Beyond the Bricks Podcast

Tonight, on Beyond the Bricks with Jake Query and Mike Thomsen , they remember the 1961 Indianapolis 500 winner, Eddie Sachs. To start the show, you will hear an interview Sid Collins did with Sachs after he won the pole for the race he finished first in. When Sachs was born in 1927, George Souders won the Indianapolis 500. The two drivers would eventually become great friends through the sport th...

Tonight, on Beyond the Bricks with Jake Query and Mike Thomsen , they dive into the voices of the 1950’s when it comes to the Indianapolis 500. They start with a name that many might remember as a broadcaster of the race but was at one point also a racer. Freddie Agabashian, a color commentator for several years for the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Radio Network was also a driver in the Indianapoli...

Tonight, on Beyond the Bricks with Jake Query and Mike Thomsen , they remember significant events that took place during the year that ended in 3. The voices you will hear from tonight aside from Jake and Mike are former IMS Historian Donald Davidson, Al Unser, Al Unser Jr., and Emerson Fittipaldi. Jake and Mike will hit on a variety of events starting with the 1963 Indianapolis 500, promos that a...

Tonight, on Beyond the Bricks with Jake Query and Mike Thomsen , they discuss an important anniversary close to Mike, remembering Gordon Smiley with today marking 41 years since his passing, and the introduction to a key racecar driver in Indy 500 history in the same year (1982). Additionally, we revisit a classic commercial from 1981 that always makes Jake laugh anytime he listens to it, the raci...

Tonight, on Beyond the Bricks with Jake Query and Mike Thomsen , they highlight some of the more notable car owners in the history of drivers in the IndyCar. You will hear from and learn about Harry Hartz going from a successful driving career into an ownership role and some rare audio of an interview containing Bessie Lee Paoli. Additionally, one owner that is around the sport today in Mario Andr...

Tonight, on Beyond the Bricks with Jake Query and Mike Thomsen , they pay tribute to a key broadcaster on TV and Radio for the Indy 500 in Paul Page. You will hear from Page in an interview that Mike did with him, a couple delta force intros from the 1991 and 1992 Indy 500 introductions, and how important Sid Collins was to Paul. Additionally, they will spotlight the changes that Page made to the...

Tonight, on Beyond the Bricks with Jake Query and Mike Thomsen , they remember the early days of the radio broadcasts of the Indianapolis 500-mile race with tonight’s focus being on the Mutual Radio Network. You will head from audio from the late 1940’s, from a driver that Mike had to dive deep into his audio collection for, and Sid Collins co-anchoring with Bill Slater on the 1950 radio broadcast...

Tonight, on Beyond the Bricks with Jake Query and Mike Thomsen , they continue telling the story of Johnny Rutherford. With last night’s show focused on the first half of his life and racing career, Jake and Mike focus on the second half of his racing career that consists of two Indianapolis 500 victories, him recovering from a crash at Eldora, and his decision to retire. Other topics pertaining t...

Tonight, on Beyond the Bricks with Jake Query and Mike Thomsen , they tell the story of one of the most decorated race car drivers at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Johnny Rutherford. Jake and Mike tell the story of how the three-time winner grew up in Kansas, got started in racing, and him running in IMSA and his first USAC Championship race. Additionally, they tell the story of Johnny revisi...

Tonight, on Beyond the Bricks with Jake Query and Mike Thomsen , they switch up their spotlight from early Indianapolis 500 winners to Hoosiers that had an impact on the way we experience the race today. The first driver that Jake and Mike profile was also a former president of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The Shelbyville native, first back-to-back Indy 500 winner, and second three-time winner...

Tonight, on Beyond the Bricks with Jake Query and Mike Thomsen , they spotlight drivers that race fans typically forget about or don't talk about enough. The list of drivers that Jake and Mike talk feature on tonight's show are: Floyd Davis (Co-Winner of 1941 Indianapolis 500) Mauri Rose (Co-Winner of 1941, won 1947 and 1948 Indianapolis 500) Bill Holland (Winner of 1949 Indianapolis 500 | 2nd pla...

Tonight, on Beyond the Bricks with Jake Query and Mike Thomsen , they continue highlighting some of the early winners of the Indianapolis 500. The first driver they spotlight is the first two-time winner of the greatest spectacle in racing is Tommy Milton. Next, they spent some time on the 1925 winner of the race in Peter DePaolo with his connection to a driver they talked about on Monday in Ralph...

Tonight, on Beyond the Bricks with Jake Query and Mike Thomsen , they pay tribute to one of the most legendary voices that race fans have heard in the history of the Indianapolis 500. From 1952-1976, Sid Collins was the radio voice of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Radio Network and passed away 46 years ago today. Mike and Jake revisit some of the historic interviews, highlights, and try to remem...

