1986 The Year of Our New Hats & and Drinking Gloves & RAIN!!!!!!

The "Gang" this year consists of me, Rick Madsen, his son Dennis , Tom Anderson, Brent Anderson, Bob Pegarsch, his 2 sons Ron & Eddie, and Todd (?), and a co-worker of mine, Darold Fero. Darold, Eddie, & Dennis are this years "rookies". When us 3 fathers (myself, Rick & Tom) started this annual outing, we said our 3 boys could go to Indy when they turn 15yrs old. Brent turned 15 a couple of years ago and now Dennis has. My son Scott is still awaiting his turn. The "Vehicles"; My 1977 Chrysler New Yorker ('the boat") pulling the pop-up & Todd's camper/van.........

The Good-Time Gang now has hats! I went out and had hats made for everyone. They are black hats with gold stiching on the front that says; "Wisconsin Good-Time Gang". Now everyone has someplace to put pins. (oh boy!) The "Party"; Got to track/Teresa's on Sat. and set up camp. Took our traditional walk down 16th & Georgetown and went to Miss Nude Indy 500 Contest.

Sunday (raceday) it's RAINING, RAINING, RAINING!! Race cancelled around 3:30p.m. Came back to camp, had supper, got drunk (again), and watched Darold kick around a football until he went to kick it and missed and fell on his ass in the MUD! During this time, my brother Rick and I were sitting in the camper and he say's to me; "catch the action with the cooler". (we had a Playmate cooler sitting just outside the door of the camper) Anyway, after he said that, I looked out in time to see the cooler flouting away in the rain. And it was FULL OF BEER!!!!! When someone says it rains alot in Indiana in May, believe them!

Monday: MORE RAIN!! Race postponed until following Saturday. But something good did come out of the rain delays. When Tom, Rick & I were walking thru the infield, Tom was wearing a Wisconsin Badgers shirt and got noticed by a fellow Wisconsinite. He liked Tom's shirt, but we liked his Old Style beer drinking glove EVEN MORE!!! He said to meet him at his motorhome and he would give us some. We did that and when he came out of the motorhome he was carrying a handfull of these gloves and a BIG pair of shears. After he cut off all the finger tips and thumb tips he handed them to us and said "there, now their drinking gloves"! He said he worked at a beer distributor in Madison, Wi. So now the Wisconsin Good-Time Gang has hats and drinking gloves as their trade marks.

Following Saturday: (May 31st 1986) Everyone came back to Indy except Eddie P. and Tom A. Tom said he could see more of race sitting in Wisconsin in his easychair. "Ya, Right, Tom"

Note: Tom's favorite driver is Bobby Rahal...(just thought I'd throw that in..)

Saturday is a nice day a looks like they will finally get the race in. Brent and I walked thru Gasoline Alley before the race and when I went to mensroom, I "took a leak" with Danny Sullivan!! (Talk about up close and personal!) Was a good exciting race with Bobby Rahal winning. (Hey Tom, enjoying your easychair?) Back in '86 the officials used to open Gasoline Alley to the public after the race. We stopped and talked to Arie Luyendyk when he was standing by his garage by himself. He said he liked our hats. (Arie was living in Brookfield, Wi at the time). Came home to get ready for the 1987 race............

The Spin & Win Year - 1985

"The Gang" this year is Bob Pegarsch, Todd (never knew his last name) anyway he's our "rookie" this year, Rick, Tom (Pres.) & Brent. The vehicles this year is my '81 Citation and Todd's Dodge van/camper truck pulling the camper. Camped at Teresa's again this year. First year in awhile we didn't go to the Miss Nude Indy 500 Contest. (Ummm..."what's up with that"?) I had to bring my car this year cause I had to leave after the race for St. Louis for in-laws anniversary party. The rest of the guys piled into Todd's truck for the ride home. Eleven hours later (normally a 5 hour trip) they made it back to Milwaukee. The alternator on the truck took a puke, COMING THRU CHICAGO!! Now you've got to know Todd, but he usually has a spare part for every part of his truck on trips. But on this trip he had everything BUT an alternator. When the tow truck arrived Bob, Todd & Brent climbed into the tow-truck cab, but didn't tell the driver that he had 2 passengers (Rick & Tom) back in the truck asleep! Rick & Tom were REAL suprised when they woke up and saw the truck/camper they were riding in was at the end of a hook going down the highway @ 65mph!! Got the truck fixed and finally got back to Milwaukee around 7:00a.m. Monday.

"The Race" Pancho Carter sat on the pole in his March powered Buick with Scott Brayton his March-Buick starting second. But a Buick in the winners circle was not to be. Pancho's Buick was sidelined after lap 6 with a faulty oil pump, and Scott's car dropped out 13 laps later with a turbocharger problem. Danny Sullivan spun in the short chute between turns 1 & 2 while passing Mario Andretti for the lead. Luckly he didn't hit anything and after pitting for tires he caught Andretti and took the lead on lap 140 and never looked back. Another win for Roger Penske....

1984-"Ok Boys, $233.00/ea. Will buy us a camper!!

