|| *Comments on the 1973 Indianapolis 500:* View the most recent comment <#45> | Post a comment <#post> Tweet 1. RaceFanX posted: 08.20.2010 - 12:56 am Rate this comment: (2) (0) This is the Indy 500 that everyone wants to forget, 1973 at the Brickyard was a year marred by tragedy after tragedy... Veteran Art Pollard was killed in a practice crash that saw the driver's side of his car smashed off and then his car flip several times. Weather was terrible all month for this one. The race was originally scheduled for Saturday but washed out and the speedway had a "never on a Sunday" policy regarding the race at that time. A real shame, Sunday was actually pretty decent and they could have got the race in. Following this disaster, the "never on a Sunday" policy was revoked. On Monday the race only lasted long enough for Salt Walther to make contact with another car and flip into the catch fence, shredding his McLaren and throwing fuel all over the track and into the crowd. 11 fans were burned, 11 cars wrecked in the melee and Walter badly injured, especially his hands. Rain put an end to that day shortly thereafter. The next day, with all the damaged cars except Walther's were repaired but on the second parade lap the skies opened up again, the 500 would have to wait until Wednesday. Swede Savage was a contender early before a terrible accident when his car lost control off turn 4 and crashed into outer wall the pit entrance had at the time. It came just after a pitstop and the STP #40 had 75 gallons of fuel onboard, all of which exploded in a fireball on impact. Savage survived the wreck without too serious injuries but was badly, badly burned in the crash. Savage was taken to a local hospital but succumb to his injuries just over a month later. A third fatality was Armando Teran, a pit crew member for the STP team. When Teran saw the crash he was trying to get up pit road to help Swede but he was struck and killed by a fire truck rushing to the scene. Teran's death led to new policies on emergency vehicles not being allowed to go in the opposition direction of the cars racing in some series. After Savage and Teran's accidents, George Snider decided he'd had enough. He quit the race and let his already out of the race boss A.J. Foyt finish it for him. Al Unser had the best car after the restart but eventually dropped out with mechanical woes. With most of field gone, Savage's teammate Gordon Johncock pulled ahead and went on to win after the race was called for rain. It was a bittersweet win. There were hopes of breaking the 200 MPH barrier in qualifying, that didn't come to pass but Johnny Rutherford still took the pole. Lone Star JR would not lead a single lap of the race. 2. Biscuits in a Red Bull posted: 12.23.2010 - 1:33 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Swede Savage and Art Pollard lost their lives in this. The event barely went on due to rain and Salt Walther crashed havily in a massive start pile-up which injured 11 fans and that nearly put an end to the 1973 running. 3. b4il3y posted: 04.23.2011 - 3:57 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Why didnt they stop it? I mean it was 1973 but damn... 4. Schroeder51 posted: 05.13.2011 - 3:18 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Who were the other 10 cars in the crash with Walther? 5. Schroeder51 posted: 05.21.2011 - 3:25 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Also as a note-Savage was owned by Pat Patrick. 6. Schroeder51 posted: 05.22.2011 - 1:02 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) As did the #60 of Graham McRae. Both of those were Pat Patrick cars. Just pointing this out because it doesn't list the owner of those cars. 7. Pacer posted: 07.25.2011 - 11:57 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) The pace car for this 500 was a Cadillac Eldorado. 8. Schroeder51 posted: 08.01.2011 - 12:19 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Savage was actually the leader of the race when he crashed. He'd just passed Al Unser for the lead after his pitstop. Savage could very well have won this race had he not had his fatal accident. 9. cjs3872 posted: 08.12.2011 - 2:40 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Actually, Schroder51, Al Unser had passed Savage for the lead on lap 55, but was in the process of pitting when Savage crashed three laps later, which would have given the lead back to Savage. By the way, this race was rebroadcast on ESPN Classic on Friday, August 12, 2012 at 2 AM EDT/11 PM PDT on Thursday, August 11. The reason this race was probably not aired during the celebration of the Indy 500's centennial had to do with the disastrous incidents that occurred during this race. It's interesting that, because of the way the race played out, there were about several lengthy segments with Jim McKay and Jackie Stewart, who had left for Europe the day before the race was run. One featured the recap of the disatrous crash on the initial start involving Salt Walther, as well as the disorganization that preceeded it, though strangley, nothing was ever mentioned about Steve Krisiloff's mechanical problem that resulted in him being a rolling road block, which in my view, was THE key contributing factor to the crash. McKay and Stewart mentioned how Krisiloff, Peter Revson, and even A.J. Foyt were moving up before the even got on the main straightaway for the start. Another featured the art of drafting, which aired during the Savage-Al Unser battle for the lead. Yet another focused on the safety of the facility. but those segments took about 20 minutes of the broadcast. There were also interviews with Jerry Grant after each of the two disastrous crashes, conducted by Dave Diles. Diles also commented on the contentous drivers meeting that took place on Tuesday, May 29. There were also controversies concerning the safety of the racing conditions, which Diles and Grant also eluded to. Diles even stood in front of Joe Leonard's car during the stoppage for Savage's crash, and wiped a significant amount of oil from the nose of Leonard's car. In fact, not long before Savage's crash, pole sitter Johnny Rutherford was black flagged for dropping oil, or some other fluid on the track, so that may have been why Saveage crashed, though there were other factors also mentioned in the broadcast. In victory lane after the race, George Bignotti said that Savage's crash was caused by oil on the track. Bobby Unser, who thought the track was just fine, unlike teammate Jerry Grant and numerous others, said Savage hit the wall, which he never actually did. McKay and Chris Economaki, who replaced Jackie Stewart in the booth believed that the rear wing on Savage's car actually broke, resulting in his crash. Another inncauracy in the broadcast mentioned what happened with George Snider's car. It was said that Foyt had chosen to replace Snider, when in fact, that was Snider's decision after the Swede Savage crash. Snider had made the decision not to race anymore that day. After Savage's crash, teammate Gordon Johncock was racing on foot to the scene of the accident, when Foyt came up to him and told him that "you don't want to go up there". Now, as for Savage dying five weeks after the accident. that may have nothing to do with the burns he received. Savage had been one of four drivers that was wearing a special foam to help in case of a fire, so it was apparent that he believed something bad would happen in that race. In fact, he changed from the regular driver's suit to the foam suit between qualifying and the race. He actually died due to a blood infusion from a batch of blood that was already contanimated. In fact, Savage was apparently not the only person to die as a result of an infusion from that batch of blood. It was a tragic end to a promising career, which included a victory driving for Dan Gurney, as well as several NASCAR starts, including the 1969 Daytona 500, driving for the Wood Brothers. In fact until Trevor Bayne, who won this year's Daytona 500 for the team, I believe that Swede Savage was the youngest driver ever to drive for the Wood Brothers, when he drove the Wood's #41 car in SpeedWeeks in 1969, finishing fifth in his qualifying race, and then running the Daytona 500, when he crashed when a wheel came off. 10. cjs3872 posted: 08.12.2011 - 9:29 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) By the way, here are the caution periods, I believe (not counting the Salt Walther crash, since a complete restart was ordered): #1 Laps 4-6 15-Revson crash T4 #2 Lap 17 28-Harkey spun out (was mentioned on the broadcast) #3 Approx. Lap 50 1-Leonard spun out NSC (not seen on the broadcast, but shown in the official film of the race) #4 Laps 58-60 40-Savage crash FS, race immediately stopped #5 Approx. Laps 79-82 Debris (21-Caruthers blew a tire on the FS,) NOTE: 1-Leonard had a connecting rod bolt break under this caution, which was seen in the film, but not on the broadcast of the race #6 Laps 129-133 Rain, race ended at 133 laps NOTE: The laps and time spent under caution were, for some reason, not kept in 1973, so the lap numbers mentioned are unofficial, except for the first, fourth, and sixth caution periods. NOTE: Seven cars had connecting rod bolts break in this race. Aside from Leonard, racing legends Bobby Allison and A.J. Foyt, Wally Dallenbach, Jim McElreath, Jerry Grant, and Mike Mosley also had broken connecting rod bolts. Mosley's took him out of third place just minutes before the rain ended the race. Also, when I get a chance, I'll list those involved in the Salt walther crash, but a total of 12 cars were involved, I believe, though Walther's was the only one not to continue in the race. It was withdrawn, as the team chose not to choose a replacemant driver, which might not have been legal anyway, according to the rules of the time. Interestingly, of the 10 cars that were running when the race was called, four or five of them were in that crash, including David Hobbs, who was also smoking badly on the pace lap, and John Martin, who did not have any brakes on the one warm-up lap that was run when they attempted to start the race on Tuesday, May 29. 11. Schroeder51 posted: 08.15.2011 - 3:53 pm Rate this comment: (0) (1) Now I really feel pissed off that DirecTV took away ESPN Classic to replace it with ESPNU. 12. cjs3872 posted: 08.15.2011 - 8:25 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) By the way, here is what I believe to be the complete list of cars involved in the crash on the original start: 1-Joe Leonard, 6-Mike Hiss, 9-Sam Sessions, 28-Bob Harkey, 30-Jerry Karl, 35-Jim McElreath, 48-Jerry Grant (who Walther tangled with), 62-Wally Dallenbach, 73-David Hobbs, 77-Salt Walther (of course), 89-John Martin, and 98-Mike Mosley. A total of twelve cars in all. NOTE: The track PA, as well as the ABC Sports broadcast, also listed 16-Lee Kunzman as being involved, but he was, in fact, not involved in the crash, as he got through unscathed. 13. cjs3872 posted: 09.23.2011 - 12:22 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) In my last post, I mentioned that Lee Kunzman was not involved in the crash in the initial start, and used the ABC broadcast as proof. Well, I was mistaken. The car that Jim McKay identified as Lee Kunzman's car, which barely avoided the crash, was, in fact, the #9 car of Sam Sessions, so add Kunzman's #16 car to those involved in the crash and take the #9 of Sessions off that list. Also, the #1 car of Joe Leonard, while not receiving any damage from the wreck, briefly lost control, thus he is listed as one of the cars involved in the crash. Also, the 1973 race was the last Indianapolis 500 for several prominent drivers in the sport back then. Mark Donohue retired from Indy-Car racing at season's end, and lost his life in 1975 attempting a comeback. Mel Kenyon, who finished fourth, also never raced at Indy again, and many felt that he was afraid of the risks. (He had been involved in a nasty crash with Steve Krisiloff, Mario Andretti, and Gordon Johncock on the 13th lap of the 1971 race.) In eight Indy starts, Kenyon finished in the top four three times, with a best of third in 1968. Joe Leonard also never drove at Indy after 1973, but that was due to injuries suffered in a crash early in the 1974 season. His spot for that year's Indy race was taken by sprint car ace Jan Opperman. Another driver that never raced at Indy after 1973 was Peter Revson. He had actually been tabbed to replace Donohue at Penske Racing, but was killed in South Africa early in 1974. That ride for the 1974 race eventually went to Mike Hiss, after attempts to lure Donohue out of retirement, as well as one to get Bobby Allison to return to Indy in 1974 both failed. (Allison would drive for Penske in the 1975 Indianapolis 500, even leading the race briefly.) Oddly enough, Hiss got his claim to fame at Indy in 1974, as he qualified on the front row for that year's Indy 500, making Hiss probably the worst driver ever to sit on the front row at Indy. Ironically, one driver that would return in 1974, miraculously, was Salt Walther, who did a more than respectable job in the 1974 race, and finished ninth in 1976, no small feat considering 27 drivers finished that race, not to mention the other drivers in the top ten that year. Walther, like numerous IndyCar drivers of the day, also dabbled in stock car racing, running in the Daytona 500 twice, including a 12th-place finish in the 1976 Daytona 500, in which he spun on the ninth lap when he got into fluid from another car (David Sisco, I believe). 