At IndyNichels set up his operation in Indy's Gasoline Alley using Bill Ansted's Garage No. 19, a spot in which Nichels spent many hours as an Indy car mechanic. His hope of running on Friday, November 16th, was lost due to foggy weather. In the interim, both Sutton and Ward were scheduled to head to Phoenix for the season-ending Indy car race on Sunday, so the plan was altered. The next window opened on Tuesday, November 20th.
Colder temperatures slipped into the Indy area over the weekend, however. Nichels knew that rain and sleet would be in the forecast for the next several days. He desperately wanted to get this project wrapped up so he and the teams could be home by Thursday for Thanksgiving. But Nichels had another decision weighing on his mind. After the record attempt at Indy, he committed the team to repeat the feat at Darlington in a couple of weeks under the sanctioning of NASCAR.
Ray couldn't second-guess himself any longer. He invited the press and held a cocktail party and dinner for his drivers and crew, where he predicted that his team would break all three records.
The morning of Tuesday, November 20th, was dry but cold when Nichels made the decision to begin the run at 3 p.m. From a standing start, USAC's Goldsmith in the Enforcer and NASCAR's Panch in the Catalina took the green flag. They quickly picked up speed and were running 117-120 mph in the early laps. Goldsmith made the first Nichels Engineering statement by setting a new one-lap speed record of 118.953 mph on only his second circuit around the storied Brickyard.
The CrashThen, before anyone had a chance to settle in, Goldsmith came into the fourth turn hot with his throttle stuck wide open. Trying to manhandle the out-of-control Pontiac, Goldy grazed the concrete wall and slid along it far enough to destroy his right front tire and bend up a lot of sheetmetal before regaining the car's composure. He pulled into the pit, hoping that he hadn't ruined the run for the record. Nichels quickly surveyed the damage and debated whether to repair the car now, start the run over again, or try to systematically make repairs during the upcoming pit stops. As it was a race against time and distance, long pit stops could prove to be disastrous over the course of the next 24 hours.
Its front bumper was curled around into the right front tire, which shredded it. The right front headlight assembly was completely destroyed, a section of the windshield was cracked and the side of the car was bent in considerably at both wheelwells. The team was somewhat fortunate, though. Goldsmith had saved the car by sliding it along the wall rather than having a direct, angled impact. Nichels talked it with over with Worley, Owens and Moore and decided to go for it..
They got the car running as soon as possible and then repaired one particularly damaged area during each pit stop. It would be dark soon and the headlights had to be operational by then, or the drivers wouldn't be able to see, as the Indianapolis Motor Speedway had no lights. Along with the headlights, the drivers relied on oil-burning smudge pots strategically located around the track as guides to where the "groove" was.
Back On The Track At IndyQuick body repairs and new tires put Goldsmith back out on the track in 4 minutes and 47 seconds. Instead of wasting time to put the whole headlight assembly in at once, one piece at a time was hung during every pit stop. By the time the sun went down, the headlight assembly was fixed.