Only 14 drivers from New Jersey have started in the Indianapolis 500 since 1911.
I never really liked the term "bucket list," but I will admit that if I had one, it would include a visit to Indianapolis on Memorial Day Weekend for "The Greatest Spectacle in Racing," the Indy 500.
I try to watch it every year, and used to listen to it on the radio (absolute truth) when I wasn't near a TV. The sight of the cars three-abreast coming down the front straightaway, the pageantry and a half million people in one oval container are things I would love to experience someday.
Funny thing is, not a whole lot of New Jerseyans have been to Indy if we're talking about drivers.
They've been running the race since 1911, with only short interruptions for World War I and World War II. Of the thousands of men and, beginning in 1976, women who've driven at the brickyard, only 14 hailed from New Jersey, according to oldracingcars.com.
MORE: Vintage photos around New Jersey
Some names are fairly well known; Summit's Mark Donohue raced five times and won in 1972; Wally Dallenbach from New Brunswick ran 13 times between 1967 and 1981, and Steve Krisiloff of Newark competed 11 times between 1970 and 1984.
Malcolm Fox of Westville gets towed to the pits after being struck in the right rear tire by a car driven by Lester Spangler during the 1933 Indy 500. The others? Walt Ader (Long Valley), Norm Batten (East Orange), PJ Chesson (Far Hills), Art Cross (Jersey City), Malcolm Fox (Westville, pictured at right), Walt Hansgen (Westfield), Mike Magill (Haddonfield), Eddie Miller (Dumont), Bob Sall (Cream Ridge) and Jeret Schroeder (Vineland - yaayyyy!!) all started at least one Indy 500.
New Jersey may not have a 500-miler to call its own, but it does have a rich history of auto racing as well as classic cars.
Here's a gallery of classic cars and racetracks from New Jersey. Have captions enabled to read all about them.
And here are links to last year's classic cars galleries: Click here and click here.
Greg Hatala may be reached at ghatala@starledger.com. Follow him on Twitter @GregHatala. Find Greg Hatala on Facebook.