Road to Indy 1981

Throughout this article I will refer to Bobby Hillin Jr. as (Little Bobby), His Dad Bobby Hillin Sr. as (Sr.), and ‘Blaze’ Hillin (Bobby Hillin Jr’s Grandfather) as Grandpa. That just makes it easier for me.

Danny Bennett, Max Harrell, Al Rutledge (aka – Big Al), and myself were approached by Grandpa and offered a deal to compete for and win the SEASON CHAMPIONSHIP at Odessa Speedbowl. Grandpa offered each of us (and our families) a two week, all expense paid trip, to Las Vegas and $1000.00 each to spend while we were there if we could bring him home the championship.

With Little Bobby at the wheel we had the championship locked up at mid-season and went on to win 17 of the 22 feature races that year. Three of the other five features we did not compete in, got knocked out in a crash, and had an engine failure in the other two.

The combination of our scratch built chassis and Little Bobby’s driving ability was so dominant we made lots of enemies and had to bite our tongues many times during the year to keep tensions and tempers down at the track.

The night before INDY in 1981 we raced at Odessa. Several of the competitors pooled their money to protest our engine that night. The competitors, their families, and the track steward Jerry Roberts followed us to our shop after the race.

COORS being one of our primary sponsors our shop always saw lots of traffic after any race and this night was no different. We had an estimated 60+ friends and family of our own there.

At the completion of the teardown and inspection the track steward determined that we were within specs. That did not set well at all with the protestors and they started moaning, groaning, and whining.

Now all year long we had put up with this at the track but they were now on our turf. We had a knock down, drag out brawl, and wound up getting evicted from the rented shop before a week was up.

After the protest and fight we were running way behind schedule to depart for Indy.

Rick Dunn (our pilot for the flight) had already filed the flight plan and was sitting on the tarmac at Midland International Airport when we finally got there.

We were all bruised and battered but managed to finally get on board the C90 King Air and get settled in. Little Bobby, his cousin Tad Hillin, and Robert Hissom (one of Jim Hall’s associates) joined us for the flight.

Just after getting airborne, the pilot had some very important information to share that everyone chose to ignore. Rick Dunn (pilot) was pointing at the colored radar screen and explaining to all of us that there was a solid wall of thunderstorms that reached from Canada to Mexico and the peaks of the storm were 36-37,000 feet. The C90 was only capable of reaching 25,000 (pressurized) so we could not go over the storm. We were running so late we did not have time to fly around the storms as that would have required an additional stop (either direction) for fuel. We made the decision to fly through the storms.

For close to an hour we were in solid cloud cover, lightening bolts coming right by the plane. The plane tossed and turned, fell as much as 400 feet at a time (in dead air space). The wings looked and sounded as if they were going to break off when we would hit the bottom of the air pockets. Now I have done a considerable amount of flying and never had a problem with motion sickness, and I think possibly nerves and the fact I was sitting in the very tail of the aircraft were contributing factors but I don’t recall ever being as sick as I was while all of this was going on. I was never so proud to feel the ground under my feet when we got to Indy even if I was 1000 miles from home.

When we got to the Hotel we lined up for a shower thinking we’d get a little rest before the race. Little Bobby called his Dad to let him know we had made it. Sr. was already at the track and told Little Bobby if we wanted to see any part of the race we needed to get there pretty quick. People were backed up for 2-3 miles sleeping in their cars waiting on the gates to open.

Sr. had rented two cars (from Hertz) for the eight of us to use while we were in Indy but Little Bobby’s sister Karen and her husband showed up un-announced and Little Bobby gave them the Cougar to drive.

Here we are eight of us in a Ford Fairmont headed to the track. The road that led to the track (from our Hotel) was 2 lanes each direction. We did not get far and traffic had come to a halt and as Sr. had said people were sleeping in their cars.

We sat there for less than a minute and Little Bobby hit the ditch on the right side and we proceeded through an open field for no more than ¼ mile or so before we were faced with a creek running across the field.

Little Bobby turned around and said, “I believe we can jump that, what do you guys think?” I spoke up and told him to let me out. I told him as tired as I was I did not feel like walking. Everyone one else agreed with me.

Looking for another option Little Bobby noticed a 1978 Thunderbird that had left about ½ car length between them and the car in front of them in the right lane (closest to us). He eased up there and stuck the nose of the Fairmont in the hole.

There were 4 young girls in the car, they rolled the windows down and started to scream at us. The driver said, “you’re not cutting in front of me, I’ve been here all night. Little Bobby politely asked, “Ma’am is that car rented? She said, “No this is my car and I’m telling you, you are not cutting in front of me! Little Bobby calmly said, “This car is rented, and I can send it home in a shoebox if I want to and yes I am cutting in front of you”. We rolled up our windows and locked the doors. Sure enough as the line started to move, Little Bobby cut in line and not only were the girls in the T-Bird honking their horn and flashing their lights, quite a few people behind them were doing it as well.

The lane did not move but a few car lengths before it came to a halt. The left side lane was still moving and Little Bobby cut over into that lane. We moved about ¼ mile in the left hand lane before realizing the reason it was still moving. There were cars in the left hand lane jumping out on the wrong side of the road and making a right hand turn 200-300 yards ahead. Little Bobby jumps out on the wrong side also and goes on down to where we must turn right.

Just as we make the right hand turn, there is a policeman standing there sending everyone that’s on the wrong side of the road around a block and back to the very beginning of the line.

As we are sitting there discussing our next move, a man approaches us that had seen the big, bright neon green ‘GARAGE AREA’sticker on our windshield. Turns out he was a local and knew a back way in. He told Little Bobby to follow him. Now he’s driving a 4-wheel drive truck with a lift kit and big tires. He cuts ruts across a well-manicured corner residence and we are right behind him.

As we jumped the curb, we bottomed out, dragging the intermediate pipe and muffler away from the crossover pipe on the exhaust system and called additional attention to what we were doing. Across the street there were quite a number of guys and girls on motorcycle hanging out in a park area. One of the guys said, “Look at them a in that Fairmont as we were bouncing across the yard.

As we got to the gate at Gasoline Alley, we turned into the gate and were stopped by the guard. He said, “You can’t come in here”. Little Bobby pointed at the sticker on the windshield and said, “This is where we are supposed to be.” The guard said, “I realize that but the lot is full.” Little Bobby thought a few seconds then asked the guard, “can I just take them in and come right back out?” The guard replied “if you promise me you will come right back out, yeah, ok”.

As we rolled past the guard Little Bobby looks back and says “we’ll just call Hertz and have them send us another car when we get ready to leave”. We got down to the main gate at Gasoline Alley and there were two guards there. Bobby pulled up not 30 feet from the gate, shut the car off and we got out. The guards said, “you can’t park that there, we’ll haul it off”. Little Bobby threw his hands in the air and said, “Have at it”. I asked Little Bobby for the keys, I went back and got my stuff out of the car thinking it might not be there when we returned. Everyone else got their stuff as well.

When we got to the garage, Sr, Al Unser Sr, and Sheldon Kinser had gone to eat breakfast.

As we were milling around the garage waiting on them to return, the announcer came over the PA system talking about the Blue Ford Fairmont sitting in front of the gate. Since we were just killing time I talked Little Bobby into going with me to find a legal spot to park it.

We got back to the garage and decided to go eat breakfast as well. As we were all sitting at the breakfast table, Rick Dunn (pilot) said “boys I would not have told you this last night but there was several times I was just like you guys, a passenger on the plane”.

Now I’m extremely thankful he chose not to tell us that during the flight. He went on to say he thought that he did a hell of a job getting us up there and then he pointed at Little Bobby and said, “ But I ain’t got s on that boy,” referring to the ride to the track in the rent car.

After the race was over Danny, Max, Big Al, and myself went straight to the hotel room, showered, watched a little bit of the race replay on TV and crashed.

Monday following the race we had some business at Sr’s Longhorn Racing Shop in Speedway so we got up early and all met for breakfast in the hotel to plan our day.

Little Bobby approached me and said, “I need you to come look at the rent cars”. As we walked out the door of the hotel there sat the Cougar and Fairmont, flats on all 4 corners, the doughnut spares had been put on the night before and literally run off of the wheels, busted side marker lights, grass hanging out from under the chrome, right front door on Fairmont would not open from inside, and the Fairmont still had the exhaust issues.

Little Bobby and Robert Hissom had their own little race the night before and now we had to deal with the aftermath. That’s the ONLY time I ever refused to help Little Bobby. I just went back inside to the breakfast table.

Big Al (our welder) volunteered to help. Big Al called a taxi. He and Little Bobby removed the tires and wheels and took them by taxi to a service station, paid $5.00 a piece for the tires we rode around on that day.

Now I’m not certain what happened to the Cougar, maybe Little Bobby’s sister took it again, all I know is the eight of us were forced to use the Ford Fairmont for the 35+ mile round trip that day.

As we rolled out of the hotel parking lot, I could hear the ring gear and pinion howling over the exhaust that was knocked off the day before. I had Little Bobby pull in a parking lot and I got out to see what was wrong. The inspection plate on the 7.5” differential was bent back (at the bottom) and all of the grease was gone. We’ll never know if it was damaged at the same time as the exhaust or from something that happened later but we were concerned all day that the diff might lock up leaving us stranded but other than the noise, it held up.

Rick Dunn went ahead of us to the airport, filed the flight plan, and was sitting on the tarmac with the engines running when we got ready for the flight home.

Little Bobby slid the Fairmont sideways right up to the plane, we all got our stuff out and left the rent car sitting on the tarmac.

I never knew how many repairs the Cougar needed, but Sr. got a bill for over $1800.00 repairs on the Fairmont before Hertz would accept it back into their fleet.

A couple of months later, there was an article that came out in the Odessa American Newspaper; the headline read HERTZ RENT A RACER. Seems Bobby Unser had driven one of Hertz cars off in a swimming pool at a hotel, Al Unser Sr. had been clocked pushing a friend of his down the freeway at 105 mph with a Hertz car.

I don’t know the relationship between these guys and Hertz today but the last account I had, they could still rent from Hertz but COULD NOT purchase insurance from Hertz. They just had to buy the car if it was torn up bad enough.

Guys I know this has been long, thanks to you that have taken time to read this far.

My intent here was not to bore you, but hopefully to bring a little bit of humor your way.

In closing I would like to say, (putting all of the joke and bloopers aside) the Hillins and Unsers are some of the finest people I’ve ever had the privilege to know and I will be eternally grateful for the opportunities.

Not many people would take 10-20 people to the finest steak house in town and argue about who GETS to pay for this meal as opposed to who HAS to pay.

These guys are great in my book.

THANKS AGAIN FOR YOUR TIME!!!