54th Indianapolis 500

Indianapolis Motor Speedway
Indianapolis 500
Sanctioning body	USAC
Season	1970 USAC Trail
Date	May 30, 1970
Winner	Al Unser, Sr.
Winning team	Vel's Parnelli Jones Racing
Average speed	155.749 mph (250.654 km/h)
Pole position	Al Unser, Sr.
Pole speed	170.221 mph (273.944 km/h)
Fastest qualifier	Al Unser, Sr.
Rookie of the Year	Donnie Allison
Most laps led	Al Unser, Sr. (190)
Pre-race ceremonies
National anthem	Al Hirt
"Back Home Again in Indiana"	Saverio Saridis
Starting command	Tony Hulman
Pace car	Oldsmobile 442
Pace car driver	Rodger Ward
Starter	Pat Vidan[1]
Estimated attendance	250,000[2]
TV in the United States
Network	ABC'sWide World of Sports
Announcers	Jim McKay,Rodger Ward
Chronology
Previous Next 1969 1971

The54th 500 Mile International Sweepstakes was held at theIndianapolis Motor Speedway inSpeedway, Indiana on Saturday, May 30, 1970.^[3][4][5]Al Unser Sr. dominated the race, winning the pole position and leading 190 laps (of 200) en route to victory. He joined his brotherBobby as the first duo of brothers to win the Indianapolis 500;^[4] it was the first of his four victories at Indianapolis. Car ownerParnelli Jones, who won the race as a driver in1963, became the second individual (afterPete DePaolo) to win separately as both a driver and as an owner.

Unser turned 31 a day earlier and took home $271,697 out of a record $1,000,002 purse. For the first time in Indy history, the total prize fund topped a milliondollars.

Rain on race morning delayed the start by about thirty minutes. On the pace lap,Jim Malloy smacked the outside wall in turn four, which delayed the start further.^[6]

All 33 cars in the field wereturbocharged for the first time. This was the final 500 in which the winner celebrated in the old Victory Lane at the south end of the pits; it was relocated nearer the finish line for 1971.

The race start time was scheduled for 12:00 noon local time, a slight departure from the traditional 11:00 am start time that was used during most of the 1960s. With the race scheduled for Saturday May 30, Speedway management announced that Sunday May 31 would be the designatedrain date, the first time the race would be permitted to run on a Sunday. However, despite a brief rain delay on race morning, the full 500 miles was completed Saturday, and Sunday was not needed.

This would be the last Indy 500 that was scheduled for the traditional fixed date of May 30. Through 1970,Memorial Day was a fixed date holiday observed on May 30 regardless of the day of the week. For 1970, the date of May 30 fell on a Saturday. From 1911 to 1970, the race was scheduled for May 30, regardless of the day of the week, unless May 30 fell on a Sunday. In those cases, the race would be scheduled for Monday May 31. TheUniform Monday Holiday Act would take effect in 1971, and for 1971 and 1972, the race would be scheduled for the Saturday of Memorial Dayweekend. In 1973, it was scheduled for Monday (but rain delayed it until Wednesday). From 1974 onward, it was scheduled for the Sunday of Memorial Day weekend. From 1974 onward, the race would only beheld on May 30 if that date fell on a Sunday.

The annual Carburetion Days practice session, along with pit stop practice, on Wednesday May 27 was closed to the public.^[7]

Al Unser, Sr. set the fastest speed during practice, with a lap of 171.233 mph. Unser led the speed chart on five of the practice days, and was the only driver to crack the 170 mph barrier during the first two weeks.A. J. Foyt (169.173 mph) andArt Pollard (169.1 mph) were close behind.

John Cannon wrecked on Sunday May 10, and was unable to qualify. On Monday May 11, defending race winnerMario Andretti spun and wrecked in turn four. His car hit the inside wall twice, and the car was heavily damaged. Andretti was not injured.

On Tuesday May 12,Dennis Hulme's car caught fire in turn three. He bailed from the moving machine, suffering burns to his hands and feet. He withdrew due to the injuries.

