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Champ Car was the trade name for Open Wheel Racing Series Inc., a sanctioning body for American open-wheel car racing that operated from 2004 to 2008. It was the successor to Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART), which sanctioned the PPG Indy Car World Series from 1979 until dissolving after the 2003 season.

CART was founded in 1979 by United States Auto Club Championship Division team owners who disagreed with the direction and leadership of USAC, with the then-novel idea of car owners sanctioning and promoting their own series collectively instead of relying on a neutral body to do so. Through the 1980s, the Indy Car World Series became the pre-eminent open-wheel auto racing series in North America, featuring street circuits, road courses, and oval track racing. CART drivers continued to compete at the USAC-sanctioned Indianapolis 500.

Even as the series prospered, concerns about costs, competitiveness, and revenue sharing began to create opposition to CART's organizational structure. Attempts at reform, which saw the company rebranded as IndyCar in 1992^[1] and a compromise board formed, failed. In 1996, an open wheel 'split' saw the newly created Indy Racing League (IRL) take full control over the Indianapolis 500 and start a competing oval-based open-wheel series. CART ceased using the IndyCar name but continued its series without participating in the Indianapolis 500.

The 'split' saw a dramatic fall in general interest for open wheel racing in the United States, which was compounded by the growing popularity of NASCAR, creating a downward trend in sponsorship and attendance at some tracks. After a series of setbacks in the early 2000s saw the departure of major racing teams and engine manufacturers to the IRL, CART went bankrupt at the end of the 2003 season. A trio of team owners acquired the assets of the series renamed it the Champ Car World Series. Continuing financial difficulties caused Champ Car to file for bankruptcy before its planned 2008 season; its assets and history were merged into the IRL's IndyCar Series, reuniting both series of American open-wheel racing.

• 2History
• 4Champions

Vehicles[edit]

Champ Cars (before 1997, advertised as IndyCars) were single-seat, open-wheelracing cars, with mid-mounted engines. Champ cars had sculpted undersides to create ground effects and prominent wings to create downforce. The cars would use different aerodynamic kits depending on whether they were racing on an oval or a road-course.

Teams typically purchased chassis constructed by independent suppliers such as Lola, Swift, Reynard, and March, with some owners, such as Dan Gurney and Roger Penske, constructing their own. The series exclusively used Goodyear tires until 1995, when Firestone entered, creating a spirited competition between the brands. Firestone ultimately became the exclusive supplier in 2000, with their parent company Bridgestone taking over the role in 2003 and maintained it until 2007.

Champ Cars used turbocharged engines that ran on methanol fuel. Cosworth (branded as Ford), Ilmor (branded as Chevrolet), and Buick engines were common until the mid-1990s, which saw Mercedes-Benz take over as Ilmor's branding and Honda and Toyota enter factory efforts. Until 2003 engines were typically leased from manufacturers, who conducted research and development during the racing season; one engine could easily dominate competition in the first part of the season and then fall behind. The exclusive availability of more advanced versions of engines to certain teams in the early-1990s became a major source of contention within the organization, and manufacturers fiercely resisted proposals to have engines simply be purchased by teams.

Starting in 2003, after the withdrawal of Honda and Toyota, Champ Car purchased a series of identical engines from Cosworth and leased them to teams under Ford branding. In 2007, Champ Car was effectively a 'spec' series, with all teams running a Panoz DP01 chassis and a Cosworth engine.

Champ Cars were visually similar, and often compared to, Formula 1 cars, which also featured wings, mid-engines, and an open-wheel design. Due to their use on ovals, Champ Cars weighed more and were more substantial in size, but typically had more powerful engines. Both series tended to downplay comparisons for commercial reasons, but 2002 saw a rare occurrence in both series running the same track (Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal) within a month of each other. Juan Pablo Montoya won the pole position for the Formula One race with a lap time of 1'12.836, with the slowest being Alex Yoong's 1'17.34; Several weeks later, Cristiano da Matta won the pole position in a Champ Car race with a lap time of 1'18.959.

History[edit]

Foundation[edit]

In 1905 the AAA established a national driving championship and became the first sanctioning body for auto racing in the United States. The AAA ceased sanctioning auto racing in the general outrage over motor racing safety that followed the 1955 Le Mans disaster. In response, Indianapolis Motor Speedway president Tony Hulman formed the United States Auto Club (USAC) to take over the sanctioning of what was called 'championship' auto racing, or open wheel racing, whose biggest event was the annual Indianapolis 500 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. USAC sanctioned the championship exclusively until 1978.

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A group of activist car owners coalesced around Dan Gurney who had grown disenchanted with what they saw as an amateur, hobby organization sanctioning their events and not properly promoting them or compensating teams. Notable incidents included the loss of a lucrative sponsorship by Marlboro in 1971 after USAC failed to enforce the brand's exclusivity at events and purses that teams said would result in a loss in money even if the team was successful. In early 1978, Gurney wrote what came to be known as the 'Gurney White Paper', the blueprint for an organization called Championship Auto Racing Teams.^[2] Gurney took his inspiration from the improvements Bernie Ecclestone had forced on Formula One with his creation of the Formula One Constructors Association. The White Paper called for the owners to form CART as an advocacy group to promote USAC's national championship. The group would also work to negotiate television rights, sponsorship agreements, and race purses, and ideally hold seats on USAC's governing body.

Gurney, joined by other leading team owners including Roger Penske and Pat Patrick, took their requests to USAC's Board, but the proposal was rejected in November 1978. USAC's rejection led the owners to form a new series, called CART, in late 1978 under the principles laid out in the Gurney White Paper. The first race was held in March 1979, with the Sports Car Club of America sanctioning the series.

USAC initially tried to ban all CART drivers from the 1979 Indianapolis 500, informing CART teams by telegram during their event at Atlanta Motor Speedway, until CART succeeded in obtaining an injunction to allow its cars to qualify.^[3] Of the 20 races held in 1979, 13 were part of the 1979 CART Championship. An attempt by USAC and CART to jointly sanction races in 1980 as the Championship Racing League saw USAC withdraw after 5 races, and by the end of 1981 the only USAC sanctioned asphalt championship race was the Indianapolis 500.

CART PPG Indy Car World Series (1982-1991)[edit]

By 1982, the CART PPG Indy Car World Series was universally recognized as the American national championship in open wheel racing. In 1983, USAC agreed to allow CART to add the Indy 500 to its schedule and have drivers be awarded points in the CART championship in return for retaining the authority to sanction the 500. Beginning with a schedule mainly based on oval speedways like its USAC predecessor, the series began to move into prominent North American road racing circuits such as Road America, Mid-Ohio, and Laguna Seca, replacing the declining Can-Am series. Many racing stars, including Mario Andretti, Bobby Rahal, and Danny Sullivan found success in CART, which by the mid-1980s moved into sanctioning street races, taking over the Detroit Grand Prix and the Grand Prix of Long Beach from Formula One, and expanding to Toronto and Cleveland. CART founded the first full-time driver safety team that traveled with the series, instead of depending on local staff provided by promoters.

For the first time, open-wheel racing outside of Indianapolis had developed a stable schedule, enabling more generous sponsorship and television opportunities for the owners. Despite the corresponding increases in attendance, TV revenue, and purses, CART's egalitarian governing structure created its own headaches. CART owners were incredibly diverse: For example, owners such as Carl Haas and Roger Penske owned speedways and had generous contracts with tire, chassis, and engine manufactures, while other teams simply purchased older cars and ran the races they could afford to attend. The diversity of interests led to annual fights and accusations of real and apparent conflicts of interest with regard to rules, sponsorship, driver safety, track selection, and other matters.

In 1988, CART joined ACCUS, allowing foreign drivers to compete without risking their FIA superlicenses.^[4] This, combined with former F1 champion Emerson Fittipaldi's series title in 1989, attracted drivers from South America and Europe to join what had previously been a mostly American dominated series. A growing contingent of international drivers helped make the series a valuable television property for growing sports cable networks worldwide. CART would host its first race outside North America, in Surfer's Paradise, Australia, in 1991.

IndyCar and the 'Split' (1992-1996)[edit]

As the larger teams and engine and chassis manufactures competed for victories, costs were rapidly increasing, pricing out smaller teams. Tony George, by 1989 the president of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS), and others viewed foreign drivers and street circuits as discouraging USAC American sprint racing talent, such as Indiana driver Jeff Gordon, from competing in IndyCars.^[5]NASCAR, which ran predominantly on ovals, was gaining in popularity in IndyCar's traditional Midwestern US market.

CART was regularly accused of serving only the interest of team owners, especially the richest ones, and not of the sport as a whole. CART owners believed that the teams, who took the most risks, paid the drivers, and expended the most cash, should control the general direction of the sport. CART owners also resented George, and felt that his close relationship with USAC meant he could jeopardize the series' involvement in the Indianapolis 500 on a whim. Debate continued for a number of years over the proper oversight mechanism for the sport, with IMS resisting any revenue sharing or control over Indianapolis and owners not wanting to give too much power to track promoters. In an attempt to address these concerns, in 1992, CART rebranded as IndyCar, and later in 1992 formed a compromise board with owners electing five members with voting rights, with the IndyCar CEO (representing the other owners) and George (representing IMS) having non-voting seats.

1993 would see British driver Nigel Mansell, the 1992 F1 Driver's Champion, switch to IndyCar and beat Fittipaldi for the championship. The new board collapsed at the end of the season after a series of controversial decisions, mainly shutting out Japanese manufacturers, cancelling a planned race at Brands Hatch in the United Kingdom, and keeping the schedule exactly the same, that were seen as driven by conflicts of interest of George and the five owners elected to the new board.^[6]

In March 1994, George announced his resignation from the IndyCar board. That year, Team Penske introduced a Mercedes-Benz engine specifically designed for the 1994 Indianapolis 500 that exploited a rule difference between the USAC and IndyCar, dominating the race and prompting fears that costs would continue to grow out of control.^[7] In July, IMS announced the founding of the Indy Racing League, which would be cost controlled and race solely on American ovals and be sanctioned by USAC.^[8]

After the 1995 Indianapolis 500 saw driver complaints about USAC's oversight, George announced that for the 1996 Indianapolis 500 the top 25 drivers in IRL points would be guaranteed a spot in the race, leaving only eight of the 33 grid positions available to others. This was known as the '25/8 Rule,'^[9] and was unprecedented, as the 500 had traditionally always put every spot up for open qualification.^[9] CART declared they had been locked out of the event and would no longer race at Indianapolis, while George declared that CART was boycotting.^[10] To placate sponsors who contractually required the accommodation of large contingents to attend Indianapolis, CART created a rival showcase event, the U.S. 500, at Michigan International Speedway on the same day as the Indy 500 in 1996.^[10] In March, Indianapolis Motor Speedway attempted to terminate CART's license to their 'IndyCar' trademark in Federal Court.^[11]

The lead-up to Memorial Day 1996 saw a public relations war, pitting the owners and drivers of CART against George and IMS. Michael Andretti publicly stated that allowing the IRL regulars to run the race and compensating by increasing turbo boost would provoke injury, calling it 'unconscionable.'^[12]

The 1996 Indianapolis 500 did see a series of accidents, with a quarter of the race run under caution before Buddy Lazier won his first race.^[12] The US 500, starting halfway through the Indy 500, had a disastrous start with a twelve-car crash, delaying the race for an hour.^[12]Jimmy Vasser, who won by 11 seconds, quipped 'Who needs milk?' while exiting his car for the podium, referring to the tradition of the Indy 500 winner drinking milk. Both at the time and in retrospect, the weekend was seen as a fiasco that began a serious decline in open-wheel racing, with both the Indy 500 and other Indycar events seeing drastic decline in prominence, TV viewership, and attendance.

CART FedEx Championship Series (1997-2000)[edit]

After a number of competing lawsuits, CART agreed to revert to their formal initialism following the 1996 season, on the condition that the IRL would not use the name before the end of the 2002 season.^[13] CART began promoting its vehicles as 'champ cars,' a term that had previously been used by USAC's championship division.

In the early years after the launch of the IRL in 1996, CART was in a far stronger position: It held most of the prestigious races, sponsorship money, most of the 'name' drivers and teams, and was the preferred series for manufacturers due to the IRL's ban on engine leases. IRL's primary asset was Indianapolis Motor Speedway and its 500. 1996 and 1997 saw generally well regarding racing with stars such as Jimmy Vasser, rookie sensation Alex Zanardi, and Michael Andretti leading the points standings, while the IRL experienced growing pains, including a rain-soaked 1997 Indianapolis 500, off-putting engine sounds from their new normally-aspirated engines, and the abandonment of USAC sanctioning due to incompetence.^[14]

CART, in further contrast to IMS's sole ownership of the IRL, opted to proceed with a public stock offering, selling on the NASDAQ as stock symbol MPH. The offering raised US$100 million by selling 35% of the company. While this allowed CART to have sufficient cash reserves to expand and purchase the Indy Lights series, commentators suggested it was short-sighted to subject the notoriously secretive and fluctuating finances of the auto racing industry to public trading requirements. ^[15]

Efforts, led mostly by engine manufacturers, to pressure CART and the IRL to at least adopt uniform engine standards were met with a cold refusal from the IRL, which started to carve a niche in the motorsports landscape by leveraging close relationships with the new NASCAR spec ovals being built, with the series' substantial losses being underwritten by the other revenue streams of IMS.^[16]

Despite the split, CART saw its annual revenues increase from $38,000,000 in 1995 to $68,800,000 by 1999, street races remained lucrative, and teams were able to make some gains on sponsorship revenues.^[17] The success was uneven, as the series' traditional oval races in Michigan and Nazareth began to see dramatic attendance declines,^[18] which CART blamed on substandard marketing.^[19] Television ratings and revenue were anemic, with the series receiving $5,000,000 annually for the entirety of its television package, less than the rate for some individual NASCAR races.^[20] While CART's stock was generally considered healthy, investors noted that the company's valuation tended to fluctuate with the perceived success or failure of IRL merger talks.^[21]

CART's championship battle in 1999 between young stars Juan Pablo Montoya and Dario Franchitti was overshadowed by the deaths of drivers Gonzalo Rodríguez and Greg Moore within two months of each other. Moore's death at the 1999 Marlboro 500 especially raised serious concerns about safety in the 500 mile races conducted in Fontana and Michigan that saw Champ Cars average speeds of near 240 mph.

In 2000, in an attempt to recover domestic market share, CART owners forced Andrew Craig to resign as CEO, and popular driver/owner Bobby Rahal stepped in as interim CEO. One of his first acts was to replace the PPG Cup (used from 1979–1999) with the Vanderbilt Cup as the series championship trophy. Chip Ganassi, under pressure from his main sponsors, also persuaded the board to leave Memorial Day open on the schedule and returned to the Indy 500 with Vasser and Montoya. Montoya put on a dominating performance at Indy, leading 167 of the 200 laps to win. The Ganassi team's primary advantage was the greater engineering put into their IRL-spec car. 2000 would see Team Penske's return to prominence as Gil de Ferran won the driver's title.