14. cjs3872 posted: 09.23.2011 - 12:33 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Actually, RaceFanX, Savage didn't quite have a full load of fuel on board, as most people think, but he still had about 45-50 gallons on board when he crashed. Actually, if he had not crashed, Savage, if he did not have a mechanical failure, might have won going away. What put him in the lead was clever strategy on his team's part, with good luck tossed in. His team pitted him during the caution that came out for Bob Harkey's stalled car, which put him in position to challenge Gordon Johncock and Bobby Unser. Then when they pitted, Savage got the lead and then pitted on about the 45th lap when the caution light was briefly turned on when Joe Leonard spun out in the north short chute. He was able to make his pit stop and stay in the lead, though he was passed on the 55th lap by Al Unser, who was in the process of pitting when Savage crashed. The luck factor in Savage's pit stops, especially his second one, was that he caught the PACER light systems, which slowed the field, while keeping the field at the on-track intervals they were when the caution came out. Because of where Savage was at on the track, he was able to make his second pit stop without losing the lead, and would have been nearly a lap ahead of Al Unser, Johncock, and Billy Vukovich II, had he not crashed. 15. Anonymous posted: 11.08.2011 - 4:19 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Just for comparison, here's the official record from the USAC yearbook box score. It says nothing about the Revson and Leonard cautions listed above. YELLOW FLAGS: Laps 17-21, Harkey (No. 28) stalled on backstrech; Laps 73-75, Caruthers (No. 21) shredded tire in No. 1 turn; Laps 130-133, rain on course. RED FLAGS: Lap 59, Savage (No. 40) hit wall on turn 4; Lap 134, Rain. 16. cjs3872 posted: 11.12.2011 - 9:27 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Anonymous, if you ever get a chance to watch the official film of the race, you'll see the yellow come out for Revson's crash, as well as the narrator mention that the caution came out for Revson's crash. As for Leonard's spin, since it was never shown on the ABC broadcast, so it was never even mentioned on the telecast, but judging from where Billy Vukovich was [right behind Leonard when Leonard spun], you'd have to say that the caution did briefly come out for that incident, which allowed Savage to stop without losing the lead. You are correct about the other caution flags, however. The incident in which Caurthers blew that tire was never shown on the film, during which Joe Leonard's car was smoking. 17. ii posted: 04.01.2012 - 11:29 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Art Pollard was fatally injured during qualifying for this race as well. 18. Unser1 posted: 05.30.2012 - 11:56 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Sad as it was this win ended a nearly four-year long victory drought for Johncock, his last win before this had been half of USAC's one-off twin race at the Brainerd International Raceway in 1969. 19. cjs3872 posted: 06.04.2012 - 2:41 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) By the way, Bob Harkey's car was entered by Lindsey Hopkins, but was the only one of Hopkins' car not to finish. The other three finished the race with two of them finishing in the top four. It's also interesting that Mel Kenyon's car was sponsored by the Atlanta Falcons. It may surprise some people that the NFL was involved in sponsoring race cars long before Joe Gibbs or Walter Payton got involved in racing. 20. Nathan Milliron posted: 02.11.2013 - 8:43 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Does the official boxscore explain how Jerry Karl finished hte rce despite being 111 laps down? 21. cjs3872 posted: 05.31.2013 - 10:38 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Nathan Millron, that's probably because they had major mechanical problems during the race, but I think that he was going so slow for so long that they stopped scoring him, or black flagged him for going too slow. And remember that they had a red flag period after the Swede Savage crash to fix the problem and they still couldn't fix it adequately. But Karl was only credited with completing 22 laps, so my guess is that at some point in the race, they just stopped scoring his car because he ignored the black flag. That car WAS owned by Smokey Yunick. 22. Biscuits In A Red Bull posted: 08.12.2013 - 3:37 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) With all of the comments saying Savage was up at the front due to luck and strategy, he and Johncock were pacesetters throughout practice and always looked like threats for the win. Savage even set the short-lived track record on May 8th when he set a 197.802mph lap time, and beat that record again on Pole Day to claim provisional pole position for 70 minutes. And Savage's practice record time stood as the fastest practice time around the Brickyard until 1977. Savage's 12 laps led around the Brickyard put him higher than the likes of, somehow, Dan Gurney, Graham Hill and Scott Brayton in the Indy 500. And of course, the STP cars worked. Wally Dallenbach Sr took a win in the California 500 later that season in what would've been Swede's car. 23. Schroeder51 posted: 10.04.2013 - 4:31 