Al Unser, Sr. won the pole position overJohnny Rutherford by 0.01 seconds, a record closest margin for the pole position at the time.A. J. Foyt rounded out the "all over 170 mph" front row. Unser's pole speed of 170.221 mph (his fastest single lap was 170.358 mph) was not a record – which marked the first time since the 1940s that two consecutive years went by without track records set during time trials at Indy.

Rain halted pole day qualifying at 3:42 p.m. with 17 cars in the field . A few cars (namelyLloyd Ruby,Gary Bettenhausen, andPeter Revson) were still waiting in line when the rains came. USAC officials closed the track for the day, and those cars were deemed ineligible for the pole round. In subsequent years, the rules would be changed to allow all cars in the original qualifying draw order at least one chance to make an attempt during the pole round, regardless if it extended into an additional calendar day due to rain.

RookieTony Adamowicz suffered bad luck during his attempt. On his first qualifying lap, the yellow light was turned on by error. He slowed down, and his first lap was turned in at 160.829 mph. The green light came back on moments later, and he completed the run. Although he had two laps over 166 mph, his first lap pulled his average down to 164.820 mph, and made him the second-slowest car in the field for the day.

Three drivers shut out from the pole round came back to qualify on the second day.Peter Revson (167.942 mph) was the 9th-fastest car in the field, but lined up 18th due to being a second day qualifier.Lloyd Ruby went out for his first attempt, but when he raised his hand to signify the intent to start his attempt, the officials did not see it, and inadvertently waved him off. After he persuaded the officials for a do-over, he had a lap of 169.428 mph, but burned a piston on the fourth and final lap.^[8] The incident drew the ire of the team, as they felt the officials cost them a chance to be the day's fastest qualifier (for having run the extra laps). Ruby went out again later in the day with a new engine, but waved off after one slow lap.

After a disappointing first weekend,Lloyd Ruby rebounded to complete his qualifying attempt at 168.895 mph. A busy day saw 14 attempts, and the field was filled to 33 cars. Two drivers (Bentley Warren andTony Adamowicz) were bumped.

Jim McElreath put the fourthFoyt entry in the field, bumping Bartlett. No other cars, however, were able to show enough speed to make the field.Jigger Sirois, infamous for missing the1969 race, fell far short in Jack Adam's Turbine car.

Row	Inside		Middle		Outside
1	2	Al Unser	18	Johnny Rutherford	7	A. J. Foyt W
2	11	Roger McCluskey	66	Mark Donohue	10	Art Pollard
3	3	Bobby Unser W	1	Mario Andretti W	31	Jim Malloy
4	84	George Snider	48	Dan Gurney	9	Mike Mosley
5	27	LeeRoy Yarbrough	97	Bruce Walkup	38	Rick Muther R
6	73	Peter Revson	5	Gordon Johncock	15	Joe Leonard
7	75	Carl Williams	16	Gary Bettenhausen	20	George Follmer
8	23	Mel Kenyon	83	Donnie Allison R	22	Wally Dallenbach Sr.
9	25	Lloyd Ruby	32	Jack Brabham	19	Ronnie Bucknum
10	93	Greg Weld R	89	Jerry Grant	58	Bill Vukovich II
11	44	Dick Simon R	67	Sammy Sessions	14	Jim McElreath

• First alternate:Arnie Knepper (#50, #53, #96)^[9]

Rain delayed the start of the race by about 25 minutes. On the final pace lap, the field was coming through turn four to take the green flag. Suddenly,Jim Malloy on the outside of the third row, suffered a rear suspension failure, and smacked the outside wall. His car veered across the track to the inside, but narrowly avoided contact with any other car. The field was halted on the mainstretch under the red flag to clean up the accident. During the delay, teams were permitted to top off their fuel tanks, after burning three laps of methanol.

The field was restarted after the red flag, and 32 cars took the green flag.Johnny Rutherford swept across to take the lead into turn one. Down the backstretch,Al Unser Sr. tucked in behind, and took the lead going into turn three. Unser led the first lap.

Lloyd Ruby, who started 25th, notably passed ten cars on the first lap. By the third lap, Ruby was in the top ten.

The early laps focused on the mad charge ofLloyd Ruby, who was up to 5th place by about lap 28. The yellow flag came out whenArt Pollard blew an engine. Under the caution,Mario Andretti was forced to make an unscheduled pit stop to repair loose bodywork. He rejoined the race, but lost many positions.

