|| *Comments on the 1978 Indianapolis 500:* View the most recent comment <#24> | Post a comment <#post> Tweet 1. RaceFanX posted: 08.20.2010 - 1:16 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Al Unser wins the 500 for the third time, all within the course of a decade. Danny Ongais had a great car, as he did for most of the 1978 USAC IndyCar season, and was one of the few who could keep pace with Unser but was knocked out by mechanical woes. Rick Mears makes his Indy 500 debut but despite a fast car he was knocked from contention early when he had to pit, because he didn't strap his helmet on. He ran around the track for several laps just barely holding it on. He later went out with mechanical woes. Nursing a broken wrist, Janet Guthrie not only finished the Indy 500 but placed in the top-10. It was the only time Guthrie would finish at Indy and her 9th remained the best at Indy for a woman until Danica Patrick finished 4th in 2005. This was the last 500 held in the USAC era before CART came onto the scene. 2. Madison posted: 12.30.2010 - 11:15 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Also the first pole speed over 200mph. 3. Pacer posted: 07.26.2011 - 12:17 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) The pace car for this 500 was a Chevrolet Corvette 4. cjs3872 posted: 08.15.2011 - 10:13 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Actually, Mears knocked himself out of contention by missing a shift on the start. Interstingly, Sheldon Kinser brought out each of the race's first two caution periods when he stalled on the track. Spike Gehlhausen was the only driver thaet crashed in this race. Also, both of Pat Patrick's cars were penalized one lap for infractions during this race. Steve Krisiloff, while leading the race, was penalized for closing up under caution, going too fast under the PACER light system, which kept the cars at precise intervals under the caution flag (1978 was the last year the PACER light system was used at Indy). Gordon Johncock, his Patrick Racing teammate was also penalized a lap for running over his air hose on one of his pit stops. Oddly enough, neither of their finishing positions were affected by the penalties, as Johncock would have been third and Krisiloff fourth anyway. George Bignotti, the crew chief for both Patrick Racing cars planned on protesting Unser's victory, claiming that he had also run over his air hose on his final pit stop, but television replays clearly showed that he did not run over his air hose on that pit stop. Also, a rather amusing moment occurred during the mid-stages of the race when Salt Walther actually fired a member of his pit crew on national television for changing his car without telling him. And RaceFanX, Ongais was the ONLY man that could keep up with Unser, but fell out when his turbocharger failed him. Interstingly, guys who came to Indy through drag racing, always overextended their equipment. That was the case with Ongais, as well as Wally Dallenbach, who dominated the 1975 race, but fell out with a burned piston. If that race had gone the distance and Dallenbach had not burned that piston, he probably would not have made it to the finish anyway, because he was burning too much fuel and would probably have run out. (Dallenbach admitted to his drag racing background as the reason he was able to beat A.J. Foyt into turn one in 1974.) 5. Schroeder51 posted: 10.04.2013 - 4:54 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) A more complete list of drivers who DNQed for this race: #85 Larry Cannon #4 Bob Harkey #9 Gary Irvin Jim Hurtubise (no number given) #7, #66 Mike Hiss #18 Bubby Jones #90 Lee Kunzman #8 Al Loquasto #33, #34 Graham McRae #2 John Martin #78 Bobby Olivero #18, #93 Billy Vukovich, Jr. #58 Eldon Rasmussen #9, #97 Roger Rager #57 Chuck Gurney Mel Kenyon (no number given) Vern Schuppan (no number given) Ed Finley (no number given) 6. Schroeder51 posted: 10.05.2013 - 2:05 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) And some more teams that DNQed for this race... #95 Gary Bettenhausen #78 Pancho Carter #51 Gordon Johncock #6, #65 Larry Rice #27 Dick Simon 7. Schroeder51 posted: 03.14.2015 - 4:13 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) First Indy 500 starts for Larry Rice, Joe Saldana, Rick Mears, Tom Bagley, and Phil Threshie. 8. Schroeder51 posted: 03.15.2015 - 2:42 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Add to DNQs: Mike Hiss, #7 Gould Charge (Replaced by Mario Andretti) Dick Simon, #27 Bryan Heating & Cooling (Did not qualify) Graham McRae, #34 Dayton-Walther (Did not qualify) Gordon Johncock, #51 Texaco Star (Did not qualify) Chuck Gurney, #57 Crower Cam (Did not qualify) Larry Rice, #65 City of Syracuse (Did not qualify) Mike Hiss, #66 Penske Racing (Did not qualify) Pancho Carter, #78 Alex Foods (Did not qualify) Bobby Olivero, #78 Alex Foods (Did not qualify) Billy Vukovich, Jr., #93 McCord Auto Supply (Did not qualify) Gary Bettenhausen, #95 Dairy Queen (Did not qualify) Roger Rager, #97 Dairy Queen (Did not qualify) Ed Finley, Olmstead (Did not qualify) Mel Kenyon (Did not qualify) Vern Schuppan (Did not qualify) 9. indycar1 posted: 05.08.2015 - 10:35 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) This race had 6 cautions for 48 minutes. 10. Schroeder51 posted: 07.09.2015 - 10:13 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Jim Hurtubise caused some major controversy during qualifying. He planned to enter with his out of date front-engined Mallard, but he'd been denied the permission to actually qualify due to the car not having enough speed. Hurtubise felt that USAC was trying to target and harass him, and got into a heated argument with chief steward Tom Binford during the last hour of qualifying. Bob Harkey was waiting in line to try to bump his way into the field, but Hurtubise commandeered his vehicle, proclaiming "if I can't qualify, no one can!" Hurtubise was removed from the car and Harkey got in, but then Jim tried to block Harkey from leaving the pits. Safety crews had to restrain him, and Harkey got out on track...but while Bob was out on the backstretch, Hurtubise climbed over the pit wall and ran on the track to try to prevent Harkey from completing his qualifying attempt. John Martin tackled him, and he was promptly detained by the police and banned from the race track for the remainder of the month. (Harkey successfully completed his attempt, but it wasn't fast enough to stand and he was bumped out himself.) 11. Jolly Mean Giant posted: 01.30.2016 - 10:22 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Qualifying results: 1. Tom Sneva-202.156 MPH 2. A. J. Foyt-200.122 MPH 3. Danny Ongais-200.122 MPH 4. Rick Mears-200.078 MPH 5. Johnny Rutherford-197.098 MPH 6. Pancho Carter-196.829 MPH 7. Al Unser-196.474 MPH 8. Gordon Johncock-195.833 MPH 9. Wally Dallenbach-195.233 MPH 10. Bobby Unser-194.658 MPH 11. Mario Andretti-194.647 (Mike Hiss qualified the car as Mario Andretti was competing in the Grand Prix of Belgium at the time of pole day time trials. Hiss should be added to the DNQs) 12. Johnny Parsons-194.280 MPH 13. Larry Dickson-193.434 MPH 14. Salt Walther-193.226 MPH 15. Dick Simon-192.967 MPH 16. George Snider-192.626 MPH 17. Roger McCluskey-192.256 MPH 18. Sheldon Kinser-192.051 MPH 19. Steve Krisiloff-191.255 MPH 20. Tom Bagley-190.941 MPH 21. Joe Saldana-190.809 MPH 22. Janet Guthrie-190.325 MPH 23. Spike Gehlhausen-190.325 MPH 24. John Mahler-189.723 MPH 25. Tom Bigelow-189.115 MPH 26. Mike Mosley-188.719 MPH 27. Jim McElreath-188.058 MPH 28. Cliff Hucul-187.805 MPH 29. Jerry Karl-187.549 MPH 30. Phil Threshie-187.520 MPH 31. Larry Rice-187.392 MPH 32. Gary Bettenhausen-187.324 MPH 33. Jerry Sneva-187.266 MPH 12. Jolly Mean Giant posted: 03.22.2016 - 2:01 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) I believe quite a few of the DNQ numbers here are incorrect-Ultimate Racing History.com lists some numbers that seem more likely to be correct. According to that site: -John Martin's number was #28 -Bob Harkey's number was #42 -Larry Rice's number was #65 -Al Loquasto's number was #86 -Gary Irvin's number was #92 -Roger Rager's number was #95. I've never found any sources as to what Jim Hurtubise's number was, but I'm almost certain it had to be #56 considering that was the number he primarily used throughout most of his career. 13. 23andJoe posted: 03.22.2016 - 4:47 am Rate this comment: (2) (0) Of course, it's worth remembering that Back In The Day there would be drivers on Bump Day withdrawing from cars that had set a time but been bumped and then entering in another car - not always their originally-entered T-car, either, but sometimes a car borrowed from another team etc. This makes determining which number DNQs had singularly frustrating sometimes. 14. Nascar Lead Lap Points posted: 03.22.2016 - 11:19 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Jim Hurtubise number was #56 15. Jolly Mean Giant posted: 05.20.2016 - 1:48 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Withdrew: Mike Hiss, #7 Gould Charge Hiss qualified the #7 car for Mario Andretti as he was busy running the Belgian Grand Prix in F1. He promptly stepped aside to allow Mario to drive the car in the race. Hiss qualified 8th, but because of the driver swap, Mario had to start last. 16. Jolly Mean Giant posted: 03.22.2017 - 12:13 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) First alternate: Graham McRae Second alternate: Bob Harkey 17. Jim4Bill posted: 06.01.2017 - 4:37 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) In the interview after he blew up in 1975 - Wally did not indicate the high boost blew the engine - he got forced in the grass (not on the TV broadcast) and had a flat tire - which caused him to let off for an extended period to get into the pits - and on that version of the DGS motor little or closed throttle caused them to lean out and burn a piston. Still might have been short on gas given his pace but that was his explanation for how he burned a piston. Guess they needed an ECU to manage the mixture.....lol 18. SweetRich posted: 02.26.2020 - 1:55 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) The Commentators For The Race Were Jim McKay And Sir Jackie Stewart. The Pit Road Reporters Were Chris Economaki, Bill Flemming And Sam Posey. 19. Shawn posted: 03.04.2020 - 6:08 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) What is the difference between the Offenhauser & the DGS? 20. possum posted: 03.04.2020 - 6:19 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) @19 - slightly shorter stroke and wider bore, if I remember correctly. Probably a whole bunch of other detail improvements...when you get down to it, no two Offy's are quite alike. 21. possum posted: 03.04.2020 - 6:30 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Following up to myself, I went and grabbed Gordon White's book, and the big change was narrowing the valve angle to 40 degrees. A more upright valve gives a better flame travel across the piston, which allows running higher revs, less timing advance, and generally produces more power. The shorter stroke was probably to keep piston speed constant at the higher RPM. 22. MSportRev posted: 03.05.2020 - 11:10 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) DNQ updates: 34. Graham McRae was in a McLaren/DGS. 35. Bob Harkey was in an Eagle/Offy owned by Donald Mergard. 36. Al Loquasto was in a McLaren/Offy he owned. 37. Larry Cannon was in a Wildcat I/DGS he owned. John Martin was in an Eagle/Offy owned by Richard Beith. Billy Vukovich, Jr. (#18) was in a Wildcat I/DGS owned by Bobby Hillin. Billy Vukovich, Jr. also failed to qualify driving the #93 Eagle Finley/Offy owned by Tassi Vatis. Gary Irvin was in an Eagle Finley/Offy owned by Tassi Vatis. Bobby Olivero (DNQ) was in the #78 Lightning 77/Offy owned by Alex Morales. Bubby Jones was in a Wildcat I/DGS owned by Bobby Hillin. Roger Rager (#95) was in a King 73/Offy owned by Grant King. Roger Rager also failed to qualify in the #97 Dragon 76/Offy owned by Grant King. Eldon Rasmussen was in a Rascar 78/Foyt he owned. Ed Finley (DNQ) was in the #62 Eagle 73/Volker owned by Bob Olmstead. Lee Kunzman was in a Fox 78/Offy owned by Art Sugai. Lloyd Ruby (DNQ) was in the #21 Parnelli/Offy owned by Gene White. Jim Hurtubise was in a Mallard/Offy he owned. Bill Puterbaugh (DNQ) was in the #27 Vollstedt/Offy owned by Rolla Vollstedt. Larry Rice was in an Eagle/Offy owned by Patrick Santello. Source: Ultimate Racing History. 23. 23andJoe posted: 07.22.2020 - 7:04 am Rate this comment: (2) (0) Here's the complete and (hopefully?) final list of DNQs. OldRacingCars has done a lot of research on chassis (including tracking individual cars!). The following drivers set times in qualifying, but were either bumped out of the field or too slow to have bumped in in the first place: -33. Graham McRae, #34 Dayton-Walther McLaren/Offy, owner George Walther -34. Bob Harkey, #42 Eagle/Offy, owner Donald Mergard -35. Al Loquasto, #86 Frostie Root Beer McLaren/Offy, owner Al Loquasto Sr. -36. Larry Cannon, #85 Dayton-Walther Wildcat/DGS, owner George Walther The following drivers made attempts at qualifying runs, but none were completed: -Billy Vukovich, Jr., #18 Longhorn Racing Wildcat/DGS, owner Bobby Hillin -John Martin, #28 Wheel Center Eagle/Offy, owner Richard Beith -Bubby Jones, #18 Simon Shopping Centers Wildcat/DGS, owner Bobby Hillin -Gary Irvin, #92 Eagle/Offy, owner Tassi Vatis -Roger Rager, #97 Dairy Queen Dragon/Offy, owner Agajanian-King The following drivers practiced during the Month of May, but were unable to attempt a qualifying run: -Lee Kunzman, #90 Fox/Offy, owner Art Sugai -Eldon Rasmussen, #58 Rent-A-Racer RasCar/Foyt, owner Eldon Rasmussen -Jim Hurtubise, #56 Mallard/Offy, owner Jim Hurtubise The following drivers practiced during the Month of May, but were replaced by other drivers before attempting qualifying: -Bobby Olivero, #78 Alex XLNT Foods Lightning/Offy, owner Alex Morales The following drivers were present in the garage with their cars, but were unable to take to the track at any point in an official session: -Vern Schuppan, #55 Budweiser Lightning/Cosworth, owner Bob Fletcher -Ed Finley, #62 Eagle/Volker, owner Bob Olmstead The following drivers were bumped, then requalified in other cars: -Larry Rice, #65 Bryant/WIBC Eagle/Offy, owner Patrick Santello The following drivers qualified but stepped out of the car for another driver for the race: -Mike Hiss, #7 Gould Charge Penske/Cosworth, owner Roger Penske, replaced by Mario Andretti for the race (Note that McRae is often listed as having attempted to qualify both the #34 and #33, but according to ORC the #33 was merely Salt Walther's T-car.) *** In addition, note the following corrections to team owners: -#69 owner was Gus Hoffman -#98 owner was Agajanian-King -#8 owner was Bob Fletcher -#30 owner was Fred Ruth -#29 owner was Cliff Hucul 24. Rich posted: 12.22.2020 - 10:22 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) The studio host was Chris Schenkel. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *Post a comment:* Your comment may not appear immediately - all comments must be approved by the moderator. Name: Comment: