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1981 Indianapolis 500
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The 65th Indianapolis 500 was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Sunday, May 24, 1981. A hectic month of May was interrupted several times by rain. Bobby Unser took the checkered flag as the winner, with Mario Andretti second. The following morning, USAC officials ruled that Unser had passed cars illegally while exiting the pit area on lap 149, and issued him a one-lap penalty. The official results posted scored Unser finishing second, and declared Andretti the winner.
After a lengthly protest and appeals process, the penalty was rescinded, and Unser was reinstated the victory on October 9.
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Encyclopedia
The 65th Indianapolis 500 was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Sunday, May 24, 1981. A hectic month of May was interrupted several times by rain. Bobby Unser took the checkered flag as the winner, with Mario Andretti second. The following morning, USAC officials ruled that Unser had passed cars illegally while exiting the pit area on lap 149, and issued him a one-lap penalty. The official results posted scored Unser finishing second, and declared Andretti the winner.
After a lengthly protest and appeals process, the penalty was rescinded, and Unser was reinstated the victory on October 9. The race is widely considered one of the most controversial races in Indy history.
Background
Three years into the first open wheel split, the sport of Indy car racing began settling into a mostly stabilized environment by 1981. The upstart CART series sanctioned the season of races, while the Indianapolis 500 itself became an invitation-only race sanctioned by USAC.
A record total of 105 entries were expected to shatter the previous records for drivers on the track and qualifying attempts. Speed-cutting measures were still in place, and no drivers were expected to challenge the track records in 1981.
Mario Andretti, as he had done in previous years, planned to race at Indianapolis in-between his busy, full-time Formula One schedule. His plans included qualifying at Indy on pole day weekend (May 9-10), then flying to Europe for the Belgian Grand Prix (May 17). After Belgium, he would fly back to Indianapolis in time for race day (May 24).
Practice and qualifying
Practice - week 1
Practice started on Opening Day, Saturday May 2. The two most notable rookies of the field made most of the headlines for the afternoon. Young Josele Garza (actually 19 at the time, lied on his entry form to say he was 21) and Geoff Brabham both passed their rookie tests.
On Sunday May 3, Al Unser became the first driver to practice over . A day later, his brother Bobby Unser pushed the speeds over . The first incidents of the month occurred Monday, when Gordon Smiley spun, and Pete Halsmer crashed in turn 4.
Tuesday (May 5) was completely rained out, and Wednesday (May 6) was windy, keeping the speeds mostly down. A record 50 cars took to the track on Thursday (May 7), with Mario Andretti fastest of the day at .
On Friday, the final day of practice before pole day, Penske teammates Bobby Unser and Rick Mears were hand-timed just a tick below . Mario Andretti was a close third over .
Time trials - weekend 1
On Saturday May 9, rain delayed the start of pole position time trials until 3:34 p.m. An abbreviated session saw only 9 cars finish qualifying runs. A. J. Foyt was the fastest of the nine, sitting on the provisional pole at . Rain stopped qualifying for the day at 5:49 p.m., and pushed pole qualifying into the next day.
On Sunday May 10, pole position qualifying was scheduled to resume. Rain fell all afternoon, however, and canceled all track activity for the day. 27 cars were still eligible for the pole position, and the resumption of pole day qualifying was scheduled for the following Saturday.
Among the cars not yet qualified was Mario Andretti, who due in Belgium for the Grand Prix. His plans to put the car safely in the field on pole weekend were thwarted, and a contingency plan would have to be made.
Practice - week 2
Rain continued to fall, and washed out practice on Monday (May 11). On Tuesday May 12, the barrier was finally broken in practice for the month by Danny Ongais. Mario Andretti took his final practice run of the week, and departed for Belgium. Two major crashes occurred, involving Phil Caliva and Phil Krueger. Tim Richmond and Larry "Boom Boom" Cannon both were involved in spins, but suffered no contact.
On Wednesday May 13, Rick Mears pushed the fastest speed of the month to . Retired veteran driver Wally Dallenbach climbed into Mario Andretti's car, and began to take some shake down laps. Due to Andretti's absence for the rest of the week, the Patrick Racing team decided to have Dallenbach qualify the car for him. On race day, Andretti would take over the cockpit once again. Dallenbach was quickly up to speed, over on his first day.
Rain closed the track on Thursday. On Friday, Bobby Unser upped the speed even further, turning a lap of . A record 63 cars took to the track on the final full day of practice. World of Outlaws star, and Indy rookie Steve Kinser crashed in turn 1.
Time trials - weekend 2
Pole day time trials resumed on a sunny Saturday May 16. About a half hour into the session, Bobby Unser took over the pole position with a four-lap average of . Meanwhile, Wally Dallenbach put Mario Andretti's car safely in the filed at over . Mike Mosley squeezed himself into the front row posting a run. Moments later, Rick Mears took to the track. After a lap over , his car developed a vibration, and he was forced to wave off, giving up his chance for the pole position. Pole qualifying continued until 2:00 p.m., when the original qualifying line was finally exhausted. Bobby Unser was awarded the pole, and the next round of qualifying began.
After pole qualifying was over, Tom Sneva qualified his car at . It was the fastest speed of the month, but since it did not take place in the pole round, he was not eligible for the pole position. Later in the day, Rick Mears took a back-up car out to qualify, but had to settle for a slower speed, and 22nd starting position.
On Sunday, bump day time trials were very busy. Ten cars were bumped during 25 attempts.
Carburetion Day
On Thursday May 21, the final scheduled practice session was held. All 33 qualified cars, along with 2 alternates that took laps. Mario Andretti returned from Belgium, and practiced in his already-qualified car. Jerry Karl was arrested during the week, but would be released on bond in time for race day. Bob Harkey practiced his car for him.
The starting grid was altered slightly after qualifying. Wally Dallenbach, who qualified Mario Andretti's car 8th, stepped aside as planned, and the car moved to the rear of the grid. In addition, George Snider vacated his ride in favor of Tim Richmond.
Bobby Unser continued his dominance of the month, and led the speed chart for the afternoon, with a hand-timed lap of . Later in the afternoon, hoping to sweep the month, his Penske Racing pit crew also guided him to a victory in the Miller Pit Stop Contest.
Race recap
Start
Mears pit fire
When Rick Mears pitted on lap 58, fuel began to gush from the refuelling hose before it had been connected to the car. Fuel sprayed over the car, Mears and his mechanics, then ignited when it contacted the engine. Methanol burns with a transparent flame and no smoke, and panic gripped the pit as crew members and spectators fled from the invisible fire. Mears, on fire from the waist up, jumped out of his car and ran to the pit wall, where a safety worker, not seeing the fire, tried to remove Mears' helmet. Meanwhile, Mears' fueller, covered in burning fuel, waved his arms frantically to attract the attention of the fire crews already converging on the scene. By this time the safety worker attending to Mears had fled, and Mears, in near panic at being unable to breathe, leaped over the pit wall toward another crewman carrying a fire extinguisher, who dropped the extinguisher and also fled. Mears tried to turn the extinguisher on himself, but at this point his father, Bill Mears, having already pulled Rick's wife Deena to safety, grabbed the extinguisher and put out the fire. His mechanics had also been extinguished, and the pit fire crew arrived to thoroughly douse Mears' car.
Thanks to quick action by safety workers and the fact that methanol burns at a much lower temperature than gasoline, no one was seriously hurt in the incident. Mears and four of his mechanics (including Derrick Walker, a future crewchief on the Penske team) were sent to hospital, and Mears underwent plastic surgery on his face, particularly on his nose. The incident prompted a redesign to the fuel nozzle used on Indycars, adding a safety valve that would only open when the nozzle was connected to the car.
Danny Ongais crash
Danny Ongais came into the pits on lap 63 as the leader of the race, but problems during the stop caused it to drag on for a disastrous 46 seconds. After finally leaving the pits, Ongais approached a slower car at the end of the backstretch. Perhaps still upset about the long stop, he made a late pass going into turn 3. Carrying too much speed out of the turn, the car drifted out into the grey and the back end began to slide. Ongais tried to correct the slide by turning right, and the car hooked to the right and crashed nearly head-on into the wall. (A year later, Gordon Smiley lost control at the same place in the same way, but crashed directly head-on and was killed.) The front end of the car was ripped away, leaving an unconscious Ongais completely exposed in the cockpit as the car continued around turn 3, trailing a long tongue of orange fire from burning oil. Safety crews quickly surrounded the car and used the jaws of life to rescue Ongais, who suffered a concussion and badly broken feet and legs. Remarkably, Ongais made a full recovery and raced again at Indianapolis just one year later.
Unser pit incident
On lap 146, Gordon Smiley crashed in turn 4. Three laps later, leader Mario Andretti and second place Bobby Unser went into the pit area for service. Unser finished his pit stop first, and was the first driver to exit the pit area. Andretti followed a few seconds behind.
While the two cars were exiting the pits, the pace car was leading the field at reduced pace through turn 1 and turn 2. Unser stayed on the track apron, below the painted white line, and proceeded to pass by 14 cars and blend into the field at the exit of turn two. He took his place in line immediately behind the pace car as the leader. Andretti appeared to pass two or three cars before he blended into the field in the south short chute.
The moves went largely unnoticed at the time. Andretti claims that he immediately called his pit crew on the radio and told him that Unser had passed cars under the yellow. Though no action would be taken, he wanted it observed for the record. During the live radio broadcast, no announcers made note of the incident, nor was it yet reported that any penalty was under consideration.