As the race passed the 100-mile mark,Al Unser Sr. led, withJohnny Rutherford running second, andA. J. Foyt andLloyd Ruby battling for third.

Al Unser Sr. led the first 48 laps. He gave up the lead toA. J. Foyt during a pit stop on lap 49. One lap later, Foyt entered the pits, giving the lead toLloyd Ruby. Suddenly Ruby was given theblack flag for smoke due to broken drive gears. Ruby's dramatic race was over after completing only 54 laps. Meanwhile,Johnny Rutherford stalled exiting the pits, losing considerable track position.

Unser re-took the lead on lap 54, and led until the halfway point.Mario Andretti once again had to make an unscheduled pit stop, this time to change the right rear tire. Through most of the race, he was experiencing handling issues with the right rear suspension.

Al Unser moved back to the front on lap 106, and he would not relinquish the lead.Johnny Rutherford, who was a factor in the first half, dropped out after 135 laps due to a brokenheader.

Roger McCluskey, who had dropped out on lap 62 with suspension damage, relievedMel Kenyon on lap 112.

On lap 172,Roger McCluskey (driving for Kenyon), spun going into turn three, and crashed hard into the outside wall.Ronnie Bucknum was collected in the crash.Sammy Sessions locked up the brakes and nearly slid into the crashed cars. Sessions gained control, weaved his way through, and continued in the race. Spilled fuel started pouring from one of the crashed cars, and a small fire broke out. As the field approached the scene, several cars got into the fluid and spun.Wally Dallenbach andJack Brabham spun but continued.Mario Andretti nearly spun out, but he made it through the scene unscathed. The fire was quickly extinguished, but what turned out to be the final yellow light of the race was on for over 14 minutes (lap 172 through lap 181) to clear the track.

With about 25 laps to go,Al Unser Sr. had lapped the entire field. Unser's crew gave him the "E-Z" sign on his chalkboard, and bothMark Donohue andA. J. Foyt got their lap back.

With Unser leading comfortably, the focus became the battle for second betweenMark Donohue andA. J. Foyt. With only a handful of laps left, Foyt suddenly slowed in turn one. He pulled to the apron, but stayed out on the track attempting to nurse the car to the finish line.

Al Unser Sr. led a total of 190 laps en route to his first Indy victory. Unser won by 32.19 seconds over second placeMark Donohue, over three minutes over third placeDan Gurney in his final 500 as a driver. A very slowA. J. Foyt fell to 10th in the final standings.