Decline (2001-2002)[edit]

For 2001, CART unveiled their most ambitious schedule yet, with 22 races in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Japan, the United Kingdom, Germany and Australia. The loss of Homestead-Miami and Gateway to the IRL was to be offset by the addition of Texas Motor Speedway, which had seen an exciting IRL race the year prior. Rahal retired to head Jaguar Racing in Formula 1, leading to marketing expert Joseph Heitzler taking the helm.^[22]

Brazil was cancelled after track promoters defaulted. The race at Texas Motor Speedway had to be cancelled on race day, due to concerns of drivers blacking out at the high G forces created by Champ cars on the heavily banked course during qualifying. While applauded for putting driver safety first, the cancellation was a publicity disaster, and CART was criticized for not testing cars on the track earlier as requested. A resulting lawsuit, while settled, produced a quarterly loss for CART's stock and forever harmed its relationship with Speedway Motorsports.^[23]

Despite CART teams sweeping the top 6 positions in the 2001 Indianapolis 500 and a highly competitive four-way points battle among Gil de Ferran, Kenny Brack, Hélio Castroneves, and Michael Andretti, headlines centered on a technological controversy regarding a turbo pop off valve that Honda and Ford had developed, prompting complaints by Toyota. ^[24] When CART mandated changes in the valve to help equalize the competition, Honda successfully obtained an injunction barring the change, leading to all three manufacturers being upset. Toyota would announce it would move to the IRL for 2003 at the end of the season.^[25]

The series' first foray into Europe, the German 500, was overshadowed by the 9/11 attacks that occurred the Tuesday before the Sunday race. With the teams unable to leave due to the worldwide shutdown of airspace, CART decided to run the race as scheduled after some controversy, with ESPN refusing to air the race live. The race would see popular former champion Alex Zanardi lose both legs in an accident. The series inaugural event in the United Kingdom would come close to being cancelled due to track concerns.^[26]

To keep coverage of the Indianapolis 500, ABC/ESPN signed an exclusive television deal for 2002 onwards with the IRL, forcing CART to turn to Speed Channel for cable coverage and buy time on CBS to maintain a broadcast presence.^[27] Team Penske announced after the season that they would became permanent entrants in the IRL for 2002 due to pressure from sponsor Marlboro resulting from the American tobacco settlements that prevented cigarette advertising in multiple series.^[28]

The loss of ESPN/ABC's exposure and engine manufacturer sponsoring began a downward spiral for the series, as race promoters began demanding reduced sanctioning fees for 2002 and sponsors began to review their agreements.^[29] Heitzler was fired by the CART board in the offseason, being replaced by Chris Pook, the well-regarded CEO of the Long Beach Grand Prix.^[30] Making matters worse was CART's growing ownership instability due to the public offering: Despite an initial agreement for the car owners to maintain 65% of the stock, agreements allowed owners to divest shares in the company.^[29] As car owners began to sell off their shares, the board's chronic issues grew more complicated with aggressive stockholders beginning to pressure the board alongside owners.^[31]

During the 2002 season, Honda announced that it would move to the IRL the following year, causing a drastic decline in CART's stock and leaving Cosworth/Ford as the sole engine manufacturer for 2003.^[32] Attempts to subsidize teams to have enough cars racing to avoid breaching sanctioning contracts led to a further decline in cash reserves and the stock price.^[33] Team owner Gerald Forsythe was able to purchase enough stock to control 22.5% of the voting shares in concert with the board.^[33] Star driver Michael Andretti purchased the prominent Team Green and moved them to the IRL with heavy direction from Honda,^[34] and Chip Ganassi Racing left due to pressure from its primary sponsor, Target.

Champ Car World Series (2003-2007)[edit]

Beginning in 2003, after the withdrawal of FedEx as series sponsor, CART re-branded itself as 'Bridgestone Presents The Champ Car World Series Powered by Ford'.^[35] CART, running out of cash reserves, declared bankruptcy after the 2003 season and its assets were liquidated. The IRL made a strategic bid to keep the series dormant, while a trio of CART owners (Forsythe, Paul Gentilozzi, and Kevin Kalkhoven) along with Dan Pettit made a bid for CART's assets as Open Wheel Racing Series, LLC. The bankruptcy court ruled in favor of the OWRS bid as more beneficial to creditors than the IRL bid, despite it being smaller.

While some prominent teams, such as Team Rahal and Fernández Racing moved to the IRL for 2004, the CCWS was able to maintain a full field and most of CART's street circuit sanctioning agreements. The series would see a pitched multi-season battle between Newman/Haas Racing and Forsythe Racing, including a heated personal rivalry between three-time champion Sébastien Bourdais and veteran Canadian Paul Tracy. The series would experiment with dramatic rule changes, including special compound tires that were to be used for a fixed portion of the race, standing starts, and timed races.

The IRL began to race on road and street circuits in 2005, creating some competition for series traditional road racing tracks, but both series continued to suffer from reduced fields, sponsorship, and television ratings. Merger talks in 2006 were halted after disagreements regarding the upcoming Panoz chassis and a leak details of shared decision making planned for a new joint series upset IMS.^[36] The 2007 season saw the withdrawal of Bridgestone and Ford as presenting sponsors^[36] and some races were canceled before they were held, while the IRL lost a number of races.

By January 2008, both the IRL and Champ Car feared they did not have enough participating cars to maintain their TV and sanctioning contract minimums.^[37] After successful merger negotiations, in mid-February 2008, Champ Car authorized bankruptcy to facilitate a February 22 agreement in principle to merge with the IRL.^[38] The IRL purchased the CCWS's sanctioning contracts, the Champ Car Mobile Medical Unit, the series history, and goodwill for $6 million, with Forsythe and Kalkhoven signing a non-compete agreement in exchange for $2 million each.^[39]

While the first 'merged' event of the rechristened 'IndyCar Series' was the GAINSCO Auto Insurance Indy 300 from Homestead-Miami Speedway on March 29, 2008, due to a scheduling conflict with the 2008 Indy Japan 300, the 2008 Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach was held on April 20, 2008 as a Champ Car sanctioned event using CCWS-spec Panoz-Cosworth cars and the winners getting IRL points, with the event described as a final celebration of CART/CCWS.

Television[edit]

In its early years, television coverage of CART races were shared by NBC, ABC and ESPN. NBC left after the 1990 season, and returned for 1994's race in Toronto only. CBS also aired races from 1989 to 1991 and also aired the 1995 race at Nazareth. ABC, ESPN and ESPN2 continued as broadcasters until 2001.

In the 2002 and 2003 Champ Car seasons, coverage was split between CBS and Speed Channel (Fox aired the 2002 Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach), while Spike TV aired the competition in 2004. Also from 2002 to 2004, select races aired on high definition channel HDNet such as Road America race in 2003.

In 2005 and 2006, coverage was split among NBC, CBS, and Speed Channel. In 2007, coverage was split among NBC, CBS, ABC, ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPN Classic.

Outside the United States, Eurosport aired CART and Champ Car in Europe from 1993 until its demise. In Latin America, ESPN aired CART and Fox Sports aired Champ Car. In Brazil, Champ Car was broadcast by SBT, Record and SporTV.

Champions[edit]

By team[edit]

Fatalities[edit]

Four drivers died in CART-sanctioned events:

• Jim Hickman – (August 1, 1982), Tony Bettenhausen 200, Milwaukee Mile, practice.
• Jeff Krosnoff – (July 14, 1996), Molson Indy Toronto, Exhibition Place, 3 laps from finish.
• Gonzalo Rodríguez – (September 11, 1999), Honda Grand Prix of Monterey, Laguna Seca Raceway, qualifying.
• Greg Moore – (October 31, 1999), Marlboro 500, California Speedway, lap 10.

References[edit]

• Whitaker, Sigur E. (2015). The Indy Car Wars: The 30 Year FIght for Control of American Open-Wheel Racing. North Carolina: McFarland and Company. ISBN978-1-4766-1980-4.

1. ^'CART now IndyCar'. The Indianapolis News. February 19, 1992. Retrieved 18 February 2019.
2. ^Eagle-eye Feature: CART White Paper
3. ^Hinton, Ed. 'Honor, blood and a brewing battle'. ESPN.com. Retrieved 8 September 2018.
4. ^Whitaker, p. 51.
5. ^Hinton, Ed. 'Honor, blood and a brewing battle'. ESPN.com. Retrieved 8 September 2018.
6. ^Weber, Jack (7 Aug 1993). 'IndyCar Racing is at Important Crossroads'. The Courier News. Retrieved 4 May 2019.
7. ^'Mercedosaurus Rex at Indianapolic Park, Part 23: The loose ends that didn't fit in anywhere else and the epilogue'. forix.autosport.com.
8. ^Whitaker, p. 68.
9. ^ ^abWhitaker, p. 70.
10. ^ ^abWhitaker, p. 73.
11. ^Whitaker, p. 76.
12. ^ ^abcWhitaker, p. 78.
13. ^Whitaker, p. 81.
14. ^Whitaker, p. 84-86.
15. ^Whitaker, p. 80.
16. ^Hinton, Ed. 'May '96 memorable for wrong reasons'. ESPN.com. Retrieved 23 September 2018.
17. ^Middlemiss, Jim (8 Jul 2000). 'Off the track, CART is casting its net in other markets'. National Post. Retrieved 4 May 2019.
18. ^Miller, Robin (22 Jul 1999). 'Where the crowds are'. The Indianapolis Star. Retrieved 4 May 2019.
19. ^Koenig, Bill (October 1, 1999). 'CART Aims to Rev Up Series, Falling Shares'. The Indianapolis Star. Retrieved 1 June 2019.
20. ^Koenig, Bill (October 1, 1999). 'CART Aims to Rev Up Series, Falling Shares'. The Indianapolis Star. Retrieved 1 June 2019.
21. ^Koenig, Bill (October 1, 1999). 'CART Aims to Rev Up Series, Falling Shares'. The Indianapolis Star. Retrieved 1 June 2019.
22. ^Whitaker, p. 94.
23. ^'The writing was on the wall long ago'. ESPN.com. 2001-04-29. Retrieved 2009-03-14.
24. ^Whitaker, p. 94-5.
25. ^Whitaker, p. 97.
26. ^Whitaker, p. 96.
27. ^Whitaker, p. 96-7.
28. ^Reinhard, Paul (December 11, 2001). 'For Penske, switch to IRL was quite easy'. The Morning Call. Archived from the original on December 22, 2018. Retrieved December 22, 2018.
29. ^ ^abWhitaker, p. 98.
30. ^Whitaker, p. 100.
31. ^Whitaker, p. 98-99.
32. ^Whitaker, p. 102.
33. ^ ^abWhitaker, p. 101-104.
34. ^Glick, Shav (18 September 2019). 'Andretti to Put IRL Before CART'. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 30 June 2019.
35. ^Whitaker, p. 107.
36. ^ ^abWhitaker, p. 123.
37. ^Whitaker, p. 126.
38. ^'Done deal :: IndyCar® Series'. 2008-03-13. Retrieved 2018-10-02.
39. ^Whitaker, p. 132.

See also[edit]

The 65th Indianapolis 500 was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana on Sunday, May 24, 1981. The race is widely considered one of the most controversial races in Indy history.^[3][4]Bobby Unser took the checkered flag as the winner, with Mario Andretti finishing second. After the conclusion of the race, USAC officials ruled that Unser had passed cars illegally while exiting the pit area during a caution on lap 149 of 200. Unser was subsequently issued a one-position penalty. The next morning, the official race results were posted, and Unser was dropped to second place. Mario Andretti was elevated to first place and declared the race winner.

After a lengthy protest and appeals process, the penalty was rescinded, and Unser was reinstated the victory on October 9. Officially, it became Unser's third-career Indy 500 victory and his final win in Indy car competition. Unser stepped out of the car at the end of the season, and ultimately retired from driving.

The race was officially part of the 1981–82 USAC season. However, most of the top entrants participated in the 1981 CART PPG Indy Car World Series. Championship points for the 1981 Indy 500 were not awarded towards the CART title.

The hectic month of May 1981 was interrupted several times by rain. Pole qualifying stretched over three days due to inclement weather, and several days of practice were cut short or lost due to rain. The 1981 race is also remembered for the horrifying crash of Danny Ongais, and a major pit fire involving Rick Mears. Ongais was seriously injured, and Mears suffered burns, but both drivers would recover. Another major pit fire occurred later in the season at the Michigan 500, prompting new rules and standards to be put in place regarding the safety of fueling rigs.^[5]

• 3Practice and qualifying
• 4Starting grid
• 5Race recap
• 6Controversy
• 9Aftermath and lore
• 10Broadcasting
• 12Notes

Background[edit]

Three years into the first open wheel split, the sport of Indy car racing began settling into a mostly stabilized environment by 1981. The upstart CART series sanctioned the season of races. The Indianapolis 500 itself became an invitation-only race sanctioned by USAC, involving the CART regulars and various one-off entries. USAC kept alive their own 'Gold Crown' championship, running Indy and the Pocono 500 in June 1981.

A record total of 105 entries were expected to shatter the previous records for drivers on the track and qualifying attempts. Speed-cutting measures were still in place, and no drivers were expected to challenge the track records in 1981. The biggest rule change by USAC during the offseason was the banning of ground effects side skirts on the sidepods.

Mario Andretti, as he had done in previous years, planned to race at Indianapolis in-between his busy, full-time Formula One schedule. His plans included qualifying at Indy on pole day weekend (May 9–10), then flying to Europe for the Belgian Grand Prix (May 17). After Belgium, he would fly back to Indianapolis in time for race day (May 24).

Race schedule[edit]

For the first time, USAC held a special test session for first-time drivers. The first-ever Rookie Orientation Program was organized and held over three days in early April.^[6] It allowed newcomers the opportunity to take their first laps at the Speedway and acclimate themselves to the circuit in a relaxed environment. It would be held without the pressure of veteran drivers crowding the track, without the distraction of spectators, and with minimal media coverage. The drivers were allowed to take the first phases of their rookie test during the ROP. They would then return to complete the final phase of the test during official practice in May.

Since the 500 had been moved to the Sunday of Memorial Day weekend, the 1981 race marked the earliest date (May 24) on which the race had ever been held. According to the calendar, May 24 is also the earliest date in which it can be scheduled.

Practice and qualifying[edit]

Practice – week 1[edit]

Practice started on Opening Day, Saturday May 2. The two most notable rookies of the field made most of the headlines for the afternoon. Young Josele Garza (actually 19 at the time, lied on his entry form to say he was 21) and Geoff Brabham both passed their rookie tests.^[7]

On Sunday May 3, Al Unser became the first driver to practice over 190 mph (310 km/h).^[7] A day later, his brother Bobby Unser pushed the speeds over 197 mph (317 km/h).^[7] The first incidents of the month occurred Monday, when Gordon Smiley spun, and Pete Halsmer crashed in turn 4.^[7]

Tuesday (May 5) was completely rained out, and Wednesday (May 6) was windy, keeping the speeds mostly down. A record 50 cars took to the track on Thursday (May 7), with Mario Andretti fastest of the day at 194.300 mph (312.696 km/h).

On Friday, the final day of practice before pole day, Penske teammates Bobby Unser and Rick Mears were hand-timed just a tick below 200 mph (320 km/h). Mario Andretti was a close third over 198 mph (319 km/h).

