1978 Indianapolis 500

Race schedule

• Includes days where track activity was significantly limited due to rain |} |}

Practice and time trials

For 1978, the turbocharger "boost" settings were set at 80 inHg, the same regulations used in 1974–1975 and 1977. The first weekend of time trials was scheduled for May 13–14. Rain, however, washed out the entire first weekend. Pole qualifying was moved to Saturday May 20.

Practice

On Wednesday May 10, Mario Andretti turned a practice lap of 201.838 mph, faster than the track record. Minutes later, Danny Ongais upped the best speed to 201.974 mph. On Thursday May 11, rookie Rick Mears also joined the coveted "200 mph club" in practice. Johnny Rutherford (199.2 mph) and A. J. Foyt (199.158 mph) were also within striking distance.

On Friday May 12, the final day of practice before pole qualifying was scheduled to be held, Mario Andretti shattered the unofficial track record, turning a lap of 203.482 mph. Also over 200 mph were Mears, Rutherford, and Foyt. Tom Sneva, the driver who broke the 200 mph barrier a year earlier, was the slowest of the three Penske cars, managing only a 196.3 mph lap during practice.

The rainout of time trials complicated the schedule for Mario Andretti. He was forced to leave the track and fly to Zolder for the Grand Prix of Belgium. Arrangements were being made for another driver to qualify the car for him, and he would return to the cockpit for race day. With no track activity possible at Indy for Sunday, A. J. Foyt flew to Talladega and finished third in the NASCAR Winston 500.

During the second week of practice, Pancho Carter and Tom Sneva joined the "200 mph club." Sneva had a hand-timed lap of about 203.1 mph, inching closer to Andretti's mark from the previous week. Danny Ongais destroyed his primary car in a crash in turn four on Tuesday May 16. He was not seriously injured, but would have to qualify with his back-up car.

Pole Day – Saturday May 20

Since the first two days of time trials were rained out, pole qualifying was moved to the third day (May 20). The field was allowed one trip through the original qualifying draw order. Each car would be guaranteed an opportunity for one attempt during pole round. As soon as they reached the end of the qualifying draw, the pole position round would be concluded, and the "Third Day" of qualifying would commence.

Pole day dawned with temperatures in the high 70s and low 80s. Qualifying started promptly at 11:00 a.m., with Johnny Rutherford first out on the track. He fell short of the 200 mph barrier on all four laps, and settled for an average of 197.098 mph.

At 12:03 p.m., Tom Sneva took to the track. Following in his own footsteps from the previous year, he set new all-time one-lap and four-lap track records, becoming the first driver in Indy history to complete all four qualifying laps over 200 mph.

• Lap 1 – 44.20 seconds, 203.620 mph (new 1-lap track record)
• Lap 2 – 44.43 seconds, 202.566 mph
• Lap 3 – 44.60 seconds, 201.794 mph
• Lap 4 – 44.85 seconds, 200.669 mph
• Total – 2:58.08, 202.156 mph (new 4-lap track record) Due to changes in the rules in subsequent years, Sneva's one-lap and four-lap track records would stand until 1982. Sneva's four-lap average secured the pole position, his second pole in a row.

Sneva's Penske teammate, rookie Rick Mears, was the next car out. Mears completed three laps over 200 mph, and his four-lap average of 200.078 mph was a rookie speed record, and would be good enough for the front row.

Janet Guthrie returned for her second start, and qualified strongly at 190.325 mph. At 12:39 p.m., Danny Ongais made it an "all 200 mph" front row, securing second starting position at 200.122 mph.

After practicing over 200 mph, A. J. Foyt was forced to wave off his run, and missed his chance at qualifying during the pole round. Mike Hiss was hired by Penske to drive substitute for Mario Andretti during time trials. Hiss qualified the car with a respectable speed of 194.647 mph to rank 8th. However, on race day, Andretti would get back in the car, and he would be forced to line up in the 33rd starting position due to the driver switch.

Rain late in the day hampered the qualifying attempts. The trip through the original qualifying line exhausted at 5 p.m., and Tom Sneva officially secured the pole position. Several drivers including Bobby Unser, A. J. Foyt, and Pancho Carter, were unable to qualify during the pole round. At 5 p.m., the "third day" of time trials officially commenced, and those drivers would line up behind the cars from the pole round.

The day ended with the field filled to twenty cars. Bobby Unser finished his run in the rain as the lone "third day" qualifier. The track was closed for the day as soon as Unser returned to the pits at 5:11 p.m.