Finish	Start	No	Name	Chassis	Engine	Tire	Qual	Laps	Status
1	1	2	Al Unser	Colt	Ford V-8	F	170.221	200	Running
2	5	66	Mark Donohue	Lola	Ford V-8	G	168.911	200	+32.19
3	11	48	Dan Gurney	Eagle	Offenhauser	G	166.860	200	+3:12.21
4	23	83	Donnie Allison R	Eagle	Ford V-8	G	165.662	200	+3:44.82
5	33	14	Jim McElreath	Coyote	Ford V-8	G	166.821	200	+4:30.89
6	8	1	Mario Andretti W	McNamara	Ford V-8	F	168.209	199	Flagged
7	29	89	Jerry Grant	Eagle	Offenhauser	G	165.983	198	Flagged
8	15	38	Rick Muther R	Brawner	Offenhauser	G	165.654	197	Flagged
9	19	75	Carl Williams	McLaren	Offenhauser	G	166.590	197	Flagged
10	3	7	A. J. Foyt W	Coyote	Ford V-8	G	170.004	195	Flagged
11	7	3	Bobby Unser W	Eagle	Ford V-8	G	168.508	192	Flagged
12	32	67	Sammy Sessions	Vollstedt	Ford V-8	G	165.373	190	Flagged
13	26	32	Jack Brabham	Brabham	Offenhauser	G	166.397	175	Piston
14	31	44	Dick Simon R	Vollstedt	Ford V-8	F	165.548	168	Flagged
15	27	19	Ronnie Bucknum	Morris	Ford V-8	G	166.136	162	Crash T3
16	22	23	Mel Kenyon (Roger McCluskey Laps 112–160)	Coyote	Offenhauser	G	165.906	160	Crash T3
17	24	22	Wally Dallenbach Sr.	Eagle	Ford V-8	G	165.601	143	Coil
18	2	18	Johnny Rutherford	Eagle	Offenhauser	G	170.213	135	Header
19	13	27	LeeRoy Yarbrough	Vollstedt	Ford V-8	G	166.559	107	Turbo Gear
20	10	84	George Snider	Coyote	Ford V-8	G	167.660	105	Suspension
21	12	9	Mike Mosley	Eagle	Offenhauser	G	166.651	96	Radiator
22	16	73	Peter Revson	McLaren	Offenhauser	G	167.942	87	Magneto
23	30	58	Bill Vukovich II	Brabham	Offenhauser	F	165.753	78	Clutch
24	18	15	Joe Leonard	Colt	Ford V-8	F	166.898	73	Switch
25	4	11	Roger McCluskey	Scorpion	Ford V-8	G	169.213	62	Suspension
26	20	16	Gary Bettenhausen	Gerhardt	Offenhauser	G	166.451	55	Valve
27	25	25	Lloyd Ruby	Mongoose	Offenhauser	F	168.895	54	Drive Gear
28	17	5	Gordon Johncock	Gerhardt	Offenhauser	G	167.015	45	Piston
29	14	97	Bruce Walkup	Mongoose	Offenhauser	F	166.459	44	Timing Gear
30	6	10	Art Pollard	Kingfish	Offenhauser	F	168.595	28	Piston
31	21	20	George Follmer	Brawner	Ford V-8	F	166.052	18	Oil Gasket
32	28	93	Greg Weld R	Gerhardt	Offenhauser	F	166.121	12	Piston
33	9	31	Jim Malloy	Gerhardt	Offenhauser	F	167.895	0	Crash T4

Note: Relief drivers in parentheses^[11]

 W  Former Indianapolis 500 winner

 R  Indianapolis 500 Rookie

The race was carried live on theIMS Radio Network.Sid Collins served as chief announcer for the 23rd consecutive year.Len Sutton served as "driver expert" for the fifth year. At the conclusion of the race,Lou Palmer reported from victory lane. The entire on-air crew remained mostly consistent from 1966 to 1969. The broadcast came on-air at 11:30 am local time, with a thirty-minute pre-race show scheduled. However, the rain delay increased the pre-race coverage to almost an hour. After the death of Bill Dean, Jack Morrow assumed the role of producer.

The broadcast was carried by over 1,000affiliates in all fifty states,AFN, theCBC, and reached locations such asVietnam and had four foreign language translations. The broadcast had an estimated 120 million listeners worldwide.

Among the celebrity interviews Sid Collins conducted in the booth wereEdie Adams,Dennis Hulme, Billy Shaw,Chris Economaki (ABC Sports), Larry Bisceglia,Sam Hanks,Pete DePaolo,Bill Holland,SenatorVance Hartke,Tony Hulman,Duke Nalon,Johnnie Parsons, andJ. C. Agajanian. AstronautPete Conrad, who was a fellow passenger withTony Hulman in the pace car for the second year in a row, was also interviewed during the pre-race coverage.

The race wascarried in the United States onABC'sWide World of Sports. The broadcast aired on Saturday June 6.Jim McKay anchored the broadcast withRodger Ward andChris Economaki as analysts. Ward drove the pace car at the start of the race. It was the last time the "500" was not seen on over-the-air television the day of the race.

For the final time, the race was shownlive onMCAclosed-circuit television in numerous theaters across the United States.Charlie Brockman served as anchor.

The "Wide World Of Sports" broadcast has re-aired onESPN Classic starting in May 2011.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to1970 Indianapolis 500.

• 1970 USAC Championship Car season

• 1970 Indianapolis 500 Press Information – Daily Trackside Summary
• Indianapolis 500 History: Race & All-Time Stats – Official Site
• 1970 Indianapolis 500 at RacingReference.info
• 1970 Indianapolis 500 Radio Broadcast,Indianapolis Motor Speedway Radio Network

• Indianapolis 500 races
• 1970 in motorsport
• 1970 in sports in Indiana
• 1970 in American motorsport

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