An old photo sparks old memories

mercphoto

I grew up near 38th and Moller Road in Indianapolis. Some might know that this is not far from the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. On race day you could here the dull roar of race cars from the backyard. I lived there from my earliest memories until 7th grade.

During my early grade school years I had a neighbor who I knew as Uncle Joe. He wasn't really an uncle, but he was a really great guy, a sweet old man. His name was Joe Scopa, and he used to be a chief mechanic for an Indy car team, long ago. He was retired by the time I knew him, but he still had a large garage in his backyard where a race car would occasionally show up. I would go over often to look at the cars, or his stack of race tires, or his tools.

I do not remember actually having this attached photograph. It showed up in the mail last week, the result of mom cleaning out the closets. Uncle Joe is third from the left. The actual picture would have been signed around 1970-1972, as best as I can guess.



This is why I love photography. I have my memories of Uncle Joe, the cars I saw in his garage. How he was able to setup a field trip to an active Indy Car team's garage for me in grade school. Of meeting Tom Sneva. And much more. But seeing a photograph just seems to bring back those memories stronger than would be possible otherwise.

Bud1880

Nice story Bill. I've often thought about what if, or wished that, digital had been around forever but that would make photos like yours much less meaningful. Wonder what our grandkids will think about photos 20 or more years from now. Will those pictures be appreciated or will there be just too many of them to even care?

Nice car in that picture btw. That was back when 'real' racing was taking place by dedicated, hard nosed drivers and mechanics. It was great fun.

Thanks for sharing.

Bud

TonyCooper

mercphoto wrote:

I grew up near 38th and Moller Road in Indianapolis. Some might know that this is not far from the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. On race day you could here the dull roar of race cars from the backyard. I lived there from my earliest memories until 7th grade.

During my early grade school years I had a neighbor who I knew as Uncle Joe. He wasn't really an uncle, but he was a really great guy, a sweet old man. His name was Joe Scopa, and he used to be a chief mechanic for an Indy car team, long ago. He was retired by the time I knew him, but he still had a large garage in his backyard where a race car would occasionally show up. I would go over often to look at the cars, or his stack of race tires, or his tools.

I do not remember actually having this attached photograph. It showed up in the mail last week, the result of mom cleaning out the closets. Uncle Joe is third from the left. The actual picture would have been signed around 1970-1972, as best as I can guess.



This is why I love photography. I have my memories of Uncle Joe, the cars I saw in his garage. How he was able to setup a field trip to an active Indy Car team's garage for me in grade school. Of meeting Tom Sneva. And much more. But seeing a photograph just seems to bring back those memories stronger than would be possible otherwise.

This photo of Eddie Johnson was taken in 1958 when Eddie finished 9th. He finished 7th in 1966 driving the #54 car. Eddie is famous for finishing in the top 10 in several races but never leading a lap.

I also grew up in Indianapolis (Broad Ripple) and sold the "Indianapolis Star" at the track on race day in the early 1950s. If you sold papers at the track, you got a ride out there and back, free admission, and a pass that let you in the section you wanted to sell in. And, you made maybe $20. I always chose the Pit Parquet because you could see all the action.

My bitterest memory is of 1955 when my favorite driver - Sam Hanks - was pushed into the pits with some sort of mechanical problem about midway in the race. I had an Argus Argoflex 75 twin lens reflex camera where you held the camera at waist level and looked down on the viewfinder. If you tilted the camera too much, the photo would come out partially cut-off.
I snapped off one shot and ended up with a photo of Sam's car, Sam's forearm, but nothing above that but white space. Missed Sam's face with that raccoon look the drivers had after taking off their goggles.