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) A more complete list of drivers who DNQed for this race: #59 Larry Cannon #58 Larry Dickson #61 Lee Brayton #27 Tom Bigelow #56 Jim Hurtubise #51 Dee Jones #45, #58 Arnie Knepper #86 Al Loquasto #35 John Mahler #63 Larry McCoy #23, #97 Rick Muther #64 Art Pollard (note: Killed in practice crash) #61 Bill Puterbaugh #38, #96 Crockey Peterson (note: Failed his rookie test) #58, #94 Johnny Parsons #34 Sam Posey #36, #58, #76 Bentley Warren #75 Greg Weld #52 Eldon Rasmussen (note: Failed his rookie test) #17 Bill Simpson #52, #53 Billy Shuman (note: Failed his rookie test) #47 Jigger Sirois #39 Tom Sneva #78 Bruce Jacobi 24. Schroeder51 posted: 10.05.2013 - 1:54 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) And some more teams that DNQed for this race... #12 Gary Bettenhausen #59 Jimmy Caruthers #40 Wally Dallenbach #76 Bob Harkey #41 Joe Leonard #82 Jim McElreath #92 John Martin #29, #32 Billy Vukovich, Jr. #44, #61 Dick Simon #0, #42 Swede Savage 25. Jack posted: 01.25.2015 - 7:02 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) From the Indiana Racing Memorial Association - IRMA Bob Harkey's car was actually sitting there with a blown engine. They hid it from the Indy officials, because they didn't want an alternate starter to take their place. They knew that once the green flag flew, they would be assured of 33rd place money. When the command to start came, they pushed to the pits pretending the engine wouldn't start! This was 1973, and when the race was stopped for the 1st lap crash and rain, they changed the engine overnight, and eventually finished 29th, ahead of Mario, Peter Revson, and Bobby Allison in a Penske car! 26. Schroeder51 posted: 03.14.2015 - 4:06 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) First Indy 500 starts for Jerry Karl and Bobby Allison. Only Indy 500 start for Graham McRae. Last Indy 500 starts for Mel Kenyon, Mark Donohue, Joe Leonard, Swede Savage, and Peter Revson. 27. Schroeder51 posted: 03.15.2015 - 2:20 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Add to the DNQs: Swede Savage, #0 STP Oil Treatment (Did not qualify) Gary Bettenhausen, #12 Sunoco DX (Did not qualify) Rick Muther, #23 Bruce Crower (Did not qualify) Billy Vukovich, Jr., #29 MVS (Did not qualify) John Mahler, #35 Norris Industries (Did not qualify) Wally Dallenbach, #40 STP Oil Treatment (Did not qualify) Joe Leonard, #41 Samsonite (Did not qualify) Swede Savage, #42 Patrick Racing (Did not qualify) Dick Simon, #44 TraveLodge (Did not qualify) Eldon Rasmussen, #52 Quality Racing Team (Failed rookie test) Billy Shuman, #53 Quality Racing Team (Did not qualify) Larry Dickson, #58 Midwest Manufacturing (Did not qualify) Bentley Warren, #58 Midwest Manufacturing (Did not qualify) Jimmy Caruthers, #59 PEP Gas Treatment (Did not qualify) Bill Puterbaugh, #61 Eisenhour (Did not qualify) Dick Simon, #61 Eisenhour (Did not qualify) Bentley Warren, #76 Webster (Did not qualify) Bruce Jacobi, #78 Frantz (Did not qualify) Jim McElreath, #82 Greer (Did not qualify) John Martin, #92 Lodestar (Did not qualify) Johnny Parsons, #94 Two-Jacks Flyer (Did not qualify) 28. Peter posted: 05.08.2015 - 1:21 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Johncock's team quickly left the racetrack to visit Savage in the hospital, and the team's big victory celebration was fast food on the way back to the team shop. 29. joebev910 posted: 05.08.2015 - 2:10 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Peter savage was in his 2th 500 30. Cornys posted: 09.23.2015 - 12:02 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Pulled this comment from TrackForum from somebody who was at this race: Was there for all three days... By the last day all the yellow shirts had used up all their vacation time and had gone home. We could go anywhere. Sat in the upper deck of A stand, first turn at the wall, anywhere. The only problem was that there was no joy anywhere. We were all glad to just get it over... http://www.trackforum.com/forums/showthread.php/197995-1973-Indianapolis-500?p=3883183&viewfull=1#post3883183 31. Cornys posted: 09.25.2015 - 3:42 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Here's a photo from that individual's album: http://i194.photobucket.com/albums/z203/mccarty_2007/Savage_NEW.jpg 32. Jolly Mean Giant posted: 01.30.2016 - 9:46 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Qualifying results: 1. Johnny Rutherford-198.413 MPH 2. Bobby Unser-198.183 MPH 3. Mark Donohue-197.412 MPH 4. Swede Savage-196.582 MPH 5. Gary Bettenhausen-195.599 MPH 6. Mario Andretti-195.059 MPH 7. Steve Krisiloff-194.932 MPH 8. Al Unser-194.879 MPH 9. John Martin-194.385 MPH 10. Jimmy Caruthers-194.217 MPH 11. Lee Kunzman-193.092 MPH 12. Peter Revson-192.607 MPH 13. Gordon Johncock-192.555 MPH 14. Bobby Allison-192.308 MPH 15. Graham McRae-192.030 MPH 16. Mike Hiss-191.939 MPH 17. Roger McCluskey-191.929 MPH 18. Lloyd Ruby-191.622 MPH 19. Dick Simon-191.276 MPH 20. Billy Vukovich, Jr.-191.103 MPH 21. Jerry Karl-190.799 MPH 22. Salt Walther-190.739 MPH 23. George Snider-190.355 MPH 24. Jerry Grant-190.235 MPH 25. Mel Kenyon-190.224 MPH 26. Wally Dallenbach-190.200 MPH 27. Joe Leonard-189.953 MPH 28. Mike Mosley-189.753 MPH 29. Bob Harkey-189.734 MPH 30. David Hobbs-189.454 MPH 31. Sammy Sessions-188.986 MPH 32. A. J. Foyt-188.927 MPH 33. Jim McElreath-188.640 MPH 33. Anthony posted: 03.25.2016 - 4:38 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) One of the worst days in the history of the sport. 34. Jolly Mean Giant posted: 05.17.2016 - 7:02 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Withdrew: Eldon Rasmussen, #52 Quality Racing Team Rasmussen entered this race with two cars (one for him and Billy Shuman), but both of the failed their rookie tests. 35. Jolly Mean Giant posted: 05.20.2016 - 2:06 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Another WD: Bruce Jacobi, #78 Frantz Jacobi entered in a car owned by Tom Frantz, but I don't believe he made a qualifying attempt. This article from April 1973 mentions the team's entry: https://newspapers.library.in.gov/cgi-bin/indiana?a=d&d=BG19730425-01.1.11 36. Mike The Country Musicologist posted: 06.01.2016 - 10:24 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) CJS3872, Mel Kenyon did come back to Indy, at least once. I remember him attempting to qualify in either 76 or 77 with a hodgepodge car made up of parts from several models, but he crashed on his qualifying attempt. 37. Jolly Mean Giant posted: 03.22.2017 - 12:04 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) First alternate: Sam Posey Second alternate: Tom Bigelow Posey was later DQed after his qualifying attempt, and wound up getting stripped of his first alternate statue, which moved Bigelow up to first alternate. 38. Gray Gaulding's Distant Cousin posted: 06.27.2017 - 10:38 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Sponsor Updates #3 Lindsey Hopkins Buick McLaren / Offy #24 Elliot / Norton / STP King / Offy 39. RaceFanX posted: 03.22.2019 - 9:37 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Billy Vukovich, Jr. backs up his runner-up performance at Trenton with another second-place run here, coming just one spot short of becoming Indianapolis' first second-generation winner (it would be almost two decades until Al Unser, Jr. finally became the first). This would be his best finish at Indy but he would score his first Champ Car win later in the season at M.I.S. It's just a shame his great run couldn't come on a better day. 40. Jimmie4life posted: 02.26.2020 - 5:58 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Might be the only race I know of that was moved onto a Wednesday or further, besides events like Texas 2016 in INDYCAR from June to August for rain and schedule problems, and Daytona 1998 from July to October for wildfires. I couldn't imagine what it was like for a fan who planned on Sunday for the race, got there, rained out, rained out Monday, raced only a few laps on Tuesday, and then finished on Wednesday in a shortened, and somber fashion. That'd suck for anyone not expecting a postponed race. 41. SweetRich posted: 02.26.2020 - 6:14 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) The commentators for the race were Jim McKay, Sir Jackie Stewart and Chris Economaki. The pit road reporters were Dave Diles and Don Hein. 42. possum posted: 02.26.2020 - 8:58 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) @40 - in that era they didn't race on Sunday at Indy, so the fan would have planned on Saturday for the race, rained out, did nothing on a sunny Sunday, rained out Monday, rained out Tuesday, and then finished Wednesday. 43. Rich posted: 12.25.2020 - 6:56 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) The studio host was Chris Schenkel. Sir Jackie Stewart was the color analyst on Monday and Tuesday. Chris Economaki was the color analyst on Wednesday. 44. JollyMeanGiant posted: 02.23.2021 - 8:09 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Additional DNQ according to UltimateRacingHistory: Dennis Zimmerman, #16 Ayr-Way/Lloyd's, Eagle/Offy (Owner: Lindsey Hopkins) 45. JollyMeanGiant posted: 03.03.2021 - 1:43 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) 36 cars completed full qualifying runs. Sam Posey in the #34 (34th), Tom Bigelow in the #27 (35th) and Jim Hurtubise in the #56 (36th) 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: