1975 Indianapolis 500

holiday weekend the time for a special happening in the middle of the united states the indianapolis 500 on a day that dawned with an overcast haze in high humidity as many as 300 000 people have come again to the indianapolis motor speedway it happens so often now it's like a pilgrimage to a pinnacle in motorsports this is the 59th gathering for the event the total dimension of it is also the flavor of it memorable even before the race begins jim nabor is on the track now to join with a purdue university marching band and for a moment we will all be back home again in indiana [Music] and it seems that i can see is [Music] is [Music] about the moonlight on the waters [Music] and the skies over the indianapolis motor speedway filled with thousands of balloons as the drivers head for their 33 cars and actor jim garner will go to the wheel of the pace car and he'll face the field through the first several eight laps at 80 miles an hour hello everybody i'm keith jackson these moments before the start of an indianapolis 500 they're special kind of moments kind of an ultimate in anticipation it is a hot humid day as it usually is in late may in indiana and the heat will be a common adversary for everybody trying to run a race car fast today in the 33 car starting field there are six former winners there are only four rookies but all those rookies are rich in experience from other race tracks this starting field qualified at better than 185 miles an hour collectively which makes it one of the fastest fields ever and the roar from the start of an indianapolis 500 is indeed heard round the world and to amplify on that point let's turn to our colleague an expert commentator for our coverage of the indianapolis 500 former world champion racing driver jackie stewart well keith in the whole world there's perhaps only a handful of truly great events and here at indianapolis this is certainly one of them because in every city of the world in every corner of the world they know that the indy 500 is taking place today and these drivers down there they know also because there are 33 of them facing an enormous crowd perhaps the biggest motor race in the whole world you and i sitting here we feel the tension but nothing like the tension that is felt along that starting grid keith i can remember when i came out of gasoline alley and was faced by this enormous crowd what a shock it was it was a system shot like i've never received before you're just faced with this multitude of people your nerves you start to shake perhaps your whole system goes you can see the drivers pulling on their flame-proof balaclavas in the case of fire the same with their gloves to give full protection these men at this time are going through emotions like most people never experienced they don't know what the day is going to bring there are 33 of them and surely there will be accidents today they know that they know it's a calculated risk but they're great men the old race track it too is one of a kind yes the indy 500 is running a two and a half mile oval it looks as if it's simply four easy corners but this is not the case it is two and a half miles round and it's got a nine degree banking and all four turns but it's not that simple because each one of them have truly a character of their own a personality of their own turn one is certainly different from turn three that looks to be the same from the start finishing line that you can see there this narrow strip of brick you go in to turn one and you're faced with these enormous faces of people as you go through the short shoot to turn to and this is an important turn because you must go cleanly down the back straight to turn three that you enter at very high speed again you go along until you get to turn four where you can enter the pitch or go down to the start finishing line that we see there from a driver's point of view of course it's a big thrill that turn one as you enter there with the grandstands in front of you and the wall on the outside you go high on the racetrack into turn two along the short shoot before you commit yourself to this corner this one you must do correctly the wind affects you sometime in this corner but you must get down that back straight away as quickly as possible this gives a driver the opportunity to perhaps look in his mirror to check his gauges his tires in the mirror just in case he can see a puncture and of course the enter turn three at an incredibly high speed around 215 or 220 miles an hour a little bit bumpy in the middle as the car goes very high and very close to the wall in the short shoot before you get to turn four and this is a corner that causes enormous amount of trouble in indianapolis there's been so many accidents here the car seems to get loose and the wall seems to loom up to you as you go down that back straight away and you get into again around 220 miles an hour before you're faced with this narrow tunnel of vision that you see with the spectators on both sides of you what a race track what an emotional feat even just to get around here at the high speeds that they do and coming off that start it's a time of trust faith and luck yes there are 33 men packed into a very small space at very high speed the talents of the drivers here they've trained for a whole month and of course this is their very very big day tony hallman bought the indianapolis motor speedway in 1945 from eddie rickenbacker and associates since 1946 tony hulman has conducted one of the most dramatic moments in sports anywhere like this [Applause] [Applause] and thus the turbocharged power plants of 33 racing cars wally dallinbach will be sitting way back in the pack he qualified at 190 miles an hour he will be a man to watch holly darling back sitting well back on the outside of the seventh row he figures to make an early move just a moment to remind you they are limited to 280 gallons of fuel the cars have 40 gallon tanks on the inside away from the outside wall they must get 1.8 miles per gallon minimum in order to be able to run 500 miles and on a hot day that can be a very big problem now the field will start moving away as we continue our coverage of the indy 500. when a man becomes one of a kind in his profession he is indeed a special man in an earlier recorded conversation aj ford reflected on it with jackie stewart three past victories and the possibility of a fourth victory is this particular 500 the most important race you've ever run well it really is jackie naturally you know i've always felt that records are made to be broken and as long as i continue to race i want to win and set all the records i possibly can and i've always felt today that i lose that drive then i will hang it up and quit racing but it's a very important race in my life i've got the first time an opportunity to become the only man to ever win in annapolis at the present time four times and that's a goal that i'd like to achieve if i possibly could also with us for our coverage of this 59th indianapolis 500 today racing driver sam posey who's tested the thrill of this competition chris ciconovacki the editor and publisher of national speed sport news they'll be along pit road at this moment in the pace car our colleague chris schenkel let's