Tonight, on Beyond the Bricks with Jake Query and Mike Thomsen , they examine some of the drivers from the early stages of the greatest spectacle in racing. They focus on how Ray Houron became the first driver to race a motorcar with a rearview mirror and how he historically performed at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway (including a victory in 1911). The second driver that Jake and Mike put the spo...

Tonight on Beyond the Bricks, Jake Query and Mike Thomsen open the show with the history of NASCAR at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Jake and Mike discuss just how big of a deal the Brickyard was when it first came to the World’s Greatest Racetrack. Mike displays his impressive memory recounting the drivers who have run both the Indy 500 and the Brickyard.  Then, Jake and Mike hear Donald Davidson r...

Tonight on Beyond the Bricks, Jake Query and Mike Thomsen discuss drivers that made the crossover between IndyCar and NASCAR. Mike and Jake talk about Mario Andretti winning the 1967 Daytona 500 and how he wasn’t accepted into the series with open arms. Then, we hear from IMS Historian Emeritus Donald Davidson on Fred Lorenzen testing an IndyCar at IMS in 1965.  Jim Clark drove almost anything wit...

Tonight on Beyond the Bricks, Jake Query and Mike Thomsen say goodbye to producer Sam Rumpza, for now, and Mike tells the story how he got into TV and radio in Indianapolis and how that parlayed into talking about racing and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Then, Jake and Mike discuss the incident Cale Yarborough was a part of at the 1979 Daytona 500 that put NASCAR on the map, as well as how rare...

On Beyond the Bricks, Jake Query and Mike Thomsen chat with CBS reporter and longtime NASCAR on FOX pit reporter Matt Yocum. They talk about the history of NASCAR at Indianapolis, as well as Austin Cindric, and what IMS means to the Team Penske NASCAR Cup Series driver. Later, they discuss classic memorabilia and Marco Andretti winning the SRX series this past weekend. See omnystudio.com/listener...

Beyond the Bricks is back, and Jake Query and Mike Thomsen look back on the 2022 Indy 500 and how Marcus Ericsson and Pato O’Ward have quickly acclimated to oval racing. They give kudos to Hy-Vee and IndyCar for the highly successful Iowa doubleheader weekend. With Union Jack in Speedway closing, Jake and Mike talk about some of the Speedway bars and restaurants from yesteryear, and we hear storie...

On Beyond The Bricks, Jake Query and Mike Thomsen close out the month by celebrating the career of 1992 and 1994 Indy 500 winner Al Unser Jr. Jake and Mike discuss “Little Al’s” season championship fight with his father in 1985, and we hear both father and son’s thoughts on that battle. They talk about his legendary race with Emerson Fittipaldi in 1989, and how Unser handle...

On Beyond The Bricks, Jake Query and Mike Thomsen talk about arguably the best to ever take to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Rick Mears. They discuss how Mears made his way from Bakersfield, California to the corner of 16th and Georgetown, and how he immediately took to IMS. We hear calls from Rick’s four Indy 500 wins, and hear from the legend about his relationship with Roger Penske, wh...

On Beyond The Bricks, Jake Query and Mike Thomsen go back to the 1950s at the Indianapolis 500. They discuss 1951 winner Lee Wallard, who was burned in a racing accident and saw his career cut short after winning the 500. We hear historic Tom Carnegie interviews with Wallard as well as Bob Sweikert. Jake and Mike look back on many of the heroes that emerged in the decade, and some that were lost t...

On Beyond The Bricks, Jake Query and Mike Thomsen look back on the career of the first driver to win the Indianapolis 500 four times: A.J. Foyt. We hear historic audio from Super Tex, including his start in racing, his thoughts on all four of his “500” victories, and how he came back from multiple devastating crashes. We also hear from Donald Davidson on Foyt’s career, as well as...

On Beyond The Bricks, Jake Query and Mike Thomsen by spending some time on some of the women Indy 500 drivers. A couple of the names that Jake and Mike dive into are Bessie Lee Paoli and Janet Guthrie. Mike and Jake break down how Bessie Lee Paoli was a true pioneer in the sport. Later, Jake and Mike go through Janet Guthrie’s stories on how she went from racing sports cars to racing in the...

On Beyond The Bricks, Jake Query and Mike Thomsen look back on the career of 1985 Indy 500 winner Danny Sullivan. We hear from the Louisville native on how he got his start in racing, how he made his way to Indianapolis, and his iconic “Spin to Win” in ‘85. Jake and Mike discuss their memories of the spin in the south chute, and how they still can’t believe that Sullivan di...