The Indianapolis 500 is steeped with traditions but only one kept Michael Andretti awake the night before a race: The start. There were 40 cars in the first Indianapolis 500, in 1911, with rows of several cars each. Scott Dixon, a four-time Verizon IndyCar Series champion who won the Indy 500 in 2008, said one reason the start is so tense is because qualifying occurs a week earlier. With so little room for error, some of the Indy 500’s worst accidents have occurred during the start. “You hear all that wisdom” about not crashing at the start “and all that wisdom goes right out of your brain,” said Mario Andretti, the 1969 Indy 500 winner and Michael’s father.

Source: Los Angeles Times May 28, 2016 22:24 UTC