Time trials – weekend 1[edit]

On Saturday May 9, rain delayed the start of pole position time trials until 3:34 p.m. An abbreviated session saw only 9 cars finish qualifying runs. A. J. Foyt was the fastest of the nine, sitting on the provisional pole at 196.078 mph (315.557 km/h). Rain stopped qualifying for the day at 5:49 p.m., and pushed pole qualifying into the next day.

On Sunday May 10, pole position qualifying was scheduled to resume. Rain fell all afternoon, however, and canceled all track activity for the day. 27 cars were still eligible for the pole position, and the resumption of pole day qualifying was scheduled for the following Saturday.

Among the cars not yet qualified was Mario Andretti, who was due to be in Belgium for the Grand Prix the following weekend. His plans to put the car safely in the field on pole weekend were thwarted, and a contingency plan would have to be made.

Practice – week 2[edit]

Rain continued to fall, and washed out practice on Monday (May 11). On Tuesday May 12, the 200 mph (320 km/h) barrier was finally broken in practice for the month by Danny Ongais. Mario Andretti took his final practice run of the week, and departed for Belgium. Two major crashes occurred, involving Phil Caliva and Phil Krueger. Tim Richmond and Larry 'Boom Boom' Cannon both were involved in spins, but suffered no contact.

On Wednesday May 13, Rick Mears pushed the fastest speed of the month to 200.312 mph (322.371 km/h). Retired veteran driver Wally Dallenbach climbed into Mario Andretti's car, and began to take some shake down laps. Due to Andretti's absence for the rest of the week, the Patrick Racing team decided to have Dallenbach qualify the car for him. On race day, Andretti would take over the cockpit once again. Dallenbach was quickly up to speed, over 191 mph (307 km/h) on his first day.

Rain closed the track on Thursday. On Friday, Bobby Unser upped the speed even further, turning a lap of 201.387 mph (324.101 km/h). A record 63 cars took to the track on the final full day of practice. World of Outlaws star, and Indy rookie Steve Kinser crashed in turn 1.

Time trials – weekend 2[edit]

Pole day time trials resumed on a sunny Saturday May 16. About a half-hour into the session, Bobby Unser took over the pole position with a four-lap average of 200.546 mph (322.748 km/h). Meanwhile, Wally Dallenbach put Mario Andretti's car safely in the field at over 193 mph (311 km/h). Mike Mosley squeezed himself into the front row posting a 197.141 mph (317.268 km/h) run. Moments later, Rick Mears took to the track. After a lap over 200.9 mph (323.3 km/h), his car developed a vibration, and he was forced to wave off, giving up his chance for the pole position. Pole qualifying continued until 2:00 p.m., when the original qualifying line was finally exhausted. Bobby Unser was awarded the pole, and the next round of qualifying began.

After pole qualifying was over, Tom Sneva qualified his car at 200.691 mph (322.981 km/h). It was the fastest speed of the month, but since it did not take place in the pole round, he was not eligible for the pole position. Later in the day, Rick Mears took a back-up car out to qualify, but had to settle for a slower speed, and 22nd starting position. A very busy day saw the field filled at 5:00 PM and two drivers being bumped. A total of 53 qualifying attempts were made on Saturday, breaking the previous single day record of 45.

On Sunday, bump day time trials were very busy. Ten cars were bumped during 25 attempts.

Carburetion Day[edit]

On Thursday May 21, the final scheduled practice session was held. All 33 qualified cars, along with 2 alternates, took laps. Mario Andretti returned from Belgium, and practiced in his already-qualified car. Jerry Karl was arrested during the week, but would be released on bond in time for race day. Bob Harkey practiced his car for him.

The starting grid was altered slightly after qualifying. Wally Dallenbach, who qualified Mario Andretti's car 8th, stepped aside as planned, and the car moved to the rear of the grid. In addition, George Snider vacated his ride in favor of Tim Richmond.

Bobby Unser continued his dominance of the month, and led the speed chart for the afternoon, with a hand-timed lap of 197.6 mph (318.0 km/h). Later in the afternoon, hoping to sweep the month, his Penske Racing pit crew also guided him to a victory in the Miller Pit Stop Contest.

Starting grid[edit]

Notes[edit]

• Car of Mario Andretti qualified 8th by Wally Dallenbach (moved to 32nd on grid for race day)
• Car of George Snider qualified 29th, sold to Tim Richmond (moved to 33rd on grid for race day)

Alternates[edit]

• First alternate: Herm Johnson(R) (#28) – Bumped
• Second alternate: Bill Engelhart (#29) – Bumped

Failed to Qualify[edit]

Race recap[edit]

Start[edit]

As the field came through turn 4, the field began accelerating, anticipating the green flag. To the shock of many drivers in the back of the field, the green flag wasn't waved until Bobby Unser neared the start-finish line, and many of the back-row markers did not see the green flag until the front-runners accelerated away through turn 1.

Because of the controversial start, Bobby Unser took the lead at the start, and pulled away from the field, with Johnny Rutherford moving up from row 2 into second place. Mike Mosley, the #2 starter, blew a radiator on lap 16 and finished in last place. Tom Sneva, with the fastest car in the field, charged from the 20th starting position to third place by lap 20. Unser pitted on lap 22 and Rutherford took the lead, only to go out three laps later with a broken fuel pump. Sneva led for a lap, then pitted under the yellow flag for Rutherford's tow-in. Unser made a second pit stop on lap 32 when Don Whittington's wreck brought out another yellow, which was extended when Gary Bettenhausen's car stopped on the backstretch. Sneva inherhited the lead ahead of Gordon Smiley and Rick Mears, with Bobby Unser now fourth.

On lap 39, the field anticipated the green flag and started accelerating between turns 3 and 4. Just then, USAC changed their minds and ordered the pace car back onto the track. By then, Tom Sneva had driven through turn 4 and passed the pace car. Realizing his mistake, Sneva slowed down and blended back behind the pace car. Citing that Sneva had blended back behind the pace car and that the infraction was unintentional, USAC decided not to impose any penalties. Sneva held the lead until the second round of pit stops began on lap 56. Sneva pitted first, but the car stalled as he tried to pull away. As Sneva's crew tried to re-fire the engine, new leader Rick Mears pulled into his pit directly behind Sneva.

Mears pit fire[edit]

When Rick Mears pitted on lap 58, fuel began to gush from the refueling hose before it had been connected to the car. Fuel sprayed over the car, Mears and his mechanics, then ignited when it contacted the engine. Methanol burns with a transparent flame and no smoke, and panic gripped the pit as crew members and spectators fled from the invisible fire. Mears, on fire from the waist up, jumped out of his car and ran to the pit wall, where a safety worker, not seeing the fire, tried to remove Mears' helmet. Meanwhile, Mears' fueler, covered in burning fuel, waved his arms frantically to attract the attention of the fire crews already converging on the scene. By this time the safety worker attending to Mears had fled, and Mears, in near panic at being unable to breathe, leaped over the pit wall toward another crewman carrying a fire extinguisher, who dropped the extinguisher and also fled. Mears tried to turn the extinguisher on himself, but at this point his father, Bill Mears, having already pulled Rick's wife Deena to safety, grabbed the extinguisher and put out the fire. His mechanics had also been extinguished, and the pit fire crew arrived to thoroughly douse Mears' car.(19)

Thanks to quick action by Bill Mears and the fact that methanol produces much less heat than gasoline, no one was seriously hurt in the incident. Rick Mears and four of his mechanics (including Derrick Walker, a future crew chief on the Penske team) were sent to hospital, and Mears underwent plastic surgery on his face, particularly on his nose which caused him to miss the next race at Milwaukee the following week. The incident prompted a redesign to the fuel nozzle used on Indycars, adding a safety valve that would only open when the nozzle was connected to the car.(20)