Finish
Gordon Johncock led late in the race, but slowed and eventually suffered a blown engine with less than 10 laps to go. Bobby Unser assumed the lead on lap 182, with Mario Andretti second. Unser held on to win by 5.18 seconds, one of the closest finishes at Indianapolis to that point.
Unser celebrated his third Indy 500 victory (also 1968 and 1975), while Andretti was lauded for charging from 32nd starting position to a 2nd place finish.
Controversy
Post race
Shortly after the race was over, ramblings over a possible protest or penalty were surfacing. Andretti's team, Patrick Racing, was voicing concern over Bobby Unser passing cars under the yellow on lap 149. At the time, it was the policy of USAC to post official results for the Indianapolis 500 at 8 a.m. the morning after the race. USAC officials announced that the scoring and video tapes would be reviewed overnight.
Television controversy
ABC televised the race on same-day tape-delay at 9 p.m. EDT. At the time, it was the policy of ABC Sports to record live commentary of the race at the start of the race and at the end of the race. For the remaining portions of the race, commentary was recorded during post-production.
Unlike the live radio broadcast, which did not notice nor mention the infraction, the television broadcast focused heavily on the incident, and reported it as it was being aired. It was later revealed that commentators Jim McKay and Jackie Stewart had provided the commentary in post-production, and did so with the knowledge already that Unser had won the race, and a protest was in the works. The broadcast was considered misleading, as it suggested that the infraction was noticed by all parties at the time it occurred. The broadcast was also accused of being biased against Unser, as Stewart only pointed out Unser passing cars under the yellow, and not Andretti doing so.
Official results
USAC spent the night reviewing race tapes and scoring reports. At 8 a.m. EST, the official results of the race were posted. Bobby Unser was charged with passing cars under the yellow, and was penalized 1 lap for the infraction. The penalty dropped Unser down to second place, and elevated Mario Andretti to first place. Andretti was declared the victor, and it made him a two-time Indianapolis 500 winner.
Penske Racing, Bobby Unser's team, immediately protested the decision.
Box score
| Finish | Start | No | Name | Qual | Rank | Laps | Led | Status |
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| 1 | 1 | 3 | Bobby Unser | 200.546 | 2 | 200 | 89 | Running |
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| 2 | 32 | 40 | Mario Andretti | 193.040 | 12 | 200 | 12 | Running |
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| 3 | 18 | 33 | Vern Schuppan | 186.548 | 31 | 199 | 0 | Flagged |
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| 4 | 12 | 32 | Kevin Cogan | 189.444 | 18 | 197 | 0 | Flagged |
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| 5 | 15 | 50 | Geoff Brabham | 187.990 | 22 | 197 | 0 | Flagged |
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| 6 | 23 | 81 | Sheldon Kinser | 189.454 | 17 | 195 | 0 | Flagged |
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| 7 | 16 | 16 | Tony Bettenhausen, Jr. | 187.013 | 28 | 195 | 0 | Flagged |
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| 8 | 17 | 53 | Steve Krisiloff | 186.722 | 30 | 194 | 0 | Flagged |
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| 9 | 4 | 20 | Gordon Johncock | 195.429 | 7 | 194 | 52 | Engine |
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| 10 | 28 | 4 | Dennis Firestone | 187.784 | 23 | 193 | 0 | Engine |
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| 11 | 7 | 7 | Bill Alsup | 193.154 | 11 | 193 | 0 | Flagged |
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| 12 | 25 | 74 | Mike Chandler | 187.567 | 26 | 192 | 0 | Flagged |
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| 13 | 3 | 14 | | 196.078 | 6 | 191 | 0 | Flagged |
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| 14 | 33 | 84 | Tim Richmond | 189.254 | 20 | 191 | 0 | Flagged |
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| 15 | 31 | 38 | Jerry Karl | 186.008 | 33 | 189 | 0 | Flagged |
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| 16 | 29 | 37 | Scott Brayton | 187.774 | 24 | 173 | 0 | Engine |
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| 17 | 9 | 88 | Al Unser | 192.719 | 14 | 166 | 0 | Flagged |
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| 18 | 19 | 31 | Larry Dickson | 186.278 | 32 | 165 | 0 | Piston |
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| 19 | 13 | 35 | Bob Lazier | 189.424 | 19 | 154 | 0 | Engine |
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| 20 | 14 | 56 | Tom Bigelow | 188.294 | 21 | 152 | 0 | Engine |
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| 21 | 27 | 90 | Bill Whittington | 197.098 | 5 | 146 | 0 | Stalled |
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| 22 | 8 | 60 | Gordon Smiley | 192.988 | 13 | 141 | 1 | Crash T4 |
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| 23 | 6 | 55 | Josele Garza | 195.101 | 9 | 138 | 13 | Crash T3 |
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| 24 | 24 | 79 | Pete Halsmer | 187.705 | 25 | 123 | 0 | Crash T3 |
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| 25 | 20 | 2 | Tom Sneva | 200.691 | 1 | 96 | 25 | Clutch |
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| 26 | 11 | 8 | Gary Bettenhausen | 190.870 | 16 | 69 | 0 | Rod |
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| 27 | 21 | 25 | Danny Ongais | 197.694 | 3 | 64 | 4 | Crash T3 |
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| 28 | 10 | 5 | Pancho Carter | 191.022 | 15 | 63 | 0 | Compression |
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| 29 | 30 | 51 | Tom Klausler | 186.732 | 29 | 60 | 0 | Gearbox |
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| 30 | 22 | 6 | Rick Mears | 194.018 | 10 | 58 | 1 | Pit Fire |
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| 31 | 26 | 91 | Don Whittington | 187.237 | 27 | 32 | 0 | Crash BS |
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| 32 | 5 | 1 | Johnny Rutherford | 195.387 | 8 | 25 | 3 | Fuel Pump |
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| 33 | 2 | 48 | Mike Mosley | 197.141 | 4 | 16 | 0 | Radiator |
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Failed to Qualify
- Tom Bagley (#43)
- Steve Ball (#85)
- Pat Bedard (#17)
- Jim Buick (#86)
- Phil Caliva (#47, #87)
- Larry Cannon (#96, #99)
- Steve Chassey (#64)
- Bill Engelhart (#29)
- Dick Ferguson (#95)
- Bob Frey (#71)
- Spike Gehlhausen (#23, #34)
- Ken Hamilton (#63)
- Bob Harkey (#71, #89, #96)
- Jim Hurtubise (#65)
- Herm Johnson (#28)
- Bubby Jones (#58)
- Steve Kinser (#78).
- Phil Krueger (#89)
- Greg Leffler (#43, #44)
- Harry MacDonald (#45)
- John Mahler (#92, #93)
- John Martin (#57)
- Jim McElreath (#26)
- Chip Mead (#49)
- Roger Mears (#98)
- Jerry Miller (#65)
- Johnny Parsons (#8, #12, #18)
- Roger Rager (#21, #66)
- Larry Rice (#52)
- Tim Richmond (#21)
- Joe Saldana (#24, #69)
- Dick Simon (#22)
- Jerry Sneva (#17, #34, #72, #74)
- George Snider (#84)
- Bill Tempero (#15)
- Phil Threshie (#67)
- Rich Vogler (#44, #46)
- Bill Vukovich II (#42)
- Frank Weiss (#93)
- Dale Whittington (#91)
Protest and appeals
Roger Penske filed an appeal after the official results were posted. A hearing was June 12, 1981. Mid-way through the hearing, the meeting was adjourned, and the resumption was scheduled for July 29.
Bobby Unser's primary argument was based on what he considered to be a vague definition of the "blend rule." When exiting the pit area under caution, drivers were instructed to look to their right and see which car was next to them on the track. After accelerating to sufficient speed, the driver was to "blend" (merge) into the field behind that car. Mario Andretti argued that it was an established guideline that the place to look for the car to blend behind was at the south end of the pit straight, where the concrete wall ends. Bobby Unser countered that he understood that, as long as the car stayed under the white line and in the apron, the place to blend in was the exit of turn two. Unser argued that the warm-up apron was an extension of the pit area. He also contended that Andretti had passed at least two cars himself, and should have also incurred a one-lap penalty. In addition, it was pointed out that USAC allowed the alleged infraction to go unpenalized throughout the remainder of the race (instead of acting upon it immediately after it happened).
USAC was faced with a dilemma, as the rulebook was in fact unclear in regards to the blend rule. Officials mulled over the decision for months. On October 9, 1981, a three-member USAC appeals board voted 2-1 to reinstate the victory to Bobby Unser. He was instead fined $40,000.
Aftermath and lore
The 1981 Indianapolis 500 was largely considered the most controversial running to date. It was referred to as "The Great Dispute," and in some circles was "Undecided." Bobby Unser, who felt the entire ordeal was politically motivated by his USAC enemies, became disillusioned with auto racing and took a sabbatical from driving. He sat out the 1982 Indy 500, and retired officially in 1983.
After being reinstated the winner, Bobby Unser was presented with the miniature Borg-Warner Trophy, while Mario Andretti had already been presented with the winner's championship ring. While Bobby Unser celebrated in victory lane on race day, the morning after the race, Mario Andretti took part in the winner's photograph session. No official victory photos were taken of Unser. Months after the race, Unser's likeness was sculpted and added to the Borg-Warner Trophy appropriately.
See also
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