MILLER: Dinner at Mo's

IndyCar

MILLER: Dinner at Mo’s

After dining at Mo's with Rathmann, Parnelli, Unser, Rutherford, Johncock, Unser Jr., Luyendyk and Brack, Robin Miller recounts an amazing night.

Robin Miller | Posted March 01, 2009 Indianapolis, IN

Robin Miller (top left) joined Johncock, Brack, Arie, Bobby Unser, host Steve Shunck, (bottom) Rutherford, Parnelli, Rathmann, and Little Al for an amazing night of laughs and memories at Mo's. (Miller)

My invitation to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway's Centennial Era Gala on Friday night must have been lost in the mail so, consequently, I didn't get to dress up, see lots of phoney people and watch Wayne Newton serenade Janet Guthrie.

Instead, I had to sit through a four-hour dinner on Thursday night at Mo's Steakhouse with some old slugs who eat a helluva lot better than they can hear, a couple of those "damn furriners" that A.J. never trusted and the only Unser who hasn't been married at least three times.

But, after all the arguing, laughing and reminiscing, Jim Rathmann, Parnelli Jones, Bobby Unser, Johnny Rutherford, Gordon Johncock, Al Unser Jr., Arie Luyendyk and Kenny Brack all agreed on one thing.

The company was just as good as the food.

"We need to do this more often, while we're all still around," declared the 73-year-old Unser, who along with Johncock only heard about a third of the conversations because of all those years of racing without earplugs. "Man I wish I'd known all these guys were going to be here, I got a bunch of stuff I want them to autograph," said Luyendyk.

Collectively, those eight drivers amassed 15 Indianapolis 500 victories, a dozen pole positions, 129 starts and they led 2,107 laps between them. Rathmann, the oldest living Indy winner at 80, began his Indy career in 1949 and Little Al was the last guy to run it in 2006.
"Five of us are so old we all started in roadsters," said the 72-year-old Johncock, a two-time winner (1973-1982) whose bulldog determination behind the wheel compensated for his lack of technical savvy.

"Hell, all I ever drove were roadsters," said Rathmann, whose lone win in 1960 featured a classic duel with Rodger Ward. "I'm glad I wasn't around for those cars," chimed in Unser Jr., a two-time winner (1992-94) of that famous family.

Passing around photos of their glory days inspired some stories and some looks of disbelief from the younger set. A shot of the dreaded Antares chassis prompted Rutherford to say: "The first look me and my crew got at that car we went right to the bar and started drinking whiskey. We needed something to kill the pain."

Looking at Jones sitting in the old Fike Plumbing sprinter with skinny, knobby tires and a little roll hoop for protection made Brack wince: "Those guys were crazy," said the 1999 Indy winner. Maybe not crazy but certainly brave. Rutherford was spectacular in a sprinter on the dirt while Johncock excelled on the high banks and Parnelli was just incredibly smooth and fast in any car on any surface.

"I use to watch Parnelli all the time because he made it look so effortless," said Uncle Bobby, whose three wins spanned 13 years (1968-1975-1981). The never-ending debate of who was better -- Foyt, Mario or Parnelli -- never got started but when a photo of Lloyd Ruby surfaced the old guard was in agreement: "Rube was the best driver who never won Indy, he had such bad luck," said the 70-year-old Rutherford, a three-time victor (1974-76-80) whose aggressive, high-groove style at Indy was nothing short of breathtaking.

A shot of Parnelli and Andy Granatelli's turbine car from 1967 produced plenty of revelations.

"Andy called me and wanted me to drive it but he was on Firestones and I was a Goodyear guy," said Johncock. "He started out offering me $20,000 and went all the way to $100,000. What did you get to drive it Parnelli?"

Jones winked and replied: "A million" before admitting it was $100,000.

"When I went to Phoenix to test it for the first time, I wasn't sure it could be competitive but the more laps I made, it grew on me," said Jones, who broke the 150 mph barrier in 1962 and scored his only win the following May. "At Indy, it flat ran out of power about halfway down the straightaway but it sure made it for it in the corners."

P.J., who qualified sixth, asked Johncock (starting on the outside of the front row) what he planned to do at the green flag. Gordy told him he was heading for the inside and Jones swept around everyone and into the lead exiting Turn 2. "Mario gave me the finger," he laughed. Of course Jones broke down less than four laps from the checkered flag and Foyt found himself in victory lane.

"You gave Foyt No. 3 and I gave him No. 4," yelled Johncock to Jones, referring to the fact Gordy was comfortably ahead in 1977 before blowing up late.

A photo of Betty Rutherford kissing J.R. after he almost stole the pole in 1970 was significant because she was leaning over the fence on pit road -- women were not allowed into the pits until 1974. "Should have never let 'em in," groused Uncle Bobby, getting a nod from Johncock and Jones.

Brack, who made a complete recovery from his ghastly accident at Texas in 2003, quit racing after returning successfully to Indy in 2005 while Luyendyk called it quits that same month. "I was driving through Turn 2 after I'd crashed hard earlier in the month and something came over me and I said, I think I'm done with this and pulled in," said the Dutchman.

Even though Rathmann discussed his impressive victories at Monza and Daytona 50, Unser and Rutherford compared notes on the dangers of IMCA races in the dust and Jones took time to reflect on Jud Larson, most of the conversations centered around Indianapolis.

It's where all these guys made their reputation.

Little Al still regrets those four Mays he missed during the CART/IRL wars. "I was driving down the backstretch of the U.S. 500 at Michigan in 1996 and I kept thinking, 'I'm at the wrong race,'" he said. "I had debated A.J. on Good Morning America a couple days earlier and acted like I wanted to be at Michigan. "But I lived for Indianapolis, that bothered me every May until I came back."

Unser, 46, looks good and healthy just like Uncle Bobby, whose weight hasn't fluctuated in 45 years. Rutherford remains the classy ambassador of Indy racing while Johncock is fat and sassy. Rathmann is in a wheelchair but has no problem recalling the glory days.

At 75, Parnelli still looks like the bad ass he was in the 1960s and commands a presence that's hard to describe but easy to recognize.

As the five old gunfighters filed out of the restaurant, a gray-haired customer pointed and said to his friend: "They don't make 'em like those guys anymore."

No they don't.

The opinions reflected herein are solely those of the above commentator and are not necessarily those of SPEED.com, FOX, NewsCorp, or SPEED

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Robin Miller

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