72. Mr. Indy 500: Scott Gauger

His name is synonymous with sports in the 70’s. You didn’t have to follow racing to know who AJ Foyt was. He’s a part of Americana and in 1975 he was looking to win his 4th Indy 500. A week earlier, he was on the cover of Sports Illustrated after winning the pole position in true Foyt fashion. His first lap in qualifying was a blistering 195.313 mph and his 4-lap average of 193.975 secured the pole position in Indianapolis. But rain and Bobby Unser had other plans… a downpour ended the race after just 174 of the 200 laps, and Unser was awarded the victory with 1974 champion Johnny Rutherford finishing 2nd and AJ a disappointing 3rd… taking it all in was a kid who grew up just north of the famous racetrack and attended his first race at the age of 6 in 1966… Scott Gauger hasn’t missed an Indy 500 since, including the ’75 race that saw Mother Nature end the race before it could properly come to it’s scheduled conclusion. Gauger grew up around racing and started working at Indianapolis Motor Speedway when he was just 13. 5 years later in 1978, he took his first official position with an IndyCar team, and almost 50 years later, he’s still a part of the Old Brickyard, working on two winning Indy 500 teams… In 2016 he worked for the Andretti-Herta Autosport team that won the checkered flag for the 100th running of the Indy 500 with Alexander Rossi behind the wheel… and a year later, he was with Andretti Autosport when Takuma Sato was the first to cross the finish line. And while Gauger works officially for separate IndyCar teams, his unofficial position is Ambassador of the Indy 500. He gives tours, gets tickets for kids, and promotes the race 24/7, 365 days a year. On the Past Our Prime podcast, Gauger tells us about how he grew up near 3-time Indy 500 winner Louis Meyer, who is widely known for starting the annual tradition of drinking mile after winning at Indy… Gauger talks about the greats and says AJ Foyt is the best racer of all-time, and the first person he ever saw have a personalized license plate… He tells us about drinking the milk after winning in ’16 and again in ’17 and he tells us which famous actor was the best racer of the bunch… if you know racing, it won’t be a surprise. And Gauger tells us why the racers of today aren’t as well-known as the ones we grew up watching 50 years ago. The Indy 500. It’s as American as it gets… and so is Scott Gauger, Mr. Indy 500 on the Past Our Prime podcast. Give us a review and a download if you would and share it with your friends. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices