|| *Comments on the 1975 Indianapolis 500:* View the most recent comment <#29> | Post a comment <#post> Tweet 1. RaceFanX posted: 08.20.2010 - 1:13 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) This was Bobby Unser's 2nd Indy 500 win and the 2nd for his car owner Dan Gurney. And it came with a wild rainy finish... Gordon Johncock had a great car in the early laps...emphasis on the "early." Bad luck quickly put the STP #20 on the trailer. With Gordie gone the race appeared to be shaping up as a Texas shootout between polesitter A.J. Foyt and defending race winner Johnny Rutherford. Foyt however was knocked from contention when he ran out of gas and had to coast in around lap 120, just before Tom Sneva's terrible crash. Mario Andretti crashed as Rutherford and Foyt were coming to lap him down the backstretch. Sneva was running in the top-5 when he had his terrible flip, his car flew backward into the catchfence and ripped clean in half in a ball of fire. His wreck can be seen here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i4TO3NatTmY Johncock's teammate Wally Dallenbach (Sr.) had a great chance to win this one and even led the most laps but a burnt piston knocked him out of the race while leading. When the rain came it came hard and fast, flooding the track and making it a virtual ice rink trying to drive on it with slick tires. Even after the yellow came out there were several crashes, most famously Billy Vukovich Jr. spun his #6 off turn four and caught a little air off a bump as he put his car backward into a fence (he still finished). 2. Mike posted: 05.06.2011 - 8:38 pm Rate this comment: (0) (1) This was the third time in a four-year span that Salt Walther finished last in the 500 (he finished last in 1972 and 1973 as well, although he improved to 17th in 1974). This was a slight improvement over the previous two last-place finishes though, since he completed two more laps in this race than he did in either of those two. 3. Schroeder51 posted: 05.13.2011 - 3:20 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Billy Vukovich nearly hit a photographer who for some reason was standing on the other side of the fence he spun into. 4. cjs3872 posted: 05.23.2011 - 7:52 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) On May 23, this race re-aired for the first time ever on ESPN Classic. I knew that the finish of this race was bizarre, but I didn't know just how bizarre it was. On lap 162, Wally Dallenbach, who was leading easily, burned a piston, a fact he partially blamed on having to run through the grass as result of Tom Sneva's accident. That gave Johnny Rutherford the lead, but he pitted two laps later. That gave the lead to Bobby Unser. Unser and rutherford had both driven conservative races, but were, as was the case the year before, the two drivers battling it out for the Indy title. Then on lap 170, the right rear suspension Gary Bettenhausen's car literally broke off, bringing out the caution flag. Both Unser and Rutherford pitted to get the fuel they hoped would get them to the finish. After the dust had settled from Bettehnausen's incident, a fire broke out in Dick Simon's pit area, though Simon was able to continue. Then Unser pitted again, and in a bizarre preview of the controversial 1981 incident, Unser passed Foyt while the caution was still out. to avoid a penalty, Unser let Foyt repass him. Then, of the course the monsoon that ended the race hit, sending six cars spinning. The cars that spun out were those of Pancho Carter (erroneously reported as Mike Mosley by Keith Jackson, as Carter was driving car #11, while Mosley was driving car #12, but he was already out of the race long before the storm hit), Bentley Warren, Bill Puterbaugh, Jimmy Caruthers. Those cars spun out at the pit entrance. A fifth car, driven by Bill Vukovich II spun out in turn four, while a sixth, whose number was never identified, spun just about at the S-F line. that's the car that Unser and Foyt split as they crossed the finish line. Vuky's was the only car among those to cross the finish line unassisted. It's also interesting that Pancho Carter drove to fourth place in a car that was practically destroyed on Carb Day. That car was rebuilt, and Carter drove to fourth place. This was truly a day for the conservative drivers, as most of the more aggressive drivers dropped out. Dallenbach led 96 laps, while teammate gordon Johncock led the fiorst eight. Foyt led 53 laps but ran out of fuel on the 124th lap. As mentioned, both Unser and Rutherford drove more conservative races than they were known for, while Carter, McCluskey, and Vukovich were also known as being conservative drivers, and they finished fourth, fifth, and sixth. A couple of other notes from this race: Bob Harkey was relieved by Salt Walther on his first pit stop. (Walther dropped out on lap 2, becoming the only driver ever to finish last in the Indianapolis 500 three times.) Mario Andretti had transmission problems early, and later crashed on the back straightaway when his rear wing broke. Bobby Allison led one lap during the first round of pit stops during the race, becoming the first full-time NASCAR driver ever to lead the race. (He later fell out of the race with gearbox failure, which was a common problem that numerous drivers suffered in this race, including Andretti, Al Unser, who later dropped out for unrelated reasons, Gordon Johncock (1/2 time gear), and Johnny Parsons. Of them, Andretti and Al Unser continued but dropped out for other reasons.) There were also seven drivers that suffered burned pistons in this race, most notably among them was Dallenbach. Jerry Karl's car was masterminded by the legendary Smokey Yunick. This was the last major race in which Yunick had a significant role. And George Snider (who ran as high as fifth) and Steve Krisiloff, who's mechanical problem at the start two years earlier led to Salt Walther's devastating crash, drove in the race in cars co-owned by J.C. Agajanian and Ralph Wilke, who I believe was the son of Bob Wilke, the man who owned both of Rodger Ward's Indy winning cars, as well as Bobby Unser's 1968 winner. 5. Schroeder51 posted: 05.24.2011 - 12:28 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Bill Puterbaugh finally makes his first Indy 500 after failing to qualify in his 6 previous attempts. Despite spinning in the rainstorm at the end, his 7th place finish was enough to earn him Rookie of the Year honors. 6. Schroeder51 posted: 05.26.2011 - 9:27 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Also Jigger Sirois made his 7th and final attempt to qualify for the Indy 500. He failed to qualify, and as a result, would retire having never been able to race at Indy. 7. cjs3872 posted: 07.16.2011 - 6:58 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) The entire broadcast of this race has now made it on to YouTube (thanks to YT user OldSchoolNascar), not just the replayed moments of Tom Sneva's crash and the wild rain finish. The commentators for this race were Keith Jackson and Jackie Stewart in the booth, Sam Posey and Chris Economaki in the pits, and the legendary Chris Schenkel as the host, as he was through 1980. 8. Pacer posted: 07.26.2011 - 12:05 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) The pace car for this race was a custom V8 Buick Century. 9. Schroeder51 posted: 07.31.2011 - 2:18 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I believe the stalled car that Unser and Foyt split coming to the finish in the rain was either Steve Krisiloff or Sheldon Kinser. 10. cjs3872 posted: 08.15.2011 - 4:04 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Schroeder51, actually, I believe that was Pancho Carter's car they split just prior to the finish line. Carter, Billy Vukovich, Bill Puterbaugh, Jimmy Caruthers, Bentley Warren, Steve Krisiloff, and George Snider all spun out in that monsoon that ended the race. Interstingly, the fire that broke out in Dick Simon's pit during the caution, which originally came out for the broken suspension part from Gary Bettenhuasen's car, which did not crash, despite what the results show, did not prevent him from finishing the race. Also, the heartbreak for Wally Dallenbach was doubly so, because he wanted to win the race, not just for himself, but also for Swede Savage, as it was Savage's #40 car that Dallenbach was driving in the race. Dallenbach visitied Savage in the hospital more than any other driver after Savage's crash in the 1973 Indy 500, as it was Dallenbach that was named to replace Savage, even before Savage's death from that contaminated blood transfusion. Dallenbach rewarded Patrick's faith by winning the California 500 in 1973, and of course, dominated this race, though there has always been speculation that, if his engine hadn't burned a piston and it hadn't rained, that his car was burning too much fuel to finish anyway. Also, Dallenbach only completed 162 laps, not 165 as it is posted here, though his finishing position of ninth is accurate. 11. Schroeder51 posted: 10.04.2013 - 4:39 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) A more complete list of drivers who DNQed for this race: #28, #52 George Follmer #52, #56 Jim Hurtubise #52, #55 Lee Kunzman #38, #86 Al Loquasto #46, #52 Rick Muther #28, #46 Jan Opperman #52, #98 Bill Simpson #37, #38 Jerry Sneva #59 Larry Cannon #23 Chuck Gurney #53 John Hubbard (note: Did not complete rookie test) #25 Dan Murphy #75 Graham McRae Bob Nagel (no number given) #76 Bill Scott #52 Jigger Sirois 12. Schroeder51 posted: 10.05.2013 - 1:57 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) And some more teams that DNQed for this race... #27 Tom Bigelow #10 A. J. Foyt #25 Bob Harkey #38 Mike Hiss #38 Jerry Karl #32 Mike Mosley #94 Johnny Parsons 13. nascar_vd / racing-reference.info posted: 04.01.2014 - 11:04 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Weather: sunny, then rain Organizer: Anton Hulman 14. Schroeder51 posted: 03.14.2015 - 4:09 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) First Indy 500 starts for Bill Puterbaugh, Sheldon Kinser, Eldon Rasmussen, and Larry McCoy. Last Indy 500 starts for Jimmy Caruthers, Sammy Sessions, Bentley Warren, Bobby Allison, and Mike Hiss. 15. Schroeder51 posted: 03.15.2015 - 2:25 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Add to the DNQs: A. J. Foyt, #10 (Did not qualify) Jan Opperman, #28 American Kids Racers (Did not qualify) Mike Mosley, #32 Sugaripe Prune (Did not qualify) Johnny Parsons, #94 Ayr-Way/WNAP (Did not qualify) Bill Simpson, #98 Lodestar (Did not qualify) Bob Nagel (Did not qualify) 16. Schroeder51 posted: 04.05.2015 - 3:32 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Yellow flags: 1. #94 Mike Hiss accident, turn 3 (Laps 45-49) 2. #21 Mario Andretti accident, backstretch (Laps 68-71) 3. #4 Al Unser, #30 Jerry Karl stalled, backstretch (Laps 97-101) 4. #68 Tom Sneva accident, turn 2 (Laps 127-141) 5. #45 Gary Bettenhausen lost wheel, frontstretch (Laps 170-174) 17. Schroeder51 posted: 04.11.2015 - 4:21 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Wally Dallenbach and Mario Andretti are both credited here as starting 21st. In actuality, Dallenbach started 21st and Andretti started 27th. 18. Jim4Bill posted: 04.23.2015 - 5:49 pm Rate this comment: (0) (1) The first 500 for the DGS "super" Offy....and it dominated on pure speed for Gordy and Wally. Foyt should have won - he was out running the eventual 1st and 2nd place cars - but ran out of fuel and lost almost a full lap. Without that screw up he would have been ahead of LSJR and Unser when the heavens opened up. 19. Schroeder51 posted: 06.13.2015 - 5:35 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Bob Nagel should be added as "Withdrew"...he ran some practice laps driving one of the Thermo King cars (not sure what number, but it would have to be either #45 or #46), but never got a shot at his rookie test as his crew quit on him as they weren't very fond of him (Nagel was a regular on the Can-Am series tour, a different road to Indy than the one many drivers took) and they didn't want to wear out the car going through the rookie tests. Source: https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1129&dat=19750515&id=4cpRAAAAIBAJ&sjid=fm0DAAAAIBAJ&pg=4704,2042031&hl=en 20. Jolly Mean Giant posted: 01.30.2016 - 10:00 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Qualifying results: 1. A. J. Foyt-193.976 MPH 2. Gordon Johncock-191.653 MPH 3. Bobby Unser-191.073 MPH 4. Wally Dallenbach-190.648 MPH 5. Tom Sneva-190.094 MPH 6. Mike Mosley-187.833 MPH 7. Lloyd Ruby-186.984 MPH 8. Mario Andretti-186.480 MPH 9. Johnny Rutherford-185.998 MPH 10. Billy Vukovich, Jr.-185.845 MPH 11. Salt Walther-185.701 MPH 12. Jimmy Caruthers-185.615 MPH 13. Al Unser-185.452 MPH 14. Johnny Parsons-184.521 MPH 15. Bobby Allison-184.398 MPH 16. Jerry Grant-184.266 MPH 17. Roger McCluskey-183.964 MPH 18. Bill Puterbaugh-183.833 MPH 19. Bob Harkey-183.786 MPH 20. John Martin-183.655 MPH 21. Bentley Warren-183.589 MPH 22. Pancho Carter-183.449 MPH 23. George Snider-182.918 MPH 24. Larry McCoy-182.760 MPH 25. Sammy Sessions-182.751 MPH 26. Gary Bettenhausen-182.611 MPH 27. Jerry Karl-182.537 MPH 28. Steve Krisiloff-182.408 MPH 29. Sheldon Kinser-182.389 MPH 30. Eldon Rasmussen-181.910 MPH 31. Dick Simon-181.891 MPH 32. Tom Bigelow-181.864 MPH 33. Mike Hiss-181.754 MPH 21. Anonymous posted: 05.05.2016 - 11:21 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) This actually turned out being the only time Keith Jackson ever called the Indianapolis 500 for ABC. Apparently Jim McKay chose to skip calling this race after having to witness the tragic events of the 1973 race, which were rather horrifying to have to call. 22. Jolly Mean Giant posted: 03.22.2017 - 12:08 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) First alternate: Rick Muther Second alternate: Al Loquasto 23. Shawn posted: 03.21.2019 - 8:46 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Jim McKay missed calling this race for ABC due to illness. 24. RaceFanX posted: 05.08.2019 - 1:01 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Johnny Rutherford was sponsored by Gatorade and 1975 and his car has a sharp white-and-green paint scheme for this running of the 500 complete with an orange lightning bolt like the one featured in the Gatorade logo. Lone Star JR and the McLaren team's only outing at Indy for the sports drink almost ended in victory lane as they took second in the big shower behind Bobby Unser but an off-track incident at this race likely doomed that sponsorship. Stokely-Van Camp, an Indianapolis-based company, was the maker of Gatorade at the time of this race and its leader Bill Stokely came to this race because he wanted to see Rutherford race that #2 McLaren. When Stokely arrived at the track he had trouble getting in as some Speedway workers hassled him about credentials. The argument ultimately led to Stokely deciding to end Gatorade's involvement in IndyCar racing...but not auto racing in general. He and Gatorade would move to NASCAR instead for 1976 and start their legendary sponsorship of driver Darrell Waltrip and the DiGard #88 team instead of coming back to the Brickyard. 25. dedphesant posted: 05.08.2019 - 1:25 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Typical behavior of the IMS staff. I usually have a hot pass for the Brickyard 400 and the yellow shirts WILL NOT let you in when allowed and try to scan the hot pass like a ticket. IMS seriously needs to reconsider the folks that they hire to check credentials. 26. SweetRich posted: 03.07.2020 - 9:58 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) The commentators for the race were Keith Jackson and Sir Jackie Stewart with Chris Economaki and Sam Posey on pit road. 27. Rich posted: 12.25.2020 - 6:56 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Chris Schenkel was the studio host. 28. JollyMeanGiant posted: 03.03.2021 - 1:45 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) 36 cars completed full qualifying runs. Rick Muther in the #46 (34th), Al Loquasto in the #86 (35th) and Lee Kunzman in the #55 (36th) were not fast enough to make the field. 29. Zach posted: 03.04.2021 - 8:44 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) The rain was absolutely torrential at the end and it was a miracle no one was killed. Despite driving at very low speeds toward the checkered, the track was covered in water and the slicks had no traction. Vukovich spun down toward the fence off pit four and narrowly missed backing into someone. There were a number of people on the front stretch attending to spun out cars as Unser and Rutherford crossed the line. Just wild ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *Post a comment:* Your comment may not appear immediately - all comments must be approved by the moderator. Name: Comment: