|| *Comments on the 1968 Indianapolis 500:* View the most recent comment <#25> | Post a comment <#post> Tweet 1. RaceFanX posted: 09.15.2010 - 1:51 am Rate this comment: (1) (0) As wih the previous year the Granatelli turbine cars were the class of the field. Andy teammed up with Colin Chapman and with a three-car team of new, improved wedge-shaped and all-wheel drive "Whooshmobile" turbines it looked like this would finally be his year with the cars of Joe Leonard and Graham Hill qualifying 1-2. This year wasn't to be a runaway for the turbines like 1967 was as Bobby Unser proved when he passed Leonard for the lead early as Hill fell back out of contention. Unser shocked the crowd as the red-and-white #3 began to pull away. Unser seemingly had the car to beat but problems with his Eagle/Offy's lower gears starting to fail would put him well back after ever pit stop and force him to have to charge back. As Unser had his issues both Leonard and Lloyd Ruby battled for the lead. Eventually Leonard prevailed but a late caution doomed the turbines. On the restart with nine to go Leonard had to gun it to stay ahead of Unser. With a normal car that's fine but with a turbine which needed time to wind up it resulted in the turbine flaming out with a broken fuel shaft that knocked him out of the race with the same fate befalling his teammate Art Pollard at the same time. Bobby would go on to win his first of three Indy 500s. With Dan Gurney finishing second and F1 racer Denny Hulme in 4th it was a 1-2-4 finish for Dan Gurney's Eagle chassis. It was the best of times and the worst of times for the Unsers. While Bobby headed to victory lane his little brother Al crashed out early. After a DNQ in 1967, Jim Hurtubise made the field for the 1968 500 at the wheel of the Mallard roadster but it would last just nine laps and leave him with a 30th-place finish. It was the last time a front-engined car would ever qualify for the Indy 500. This was the final year for the "Whooshmobiles" at Indy. While Granatelli ran the car in a few events later in the year the turbines would be ban at Indy by USAC for 1969. With the extreme relevance of the 500 at that time one can only wonder how both race and street cars would have turned out differently if the turbines could of pulled off the win. With the turbines ban from Indy Chapman would an attempt to remake the Lotus/Turbine into a F1 car. It was unsuccessful although Emerson Fittipaldi would race finish 8th with the turbine at the 1971 Italian Grand Prix (not bad for a three-year old Indy car in a F1 race). 2. RaceFanX posted: 09.15.2010 - 2:01 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Much of the movie "Winning" was shot during this race with the movie makers going out of their way to paint the car of main character "Frank Capua" identical to Bobby Unser's winning one. The movie is best remembered for who played Capua, Academy Award-winner Paul Newman who caught the motorsports bug making the film and would go on to be a very successful race car driver in his own right with two wins in the SCCA Trans-Am series, a class win at the 1995 24 Hours of Daytona and a 2nd-place finish overall at the 1979 24 Hours of Le Mans. 3. Schroeder51 posted: 05.13.2011 - 3:08 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Fomula 1 driver Mike Spence was killed in a practice session for this race. 4. Pacer posted: 07.26.2011 - 12:30 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) The pace car for this 500 was a Ford Torino GT, the only time a Torino paced the 500. 5. cjs3872 posted: 03.28.2013 - 4:53 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) And also, just days after finishing sixth in the 1968 Indianapolis 500, Ronnie Duman was killed in a fiery crash at Milwaukee. And this would also be the last Indianapolis 500 appearance for Graham Hill. Hill was entered in a 4-wheel drive Lotus for Andy Granatelli in 1969, but after Mario Andreti's practice crash in another 4-wheel drive Lotus, the other cars, which were to be driven by Hill and Jochen Rindt, were withdrawn, and neither Hill or Rindt ever appeared at Indy again, with Rindt being killed in 1970, yet still having enough of a lead in the championship to be win the title posthumously. 