INDY DIARIES: "Heeeeeee's on it!"
Friday, 27 May 2016
RACER Staff
Over 99 runnings, the Indianapolis 500 has become the most famous event in motorsport. That iconic status is built on a bedrock of hundreds of small stories, and to celebrate the centennial race, RACER.com has asked some of the people who are part of Indy's fabric to share a few of those stories with us. Check back with Tampa Racing every day between now and race day for a new 'Indy Diary' entry.
Tom Carnegie was a well-known high school basketball announcer who called the famous ‘Hoosiers’ game. He was the voice on the Speedway public address system from 1946 to 2006. He passed away in 2011 at 91. The following is from ‘Tom Carnegie: The Voice Remembered’ on RTV6 ABC, Indianapolis, and appears in Art Garner's new book 'Indy 500 Memories - An Oral History of The Greatest Spectacle In Racing'.
Tom Carnegie was a well-known high school basketball announcer who called the famous 'Hoosiers' game. He was the voice on the Speedway public address system from 1946 to 2006. He passed away in 2011 at 91. The following is from 'Tom Carnegie: The Voice Remembered' on RTV6 ABC, Indianapolis.
Nobody gave me any help [his first year] or anything like that. I just had names and numbers. Like calling a football game. I somehow got through it and satisfied Wilbur Shaw and Tony Hulman because they asked me to come back next year.
It took me 10 or 15 years to have any confidence that what I was saying was right. And then you begin to realize that this is theater. Speed theater. And growing up in the theater like I did, you begin to do those little things. Then when somebody said, 'Hey, I like that' about '
Heee's on it', then why not use it again?
I began to play to the audience. I got them excited. You get them excited and then you become excited.
My favorite day was when Tom Sneva told me the night before on the radio and on television that he would do 200 miles an hour the next day. I said, 'What? You're kidding me'. He said, 'No, you watch it, I will'. Sure enough, I was ready for him. On the very first lap, he got over 200 miles an hour. What do you do? You get excited. It gave me a chance to say, '
It's a newwwwwww track record'.
And then lap number two, 'Still faster. And you won't believe it, another new track record.' That's two track records in the first two laps. Third lap, still higher. Fourth lap, 'And it's a new all-time speed record'. I got more fun out of it than anybody. The crowd was really there for that occasion.
That's one I really remember. I was ready to quit, because that was the highlight of my day, my year, my life.