ASK, AND YE' SHALL RECEIVE.(Competition)

Byline: RUSS BRANDENBURG, AS TOLD TO DONALD DAVIDSON

One of the first Americans to work for Team Lotus at Indianapolis recalls how it all came about

Indianapolis 500 historian Donald Davidson has more than an encyclopedia's worth of racing stories to tell. One of his favorites concerns an American member of Lotus' 1965 Indy 500-winning team. Russ Brandenburg, today a Speedway "yellow shirt'' (safety team member), recounts to Davidson how he became part of Jim Clark's crew:

* * *

My dad was head of special services at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway for many years, arranging garage tours for guests. I had been going to the race since I was eight.

In 1964 I was a 23-year-old mechanic/helper on driver Bob Wente's car, though I didn't work the race. One day my dad told me Lotus was looking for somebody to straighten out its garage, so I did it. The following May I showed up early in the month to see if the team needed help again. To my surprise team manager Andrew Ferguson hired me as a full mechanic and paid me $50 a week, which was pretty good because many crew guys volunteered. I put on those famous baggy green overalls and became a Lotus mechanic!

The crew decided I was closest in size to Jimmy Clark, so every time the car was towed to and from the pits or taken to the weigh station or checked for wheel alignment, I was in the cockpit! Ford did its own engine work, so we only worked on the chassis. But the days were long: From 8 a.m. the Wednesday before qualifying until Saturday night, pole day, I had only six hours of sleep.