Thirty Days in May: The Day-by-Day Drama of the 1970 Indy 500

Thirty days! From the moment the drivers entered in the 1970 Indianapolis 500 rolled their cars onto the track for practice until the command “Gentlemen, start your engines,” they faced thirty days of intense action. The drivers needed to go fast enough to earn one of thirty-three starting positions. Only then would they have a chance to win what sportswriters and fans called “the greatest spectacle in racing.”

And award-winning sportswriter Hal Higdon was there to report on the action: hov...