1978: A Spectacle in Box Seats By: Jim Gandolf

1978: A Spectacle in Box Seats

My First Indy 500 

Poem

By: Jim Gandolf

©️12012025

I was thirteen, with fire on my skin,

The sunburn stung before the cars could begin.

From the day before, my shoulders were raw,

But the pain faded out in the presence of awe.

Jim Gandolf was there, in a box at the line,

For the very first time, seeing greatness align.

A shadow hung over the Speedway that year,

With Tony passed on, and a palpable fear.

The USAC officials, the best of the best,

Had perished in April, laid tragic to rest.

Confusion would reign in the tower that day,

With rookie officials controlling the fray.

But then came the voice, cutting through the despair,

A widow stood tall in the humid spring air.

Mary Fendrich Hulman, with words distinct,

Made history there before anyone blinked.

With a lady in the field, the command had to change,

A wonderful phrase, sounding new, but not strange:

"Lady and Gentlemen, start your engines!" she cried,

And the thunder awoke, swelling deep inside.

The balloons drifted up in a speckled array,

A vision of color against the chaotic gray.

My eyes went wide as the green flag flew,

The speed was a shock, something violent and new.

The pit stops were magic, a dance and a shout,

Fuel hoses engaged, and the tires swapped out.

But chaos ensued with the flags and the calls,

The ghost of the plane crash haunted the halls.

Mistakes from the tower, confusion and heat,

While Bignotti’s team refused to accept their defeat.

The controversy swirled, but the driving was pure,

A test of the spirit that few could endure.

Jim Hall had the car, and Al Unser the hands,

Driving hard through the noise of the grandstands.

He took the checkered flag, victorious and fast,

A survivor of a race that was unsurpassed.

The crowd began leaving, a massive sea,

Shoulder-to-shoulder, pushing against me.

My blisters were screaming, the sunburn returned,

But my heart was ignited, a passion that burned.

Through the pain and the errors, the noise and the fray,

Jim Gandolf