Bump Day – Sunday May 21

Roger Rager was the only major on-track incident of the day. At 3:53 p.m., on his second warm-up lap, he hit the outside wall in turn four, suffering an injured hand. Rager would miss the race. After a wave off on Saturday, Larry "Boom Boom" Cannon went out for his second attempt. He spun and brushed the wall on his second qualifying lap, and had to abort the run. Later on his third and final attempt, he was too slow to bump his way into the field. Dick Simon brushed the wall on the main stretch shaking down a car for Bill Puterbaugh. The car lost two wheels and it was too late in the day for the car to be repaired.

In the final hour, there was one spot left in the field when Bob Harkey was preparing to make his attempt. Jim Hurtubise, who had once again entered his now-infamous Mallard/Offy front-engined car, had been denied the permission to qualify, due to lack of speed. USAC had decided to set a 180 mph minimum speed in order to pass "final" inspection, receive the appropriate sticker, and be allowed to make a qualifying attempt. They deemed Hurtubise ineligible, claiming he had not broken 175 mph,{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=Ux1SAAAAIBAJ&sjid=WDUNAAAAIBAJ&pg=5592,5478280&dq=jim+hurtubise+police&hl=en

Harkey managed to finish his qualifying attempt without incident, but his speed was not fast enough to stand. Within twenty minutes, Harkey was bumped by Joe Saldana. The day closed with Cliff Hucul bumping Graham McRae with two minutes left in the day.

After missing time trials, Mario Andretti won the Grand Prix of Belgium. He traveled back to Indianapolis during the week, and would be back in time for Carburetion Day "tests."

Carburetion Day

The final practice was held on Thursday May 25. A. J. Foyt turned a fast lap of 199.468 mph, but then shut the engine off due to an oil line problem. He coasted to stop and required a tow-in. Gary Bettenhausen skipped the session as the crew was installing a new engine. Joe Saldana also failed to turn any laps as his crew was putting the finishing touches on a new engine install. Mario Andretti returned from Belgium and turned a lap of 192.719 mph, the third-fastest of the day. No incidents were reported.

Pit Stop Contest

The elimination rounds for the 2nd annual Miller Pit Stop Contest were held Thursday May 25. Eight teams qualified for the contest during preliminary trials on May 17–18. Johnny Rutherford (12.89 seconds) was the fastest qualifier, with Wally Dallenbach (19.86 seconds) ranking second, and Al Loquasto (20.53 second) third. The other qualifiers included Larry Dickson (20.85 seconds), Johnny Parsons (20.89), Roger McCluskey, Pancho Carter, and Bobby Olivero. However, Olivero was later replaced by Mike Mosley. Loquasto was bumped from the race starting lineup, but stayed to compete in the pit stop contest.

The finals pitted Team McLaren (Johnny Rutherford) versus the Russ Polak/Dickson-Looper team (Larry Dickson). Rutherford's crew was victorious, the first of back-to-back wins in the event for Team McLaren.

| RD1-seed1= | RD1-team1=Johnny Rutherford (Team McLaren) | RD1-seed2= | RD1-team2=Johnny Parsons (Lindsey Hopkins)

| RD1-seed3= | RD1-team3=Pancho Carter (Fletcher Racing) | RD1-seed4= | RD1-team4=Al Loquasto (Loquasto)

| RD1-seed5= | RD1-team5=Roger McCluskey (Warner Hodgdon) | RD1-seed6= | RD1-team6=Wally Dallenbach (O'Connell Racing)

| RD1-seed7= | RD1-team7=Larry Dickson (Dickson-Looper) | RD1-seed8= | RD1-team8=Mike Mosley (Morales Motorsports)

| RD2-seed1= | RD2-team1=Johnny Rutherford (Team McLaren) | RD2-seed2= | RD2-team2=Pancho Carter (Fletcher Racing)

| RD2-seed3= | RD2-team3=Larry Dickson (Dickson-Looper) | RD2-seed4= | RD2-team4=Roger McCluskey (Warner Hodgdon)

| RD3-seed1= | RD3-team1=Johnny Rutherford (Team McLaren) | RD3-score1=13.80 | RD3-seed2= | RD3-team2=Larry Dickson (Dickson-Looper) | RD3-score2=17.27

Starting lineup

Mike Hiss qualified Mario Andretti's car while Andretti was in Belgium to compete in the Belgian Grand Prix, a race Andretti would win. Andretti took over the car for race day. Due to the driver change, USAC rules stated the entry must start at the rear of the field (33rd).

Alternates

• First alternate: Graham McRae (#33, #34) – Bumped
• Second alternate: Bob Harkey (#42) – Bumped

Failed to qualify

• Al Loquasto (#86) – Bumped
• Larry "Boom Boom" Cannon (#85) – Too slow
• Bill Vukovich Jr. (#18, #93) – Incomplete qualifying run
• John Martin (#28) – Incomplete qualifying runs
• Bubby Jones (#18) – Incomplete qualifying runs
• Gary Irvin **** (#9) – Incomplete qualifying run
• Roger Rager **** (#9, #97) – Wrecked during qualifying attempt
• Mike Hiss (#7, #66) – qualified 8th, but turned the car over to Mario Andretti
• Lee Kunzman (#90)
• Bobby Olivero (#78)
• Eldon Rasmussen (#58)
• Jim Hurtubise – Barred from making a qualifying attempt due to lack of speed; detained by police after running out onto the track to disrupt time trials.

**** = Indianapolis 500 rookie **** = Former Indianapolis 500 winner

Race summary

Start

Race day dawned hot and humid, with temperatures in the high 80s (°F). After the death of Tony Hulman, the starting command was recited by his widow Mary F. Hulman. With Janet Guthrie in the field once again, the traditional command was again tweaked. This time command was worded "Lady and Gentlemen, start your engines!"

During the pace laps, Gary Bettenhausen pulled into the pits with mechanical trouble, and missed the start. At the green flag, Danny Ongais darted into the lead, with Tom Sneva falling in line behind him in second. Rick Mears suddenly faded and pulled to the outside, and was passed by several cars. Ongais completed the first lap at a record speed of 185.185 mph.

Sheldon Kinser stalled on the backstretch, and brought out the yellow light for three laps. Rick Mears ducked into the pits for an unscheduled stop. He had neglected to fasten his helmet strap properly, and nearly lost his helmet at the start of the race. He was able to properly fasten his helmet, and returned to the race.

The green came back out on lap 5, with Ongais pulling out to a comfortable lead. Cliff Hucul went to pits, and was out of the race with a broken oil line.

First half

Mario Andretti quickly charged from last starting position to run as high as 13th in the early going. However, he was forced to pit to change a bad spark plug wire. He lost 8 laps, and was effectively out of contention for the rest of the day.

On lap 26, Spike Gehlhausen crashed exiting turn 2, and came to rest along the outside wall on the backstretch. Leader Danny Ongais was in the pits when the yellow came out, which gave the lead temporarily to Steve Krisiloff. However, under the yellow light condition, Krisiloff violated the PACER light rules, and was penalized one lap. That gave the lead to Tom Sneva. With Ongais in second right behind Sneva, the green light came back on down the backstretch on lap 31. Sneva led for barely a lap, and Ongais passed him for the lead the next time by.

Salt Walther dropped out with a bad clutch, and proceeded to rant his frustration of his chief mechanic Tommy Smith during a heated television interview. It was reported that Smith made a change to the throttling system the night before the race; while Walther's team worked on repairing the car, Smith reportedly left the track, having parted ways with the team.

Danny Ongais led 68 of the first 75 laps. The team reported that Ongais had lost his two-way radio, and was forced to communicate only by sign boards for the rest of the race.

Al Unser Sr. took the lead for the first time on lap 76. He held the lead at the halfway point. A. J. Foyt, who had charged near the front early on, started to fade, and after long pit stops, was laps down to the leaders. Janet Guthrie, on the other hand, was moving up into the top ten.

Second half

Rookie Rick Mears dropped out after 103 laps with a blown engine. By lap 120, thirteen cars were out of the race, with hot conditions contributing to the attrition.

Al Unser Sr. led, with Danny Ongais and Tom Sneva in the top three. Unser continued to hold a small lead over Ongais, with his crew's efficient and quick pit stops increasing the margin.

Suddenly on lap 145, second place Danny Ongais came into the pits with smoke pouring from the car. After having led 71 laps (nearly half the race up to that point), Ongais was out with a blown engine.

Finish

Al Unser Sr. led second place Tom Sneva by over 20 seconds. Those were the only two cars left on the lead lap. On lap 180, Unser came onto the pits for his final stop. Unser overshot his pit box by a few feet, and hit a spare tire with his front wing. The team decided not to change tires, and filled the car with fuel only. His stop was 17 seconds, his worst pit stop of the day.

One lap later, Tom Sneva pitted, taking fuel only. His pit stop, however, was not fast, and he did not immediately gain ground on Unser. With a 30-second lead, Unser had 19 laps to go to victory. However, his front wing was reportedly damaged from hitting the tire, and Unser's handling was starting to go away. Sneva began cutting away at his lead, by about a second per lap.

With three laps to go, Sneva had cut the lead to 14 seconds. Then with one lap to go, it was down to 10 seconds. On the final lap, third place Gordon Johncock slipped by Unser to get one of his laps back. Unser nursed the car around on the final lap, and won this third Indy 500. Second place for the second year in a row, Tom Sneva finished 8.09 seconds behind. After the race, Unser claimed that he was merely 'taking it easy' over the final 20 laps, and that clipping the tire during his pit stop was not affecting his handing. In any case, it was the second-closest finish in Indy history to that point.

Wally Dallenbach and A. J. Foyt both stalled on the course out of fuel, but both finished strongly, 5th and 7th, respectively. Janet Guthrie finished 9th, and revealed after the race that she drove with a fractured wrist. Two days before the race, she fell during a charity tennis match, suffering the injury.

Late in the race, the Patrick Racing Wildcats of Gordon Johncock and Steve Krisiloff were penalized one lap by stewards - Johncock for running over an air-hose, and Krisiloff for speeding too fast under caution. If the penalties had not happened, Johncock would have barely finished runner-up behind Al Unser, and Krisiloff would have still finished fourth, but would have been the only driver one lap down. George Bignotti announced his intentions to protest Johncock's penalty, claiming that officials overlooked Unser running over his air hose, and did not treat both drivers equally. However, post-race footage showed that Unser, although coming very close, did not run over his air hose, and the team declined to protest.

Box score

**** Former Indianapolis 500 winner

**** Indianapolis 500 Rookie

All cars utilized Goodyear tires.

Race statistics

Points standings after the race

Broadcasting

Radio

The race was carried live on the IMS Radio Network. Paul Page served as anchor for the second year despite what happened on December 1, 1977. On that day while he was doing a helicopter traffic report, Page was nearly killed in an accident, as the helicopter he was riding aboard crashed near Speedway Senior High School in Speedway, Indiana. Page would fully recover to call the race. Lou Palmer reported from victory lane. Mike Hiss, who had served as a substitute driver for Mario Andretti during time trials, served as the "driver expert."

This would be the 31st and final year for Jim Shelton on the crew. After eleven previous appearances, Fred Agabashian also had departed from the crew.

Television

The race was carried in the United States on ABC Sports on a same-day tape delay basis. Billed as an "ABC Sports Exclusive," the race was introduced with the 1977 song African Symphony, written by Van McCoy, and performed by Saint Tropez. Jim McKay anchored the broadcast.

The broadcast has re-aired on ESPN Classic since May 2011.

The full race broadcast has been available since May 10, 2018 on the official IndyCar Series YouTube channel.

Gallery

File:Indy500pacecar1978.JPG|1978 Corvette pace car File:GuthrieWildcat.jpg|Janet Guthrie's 1978 entry

Notes

References

1. Fox, Jack C.. (1994). "The Illustrated History of the Indianapolis 500 1911-1994". Carl Hungness Publishing.
2. Miller, Robin. (May 29, 1978). "Al Unser Captures 3rd '500'". The Indianapolis Star.
3. (1978-05-29). "Janet Proves Her Point". [[Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
4. Miller, Robin. (May 21, 1978). "Sneva's 202.15 On Pole Again". [[The Indianapolis Star]].
5. (1979-05-18). "Jim Hurtubise has been Indy's 'Nice Guy' this year". The Madison Courier.
6. (2006). "Autocourse Official History of the Indianapolis 500". MBI Publishing Company.
7. "Race Results".
8. "1978 International 500 Mile Sweepstakes".
9. "Indianapolis Motor Speedway".
10. Wittenmyer, Gordon. (1989-05-28). "Mears Uses A Good Yawn For Fast Lap". Sun-Sentinel.
11. "1978 International 500 Mile Sweepstakes".
12. (May 29, 1978). "How They Finished". [[The Indianapolis Star]].
13. (2 December 1977). "Wills, Steven, the Indianapolis Star, Indianapolis, IN, Dec 2 1977, Pg 1". The Indianapolis Star.
14. doctorindy. (2013-01-03). "1978 Indianapolis 500 - FULL RACE "EXTENDED VERSION"".
15. "1978 Indianapolis 500".