Potts’s Shots: Remembering a 1973 Racing Tragedy
Q: I always thought that Swede Savage had died from kidney failure (as many burn victims do), about 33 days after the accident in the 1973 Indy 500.
Q: I always thought that Swede Savage had died from kidney failure (as many burn victims do), about 33 days after the accident in the 1973 Indy 500.
Really can’t attribute a question to anyone specific this week. I’ve gotten a LOT of phone calls, e-mails, etc. from people wanting to know how I feel about NASCAR’s decision to move the Nationwide race from Lucas Oil Raceway to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
I’ve touched lightly on this subject once, but just for a sentence or two, and I think the topic deserves its own column. All of those who contacted me assumed, correctly, that I did not look favorably on this decision. That’s putting it mildly. I have to believe a very good friend of mine who covers motorsports for The Indianapolis Star was correct in his question-and-answer blog this week. He said he believes everyone involved in making this decision will come to regret it.
I noticed in the photo from last week’s column that a car had a number facing the grandstand. In NASCAR, the numbers face to the inside. Why the difference?
Being in the flagstand, what was the strangest win that you’ve ever witnessed?
Have you heard anything about a new NASCAR-sanctioned racetrack being built south of Branson, Mo.?
Jack Brothers wants to know, “Wasn’t there a NASCAR race in Kentucky some years back? Any details?”
We’ve all seen things at the track, in the pits or on the track, that made us shake our heads and say “Did I really just see that?!?” or “What the hell?”
Regular readers of this and the old Driven to the Past column will recall the story of the day Earl Baltes almost got run over at Dayton.
Josh asked if I thought NASCAR would approve a race featuring cars and trucks together on the same track if it was a charity event.
Only one inquiry this week, from Fritz in North Carolina. “What’s your take on the Kyle Busch/Richard Childress dust up and NASCAR’s handling of it?”
As you were a flagman for so many years, I’d like your take on the last-lap situations at the Indianapolis 500 and the Coca-Cola 600
Angie in Kentucky comments on the fact that so many short tracks are experiencing difficulties and wants to know what can be done about it.
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