The Mods and Rockers: what IndyCar can learn from British pop culture
The IZOD IndyCar Series needs fewer Mods on scooters and a few more Rockers on motorcycles
In the recent NASCAR Nationwide race at Richmond, a typically long and relatively boring race was spiced up by a post race contretemps between Brian Scott and Nelson Piquet, Jr. It was the kick felt around the racing world as Piquet, Jr. took rather low aim as he connected with Scott below the belt. The juxtaposition of Scott, your typical American stock car racer, and Piquet, Jr., a Brazilian scion of F1 champion Nelson Piquet seemed oddly familiar. Suddenly, an image from popular culture came flashing back. The fight between Piquet, Jr. and Scott was a modern version of the British conflict between the Mods and the Rockers in the early 1960’s. It certainly ramped up the media interest in the Richmond Nationwide race, just as the events in the ’60’s exploded in the British media. And truth be told, it is exactly what IndyCar needs in 2013.
To make my point, a little history lesson is in order. If you are not familiar with the Mods and Rockers, I did some time-consuming and exhaustive research on the subject (I went to Wikipedia and watched the TV show Cafe Racer on Velocity). The Rockers were rock and rollers who wore leather and rode British motorcycles like BSA’s, Triumphs, Nortons, and Vincents. In other words, tough guys. The Mods were clean-cut, suit-wearing, jazz and R & B aficionados who drove scooters. We would probably call them preppies today. The two groups had some near riots that sent the British press into paroxysms of angst and conjured images of youth run amok. All of this brings us to what the IZOD IndyCar Series needs right now.
IndyCar is all Mods and no Rockers. Proof? Check the scooters in the garages and pits at any IndyCar race. What message does this send? It screams effete hipster snob! Even the Penske stable uses matching scooters that are always lined up perfectly in front of their motor homes. These latter-day Mods need to have a counter-point. Where are the Rockers, IndyCar? Where is the leather? IndyCar may not need the post-race fisticuffs of NASCAR, but it certainly needs a little antipathy among the racers. Robin Miller of Speed and NBC Sports always says that hate is good. I’ll settle for a little hostility.
Fans like to know that competitors really want to beat the other guy, not just win the race. Even though IndyCar has marketable young Mods like James Hinchcliffe, Josef Newgarden, Marco Andretti, and Graham Rahal, these young guys don’t have a Rocker nemesis cast as an antithesis to their Mod coolness. The closest IndyCar comes to a Rocker is IndyCar race director Beaux Barfield, who drives a two-wheeler that is decidedly not a scooter. At least we can still have bad blood between the Mod racers and the Rocker race director. It’s something.
Beaux Barfield’s Rocker ride. (photo: Mark Wilkinson)
It’s time for IndyCar to develop some real rivalries. The frat house that is the IndyCar paddock needs a little dive bar biker atmosphere to spice it up. Could it be oval specialist Ed Carpenter in a leather jacket? Maybe J.R. Hildebrand and A.J. Allmendinger could bring a little of their California Rocker ethos to the paddock. I’m afraid it may be a lost cause. The boys and girls in the paddock are just too nice. And that’s just too bad.
Bad blood is good copy and good televison. Will Power (who may be the Rocker the series needs) made news with his double finger salute to Brian Barnhart at New Hampshire as well as the same gesture to E.J. Viso at Iowa last year. Sadly, Power has not taken his Rocker role to heart. He is back in the frat house with the rest of the Mods. A.J. Foyt, the true IndyCar tough guy who may have never listened to rock and roll in his life, had his Rocker moment at Texas when he threw Arie Luyendyk to the ground in Victory Circle. Those were the days before politically correct sponsor concerns trumped human emotion. You were still allowed to publicly dislike someone.
Even though the IndyCar drivers have the occasional fit of pique over on-track indiscretions, don’t expect them to start kicking and swinging anytime soon. Unfortunately, you just don’t see much Mod on Mod violence anymore. And IndyCar is a little less fun because of it. The Vespas are winning.
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