Meanwhile Gordon Smiley led lap 57 to lap 58, his first and only lap led in his career at Indianapolis.(19)

Danny Ongais crash[edit]

Only minutes later, Danny Ongais came into the pits on lap 63 as the leader of the race, but problems during the stop caused it to drag on for a disastrous 46 seconds. After finally leaving the pits, Ongais approached a slower car at the end of the backstretch. Perhaps still upset about the long stop, he made a late pass going into turn 3. Carrying too much speed out of the turn, the car drifted out into the grey and the back end began to slide. Ongais tried to correct the slide by turning right, and the car hooked to the right and crashed nearly head-on into the wall. (A year later, Gordon Smiley lost control at the same turn in the same way, but crashed directly head-on and was killed.) The front end of the car was ripped away, leaving an unconscious Ongais completely exposed in the cockpit as the car continued around turn 3, trailing a long tongue of orange fire from burning oil. Safety crews quickly surrounded the car and used the Jaws of Life to rescue Ongais, who suffered a concussion and badly broken feet and legs. Remarkably, Ongais made a full recovery and raced again at Indianapolis just one year later.^{[citation needed]}

Unser pit incident[edit]

On lap 131, Tom Sneva, who fell 35 laps down after his engine stall on lap 58, got taken out of the race by a blown engine. He stopped his car in turn 4, entering the pit lane. He climbed out of his car and his car was towed off. Sneva, after having the best car, was frustratedly out of the race with a broken clutch in his engine. In an interview with Chris Economaki minutes later, Sneva said that the engine stall happened because he couldn't get the car in gear and once the problem was fixed the engine began to have problems and finally came apart on Sneva's 96th lap completed.

Pete Halsmer crashed out of the race on lap 135 and the caution came out soon afterwards for Josele Garza's accident. Josele hit the wall head-on but remarkably came out uninjured. Despite crashing, Josele Garza's effort in the race won him the 1981 Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year award. After 3 laps of caution, the race resumed with Mario Andretti as the race leader and Bobby Unser in second.

On lap 146, Tony Bettenhausen had a tire going down, which he at the time was unaware of. Approaching turn four, the tire deflated, and Bettenhausen attempted to move out of the groove and out of traffic. In the process, he touched wheels with Gordon Smiley, sending Smiley's car spinning and into the wall backwards in turn 4. Three laps later, leader Mario Andretti and second place Bobby Unser went into the pit area for service. Unser finished his pit stop first, and was the first driver to exit the pit area. Andretti followed a few seconds behind.

While the two cars were exiting the pits, the pace car was leading the field at reduced pace through turns 1 and 2. Bobby Unser stayed on the track apron, below the painted white line, and proceeded to pass by 14 cars. He flirted with crossing the white line at one point in the south short chute, but kept two wheels on or below the line at all times. He took his place in line as the fifth car immediately behind the pace car, still the overall race leader. Mario Andretti himself also passed one or two cars before he blended into the field in the south short chute. Both drivers' actions went largely unnoticed at the time. Andretti claims that he immediately called his pit crew on the radio and told him that Unser had passed cars under the yellow.^[8] A couple of the lapped cars ahead of Unser subsequently pitted, thus Unser would be taking the green flag on the ensuing restart as the third car in line. Unser quickly dispatched of the lapped cars by turn four, and took a commanding lead into turn one.

• The race stewards investigated Andretti's claim, but no track observers had witnessed Unser's infraction. No penalty was considered for Unser passing under yellow while the race was in progress.^[9]
• No announcers in the live radio broadcast made note of any yellow flag passes, nor was it reported that any penalty for doing so was under consideration.^[10]
• The ABC television commentators, in contrast, immediately noticed Unser's passes as they occurred, then expressed astonishment at them.^[11]

Finish[edit]

Gordon Johncock led late in the race, but slowed and eventually suffered a blown engine with less than 10 laps to go. Bobby Unser assumed the lead on lap 182, with Mario Andretti second. Unser held on to win by 5.180 seconds, one of the closest finishes at Indianapolis to that point.

Unser celebrated his third Indy 500 victory (also 1968 and 1975), while Andretti was lauded for charging from 32nd starting position to a 2nd place finish. Unser made a total of ten pit stops,^[12] a record for the most ever by a winner. In victory lane a satisfied Bobby Unser made no mention of a question about his win when interviewed by ABC's Chris Economaki.

Controversy[edit]

Post race[edit]

Shortly after the race was over, ramblings over a possible protest or penalty were beginning to surface around the garage area. Andretti's team Patrick Racing, as well as other drivers, were voicing complaints over Bobby Unser passing cars under the yellow on lap 149. Word of the incident reached chief race steward Thomas W. Binford by mid-evening. At the time, it was the policy of USAC to post official results for the Indianapolis 500 at 8 a.m. the morning after the race, and that any protest of that result could be filed after the race results were posted. In a taped interview with Chris Economaki three hours after the race ended, Binford announced that he would be reviewing the video of lap 149 with the board overnight and that based on what he saw, Unser was likely to get penalized for the passes.

Television controversy[edit]

ABC televised the race on same-day tape-delay at 9 p.m. EDT. At the time, it was the policy of ABC Sports to record live commentary of the race at the start of the race and at the end of the race. For the remaining portions of the race, commentary was recorded during post-production.^[8][13][14]

Unlike the live radio broadcast, which did not notice nor mention the infraction,^[10] the television broadcast focused heavily on the incident, and reported it as it was being aired.^[14][15] It was later revealed that commentators Jim McKay and Jackie Stewart had provided the lap 149 incident commentary in post-production, and did so with the knowledge that a protest of Unser's actions was in the works.^[8][14]

Jim McKay: 'Bobby, out again – and Bobby, going out, very – passed a car – What's he doing? He – oh look at that! He's passed about half a dozen cars.'
Jackie Stewart: 'Oh, James, that's a – !'
McKay: 'Under the yellow. You can't do that!'
Stewart: 'That is a no-no! He has accelerated probably in the haste of leaving the pit lane, he's certainly overtaken these other cars; I'm not sure why he did that. I know that you're certainly not supposed to do it. The regulations say that under yellow flag conditions you must not pass any other cars, and that certainly has been the case here...'
McKay: '...but you're supposed to blend into the traffic, right? Let's see if he did that at all.'
Stewart: 'Yes, you are supposed to...but certainly he's accelerated all the way down below the double yellow line there, and simply overtaken a lot of cars there; I'm sure Bobby must know the regulations, I'm sure he knew what he was doing, whether his mind was somewhere else I can't say, but he shouldn't have passed these other cars, Jim.'

After the end of the race and Unser's victory lane interview was aired on tape delay, a live portion of broadcast concluded ABC's race coverage at approximately 11:45 p.m. EDT (10:45 p.m. IST). At that late hour, Mario Andretti with broadcasters Jackie Stewart and Jim McKay in the broadcast booth, announced that a protest was in process:

'Well, there is a protest in process, mainly because we're talking about an unusual infraction of the rules. The one particular rule we dwell on quite a bit during the private and also the public drivers are passing under yellow. This one instance where Bobby and I were exiting the pits, I was right behind him... I just lost sight. He went about 7...8...9 cars in front of me...'^[16]

It was followed by the previously taped interview with chief steward Binford with Chris Economaki, with the assertion that video would be reviewed overnight, and that Unser was likely to be penalized. The overall broadcast was considered misleading, and biased against Unser, for several reasons:

• It suggested that Unser's infraction was noticed by – and was immediately obvious to – ABC's broadcast booth at the time it occurred, based on the impromptu nature of conversation, and surprise, both McKay and Stewart emoted. Their remarks were recorded later, after they had knowledge of both Unser's win, and that a protest of Unser's infraction could in fact cost him the race win.
• The broadcast focused only on Unser's infraction, as it had earlier been relayed to them, and did not mention Andretti's. It was later shown on the official highlight film that as Andretti watched Unser in front of him passing a dozen cars, Andretti himself had passed one or two cars too, but A.J. Foyt (a lapped car) claimed that he had waved Andretti by – which was permissible under the rules – to allow Andretti to blend in closer to the lead lap drivers. That did not come to light until later, and was not considered reason to revise the official standings for a second time.
• ABC's race-end coverage featured Andretti in the booth, live, announcing his intention to protest the results, while they stated that Unser was not available for comment or interview. However, Unser later disputed that, claiming he was at the Howard Johnson's motel down the street, and that the media was provided with a direct phone number in case they needed to contact him.^[8] Furthermore, according to Robin Miller in a 2007 interview, television had little excuse because it was well-known around the paddock that Unser stayed at the hotel in question because he was a 'cheapskate'.^[17]
• Stewart, in the post-produced coverage, singled out Unser for making a mistake that he could be penalized for, and suggested both that it was a severe infraction, and that he should have known better.

Unser took ABC's coverage, and Stewart's in particular, personally. In answer to this, Stewart said, 'Bobby was upset. He said that if it had not been for me and ABC, USAC wouldn't have had to take action. My job is not to advise officials, but it is to inform my viewers. Had I not pointed that out to illustrate an infraction of the regulations as I understood them, I would have done a great disservice to the audience.'^[18]

Official results[edit]

USAC spent the night reviewing race tapes and scoring reports. At 8 a.m. EST Monday morning, the official results of the race were posted. Bobby Unser was charged with passing cars under the yellow, and was penalized 1 position (some erroneous reports listed it as a 1-lap penalty^[19]) for the infraction. The penalty dropped Unser down to second place, and elevated Mario Andretti to first place. Andretti was declared the victor, and it made him a two-time Indianapolis 500 winner.

That night, the traditional Victory Banquet was held at the Indiana Convention Center in downtown Indianapolis, with Andretti the new guest of honor. The mood was subdued, and the event was overshadowed by large-scale media attention (Bobby Unser did not attend the banquet). The winner's share of the purse was announced, but the pay envelope presented to Andretti was empty. Andretti was presented with the official pace car but was not given the keys. Ted Koppel's Nightline focused the evening's program on the controversy and included a live interview with Andretti who compared the situation to the 1978 Italian Grand Prix, a race in which he won on the track, but was stripped of victory when officials deemed he jumped the start.

Andretti stated in an interview during the banquet: 'I am glad the officials did the right thing but it still is sad. When Bobby won he went through all the hoopla and got to experience victory lane and the other things a winner gets to experience in victory lane...then it was taken from him and given to me. And I will never get to experience that myself.'

Penske Racing, Bobby Unser's team, immediately filed an official protest of the decision. On the Wednesday(18) after the race, a five-person panel of officials (led by Tom Binford), denied the protest.^[20] Roger Penske subsequently filed an appeal to the USAC Appeals Board. Bobby Unser refused to take a part willingly in the appeal stating(17):

'It's already been ruined for me. I'm very bitter. I'm not waiting for the decision either. The damage has already been done and I will paint racing out of my future if I was drawing my future.'

Protest and appeals[edit]

Roger Penske filed an appeal after the official results were posted which had declared Andretti the winner. A hearing was held on June 12, 1981. The USAC appeals hearing resembled a court case. According to some in attendance, witnesses who took the stand were subjected to numerous odd and superfluous questions, many with little or no relevance to the race itself.^[19] The hearings reportedly were dragged out with considerable wasted time.^[19] Mid-way through the hearing, the meeting was adjourned, and the resumption was scheduled for July 29.^[21]

Bobby Unser's primary argument was based upon the 'blend rule', and its perceived vague definition in the rule book. When exiting the pit area during a yellow caution periods, drivers were instructed to look to their right and see which car was next to them out on the track. After accelerating to sufficient speed, the driver was to 'blend' (merge) into the field behind that car. Mario Andretti argued that it was an established guideline that the place to look for the car to blend behind was at the south end of the pit straight, where the concrete separator wall ends.^[8]Bobby Unser countered that he understood that, as long as the car stayed under the white line and in the apron, the place to blend in was the exit of turn two.^[8] Unser argued that the warm-up apron was an extension of the pit area. Unser added that drivers were allowed to do that as long as they did not pass the pace car nor pass the car immediately behind the pace car.^[22] He also contended that Andretti had passed at least two cars himself, and should have also incurred a penalty.^[23] In addition, it was pointed out that USAC allowed the alleged infraction to go unpenalized throughout the remainder of the race (instead of acting upon it immediately after it happened). Binford, the chief steward, stated that he did receive a complaint after lap 149, but that track observers had missed Unser's infraction, so he was powerless to act during the race.^[9]

USAC was faced with a dilemma, as the rulebook was in fact unclear in regards to the blend rule. Officials mulled over the decision for months. On October 9, 1981, a three-member USAC appeals board voted 2-1 to reinstate the victory to Bobby Unser.^[24] He was instead fined $40,000.

An official of the USAC board told reporters 3 hours after the reinstatement of Unser's win:

'Based on what we've seen, Thomas Binford and the Indianapolis officials should have detected the infraction at the moment of it. By not penalizing Unser sooner they automatically made the passes allowed because they failed in their responsibility to detect the infraction. So Unser wins the race but a $40,000 fine will replace the one position penalty.'

The appeal panel said that, since the violation could have been detected at the time it was committed, a one-lap penalty after the completion of the race was too severe. In its decision, which resulted from a 2-to-1 vote, the panel said that race officials had 'a responsibility to observe and report illegal passing in yellow flag situations and they failed to do so.'

'The court believes,' the panel said in a 23-page opinion written by Edwin Render, its chairman, 'that responsible officials knew of the infraction when it was committed … For these reasons the court rules that it was improper to impose a one-lap penalty on car No.3 after the race.'

Race Results[edit]

The results below represent the final revision of the 1981 Indianapolis 500 results, as certified on October 9, 1981.

W Former Indianapolis 500 winner

R Indy 500 Rookie

All teams raced on tires provided by Goodyear.

Aftermath and lore[edit]

The 1981 Indianapolis 500 was largely considered the most controversial running to date.^[3][4] It was referred to as 'The Great Dispute,'^[30] and in some circles was 'Undecided.'^[31]Bobby Unser, who felt the entire ordeal was politically motivated by his USAC enemies,^[3][4] became disillusioned with auto racing^[32] and took a sabbatical from driving. He sat out the 1982 Indy 500, and retired officially in 1983 because the $40,000 fine for the win and several other fines he faced in sponsorship ruined his finances.

After being reinstated the winner, Bobby Unser was presented with the miniature Borg-Warner Trophy, while Mario Andretti had already been presented with the winner's championship ring.^[8] While Bobby Unser celebrated in victory lane on race day, the morning after the race, Mario Andretti took part in the winner's photograph session. No official victory photos were taken of Unser. Months after the race, Unser's likeness was sculpted and added to the Borg-Warner Trophy appropriately. A claim was even made at the time that Andretti 'threw away the winner's ring' when he heard that Unser was reinstated the victory, but the story appears to have been unsubstantiated. In a 2001 interview with Jack Arute and Bobby Unser on ESPN Classic's 'Big Ticket', Andretti confirmed that he kept the ring by wearing it during the interview.

