|| *Comments on the 1977 Indianapolis 500:* View the most recent comment <#27> | Post a comment <#post> Tweet 1. RaceFanX posted: 08.20.2010 - 1:10 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) A.J. Foyt becomes the first person the Indy 500 four times Although she went out early, Janet Guthrie becomes the first woman to run in the Indy 500 Speedway owner Tony Hulman caused a minor stir when despite Guthrie making the race he still intended to say "Gentlemen, start your engines." He eventually did say it but relented by giving specific mention to Janet before he did. The would be the last 500 Hulman would live to see. After Foyt's historic win, he and Hulman took a victory lap around the track riding in the Oldsmobile Delta 88 pace car. Tom Sneva won the pole for this race and became the first driver to qualify at Indy at over 200 MPH in the process. He eventually finished second. Gordon Johncock had the race well in hand when his crankshift broke going down the frontstretch. He casually pulled off at Turn 1 got out of his car and went down and jumped in the small creek that runs by that part of the track to cool off. Fan favorite Lloyd Ruby runs the 500 for the final time although he made another unsuccessful attempt to make the field in 1978. 2. Schroeder51 posted: 05.13.2011 - 11:17 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Lloyd Ruby actually went to the hospital after his crash. He lost conciousness in the accident. 3. Schroeder51 posted: 05.14.2011 - 12:59 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) A. J. Foyt actually ran out on the final lap but managed to just have enough to make it back to the finish line first. 4. Pacer posted: 07.26.2011 - 12:16 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) The pace car for this race was an Oldsmobile Delta 88, decked out in a sharp black-and-silver paint job it has proven to be one of the race's most memorable pace cars. 5. cjs3872 posted: 08.17.2011 - 8:11 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Schroeder51, Foyt did not run out of fuel on the final lap, as he had enough to drive the car into victory lane. He did, however, run out of fuel earlier in the race, which helped allow Gordon Johncock to build up a substantial lead, which Foyt would never have completely made up if Johncock's crank shaft had not broken 15 laps short of the finish. After the tragic 1973 race in which a driver (Swede Savage) and a mechanic (Armando Teran) were killed, and the crushing disappointments in 1975 with Wally Dallenbach, and this race with Gordon Johncock, andy Granatelli's STP left IndyCar racing at year's end and would not return until 1981, though STP returned with the same team, Patrick Racing. Now Al Unser DID run out of fuel on the final lap, but still finished third. Also, while not the greatest Indy 500 in history, it was, and still is, the most historical, as three standards were set with Sneva's 200 MPH lap, Guthrie becoming the first woman to drive in the race, and Foyt veconimg the race's first four-time winner. Interstingly, the eighth-place finish for Roger McCluskey was his best in an Indianapolis 500 that went the distance, as his only two finishes higher than that were in the rain-shortened race in 1973 and 1975. Dallenbach (fourth in 1976) and Lee Kunzman (seventh in 1973) tied career-bests, while Johnny Parsons, Jr. was fifth, a finish he would match in 1985. Parsons would never match his father's feat of wining the race, which happened in the rain-shortened 1950 affair. Speaking of sons of legendary Indy champions, Billy Vukovich, while he didn't finish the race, led one lap, the 26th, during a series of pit stops. Depite constantly challenging for victories, finishing second (1973), third (1974), fifth (1971), sixth (1975), and seventh (1968) previously, that was the only lap that Billy Vukovich ever led at Indy, as he too, never match his father winning feats at Indy. And by the way, I think the reason for the fourth caution should have been for Carter blowing his engine, because he oiled down the third turn when he blew in Dan Gurney's car, so much so that Johncock nearly crashed (for the second time in the race), as well as nearly crashing himself, and not for the tow-in. 6. Richie posted: 10.22.2012 - 4:50 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Race was actually held on Sunday, May 29th. Not Monday, May 30th. 7. Nathan Milliron posted: 02.11.2013 - 8:35 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Also, according to Carl Hungness, John Mahler was relieved for the final 7 laps by Larry Cannon. 8. Schroeder51 posted: 10.04.2013 - 4:50 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) A more complete list of drivers who DNQed for this race: #67 Larry Cannon #80 Larry Dickson #88 Tom Frantz #69, #75 Jerry Grant #19 Spike Gehlhausen #22, #96 Todd Gibson #88 Bob Harkey #23 Gary Irvin #57 Jim Hurtubise #37, #57, #88 Jerry Karl #88 Mel Kenyon #33 Graham McRae #28 John Martin #63 Larry McCoy #90 Rick Mears #91 Teddy Pilette #33, #77 Salt Walther #38 Bill Simpson #64 Joe Saldana #15, #85 Vern Schuppan #39 Alan Jones #42 Duke Cook #70 Ed Finley Elliott Forbes-Robinson (no number given) #67 Ed Crombie Woody Fisher (no number given) 9. Schroeder51 posted: 10.05.2013 - 2:03 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) And some more teams that DNQed for this race... #38, #64 Tom Bigelow #93 Steve Krisiloff #26 James McElreath (note: Jim McElreath's son) #15, #75 Billy Vukovich, Jr. #39 Clay Regazzoni #27 Dick Simon #72 George Snider #63 Jerry Sneva 10. Unser1 posted: 11.24.2013 - 1:36 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Ensign F1 racer Clay Regazzoni crosses over to make his only USAC Champ Car appearence. Regazzoni made the race despite a hard flip in practice but the five-time Grand Prix winner was put on the trailer early by a mechanical problem. 11. Anonymous posted: 02.23.2015 - 5:01 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) On the DNQ list, you have Jim McElreath in a #26 and so forth... All the information on that DNQ is correct, except the driver was JAMES McElreath, not Jim. 12. Schroeder51 posted: 03.14.2015 - 4:12 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) First Indy 500 starts for Jerry Sneva, Danny Ongais, Cliff Hucul, and Janet Guthrie. Only Indy 500 starts for Bubby Jones, Bobby Olivero, and Clay Regazzoni. Last Indy 500 starts for Bill Puterbaugh and Al Loquasto. 13. Schroeder51 posted: 03.15.2015 - 2:37 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Add to the DNQs: Vern Schuppan, #15 Alex Foods (Did not qualify) Dick Simon, #27 Bryant Heating & Cooling (Did not qualify) Graham McRae, #33 Dayton-Walther (Did not qualify) Salt Walther, #33 Dayton-Walther (Did not qualify) Tom Bigelow, #38 Theodore Racing (Did not qualify) Bill Simpson, #38 Theodore Racing (Did not qualify) Alan Jones, #39 Theodore Racing (Replaced by Clay Regazzoni) Duke Cook, #42 Mergard 20th Century Eagle (Replaced by Larry Cannon) Jerry Karl, #57 Crower/Love Oil (Did not qualify) Tom Bigelow, #64 Toledo Construction Equipment (Did not qualify) Ed Crombie, #67 Crombie (Did not qualify) Ed Finley, #70 BFM (Did not qualify) George Snider, #72 Bruce Cogle (Did not qualify) Woody Fisher (Did not qualify) Elliott Forbes-Robinson, Caesars Palace (Did not arrive) 14. indycar1 posted: 05.08.2015 - 10:34 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) This race had 5 cautions for 44 minutes. 15. Schroeder51 posted: 06.20.2015 - 1:56 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Also the final Indy start for Lloyd Ruby. 16. FortiFord posted: 12.13.2015 - 11:55 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) #84 Owner: A. J. Foyt 17. Jolly Mean Giant posted: 01.30.2016 - 10:15 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Qualifying results: 1. Tom Sneva-198.886 MPH 2. Bobby Unser-197.618 MPH 3. Johnny Rutherford-197.325 MPH 4. Al Unser-195.950 MPH 5. A. J. Foyt-194.563 MPH 6. Gordon Johncock-193.516 MPH 7. Mario Andretti-193.351 MPH 8. Danny Ongais-193.040 MPH 9. Pancho Carter-192.452 MPH 10. Roger McCluskey-190.992 MPH 11. Lloyd Ruby-190.840 MPH 12. Mike Mosley-190.064 MPH 13. Wally Dallenbach-189.563 MPH 14. Johnny Parsons-189.255 MPH 15. Sheldon Kinser-189.076 MPH 16. George Snider-188.977 MPH 17. Bobby Olivero-188.452 MPH 18. Janet Guthrie-188.403 MPH 19. Jim McElreath-187.715 MPH 20. Al Loquasto-187.647 MPH 21. Cliff Hucul-187.198 MPH 22. Bill Puterbaugh-186.799 MPH 23. Jerry Sneva-186.616 MPH 24. Gary Bettenhausen-186.596 MPH 25. Tom Bigelow-186.470 MPH 26. Billy Vukovich, Jr.-186.393 MPH 27. Lee Kunzman-186.384 MPH 28. Clay Regazzoni-186.047 MPH 29. Dick Simon-185.615 MPH 30. John Mahler-185.242 MPH 31. Eldon Rasmussen-185.119 MPH 32. Bubby Jones-184.938 MPH 33. Steve Krisiloff-184.691 MPH 18. Jolly Mean Giant posted: 05.18.2016 - 10:51 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Withdrew: Elliott Forbes-Robinson, Caesars Palace He was on the entry list, but the car was a no-show during the month of May. This newspaper article confirms his entry in the race: https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1368&dat=19770315&id=FHpQAAAAIBAJ&sjid=3BEEAAAAIBAJ&pg=3704,3002804&hl=en 19. Jolly Mean Giant posted: 03.22.2017 - 12:11 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) First alternate: Joe Saldana 20. RaceFanX posted: 05.27.2017 - 11:57 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) The first-ever Indy 500 Pit Stop Challenge was held in the lead up to this one. Jim McElreath and #73 Carrillo Industries team put their name in the record books as the event's first winner, defeating Wally Dallenbach and Pat Patrick's #40 team in the finals, although come Sunday their unique AMC-powered Eagle conked out before halfway. 21. Jolly Mean Giant posted: 06.20.2017 - 7:31 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) This was the first time a father and son entered an Indy 500 to compete against each other. Jim McElreath managed to qualify his #73, but his son James missed the cut, being the 4th fastest of the non-qualifiers. (James never got another shot at Indy as he died in a sprint car crash in Winchester a few months later). It would not be until 1983 that a father and son both managed to qualify for the 500-Al Unser and "Little" Al Unser, Jr. 22. Jolly Mean Giant posted: 06.20.2017 - 7:40 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) After failing to qualify, Salt Walther's father George and brother bought out the #16 Lee Elkins entry driven by Bill Puterbaugh, which had managed to qualify. Their plan was to boot Puterbaugh from the ride and put Salt in it for the race instead. This garnered negative attention and Puterbaugh even planned on pursuing legal action for being kicked out of the car he qualified. Ultimately, though, Salt decided not to take the ride and Bill was allowed to drive it in the race. 23. RaceFanX posted: 05.24.2019 - 4:09 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) nascarman has a great post about Clay Regazzoni's participation in this one and misadventures he had to endure to be a part of this one... racing-reference.info/showblog?id=3454 24. Shawn posted: 03.03.2020 - 4:42 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Margin of vicotry: 28.63 seconds per official IMS website 25. SweetRich posted: 03.07.2020 - 10:01 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) The commentators for the race were Jim McKay and Sir Jackie Stewart with Chris Economaki and Bill Flemming on pit road. 26. Rich posted: 12.25.2020 - 6:56 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Chris Schenkel was the studio host. 27. JollyMeanGiant posted: 03.03.2021 - 1:46 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) 37 cars completed full qualifying runs. Joe Saldana in the #64 (34th), Vern Schuppan in the #85 (35th), Salt Walther in the #77 (36th) and James McElreath in the #26 (37th) 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: