words were ”If you think that’s something, wait until you see Parnelli Jones next year!”
Someone said of Parnelli Jones that he was ”born to be a race car driver.” His record certainly indicated that. He excelled in every facet of automobile racing: open wheel, stocks, and sports cars — you name it, he dominated in it. He arrived at the Speedway in 1961, one of the most heralded rookies in 500 history. His rookie of the year performance cemented that reputation.
In 1962, he came ready to make history. Driving “Calhoun,” his nickname for the #98 Agajanian Watson roadster, he clocked the first official 150 mile an hour speed and achieved the magical minute mile. His place in racing history is secure. He is still active in racing today as an owner/promoter.
It took nearly fifty years to get to 150 but it would only take 15 more years to get to 200 miles per hour. Tom Sneava would run 202 miles an hour to take the Indy pole. Since that time, the effort seems to be to slow the cars down. When Arie Luyendyk qualified for the 1996 race with a one lap record of 237.4 miles an hour single lap record and 236.9 4 lap record, the Speedway decide to impose car engine restrictions  to reduce speed. Arie will always have the record, but he stood on the shoulders of Duray, Snyder, McGrath, Jones, and Sneava to get there.

Soto Departs

Two time Indianapolis 500 winner Takuma Sato is departing Rahal Letterman Racing after 4 years. 2021 wasn’t a big year for Sato. His best finish was a 4th at the Indy GP. No word on where he will be taking his Sony sponsorship money.

  A Night at the Vic

Last Wednesday night (Sept. 29th) the Nicewanger Clan renewed a family tradition by attending an Indians game at Victory Field. At least once a summer we go see the Tribe in action. Of course, we indulge in our taste buds with that wonderful baseball food that you can’t get anywhere else — hot dogs, popcorn, nachos and so on. They all taste better at the ballpark. Just to make it all the better, the Indians pulled out a  tie at the end of the ninth inning. And in overtime they won 5-4. Another beautiful evening.

Herta Wins at Monterey

Young Colton Herta gave a clinic on how to dominate and win an IndyCar race over last weekend. He won the pole and when the green flag waved he left the rest of the field in the dust. The Monterey road course has been good to the Herta family. It was Colton’s second victory at the track. His dad Brian Herta won here twice. Dad Brian is Colton’s race strategist.
The real race was in positioning for a final run at the 2021 IndyCar championship. And that was down to three drivers: Alex Palou, Patricio O’ward, and Josef Newgarden. Palou has led in points for much of the season. O’ward took the point lead after the last race. Palou regained the lead with his second place finish. After a slow start, Newgarden has come on in the second half of the schedule and with a victory next week at Long Beach he could win his second IndyCar title ­— it’s been a very strange year for the teams and drivers. The usual suspects such as Scott Dixon and Will Power have really not factored as contenders. Helios Castroneves came out after a short retirement and won his fourth Indy 500. He only competed in three other events, however. Romain Grosjean, the former Formula One driver, has run away with the rookie of the year title with some eye-catching, hard-nosed driving. This, even though he did not compete on the ovals such as the Indy 500. He could be driving for Andretti Motor Sports next season.
So it’s off to Long Beach for the final race of the season, And we will find out who is number one.