6. Schroeder51 posted: 10.05.2013 - 1:33 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) A more complete list of drivers and teams that DNQed, courtesy of the ChampCarStats website... #20 Mario Andretti #22, #75, #81 Bill Cheesbourg #47, #97 Gary Bettenhausen #36, #77 Larry Dickson Jimmy Clark (note: Was entered but was killed before the race, withdrawn) #32, #88 Rollie Beale #22, #26 Ronnie Duman #19, #31 Sonny Ates #28, #41, #42 George Follmer #59 Bobby Grim #42 Dan Gurney #28, #95 Masten Gregory #71, #81, #88 Bob Harkey #11, #14, #36, #72, #81, #90 Bob Hurt #90 Chuck Hulse #69 Denny Hulme #17, #25 Bobby Johns #34, #46 Dee Jones #17 Arnie Knepper #40 Joe Leonard #71, #77, #88 Ralph Ligouri (note: Failed his refresher test) #9, #32 Al Miller #66, #69 Bruce McLaren #22, #28 Rick Muther #63 Danny Ongais (note: Entry was declined due to lack of experience) #59, #62 LeeRoy Yarbrough #97 Billy Vukovich, Jr. #11, #40 Art Pollard #63, #71, #77 Bill Puterbaugh #17 Henry Pens (note: Entry was declined due to lack of experience) #50, #71, #75, #76 Jerry Titus #59, #62 Bruce Walkup #5 Carl Williams #51, #63, #81 Dempsey Wilson #17, #19, #30 Greg Weld #90 Johnny Rutherford #94 Chuck Stevenson #87 George Snider #20 Jackie Stewart (note: Withdrew due to injuries) #50 Les Scott (note: Failed his refresher test) #30, #60 Mike Spence (note: Killed in practice crash) #14, #45, #49 Sammy Sessions #34 Chuck Booth Bob Herst 7. Schroeder51 posted: 03.14.2015 - 3:58 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) First Indy 500 starts for Billy Vukovich, Jr., Mike Mosley, Sammy Sessions, Ronnie Bucknum, Jim Malloy, and Gary Bettenhausen. Last Indy 500 starts for Ronnie Duman, Bobby Grim, Bob Veith, Graham Hill, and Jochen Rindt. 8. Schroeder51 posted: 03.14.2015 - 11:53 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Add to DNQs: Bob Hurt, #11 Thermo King Auto Air Conditioning (Did not qualify) Bobby Johns, #17 Bryant Heating & Cooling (Wrecked practice) Mario Andretti, #20 STP Oil Treatment (Did not qualify) Jackie Stewart, #20 STP Oil Treatment (Withdrew, injured) Rick Muther, #22 Michner Petroleum (Did not qualify) Ronnie Duman, #26 Central Hardware (Wrecked practice) George Follmer, #28 George R. Bryant (Did not qualify) Masten Gregory, #28 George R. Bryant (Did not qualify) Greg Weld, #30 STP Oil Treatment (Did not qualify) Rollie Beale, #32 Wally Weir (Did not qualify) Chuck Booth, #34 Speedy's Broasted Chicken (Entered, did not drive) Dee Jones, #34 Speedy's Broasted Chicken (Did not qualify) Art Pollard, #40 STP Oil Treatment (Did not qualify) George Follmer, #42 Olsonite (Did not qualify) Dan Gurney, #42 Olsonite (Did not qualify) Sammy Sessions, #45 Weinberger Homes (Did not qualify) Dee Jones, #46 Lotus-Chevrolet Special (Did not qualify) Joe Leonard, #48 STP Oil Treatment (Wrecked practice) Les Scott, #50 Navarro Injection (Failed refresher test) Dempsey Wilson, #51 Greenman (Did not qualify) Bobby Grim, #59 Cleaver Brooks (Did not qualify) Bruce Walkup, #59 Cleaver Brooks (Did not qualify) LeeRoy Yarbrough, #59 Cleaver Brooks (Did not qualify) Mike Spence, #60 STP Oil Treatment (Did not qualify) Dempsey Wilson, #63 City of Long Beach (Did not qualify) Bruce McLaren, #69 Botany 500 (Did not qualify) Ralph Ligouri, #71 Stewart-Warner (Failed refresher test) Bill Puterbaugh, #71 Stewart-Warner (Did not qualify) Jerry Titus, #71 Stewart-Warner (Did not qualify) Bob Hurt, #72 Jack Adams Wynn-Storm (Did not qualify) Bill Cheesbourg, #75 Ashland Oil (Did not qualify) Jerry Titus, #75 Marathon (Did not qualify) Larry Dickson, #77 Dayton Steel Wheel (Did not qualify) Ralph Ligouri, #77 Dayton Steel Wheel (Did not qualify) Bill Cheesbourg, #81 Central Excavating (Did not qualify) Bob Harkey, #81 Central Excavating (Did not qualify) Bob Hurt, #81 Central Excavating (Did not qualify) Dempsey Wilson, #81 Central Excavating (Did not qualify) George Snider, #87 Zecol-Lubaid (Wrecked practice) Rollie Beale, #88 Kenny Brenn (Did not qualify) Ralph Ligouri, #88 Kenny Brenn (Failed refresher test) Chuck Hulse, #90 Zecol-Lubaid (Wrecked practice, retired) Bob Hurt, #90 Zecol-Lubaid (Did not qualify) Johnny Rutherford, #90 Zecol-Lubaid (Did not qualify) Chuck Stevenson, #94 Valvoline (Wrecked, retired) Masten Gregory, #95 Repco-Brabham (Did not qualify) Gary Bettenhausen, #97 Agajanian (Did not qualify) Billy Vukovich, Jr., #97 Agajanian (Did not qualify) Jimmy Clark, STP Oil Treatment (Withdrew) Bob Herst, Jack Adams (Did not arrive) 9. indycar1 posted: 05.08.2015 - 10:20 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) This race had 5 cautions for 47 minutes. 10. Jolly Mean Giant posted: 01.30.2016 - 9:11 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Qualifying results: 1. Joe Leonard-171.599 MPH 2. Graham Hill-171.208 MPH 3. Bobby Unser-169.507 MPH 4. Mario Andretti-167.691 MPH 5. Lloyd Ruby-167.613 MPH 6. Al Unser-167.069 MPH 7. Roger McCluskey-166.976 MPH 8. A. J. Foyt-166.821 MPH 9. Gordon Johncock-166.775 MPH 10. Dan Gurney-166.512 MPH 11. Art Pollard-166.297 MPH 12. Wally Dallenbach-165.548 MPH 13. Jim McElreath-165.327 MPH 14. Mel Kenyon-165.191 MPH 15. Jim Malloy-165.032 MPH 16. Jerry Grant-164.782 MPH 17. Bud Tingelstad-164.444 MPH 18. Ronnie Bucknum-164.211 MPH 19. Denny Hulme-164.189 MPH 20. Jochen Rindt-164.144 MPH 21. Johnny Rutherford-163.830 MPH 22. Gary Bettenhausen-163.562 MPH 23. Billy Vukovich, Jr.-163.510 MPH 24. Bob Veith-163.495 MPH 25. Bobby Grim-162.866 MPH 26. Mike Mosley-162.499 MPH 27. Ronnie Duman-162.338 MPH 28. Carl Williams-162.323 MPH 29. George Snider-162.264 MPH 30. Jim Hurtubise-162.191 MPH 31. Sammy Sessions-162.118 MPH 32. Arnie Knepper-161.900 MPH 33. Larry Dickson-161.124 MPH 11. Anonymous posted: 06.07.2016 - 1:25 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) These drivers were on the initial entry list and can be added to the "withdrew" list if you wish to do so: #20 Jackie Stewart #40 Parnelli Jones #80 Jimmy Clark All three cars were sponsored by STP Oil Treatment and were Lotus/Turbines 12. Jolly Mean Giant posted: 03.21.2017 - 11:54 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) First alternate: Bruce Walkup 13. RaceFanX posted: 04.14.2017 - 9:42 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Car change: #60, #20, #70- Lotus / Pratt & Whitney (Aerospace company Pratt & Whitney manufactured Grantelli's turbine engines) 14. RaceFanX posted: 04.14.2017 - 10:30 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Five decades after their appearance at Indy the legacy of the Whqoshmobiles still looms large over the race. Their experimental nature really made an impact on people and I often hear people talk about how the 500 should be a race that focuses on allowing new innovations like them, where trying something new no one thought of before or finding a loophole might be the key to victory, instead of the current all be spec "everyone has a Dallara format." Of course I can see the other side of the coin, more open rules like that would drive the cost of racing through the roof today. The sport's rulebook really is a balancing act. "And Andretti is slowing down"...right at the start this time. Mario Andretti started right at the front in fourth position in this one but his Hawk conked out after less than three laps. The quick retirement resulted in Andretti's first and only last place finish in the 500. Thankfully Mario's next shot at Indianapolis in 1969 would go a bit more super... 15. PAUL posted: 10.01.2017 - 6:56 pm Rate this comment: (2) (0) In 2016 i purchased a 1968 Torino Indy Pace Car convertible, car was one of 159 Indianapolis district dealer cars. These were cars ordered to promote the race around the Indianapolis area. It was given to Terre Haute based WTHI CBS television and radio production director Paul E Denehie, and used during the month of May to run film crews back and forth to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. In addition to this it was used to run some of the drivers betweeen the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and Speedway Motel. Drivers that were in the car at one time or another include Bobby Unser, Johnny Rutherford, Bruce Walcup, Bill Vukuvich Jr and Larry Dickson. The car is the most documented car i personally have seen/owned and came from the estate of the original owner. It was put away in a dry barn and not moved or run since 1974, still has the plastic covers on the seats and Autolite plugs/Motorcraft oil filter fitted etc. Car does now run and drive and is being preserved rather than restored, as i think its a great piece of history and only original once. 16. Jim williams posted: 11.11.2017 - 11:19 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Hi I own one of the 428 Torino Pace cars and am trying to figure out if it was the pace car at Indy or backup car also , I have heard that the other 428 car was in the movie winning with Paul Newman, am trying to figure out who has all that info. Thx Jim 17. PAUL posted: 11.30.2017 - 5:08 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) The 428 is nice spec, is this the car painted black that was drag raced for many years? I have seen comments on another forum where this car was mentioned, possibly by yourself, car was owned/campaigned by Merkel Ford? There are a lot of rumours associated with the Torino pace cars, as many people do not know the facts about just how many were produced, what happened to the actual car that paced the race etc in 1968. I don't know if Kevin Marti would be able to give you the information from the vin on whether your car was actually at Indianapolis or not, or if its one of the 428 cars which were used to pace the race? There were suppoaedly only 2 428 cars built, but were these dealer/customer ordered cars, in addition to the ones at Indianapolis for official pace car use by the USAC?....Also, were the cars from the race included in the counts of cars sold as they were possibly returned to Ford after raceday? I would imagine that your car on the Marti report would have been one of the festival or Indianapolis district dealer promotional vehicles, as mine is,(mine is 302 car) for it to have been used as one of the actual 428 pace cars. I have seen a copy of the Marti for the black car and if it is the same car,it was one of 709 ordered for 'other districts'. These cars were built later than the Indianapolis area cars as the Indianapolis cars were built earlier in order for them to be in the area for use during May.....personal opinion, but they all seem to have earlier vins which would tie in).... My car was actually built 04/11/68. I recently tried to chase up some of this type information from Ford Archives dept at Dearborn, Mi.They sent me some internal/press releases from the time these cars were being promoted. Apart from describing the vehicles and going in to some of the Ford history regarding the Indy 500, one of the releases stated that 3 (yes,3) identical pace cars had been delivered to Indianapolis. The qualifying started on May 1st, and carried through May.. the uses of the 3 cars were as follows....One to be used during the month, one to be used on raceday and one as a reserve. The pacecar would be used during the month as a caution car, wearing yellow flags and appearing whenever the yellow caution light appeared during practicing or qualification runs. The cars supplied all had the new 428 cubic inch Cobra Jet engines, which were specially prepared by Holman Moody inc, of Charlotte, NC. So, There are supposedly 2 428 Torino pace cars BUT.... Ford in their release stated 3 were delivered to Indianapolis for pace car usage. Were the actual pace cars not included in any vehicle counts? The last owner of my car studied and collected a lot of documentation regarding the pace cars, printouts, he went to Indy recording vins etc over many years... I have a letter written to the last and only owner of my car from a contact he knew at Dearborn, letter was dated 11/69 (was 69 a mistype, was it actually 68?). The letter discussed some other general discussion/information about Hershey. The interesting paragraph of the letter goes something like this: "I have not yet had the chance to go and get the vins off the 2 428 pace cars you asked about but last time i looked, they were still parked on the gravel lot outside Ford Division Headquarters." Paul. 18. PAUL posted: 11.30.2017 - 6:46 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Forgot to mention your other question relating to the film "Winning" with Paul Newman as leading role.....don't know details, but much of the later part of the film (its on Youtube) was shot at Indianapolis during/at the time of the 68 500, if you are looking for it/them, the Torino pace cars appear quite a few times briefly in the later part of the film. Paul Newmans part in the film was about a guys career building up to racing the Indianapolis 500 as a goal. He does not actually drive a pace car in the film, but pictured in Indy cars, i would say from watching the film that several different pace cars were used in the film/background, or they were not film sets but live coverage at that time/location. (My car was used by CBS for running film crews to and from Indianapolis and used for shooting one of the sequences also but i do not know/never will be able to find out if it was for this film or for the sports coverage side of TV at that time)? It was also used to run race car drivers to and from the speedway Motel,in the film you see Paul Newman walk past a Torino pace car parked outside a room at the motel, but i bet it wasn't/how would i ever find out/doubt very much it was my car, but who knows? Some of this film, as stated earlier, was shot at the 68 500 but the film was a 69 release. Incidentally, in the press info i received from Ford, it states that the winner of the 68 Indy 500 would receive the actual pace car as a prize, together with $100,000 plus as earnings. Paul. 19. RaceFanX posted: 03.11.2018 - 6:11 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) The roadster era officially ends at the Indianapolis 500 as Jim Hurtubise qualifies his Mallard 30th to become the last driver to qualify for the race using a front-engined car. His unique self-owned white-and-blue #56 Pepsi / Frito-Lay Special ultimately lasted less than 10 laps before a mechanical failure knocked Hurtubise out of the race. This was the only year that Hurtubise managed to qualify his unique Mallard at Indy although he continued to attempt the race with it for years. Unser's victory with a turbocharged Offenhauser engine made this the first Indy 500 to be won by a turbocharged car. 20. Jim4Bill posted: 04.09.2018 - 2:02 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Clearly the dawn of the turbocharger era had a MUCH bigger impact in Indycar racing and street cars than turbine engines. They are cool - but Unser's Offy-Turbo Eagle was faster than the Turbine cars. As more boost was dialed up the next few years the Offy was better able to handle it - but after the disaster of 1973's 500, USAC wanted to cut down speeds and dialed back boost. That played into the hands of Foyt since he had the only supply of V-8 Ford engines and they could make more HP with limited boost. At least until the Cosworth came along to push out the Offy and Foyt engines. 21. RaceFanX posted: 05.22.2018 - 9:55 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) In a moment that probably had more significance than anyone realized at the time Jim Hurtubise's Mallard entry produced another important Indy milestone when "Herk" let some 18-year-old Ball State University Teachers College flunk out named Robin Miller join his pre-race pit crew. Miller, a die-hard fan of Hurtubise since he set the track record at Indy in 1960, met his idol early during practice and was invited to join his crew (as long as he accepted it was a volunteer position and kept quiet about his age since crew members were supposed to be at least 21) for the first part of practice before Hurtubise's regular pit crew showed up. It went spectacularly bad, Miller didn't know anything about the mechanics of race cars, and Hurtubise eventually ended up firing Miller in a profanity-laced tirade after he damaged the car's bodywork right though the important logo of his sponsor Pepsi on the front of the car. Hurtubise had a rough month, blowing up about a dozen different engines, but he made the field and forgave Miller after he qualified. Miller turned to journalism and joined the Indianapolis Star not long after this race, becoming one of the most noted individuals to ever cover the 500 in future years. 22. SweetRich posted: 02.29.2020 - 7:06 pm Rate this comment: (0) (1) The commentators for the race were Jim McKay and Rodger Ward with Chris Economaki serving as the sole pit road reporter. 23. RaceFanX posted: 07.14.2020 - 9:51 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Withdrawn Chuck Hulse- #90 Zecol / Lubaid Hulse crashed in practice for the Indy 500 this year and decided to retire from the sport afterward. Where one journey ends though another begins Mike Mosley took over the #90 entry and put it in the field to make his Indy 500 debut, ultimately bringing the car home with a top-10 run. Midget car star Billy Vukovich, Jr. makes his Indianapolis 500 debut, driving in the same race his late father won twice two decades earlier. Vukovich finished seventh, one spot in front of Mosley, to win the Rookie of the Year honors and kick off an Indy career that would see him record six top-10s in 12 starts. 24. JollyMeanGiant posted: 02.23.2021 - 8:02 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Additional DNQs according to UltimateRacingHistory: Jack Brabham, #35, Brabham BT25/Repco (Owner: Jack Brabham) Jack Brabham, #95, Brabham BT25/Repco (Owner: Jack Brabham) 25. JollyMeanGiant posted: 03.03.2021 - 1:38 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) 43 cars completed full qualifying runs. Bruce Walkup in the #62 (34th), Bob Harkey in the #88 (35th), Larry Dickson in the #36 (36th), George Follmer in the #41 (37th), Sonny Ates in the #31 (38th), Bill Puterbaugh in the #77 (39th), Bill Cheesbourg in the #22 (40th), Al Miller in the #32 (41st), Harkey in the #71 (42nd) and Jerry Titus in the #76 (43rd) were not fast enough to make the field. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *Post a comment:* Your comment may not appear immediately - all comments must be approved by the moderator. Name: Comment: