I would say that Buddy is one of the most forgotten 500 winners, even amongst the IRL era. I did a recent rewatch of the 2004 race and I can't say he didn't earn it, he had the best car most of the month and was the dominant car of the race.
Would you rather back into a 500 due to rain or strategy, or win one more legit but be nearly forgotten immediately?
Kind of an awkward appointment if Jack had crashed you the weekend before.... (as I watch Mike Groff throw his gloves at Doc in anger!)
I know the 1996 500 is a controversial one, but it's a nice round number this year so I did a rewatch. The race was fairly clean, all things considered. A few early spins but it was also fairly cold and dreary out that day.
I think the biggest surprise I had was in wondering how in the hell Salazar got away with all the stuff he did! This place would have been bananas over his actions, both on Luyendyk and Jones, just incredible that he was not parked.
Also, it was interesting how little the championship was mentioned, the booth didn't hype everything up, they were analyzing things as they came.