AJ Foyt smiles ahead of qualifying. (Photo by John Mahoney)
Editor’s Note: In this monthly photo essay, National Sprint Car Hall of Fame photographer John Mahoney shares his memories and images from some of the most amazing and historic sprint car and midget races.
USAC Sprint Cars, Terre Haute (Ind.) Action Track, September 11, 1966
The reason I included this race in my Memories series is not for the race itself but for the thrill of snapping posed photos of my racing heroes on the day. The races were a bonus.
I was attending Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana, at the time, and with my Kodak Retina 35mm camera and a few rolls of film, I drove to Terre Haute for the USAC Sprint Car Show.
Mario Andretti captured ready to fight. (Photo by John Mahoney)
My camera had a “fixed” regular lens, so it didn’t accept telephoto lenses. I was perfectly happy with that setup at the time, as I’ve always loved photographing the people of our sport up close. I’m not sure how I caught a pit pass, but it could have been through my buddy Gene Crucean and our fake Northwest News newspaper.
I remember that part like it was yesterday. The cars were in the qualifying queue and I chose a seat at the front of the line. I was fairly new to taking posed photos but thought this would be a good opportunity to ask.
First came Russ Congdon, then Chuck Taylor, followed by Bud Randall, Al Miller, Bruce Jacobi and Arnie Knepper. Everyone agreed and my confidence grew.
It wasn’t long before AJ Foyt was pushed into line. I took a deep breath and asked for the injection. I remember thinking he smiled when I pressed the shutter button.
It was a few more years before I started developing my own film, so I had to wait to collect my prints from the photo shop before I could confirm that AJ had smiled!
Mario Andretti and a few others followed, and as we said earlier, all the posed photos were “freaky”.
Ah yes, the races. Roger McCluskey won the 50-lap feature while Don Branson outbid the 39-car field to win heat one. Foyt and Bobby Unser won the other two heats and Al Smith led the semifinals.
Dave Lundy survived a fence-clearing flip on the 31st round of the feature.
Roger McCluskey was the day’s feature winner on the Terre Haute (Ind.) Action Track. (Photo by John Mahoney)
This story appeared in the March 22, 2023 issue of SPEED SPORT Insider.
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