Russ Thompson

@nascarman_rr Here is my pic of checkered flag dude. Don't look Ethel!

May 11, 1974: The Indy 500's CRAZIEST day. A rain delay in pole qualifying saw: -Over 30 naked people running on track -A nude man stole the checkered flag and fell out of the flagstand -Qualifying delayed an hour while cops used tear gas to drive hundreds of drunks from turn 1

@500Indy1911 I would seriously like to know if this showed up in anyone else's feed. I'm wondering if something screwed up and it just inserted "your hometown here" instead of Indianapolis. Say you live in Columbus, did it say, "During IndyCar race in Columbus"? Why Nashville, of all places?

🤔

@SHUNCK He couldn't even scratch the surface of what all went on this weekend in two minutes. Maybe 45.... But I'd sure love to hear it!

Robin would have a fun time writing a column recapping the week… Or if Wind Tunnel was still on and he could rant for 2 minutes…..

Boy am I mad. Spent all that time driving to and from Indianapolis this weekend only to find out the @IndyCar race was right here in Nashville! Did these headlines show up in anyone else's "X" feed under Today's News? Maybe you can't believe everything you read on the internet?

@Thomsen419 Indy 500 was in commercial. B&W monitor in the booth with ESPN feed. @SpinToWin85 and I were watching when they threw the green in Michigan. We were both standing there with our mouths open at what we'd seen.

I am sure that this event will come off without a hitch.

@ChrisWilke11 My pic from pole day. I was happy I captured Mike and AJ Watson in the same shot.

1974 Indy 500, My grandpa Ralph, with Mike Mosely with the Loadstar Special.

@GatorTapeGirl Number 2 and 3 both have 11 wins each. Next is 1 with seven wins, and 5 and 14 both have six wins.

@Calhoun98 What are the top 3 car numbers amongst this year's entries that have the most wins?

Doing some Indy prep today. Found that car #7 has only won the 500 two times. Both times driver's first name was Bill. I think Christian has time to get his name legally changed before May 24.

@alex_wollf Only six drivers have led each of the 200 laps over their career. DePalma, Jones, Mario, Vuky, Al Unser, and Foyt. Two drivers have led 199 (Fittipaldi and Arnold), two more 198 (Clark and Dixon), and no one else is close.

Working on notes tonight and it looks like the only individual laps of the Indianapolis 500 that Scott Dixon hasn’t led in his career are laps 157, 161, and 162. Pretty remarkable.

@FJMoreno14 I worked that race. Here is my qualifying spreadsheet.

El 29 de abril de 2001, CART cancelaba la 'Firestone Firehawk 600' en Texas Motor Speedway. #INDYCAR La carrera que se suspendió porque los coches eran demasiado rápidos, con los pilotos sufriendo mareos y desorientación a +380km/h. Kenny Bräck hizo la pole el día anterior. 🥴

@SHUNCK I'm partial to 1994 for multiple reasons. "These eyes...."

"This ABC Sports Exclusive" Remember when - 1990 ABC Sports #Indy500 What year was your favorite "Delta Force" opening???

@IndyOreo The sun is in the west and the shadows are VERY long. Do you know if this was Fast Friday? I know this was the first pic snapped after parking the car when we got to the track Friday afternoon.

I'm having enough trouble with this account that I'm about to retire from goddamn Twitter. Random IndyCar Pic of the Day No. 14 #RICPOD

@IWontLikeThis @Thomsen419 Seemed long to a 25 year old too.

@Calhoun98 @Thomsen419 I remember how bummed out I was about the first weekend getting washed out. A week's wait seemed like an eternity to an 8-year old.

A wild ride for Gary Bettenhausen in 1993.

@Thomsen419 @IWontLikeThis Original pole weekend was a complete washout. This was second scheduled weekend of quals. Teo snuck up on about as many people in '83 as Swartzman did last year. Love hearing that Tom Carnegie call.

@IWontLikeThis Here you go, also will be a part of Carb Night on Beyond The Bricks

@LegendsNascar @MartinsvilleSwy Rain delayed to Monday. Bobby was scheduled to guest that night on a radio show I co-hosted. Honored his commitment. Talked about being aero-tight - at Martinsville. I knew then the sport was in trouble. The barn door had been opened and the herd was already out.

Bobby Hamilton won the 1998 Goody's Headache Powder 500 at Martinsville 28 years ago today. 🏁 #MorganMcClureMotorsports 🏁

@doyle_hargraves @jwlpc Blue Jean Jacket is Jim Donoho - the "mastermind" behind the album project. His father Bill was the long-time promoter at the Nashville Fairgrounds. Jim was also one of the founders of the original Bob-tail truck racing series featured in one of the Smokey and the Bandit movies.

@jwlpc I know them all but the blue jean jacket. Who is that?

Not a stage win in the group

Doing research and stumbled across this. No argument @BobRahal is one of the all-time greats. The first eight years of his IndyCar career his best finish in the season opener was 14th. He only finished one of the eight. 4 crashes, a fire, suspension failure. Only led 2 laps.

@MattYocum @TonyStewart His winner interview was great. Something about how amazing a feeling it is when you see a 99 cent light bulb flash on telling you that you are the winner. lol

I give @tonystewart shit all the time really for past 31 years, because that's what pals do to stay grounded, but he's allowed to get a big head over this one, as yesterday a storied career went into another orbit. To win Top Fuel at Pomona...yes...Pomona... in the 75th year - the place where all the coolest drag racing history has gone down - man that is something. And to do it at age 60 with an AARP membership too is phenomenal. Congrats pal love seeing you do your thing still elbows up, kicking ass and taking names.

@MattYocum Then he went and got it dirty. ;-)

What a beautiful car.

@MattYocum Is that not Joe Leonard just to the left of Rockford? I'm guessing this is race morning. Can't imagine that throng post-race. Joe was about to have a very good day at The Speedway, finishing 3rd while his boss would become a three-time winner.

Les Richter in the plaid jacket. Met Mr. Garner in 1972 at Daytona speed weeks in the kings garage. Blessed to have hung out with him for a bit and even carried me on his shoulders. Mr. Richter was a dear family friend and my boss while I spent high school and college summers working at IROC.