The Party: Ah,,,this is the year the G.T.G. has arrived! My brother Rick, Tom (Pres.) & me (C.O.B.) went in together and bought a pop-up Starcraft camper (sleeps 6) for $700.00. The days of sleeping in Ford station wagons, Chevy Chevette's & Chevy Citation's are over! The "Gang" this year is me, Steve Hawley, brother Rick, brother-in-law Bob Pegarsch, Tom Anderson, Brent Anderson and our "Rookie" for this year is my cousin Jim Hart. Note: All "rookies" that are initiated into the Wisconsin Good-Time Gang have to do 2 things their first year. 1.) Wash dishes & 2.) Carry/pull the coolers on race day. Rick has made a cart on wheels to strap the coolers onto this year. Didn't see too much of that back then @ Indy, but now almost everyone does it. Can't remember (doesn't say in scrapbook), what we did for pre-race activities but I'm sure it was take our traditional walk down Georgetown Rd. & then 16th St. & then Miss Nude Indy 500 Contest. (Hey, ya gotta have respect for tradition!).The Race: Steve Hawley's friend Steve Page was a sports writer for the Publo Chieftain (Colorado) in 1984. He was nice to let me have a pit pass for race day. (see picture) The pass got me into garage alley and onto the track for car warm-ups and hour before the race. For this guy from Wisconsin that has always had a love affair for Indy car racing and the Indy 500 in particular, that was one of the biggest thrills of my life, and I loved every minute if it!! Steve even drove one of the pace car replicas back to Colorado after the race. Rick Mears drove an almost flawless race and went onto win his 2nd Indy 500.

1983....... The Year of White Castle

1983 was also the year of my '81 Chevy Citation!!

Yes it's true I had one, but believe it or not, it was a good car. This year me, Rick, & Gary (see '82) took my Citation. Gary is about 6'4" & 265lbs, Rick has a "gut", and I'm (a little) chunky. All 3 of us slept in that car!!! The reason for that was because Tom (Pres.) didn't come to Indy because Brent (son) graduated from H.S. that weekend. (Who graduates on Indy weekend???). And Tom owned the Ford wagon we had been taking. We even left Milwaukee without tickets. Bought $25.00 tickets/ea. (see picture) from a scalper for $75.00/ea.! Turned out to be our best seats yet. Top row Terrace Extension. But before I talk about the race I have to tell you about Saturday night before the race. You see, not only did we not have tickets, had to sleep in a "go-cart", but because of our accomodations, we also had NO FOOD!! So, on Saturday for supper we walked over to the White Castle. (corner of Georgetown Rd & 16th St.) Rick had never been to a White Castle before, so I told him they were small hamburgers and to order more than just 2. He ordered 2 dozen!! As we are sitting on the curb @ the corner of Georgetown Rd eating these "hard as rocks" burgers, Rick says "screw this" and starts throwing his at people! Actually everyone in the crowd must have been drunker than us, cause they seemed to not mind that he was doing it. The Race........ Tom Sneva had 'em covered pretty much all day. It seemed he could lead at will. This was the race year that Al Unser Sr was leading late in the race when Tom Sneva was running him down until he came up on the lapped car of "rookie" Al Unser Jr. (little Al). Jr. tried his best to block for 'ol Dad, but Sneva was just too strong. On lap 191 Sneva finally caught big Al for the lead and went on to win the race.

1982 The "Gang" Grows

Mario talks to Cogan's boss, Roger Penske ....A.J. gives Cogan his opinon.....Steve & Brent

OOPS........

as the ticket says...........

Bob P. & Tom A.

Gordon Smiley

This year the Wisconsin "Good-Time Gang" got alot bigger. It was myself, Tom Anderson (who from this point forward will be know as the President of the G.T.G.) (I'm the Chairman Of The Board...C.O.B. cause I always got stuck ordering tickets and arranging camping spots) ANYWAY..Brent, our friend Steve Hawley, his friend Gary, my brother Rick, our brother-in-law Bob Pegarsch, and his son Ron made the trip this year. Camping got alittle better this year also. Were still camping at Teresa's. Steve borrowed his mother's pop-up camper. Bob P. pulled the camper with Steve's Pontiac wagon, and me, Steve, and Gary rode our motorcycles. Gary almost didn't make tho'. While we stopped for breakfast, it started raining. Gary dumped his bike coming out of the restaurant on the wet pavement. The only bruise he got was to his ego. After we set up camp, everyone except Tom & Brent (Brent to young), went to the "Miss Nude Indy 500 Contest". All I'll say is "hey, what race?", and fun was had by all.

There was a sad note at the track this year. While qualifying, Gordon Smiley hit the turn 3 wall head on and was killed. At the start of the race, an accident at the back of the field that everyone blamed on Kevin Cogan (they said he accelerated to fast and spun the wheels, he said his half-shaft broke) took out Mario Andretti, A.J. Foyt, Dale Whittington, and Roger Mears. The race was the closet's (at the time) finish, with my man Gordon Johncock (my ex-wife always loved his name!) beating Rick Mears to the line by 1/16 of a second!! For the last 3 laps, the crowd of 400,000 were screaming so loud, you could not hear the cars as they raced by!!!!!!!!

1981- The "Pressure Check Year"

"The Gang"...Rick, myself & Tom have one son each. We said when the boys turned 15 they could start going to Indy. 1981 Tom's son Brent, turned 15 and became a member of the Wisconsin Good-Time Gang. We were still "camping @ Teresa's with the Fords. We sat in Grandstand C, Sec 23, Row E. It started raining hard after race, and Tom and I almost drowned walking back to camp. As we were walking back we noticed 2 young ladies carrying a styrofoam cooler. One of ladies thought it was a good time to take a break and decided to sit on her cooler. After we stopped laughing, Tom said "she must of been pressure checking it". That saying is with us to this day.

"The Race"...Bobby Unser won the race on Sunday, lost the race on Monday (officials said he passed cars under the yellow, awarding the race to Mario Andretti) and was re-awarded the winner in October by USAC. He was fined tho' $40,000 for his infraction. Note: The $40,000 was the same amount USAC had to pay for lawyer fees and court costs.