To this day the race is still controversial. Mario Andretti has said in interviews that because both he and Unser passed cars under yellow, both should be penalized. Unser has retorted that Andretti is being a sore loser. In recent interviews, Unser said that he and Mario were very close friends until that race, and while they maintained a mutual respect, they did not speak with one another for upwards of 37 years. They did not personally reconcile until about 2018. Unser also maintains that U.E. 'Pat' Patrick, the car owner for Andretti in that race, was not the impetus for any protest on behalf of Andretti. Rather it was crew chief Jim McGee, and that Patrick actually felt Unser was the rightful winner. Both Unser and Andretti also agree in retrospect that regardless of the outcome, USAC mishandled the situation from start to finish and much of the controversy could have been easily avoided.

AustraliansVern Schuppan (3rd), Geoff Brabham (5th) and Dennis Firestone (10th) were the first trio of foreign drivers to finish in the top ten as since British drivers Graham Hill, Jim Clark and Jackie Stewart finished 1st, 2nd, and 6th in 1966. Mario Andretti was born in Italy, but was both an Italian and U.S. citizen by that time. Young rookie Josele Garza, after leading 13 laps during the race, won the Rookie of the Year award. Two years later it would be revealed that Garza fibbed about his age, and was actually 19 on race day (rules at the time required drivers to be age 21). By 1983, he was being credited as the youngest starting driver ever at Indy, a record he would hold until 2003. In 1996, the rules were changed to set the minimum driver age for the Indianapolis 500 at 18, a rule later solidified by federal tobacco regulations. Since 2014, drivers as young as 15 are permitted during the Month of May, provided they are racing in a lower tier support event on the road course, and the Indy Lights Freedom 100 support race on the oval allows 17-year old drivers since 2011 (when all tobacco sponsorship ended in INDYCAR, per Master Settlement Agreement). In comparison, NASCAR mandates support series drivers on the Indianapolis oval to be 18. The youngest winner on the oval, as of 2017, is William Byron, who won the 2017 Lilly Diabetes 250 NASCAR support series race at 19 years of age. A 15-year old has won on the road course, Garrett Gerloff, 15 years 27 days, when he won the USGPRU Moriwaki MD250H support race at the USGPRU support race in the 2010 MotoGP round.

Robin Miller / A. J. Foyt controversy[edit]

During practice, a controversy erupted between Indianapolis Star journalist Robin Miller and A. J. Foyt. For the first time, handheld radar guns were being used to measure trap speeds of the race cars along the straightaways.^[33] In his May 8 column, Miller casually noted that Foyt had a trap speed measured at 214 mph on the mainstretch, about 8 mph faster than any other car.^[34] The report led some in the paddock to question the legality of Foyt's turbocharger 'boost' setting. Foyt was angered by the report, and denied any accusations of cheating.^[35][36] During some downtime during Friday afternoon's practice session, Foyt hunted down Miller on the grass parapet along the pit lane, grabbed him and slapped him on the back of the head^[37] and threatened to 'remove two of [his] vital organs.'^[38] Foyt claimed his speed was due to engine development over the winter months, and quipped 'Is it a crime to go fast?'^[36][37] Foyt also demanded that the radar guns be turned off.

In response, Miller wrote a scathing column that was published in The Star on Sunday May 10.^[39][40] Miller accused Foyt of throwing temper tantrums, verbal and physical intimidation, and childish behavior. But more importantly, he tallied a lengthy list of USAC races in which Foyt allegedly had cheated in the past. The column sparked controversy,^[41] and Foyt immediately refuted the allegations.^[42] Foyt demanded the paper issue a retraction, and after they refused, he filed a $3 million libel suit in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas.^[43] The suit claimed the article was false, with intent to damage Foyt's reputation, as well as create animosity towards Foyt from the other drivers. The dispute simmered during race week, and over the summer months, but was soon largely overshadowed by the Bobby Unser/Mario Andretti controversy that occurred in the race itself.

On November 1, 1981, The Star issued a retraction, acknowledging that Foyt's alleged unprofessional conduct 'had never been proven nor protested,' and at the time of the retraction, 'remain[ed] unproven and unprotested.' As a result, Foyt dropped the libel suit.^[44] The parties settled out of court for an undisclosed monetary amount, and JudgeCarl O. Bue Jr. accepted the agreement and formally dismissed the suit on November 30.^[45]

Broadcasting[edit]

Radio[edit]

The race was carried live on the IMS Radio Network. Paul Page served as anchor for the fifth year. Lou Palmer reported from victory lane. Darl Wible departed, and Bob Jenkins moved to the fourth turn position, where he would remain through 1989. Larry Henry joined the crew for the first year, stationed on the backstretch. This was Larry's only year on the Backstretch, he moved to Turn 3 the following year. This was Doug Zink's last year in Turn 3.

The reporting location for Turn 2 shifted slightly, although still on the roof of the VIP Suites, the station was moved southward towards the middle of the turn. Howdy Bell, the longtime turn 2 reporter, celebrated his 20th year on the crew. This was Howdy's last year in Turn 2 until 1985. In Turn 3, the reporting location moved to a platform on the L Stand.

Television[edit]

The race was carried in the United States on ABC Sports on a same-day tape delay basis. Sam Posey rode along and reported live from inside the pace car at the start of the race.

The broadcast has re-aired on ESPN Classic since 2003. On May 24, 2003 the race was featured on ESPN Classic's 'Big Ticket' series, hosted by Jack Arute featuring interviews with Bobby Unser and Mario Andretti. On July 30, 2003, an expanded edit of the 'Big Ticket' version aired.

Gallery[edit]

• 1981 Buick Regal pace car

Notes[edit]

See also[edit]

• The controversial 2002 Indianapolis 500

References[edit]

1. ^Fox, Jack C. (1994). The Illustrated History of the Indianapolis 500 1911-1994 (4th ed.). Carl Hungness Publishing. p. 22. ISBN0-915088-05-3.
2. ^Miller, Robin (May 25, 1981). 'Bobby U. wins 3rd '500'; Ongais badly hurt in crash'. The Indianapolis Star. p. 1. Retrieved June 2, 2017 – via Newspapers.com.
3. ^ ^abcWilson, Phillip B. (May 28, 2002). 'Controversy nothing new for 500 (Part 1)'. The Indianapolis Star. p. 19. Retrieved April 25, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.
4. ^ ^abcWilson, Phillip B. (May 28, 2002). 'Controversy nothing new for 500 (Part 2)'. The Indianapolis Star. p. 20. Retrieved April 25, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.
5. ^'USAC revises rules and renews pacts'. The Indianapolis Star. February 2, 1982. p. 24. Retrieved July 26, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.
6. ^'The Madison Courier - Google News Archive Search'. news.google.com. Retrieved 25 April 2018.
7. ^ ^abcd'1981 Indianapolis 500 Daily Trackside Report'(PDF). Indy500.com. 1981. Archived(PDF) from the original on 2008-05-15. Retrieved 2008-06-22.
8. ^ ^abcdefgClassic 'Big Ticket' - 1981 Indianapolis 500, ESPN Classic, May 23, 2003
9. ^ ^abMcKee, Craig (May 29, 1982). ''81 Indy 500: Bobby...Finally'. The Indianapolis Star. p. Souvenir 3. Archived from the original on 2017-08-20. Retrieved 2017-08-20 – via Newspapers.com.
10. ^ ^ab1981 Indianapolis 500 live radio, IMS Radio Network, May 24, 1981
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General

Works cited[edit]

• 1981 Indianapolis 500 Day-By-Day Trackside Report For the Media
• Indianapolis 500 History: Race & All-Time Stats – Official Site
• 1981 Indianapolis 500 Radio Broadcast, Indianapolis Motor Speedway Radio Network