Still…almost a full second-and-a-half slower than the pole!
“We‘re all right,” Harvey assured Jimmy and the others. “It‘s a long hundred laps, boys.”
Almost immediately people seemed to hurry to their pit, and Jimmy bristled as everyone wanted to know: “Hey, are you guys OK? Anything wrong?”
“We‘ll be all right,” Jimmy told anybody who inquired. “Just drew a late number, that‘s all.”
Duke Moran hadn‘t fared any better thus far today. He hauled it too deep into turn one on his qualifying run, sliding out to bang the wall. Although he soldiered on, he timed 16th and would start three rows behind Jimmy, the Maverick four-cam machine needing some hasty repairs.
The cars were rolled to the front straightaway for driver introductions. Jimmy‘s mind was plotting out the course of the race, and he coached himself: take it easy, save the tires, bide your time. Save enough to be able to race the last third of the race. Forget about the points; just win the race.
Jimmy walked to the front of the field to find Bobby.
“Great lap,” Jimmy praised. “You had this thing honking.”
“Thanks,” Bobby grinned. “I‘m on the front row at the Hoosier Hundred! Can you believe it??!!”
“Not really,” Jimmy deadpanned. “Timing malfunction, I suspect.”
“Hey, do me a favor,” Bobby replied.
“What‘s that?”
“Give me lots of room when I come up to lap you, OK? The leader gets that courtesy.”
Jimmy laughed. “You couldn‘t lap me if you had two motors.”
Just before the introductions began, USAC publicist Jeff Todd rounded up several of the drivers for interviews on the PA. Jimmy gathered with Duke, Bobby, and Pete Randall.
“That first lap looked a little exciting,” Jimmy kidded Duke, referring to his qualifying run.
“Aw, of all the stupid moves,” Duke groused. “I drove ‘er in too hot like a rookie kid, and dang near turned over. If I owned this race car the driver would have been fired right after time trials.”
The PA announcer talked to Pete, then Bobby, then waved for Duke to come over.
“It all comes down to this,” the man said with a smile. “How about it, Duke? You‘re starting 14th, and you‘ve got a lot of fans here today who‘d love to see you win this thing.”
“I‘d love to win it, too,” Duke grinned. “Our driver stepped on himself in qualifying, so we‘ve got to dig ourselves out of a hole. But a hundred laps is a good long race. We‘ll see what
we can do.”
“How about the championship, Duke? You‘ve dominated this series for the past two years, but Jimmy has been pretty tough this season. Any thoughts on the outcome of the points race?”
Duke smiled, and looked over at Jimmy.
“May the best man win,” he said. The crowd gave him a rousing ovation, and he waved as he walked toward his car. The announcer stepped toward Jimmy for the final interview.