Bettenhausen Barely Qualifies For U.S. 500

For 50 years the Indianapolis 500 has held members of the Bettenhausen family of Tinley Park in thrall. It has titillated them, teased them, tortured them, even killed them.

Not anymore.

“To me, the magic is gone,” said Gary Bettenhausen Friday, shortly after he had qualified as the 27th starter in Sunday’s inaugural U.S. 500 at Michigan International Speedway.

“I went to Indianapolis and walked around the garage area and felt like a stranger,” said Bettenhausen. “I went there a total of four days and there was no magic in the air.”

On the surface, there was nothing magical about the lap of 208.607 mph that Bettenhausen managed to squeeze out of his brother Tony’s 2-year-old Penske before the motor disappeared in a puff of smoke. It was the slowest time of any qualifier here or at Indy, where Gary and Tony combined had raced 32 times.

But consider this: Until he went out and took seven practice laps Friday, Gary Bettenhausen, 54, had not sat in a race car in two years.