join in now this ladies and gentlemen is a pace lap here and they were now driving through the short shoot between turns one and two there are 325 horsepower buick pace car driven by jim garner in the right seat and standing up now that is the 1960 winner jim rathman in radio contact with chief steward tom benford this is the last lap that the pace car will be on the track the parade lap has been completed and you see the starting grid now for row four jimmy carruthers al unser and we now get a look at the tremendous crowd that is here today being enjoyed of course by tony holman in his 30th year at the speedway in the back seat with me along with george alves we watched the millions of dollars of gleaming screaming machines but and perhaps the largest crowd ever heard indy well we're moments away now from the most exhilarating sound in sports we'll be back for it in a moment and now we're near the end of the pace lap and they're in the middle of the front row that is the 1973 winner gordon john cox who had a little trouble getting going with some last-minute instructions now he's ready and here's keith jackson chris there is a story i think that we should develop at this point and get some comments from jackie stewart on pancho carter his crew chief and the crew working around the clock since pancho wrecked his car at the close of carburation tests the other day on thursday they finished repairs on the car at 10 minutes after 8 this morning he is sitting on the field in his proper position and the car seems to be functioning all right he is however sitting right in front of a charger wally dahlenbach darling back is in row seven outside wayne carter is in row six outside and then farther back is another charger in row nine outside mario andretti and those will be people to watch as they work their way around perfect for pancho carter it's really a problem because pancho carter's got a a situation where he's never driven this car since he had a very big accident with it and a last few moments of carburation testing he's never driven this car since it must be a very nerve-wracking moment it is obvious to you that it is very hazy on this day for this 59th indianapolis 500 and there's the man we're talking about bonjour carter the car has not been run at all since it was repaired he's moving it around quite a bit as you see getting the feel of it heating up the tires and the massive crowd and horrendous crowd again if you want to use that particular adjective but the size of it boggles your mind jim garner bringing the face car around with jim ratner sitting alongside of him as they come wheeling down the clue will be as to what action is taken for the face car it's coming down off the racetrack and on the fifth road for them the starter now will hold the flags and watch the field if those veterans up front boy john cluck and unser hold them in proper starting position we'll get a green right now and we're is entirely sanitary and they are clean the entirety of the field return number one aj point is winning in the number two position but it was john carter jumped forward but the lead in the middle of the back jackie looked pretty good too there was one car that went slowly as the as they started i wasn't sure exactly who it was i thought in fact it was salt walters who had a difficult start but answer and now in the first position keith it's a fairly clean but look at that car streak away there that's got a positive advantage at this time as they come back on gordon john cox aj boyd and bobby unser the front row running one two three and it's john [Music] and the defending champion now sitting comfortably in the number four position but look what elite this man is front man gordon john coxcott he's really pulled over the strings he is a charger gordon john cox the type of man who's expected to do this sort of performance i think aj point's certainly not going to try and challenge him too hard at this time because it's a long race 500 miles is a long way to go the gordon john cox my goodness what a lady's got at this time it is a light car everything is about seven eighths the size previously and salt colder in car number 77 is the first man to hit pit road hog walter and gordon johncock continues to build his lead with point second on swift third round four and ruby five and salt walter expressing anger in the fifth while he had trouble at the start i did see him drop back there keith it was obviously a problem because he raised his hand and started to decelerate as they went into turn one a problem that he must have been very nervous about because my goodness think of the accident that he had only two years ago in this very same staff george mcnutty the sinmast wildcat carefully prepared delicately built and being driven very boldly right now by gordon johncock who won the rain shortened ratio in 1973 it is a bit smaller than most of the cars on the racetrack and it is leading the field for it is second onto this third rutherford 4 ruby running five and it's count steam at six and billy lukavitch is running in the number seven position back in twelfth place is wally dollar back who he expected to also charge he's a teammate of gordon john cox prepared by the same mechanic george mcnaughty and he's in 12th position right now he's not obviously charging too hard but again you see the big lead here and there's salt waters what a disappointment even as the track as the race started he was in trouble and so we're off to a clean and flying start in this 59th indianapolis 500 and the only record anyone wants to see broken here today is to run the race in less than three hours that means it'll be a clean race from start to finish we'll have more of the indy 500 in a moment and we're back here at the indianapolis motor speedway as gordon johncock now is being pushed a little bit by aj ford bobby uncharged johnny weatherford lord ruby in that the day not quite as hard as we might have anticipated though it is very very humid and you can see now that aj ford has moved into massage gordon john clark and that's floyd ruby dropping down out of the groove and off their racetrack lord movie who has been so close to success so many times here in indianapolis is in trouble again for a disappointment it must be for him he's obviously in communication with these pits he's got denny holm an ex-world champion in the pits there so they'll be knowing what the trouble is but they're your two leaders and aj fight is definitely closing and gordon jonkov he looks as if he's going to make for a fast keep but it seems to me that he's not really catching john cox john cochran slowing down because the other cars are coming up on him as well remember as we detailed at the very beginning fuel consumption will be so important it might be that gordon wanted to run very hard for a while and then ease off a little bit here comes lloyd ruby now posting if you will into the pet sitting back on the racetrack it is aj boyd taking the lead over fantastic this would be a great day for him the eyes of hunter racing are on them they're working on what happens at the pits well here's a demonstration recorded earlier you're watching the coordinated efforts of the five men who were allowed over the pit wall during a stop at indianapolis here those five men are really trained just as a football team practices so does a pit crew and of course economy in motion is the important thing that they've got to look after because speed is very expensive when an indie stop comes you can see the car coming in here the man with that pipe is the proper fuel it's alcohol fuel that's an overflow bag just in case of spillage the quick lift jack goes underneath the car and lifts the car up the rear wheel is being removed by an air gauge an air gun there is the other one gets slipped back on now of course remember they're working with very hot pieces of equipment the car's been racing the front wheel has now been changed again with the same air gun the new wheel gets put on and tightened up this is of course a good thing because it avoids the human error now the man is ready to push the car out again economy and motion is to push the car away now the cars come in you can see the clock has started as this whole maneuver takes place just think that in one second wasted in the pits 80 yards is lost almost the length of an american football field is being lost if they lose one second in time valuable time at indianapolis as they push this car away in 18.1 seconds that earlier demonstration of course is when things are routine gordon johncock is now in the pits and this is not a routine stop for gordon johncock there is something wrong with his car yes it looks like they're in trouble he's looking down there the the boys are looking at it this isn't a pretty sight for him and the other mclaren the number six mclaren floyd ruby's being pushed away keith back on the racetrack with jordan john cox having trouble in the pits everybody moves up aj four johnny rutherford now winning second who has made a remarkable move through the field we knew he would be very fast and he's driving a car that is very similar to the one being driven by gordon johncock gordon having trouble is early in the race but not so with dallin buck and here is tom steva in the pits driving to penske number 68 and they continue to work on the jungkook cars yeah they're spending a lot of time in that car it doesn't look healthy and george mcnaughty and each team are very experienced indeed but i'm afraid this is not a healthy sight forgotten john talk i'm afraid it can't be good news this consistently one of the fastest during the practice time before the indy 500 qualified in the number two position tom sniva clears up the fifth he's in good shape and on his way down rip road the indianapolis 500 and the leader right now is aj ford followed by johnny rutherford and bobby youngster and wally dallinbach and billy vukovic is another who has moved up through the field to be in a contending position al unser has also made a move and johnny parsons driving car number 93 has moved well up through the pack and bobby allison would be running in ninth or tenth position as he imposed it just a little bit but the leader is aj boyce right now the man who wants to win this race for a fourth time 1975 has been quite a story already for aj as he won twice out in california 100 miler and a 500 miler [Music] rutherford is chasing and we'll be back as gordon johnson heads for the fifth confidence aj ford continues your leader with johnny rutherford second followed by unser dallinbach vukovic and you've got al unser in there and it is now confirmed that gordon johncock the man who came from the middle position of the lead role to take the lead has now expired and is out of the race and here is chris economically gordon it's a tough break to go out so early what do you feel at a moment like this well it's really disappointing chris you know uh i went out and led the race to start with and could have kept on continuing if i wanted to i turned a booth back in order to save uh for my fuel for the end of the race so we could run with him at any time now what about the other car might have the same problems yours had well i i doubt it it's not very likely you have the same problem i got so there is a disappointed man but on the racetrack fort continues to lead with rutherford who won this race 1974 and mario andretti in car number 21 is in the pits and they're fussing with it mario clapping his hands telling us through something frustrated obviously yeah he's talking about the handling as well i noticed some gesturing in a way that would normally mean the car wasn't handling to his uh to his liking he's going to piss very slowly he's still got his visor up there you can see the driver with the fighter up but he's going very slowly out of the pits and the pace continues heavy on the racetrack cars are swung out running in fine style and salt walter now has exited from 77 that car is gone and bob harkey has moved out of car number 33 now and walter will replace archie in car number 33. also started in 77 77 is out but remember so far from 1973 on the start see the tangle the car the fuel spewing into the cloud the chassis the tub spinning around flames saltwater was inside that it was an absolute and total miracle that a man could survive it but he did and he's back racing again one of the most awesome sights that i've ever seen in any sports event and in particular here at the indianapolis motor speedway but walter is back to run again back to declare himself not afraid i can't say i don't have any fears because obviously everyone in the world will be lying to you i get nervous when i go out here and run as anybody else does you don't want to get hurt that badly you figure maybe a broken leg or something but the only time i ever really had a flashback was last year coming down for the start of ontario i was nervous then we came here and coming down from the start i thought you have got to be one of the biggest idiots made i want a jerk and it it it really upsets you but that's the only time it's ever happened and now i go out there like it's never happened at all i mean i think tremendous shape i do an awful lot of bodybuilding more than weightlifting but i've got a sauna in a swimming pool tennis courts the whole deal where i try and keep in good shape at my house and uh anymore i don't it doesn't even bother me in fact when i saw it before i thought f4 guy in there's got to be dead because i saw the films i thought it's hard for me to really realize that i was in it but i know when the steering wheel hit me in the chest when i went up over the fence it just broke the ribs and it knocks it out obviously i was more semi-conscious than totally conscious so i was fortunate in that respect and then shock takes over so that i think all in all i was probably one of the luckiest people in the world the only thing i get a little upset with is people say when when you when you're when you're hurt i was the greatest guy going well the poor guy gosh darn he took some knocks and then you get back up to where you're in good shape and granted i'm gonna show off i like big diamonds and i like those cadillacs and i got a nice house then they start badmouthing you again i kind of listen to all of it i take it with a great assault and i kind of smile and the stuff i want to hear i listen to them what i don't like i just block it out you gotta say his grip in that guy and here come the siege of pit stops now onto the green it's aj fort leaving the lead to hit the pits you can see the clock running at the bottom there on aj's pin he's having a discussion with one of these men as well as taking a drink and of course the fuel's being filled up there aj foyt sitting here and he's gone out in 14.4 seconds which is a very fast pitched off indeed johnny rutherford would temporarily assume the lead but we do know that johnny must be coming on to the fifth very soon the mclaren the johnny who won here a year ago and it's trouble getting up to the kind of speed they wanted during the practice session they did not achieve their real running speed until after they had qualified and now we see johnny rutherford yielding the lead to come down brick road looking for fuel this team are very confident as well it's run by tyler alexander who's a very experienced american it's a british-based team it's a team that's doing very well in formula one racing nowadays and here's a carving pushback it's mario andretti being pushed up the pit wall i saw him going out there very slowly earlier on [Music] until all of your front runners are back on the track and the rest of the people start coming in for fuel and they're all gonna have to come in but it's mario andretti right now who's involved in a little bit of an alphonse guest car they get it started go down to the end of the fifth road then it expires they have to pull it back yeah it looks like they may have to do that all over again as rutherford exits it and finds style aj of course is already back on the racetrack and back at racing speed i got a tremendous respect for a.g point you know he's not only a designer of this car he's is the development engineer he's the tester and he's the racing driver he's the most complete man around this racetrack a great respect for a man who's not only super competitive but what a will he's got in every direction he really brings all his men and keep up to a super high and the car is running very well it has been the fastest of all the cars so far and here goes the andretti act again as mario once he gets moving away gets it going then the compounded thing seems to just quit running on him again so that would indicate to me something about the existing problem in that particular area probably 50 corporations but i doubt it very much well he doesn't have to have a great deal of confidence there because he never passes down buying them he obviously expects it to stop but i don't know what's happening so here he comes back again as he simply cannot get us to running and aj ford now is streaking again toward the lead aj foyt johnny rutherford bobby hunter wally collinbach and here is gary bettenhausen being shoved towards the pit area gary bettenhauser coming in for fuel and we'll be right back with more the 59th indianapolis 500 it's now settled again into a fuel between aj ford who is beating and johnny rutherford who's pursuing followed closely by bobby unser wally dallin back now is running in the number four position followed by al unser car number four he steps and bobby allison number 16 is running sixth like most vs7 and johnny parsons is number eight mosley and persons in the rest of the field at least one lap down right now to the front runners aj foyt trying to win his fourth indianapolis 500 as the whole world knows but you may not remember that the only other three-time winners were louis meyer wilbur and maury rose the gatorade special there with rutherford is closing in on aj point they're having a good race now you're getting the benefit of the drafting down that straight you can see rutherford's car really close in behind aj he's staying out a little bit perhaps to get cool air to keep the temperature down because it is a warm and humid day here in indianapolis but this car is at this time definitely getting the benefit of the slipstream early in the going the speeds were up around 183 miles an hour dropping off then to 179 and 174 they're running now about 172 mile an hour average that is not a track record at this particular point in the race but you can see that rutherford has certainly moved close enough aj knows he's [Music] there's no doubt about that but going around those corners the slip stream behind those cars is not pretty to drive in and rolling must be experiencing the sort of turbulence that is set up from [Music] racing where the ride is fairly comfortable and where you can suck in there and save yourself right but they are of course well streamlined cars race cars here with a little air flowers in the front and the bigger air flows in the back it's certainly an untidy air that they're getting back there and of course it's difficult for johnny rather but not only the turbulence but also envisioned because he's really low on the racetrack and there's a car spun [Music] apparently and he has spun off the racetrack this is off the racetrack and that brings out the yellow for the first time turn number three and starter pat medan handling the flags at the start finish line rips the yellow out immediately and all around this two and a half mile racetrack yellow lights flicker on and safety crews immediately broke to the scene the scene in this case being my kiss of california driving car number 94 and he has a piece of advice so that will bring everybody back into the pits in a hurry here's sports streaking down pit road heading for fuel heading for cars and whatever else might be put on the car the other leaders will be coming on in a hurry rucker ford is in bobby unser car number 48 flips into the fifth the first moment that you see yellow out you see those leaders looking for the pits and let's have another look at my kiss the car's obviously gone up and hit the wall this piece is going off of the car too that looks as if it may have been a mechanical failure of some kind you can see the mantle coming off the car there's something sliding down in the inside here the other cars coming along they've got to look after that that deputy as well as the cars leave a bit eg point is left to fit with johnny rutherford just coming up behind him so the yellow flag will be after a while as they clean up the race director mike hess had his problem and while we're waiting for the green and more racing let us spend a moment with chris so this field of 33 cars now has gone approximately 100 miles in this hot humid day at the indianapolis motor speedway and we have five cars out of the race which means of course the 28 are running and poor lloyd ruby you saw that he went out very early because of a burn piston in the seventh lap saltwater was the first to go out in the third lap with engine problems and uh the man that led the race for eight laps went only eleven gordon john john the 1973 winner this is the way they stand aj point is on top seeking his fourth indianapolis victory mike hiss the rookie of the year right here in 1972 you just saw him hit the wall he uh completed a total of 39 laps uh before that accident and larry mccoy out on the 24th lap with another burn piston number 63 so it's hard luck for five 28 are running here at the indianapolis motor speedway where it's expensive to come to when it comes to machines to mechanics pit crews forms of communication here at uh indy for the past few years i have resorted to electronic equipment between the pit crew and the driver but the surest means of communication seems to be a simple old blackboard because this is the best way to inform the driver when they would like to come into the pits here's jackie stewart with some knowledge about it there haven't been many changes at indy since last year but however there is a trend towards using more radios for communicating between the pit crews and the race drivers and vice versa because these radios that you use can allow the driver to speak back to the crew as well as the crew speaking to the driver but gladly the old pip board is still with us because a lot of racing drivers don't like the idea of being interrupted right in the middle of a corner by the pit crew with some tip bit of information now for you the viewers and for the people at the racetrack looking at these pit signs can be very interesting because it can give you an insight to what information the driver is getting from his crew chief if you see an arrow pointing in or to the left it doesn't mean that there's an insult to the driver's intelligence that as you turn left it means that he should come into the pits on the other hand you see an arrow pointing right or out it doesn't mean to say he should climb the pit wall or the outside wall it means that it should stay out on the racetrack for at least another lap if you see a plus three or four this perhaps would mean plus three seconds or four seconds on the car behind or a minus one or two means a minus on the leader or the car in front if you see other signs like hustle well this means that of course the driver should put a bit of pressure on go as fast as he can if you see one that says ease or easy it means that the driver should conserve his car and go of course a little bit canny now pip boards are important from a race driver's point of view to view because he must pay attention and if you're coming in for fuel the pit might give you a sign pit five this means coming to the pits in five laps time or three or two or one or whatever from a racing driver's point of view he's gotta look very carefully because in my last ever grown free i remember we misinterpreted the pitch signals i came into the pits and found that my pit was already fully congested with other cars and the hassle to get back out i ran over two of my mechanics and unfortunately missed ken turtle who was my crew chief so it shows you the best laid plans of mason man can still go amiss i wish you'll try to remember that all right under the yellow the leadership remains the same and only one driver changed so far with salt water replacing bob harkey in car number 33 and we'll be right back aj point continues to lead the indianapolis 500 followed by johnny rutherford wally dahlin back moving ever so slowly but ever so surely into a challenging position then you have bobby unser and you have mike mosley number 12 who has moved in there and of course the legend of mike mosley four times in two years he tangled with the wall of the fourth turn on two occasions once while leading he lost a wheel up in that fourth turn and expired from the race and each time mike was slightly injured but so far today everything's going well for him the question of course is can anybody catch the big guy from houston texas johnny rutherford from fort worth thinks he can and certainly that fellow who used to live in new brunswick new jersey wally darling back who's moved to the country in base of colorado after wally had qualified he immediately went home said he had to help his wife put down a garden otherwise she'd wear a whole handle out on him and the way he went to do is farming yeah he's come back to run speaking of wives there's a beauty betty rutherford hi gentle lady but very much involved in what's going on here at the indianapolis motor speedway she is at her husband's side everywhere you see johnny rutherford and she certainly is part of the sufficient fit through as she charts the laps the time and so forth jackie stewart talked with johnny rutherford about his wife [Music] betty probably has done more to help me rehabilitate after the accident given me the the rock to cling to so to speak she's been fantastic and without her it would have been very very tough you know you need you need the support and the backing uh that only your wife or someone very close can give you and she has uh she has been my rock to cling to so to speak and and like i said without her it would have been a lot tougher the accident to which johnny rutherford referred 1966 eldora racetrack spread cars flip broke both arms if you can believe that [Music] now the laughing continues as foyth rutherford and dahlenbach are all beginning to move through the field and bobby unser lurking right back there behind him in the jorgensen eagle and watch donald trump moving up alongside her [Applause] conditions that allowed that to happen the leap man usually has a bit of an advantage of traffic you can see there this is the picture that's taylor alexander talking to johnny rotherford there about what's happening as the cars go into tow one while he down by johnny rutherford for second place is now taking off after the leader aj ford you got red adventure priority for it and you've got that synthmast wildcat that george mcnaughty has put together with a special kind of an engine [Music] the sort of line that the racing driver would take and that's certainly normal but i think we're going to look for something here probably dollar back certainly very hot at the moment he's very close to aj point he's obviously fighting him up for a pass and of course he'll just take his time to do this because he certainly comes through the field of remarkable peace great compliment to this driver to have come up this quick into a leading position [Music] sitting right behind aj point he won the 1973 california 500 for his first major win now we look at him and watch those two red cars move around the traffic he almost got on the grass man it looks like they have it here it may be worth remembering and he ran the second lap a year ago at 191.408 miles an hour that's the fastest competitive lap ever run here at the indianapolis motor speedway he's a very mature driver he's not a young man but my goodness he's got a lot of racing miles and a lot of experience behind him and he has jumped just like gordon johncock did once he got into the front perhaps he's slipped a little more boosted with the engine to build up a little bit of a cushion but he has jumped out to a substantial lead over flight and bobby youngster trying to slide past johnny rutherford there as he came quickly through the traffic apparently getting a little bit of a draft pull there as bobby slipped suddenly into view then dropped back just a little bit now there's traffic between that is uh jerry carl driving smokey eunuch chevrolet powers race car well he's just getting passed now by answer surrounds us back in contention with the other two as we see going through there quite clearly ahead of the rest of them and it's interesting jacket to watch these veterans the old-timers how they can use the slower traffic how they can weave their way through and pick off a contender and force him to back off a little bit amongst those drivers who are up there just now they're all very experienced you can see the top drivers using traffic to their advantage they snooker another driver they put him into a position where he can't contaminate and this is the talent of racing particularly when it's difficult to get past it's a question of using the racetrack to the best of your ability and only experience a great maturity maturity allows you to do that at these speeds [Music] driving car number 15 the silver force special running very well up another veteran in the back there but well off the face at this particular time as they move looking what's the blue car 48 that's bobby hunter outside comes right inside along of johnny rutherford and ducks right in behind him and that car coming there is off road and you see that something filing more to worry about in there too can you imagine the turbulence of the air as these cars cut through the air at up to 220 miles an hour you can imagine how the air is moving around keith it's not easy on the cars [Music] drops back to the number four position on the racetrack and your leader is wally dahlenbach with aj point second [Music] we'll be right back this is a good performance by young tom sniver he's a a great young driver he's one of the drivers i fully expect to be great in the future but there you're seeing a man who's really been great today wally dollar back in the number 40 car that bright red car really driving tremendously well we might make this point that we have a little heavier cloud layer now than we anticipated the fifth sign indicating to wally that he's leading his for sewer for it by two seconds but the clouds have grown heavier it has not become quite as hot today as it has been in recent days and that is a break for everybody particularly those people concerned about the fuel consumption cars going down the back straight away you can see dolly back taking advantage of the draft as he sling shots passing the smoke there's a car spinning it's very undressing he looks like he's in a mechanical he's got into the wall very hard deep right on the grass hits the wall and he hits on the left side of the car that's where the fuel tank is located there's no fuel tank on the right it's kept on the left because most of the accidents in the past have happened as people have gone to the outside wall but that time something happened at the rear of andretti's car snapped it around mario had no chance the yellow flag is out he carries off the wall and you see walks away but he's obviously shaken because he must have been traveling in the neighborhood of 190 miles an hour when it happened well he's having a seat he's obviously feeling groggy but i have to compliment tremendously the security people here the emergency crews really came up you can see the smoke as he starts to spin the car goes out of control it looks like the rear airfoil is falling off to one side perhaps has been a mechanical failure in that sense because it's not level but look at it slam the wall the flame come out from the alcohol fuel you can't see any flames now because they burn white and clear mario andretti trying to steal the car but of course one wheel's hard against the wall but looking nearly runs into that emergency vehicle that's sitting behind the walls car breaking up but the crew are immediately onto him look at that car coming to him for assistance this is a tremendous compliment to the the ambulances and the firefighters and the rescue crews here there is a hospital on the grounds and it's rule of thumb that everybody goes for a checkup so the yellow flag is out the fireproof clothing it protects in a lot of ways chris economaki covered that subject before the race the requirements for safety in indianapolis car racing are high but there are none for driver comfort nicola here remember the roger penske crew is going to show us what a driver has to wear before he can crawl into the tiny cockpit of an indianapolis racing car he already has the long johns as they're called on the long underwear made of flame proof nomax nylon and he's putting a second of a pair of similar made socks just to protect the feet against fire over the top goes a sweatshirt like garment made a very heavy nomex nylon with a turtleneck and long sleeve to protect the upper body should a fire occur this combination is called the underlayment over it all comes a driver's suit made of two-piece material much like a heavy bed spread again a flame proof material this protect the driver in the event of fire should occur it is a tight fitting garment with snug anklets and snug wristlets and a very expensive garment running well over a hundred dollars then on the bottom are specially made shoes also a flame material these from england that go over the feet and then lock over the knitted bottom of the driver suit so that there's no fire could get in the bottom should a fire occur on top of it all comes something from the days of war time many many years ago a nylon head covering called a balaclava this to protect the side of the face only room to see is left then over it all goes to the helmet a specially made helmet uh which which is built to certain standards goes on and with the helmet comes a scarf that would do a cold man some good on a night in chicago this is wrapped around the bottom of the helmet and fastened with velcro to the bottom of the helmet to keep any flames that might erupt from getting into the neck in the top of the driver's suit once this scarf is on it is then tucked into the driver's suit to make an absolutely complete package protecting the driver from flame once his nylon leather palm gloves are put on from top to bottom in the tiny confines of today's indianapolis racing car where the temperatures are perhaps 50 degrees higher than they are outside this is the way the driver looks when the green flag called wind rushing over the car is of not much help because of the aerodynamic design of today's racing car nick what's it like in there it gets hot very fast chris we're still under the yellow and your leader is still wally dahlenbach as we resume our coverage of the indianapolis 500 the leader is wally dahlin back followed by johnny rutherford aj fourth bobby youngster and tom sniver in car number 68 the young man from straight washington just got out of spokane he is running a lap behind those four front runners but remaining most impressive for those four veterans dallin buck rutherford ford and unser oh man that you would expect to be able to do this kind of job at indianapolis they're all super experienced drivers and this is what it takes at indianapolis the average age of the indie fields around 35 years of age for the drivers and somehow young drivers never do too well at this super high speedway because when they get onto the hard surface here at these very high speeds when they're qualifying they're averaging up 190 miles an hour it takes a special finesse of driving and this doesn't come easy it certainly doesn't come with you and experience there is no suction [Music] johnny rutherford is the green car with a number two on him right there in the middle there is no number one in the race this year first time in a long time that i can ever recall no number one that is normally carried by the man who is the usac national parks champion a.j ford now has moved right behind johnny rutherford so those two texans are continuing their joust the cg point now that's got the problem with the airfoil situation and he's trying to make a path and he's made it is it a matter of drafting or did he perhaps reach for a little extra boost it could have been that coming off the previous corner of the other car didn't get off quite as cleanly as aj did and he just got a run at him it could have been a boost of course but it certainly was assisted by the slipstreaming of the drafting that takes place in the meantime wally dahlenbach continues to zing along holding a comfortable lead and again we bring up the subject of fuel consumption is wally running it at the conservative level remember he's cut to average at least 1.8 miles per gallon in order to run 500 miles and let's pursue the subject a little bit more as chris economic makes his way over to george mcnutty george some of your competition down pit road is of the opinion that you're burning more fuel than you'll have for the rest of the race i don't know if you gave wally the boost sign was that to bring it down yeah we go we go up and down with the boost whenever we feel we need it and uh they won't find out how much fuel we got to the races over you say that everything is okay and you're going to make it we're very happy okay george mcnutty refusing to admit that they're making any mistakes in the fuel department george right now having only one car to worry with he started to gordon johncock long since leftists now he's watching his man lead the field aj right there always in the shadow it seems of a leader if he's not in front himself as they come down off turn number two and work their way through the back straight a.g fight by the way had george mcnaughty as his mechanic a good few years ago because he's one of the most experienced top mechanics here at indianapolis i think he's won something like six races here at indianapolis this is uh this is pretty good knowledge to be able to do this i raced with george mcnaughty in 1966 and 67 and you can see brother from sneaking in there while laughing another car that was a pretty tight move in that corner [Music] now you can see they all pretty much hold the same line as there's no real pressure on anybody at the moment [Music] those four cars are in the same lap and again let me say to you the clouds have grown heavy the humidity is oppressive but it is not as hot as everybody anticipated the cars handling here at indianapolis and days like this is tremendously important some of those cars have got adjustable suspension from the cockpit that car you're looking at right there has an adjustable rear roll bar the driver can change the handling characteristics as he goes around the racetrack johnny rutherford if the car starts to push a little which means under steering that's to say when the car gets turned into the corner it doesn't bite so much it doesn't actually go with the driver once and it tends to push the car forward and go out towards the wall if he finds that that's happening he can adjust it from inside the car to try and get that car to grip a little better and change its characteristics of handling that is used around racing tracks varies from category to category and it takes you a little while to get acquainted with it if you heard the word stagger it doesn't mean that someone is doing it literally it applies to the automobile you hear a lot of people talking about it that has to do with the tires and the the way in which the automobile the chassis is balanced and bobby young beginning to creep in on johnny rutherford car number two is russia the green and white and unser is in the blue it is a mclaren and the eagle there is a very anxious man waiting on the side of the racetrack as his man bobby youngster pulls out damn journey watching journey jumping up and down hunters not able to get by johnny rutherford on the turn that journey who has become over the years uh literally a historic figure as far as american automobile racing is concerned he broke out of the pack and went off to europe and did well and this is his car this is his driver at bobby answer goes by johnny rotherford and takes over third place johnny looked like he was having a bit of a problem coming off of that corner there because he certainly wasn't in the groove and he certainly wasn't going as fast as he would like to and it seems that to me that the eagle cut him just a bit too fast and i think there's something wrong there with johnny rollerskate i can't imagine what it is but it looks like probably not having any trouble conceivable that johnny just was getting a little hot maybe he backed off and you have to be most conscious of the heat gauges particularly when you are limited in your fuel situation never forget it certainly they can't along fit road mario andretti out of the race has made his way back to pit road and here is sam cozy to talk with him [Music] mario andretti in the pits mario it hardly seems possible over here in the pits again at indianapolis that you're not on the track what's happened this year well something broke on the car on the back stretch and just went into a spin about 190 miles an hour we don't know exactly what happened but obviously uh the car just uh did some crazy things there while it was a straight line did you hit anything i certainly did finally i gyrated i did a couple 360s and then finally hit the wall on the inside just about into the third turn how do you feel now well physically i'm all right and we're all certainly happy to hear that now here is aj ford again moving up in traffic he's going trying to get by bill beautiful bill beautiful is 38 years of age he's going to be listed in your program as a rookie but he certainly had his fair share of experience and he nips off aj refusing to let him to go down and assume the groove and budaport right now is running in the number 10 position so he's in pretty good shape but your leader right now is wally darling back point hunter rutherford and steve in that order car number 16 bobby ellison stopped allison out of the car so one of the greats from nascar grand national stock car racing leaves the field and let's set the runners as dahlin back continues to lead the sport in second bobby youngster third johnny rutherford in fourth only four cars in the same lap but what four cars number 68 tom steva he's running at the number five position at the moment but he is two laps behind those four front runners [Music] and right now things are quite comfortable for those poor the great level racing one never really knows the moment you know i've seen so many motor races that i've personally been in you're in a fairly comfortable situation you're trying to feel your motorcar during laps like this when there's nobody pushing in the driver's feeling for any little vibrations anything that he can feel in his car to be sure that he treats it gently all of these people should be about you for a pit stop pretty soon running in the number six position right now it's johnny parsons running seventh it is george snyder out of vaporsphere california car number 36 is sammy sessions he's eight running ninth right now with monroe carter in car number eleven and here comes [Music] yeah we'll have to have a look and see how quickly he gets out here because this pit crew that he's got we've got the clock running you remember when we saw the pit demonstration they got about in 18.1 seconds now the adrenaline is running in the face these people are working under considerable pressure as the race takes place and here we see the other car coming in and look he's gone out in 14.8 seconds very good pit stop for what a dollar johnny rutherford now as teddy mayer stands directs the crew tyler alexander has sworn all over that mclaren to put new shoes on it and fill it up with the tank five men allowed over the fifth wall to work on the car that's all just five we mentioned pancho carter remember the story we gave earlier that pancho carter's car was just almost destroyed in preparation test last thursday as aj ford has gone into the lead with the other people coming into the pits so boyd has the lead but curtis carr had never been rushed until it rolled off the starting line following the accident and he has moved it up to the number nine position and he is quite something only 24 years of age his dad wayne carter senior is quite a driver and he's running right there in front of aj boyce in that black and white number 11. so your order now after those pit stops are fort bobby [Music] as your leader is aj the tough text is he tough well let's listen to an earlier comment aj you're a hard man on the racetrack everybody looks at you and everybody thinks of a racing driver as a hat man they think they're made of stone but is eg a warm man or is he indeed a hard man well i don't think i'm a hard man a lot of people play it up that i'm hard to get along with and things like this uh i do have a lot of things on my mind you know when i'm in houston to my ranch or my dealership or what have you uh but i've always give you a fellow driver i've lent them engines before like two years ago they run fourth here i lent dick simon an engine i think three years ago that almost bumped me out of the race here and i've always really been trying to always be fair with all my racing competition just do everything i possibly could for them now away from motor racing and away from your dealership and your other businesses how does eg fight relax how do you get away from it all well uh right now jackie you know i've bought some race horses and uh since i have my ranch i enjoy going to the ranch and clearing property and working out on my bulldozers and i just really enjoy the horse racing game that i've got some thoroughbreds and quarter horses and it's very intriguing and i've had a lot of fun with it's kind of expensive and i hope they start running about like i do but that's about the only relaxation i've had and i've just started that your family obviously still plays an important part in your life you've got them all up here it looks like a clan gathering in scotland you obviously spend a lot of time with them i really do i spend as much time as i possibly can i'm on the road an awful lot and i really wasn't with my children as much as probably most fathers should be as they grow up because i've always been gone you know i've been racing all over the country but like you have and i just maybe hadn't been the father i really should have to my children because i've had to be on the road so much that is a constant common point i think of men involved in vigorous activities in this era our number 14 is due for a pit stop pretty soon and i might include those of us in this business among those who perhaps are negligent in the time we spend with our own but aj ford has to be at this point jackie thinking about a pit stop yes aj fight must be getting ready for one he's making his way through the traffic look how he uses the road there and the car behind him of course is car number 48 he's bobby uncertain really shadowing all the way to dan gurney's car and there you can see the pit sign pit one that means he's one lap to go before he comes into the pits so bobby unser is preparing to come into the pits and dan gurney the man who's been loved all over the world you know a great ambassador for your american motor racing the man who enters that car there has come to europe as one grown freeze is loved by us in europe as well as the many many thousands of people here in indianapolis i'll tell you one thing when that pit sign goes up you have to be aware of it in this era because we have in the immediate past many instances where people have misread the bit sign or not picked it up in time and run out of fuel and here's aj slowing way down oh dear if this is a problem i'll be really upset because aj has been having a real goal at winning his 4th indy and this could be the end of it you might be seeing something very sad for aj fight he's obviously in trouble keith he's coming around i don't believe that he has power i don't believe that he has power he appears to be coasting and he's got a long way to go and he's put his hand up that indication for the rest of the people going by and that he has a at the moment without power yeah but he's doing something with his hand up there he's obviously working with something keith it looks like he's working with something i wonder if he could be low on fuel this may be a problem with aj fights but he's hand up he could be he's manipulating something he looks to be pulling at the padding at the padding at the back of the cockpit so apparently there's something loose in there or something wrong but anyway he is without power at the moment he's picked up he's picked up a little bit i think i saw him accelerating just a tiny bit but we could probably answer the pitch there bobby unser getting the treatment in the pits and that moves wally back back into the lead car number 40. the mcnaughty sinbas wildcat is back in the lead on the racetrack and if bobby hunter can get out in a hurry he's going to hold on to second place here's aj foreign he apparently got power back but he was without power for a time coming around so aj comes posting into the fence and let's see what they do to the car there's the fuel hose i think that's the only thing that's really mattered i think it's been fuel it looks like it could have been he's refueling his own system there with a drink as you can see it's not looking like a hurried pit stop but he's certainly being fueled up so wally darling back has the lead running right there behind bill buchovich bobby unser is second and johnny rutherford runs third in aj struggling [Music] all right we're back here at the indianapolis motor speedway and the leader is wally dahlenbach and we have now come to the point of the race where the anticipation that was so vibrant at the beginning hailed for a time now it's beginning to build again because it is not that far from now that we'll be talking about the man who might win it here's where a lot of people start holding their breath bobby unser sitting in a challenging position in second johnny rutherford aj foyt having that problem and now we have it pretty much confirmed that aj just ran out of fuel he's also having some trouble apparently with some padding in the cockpit he just gained repair of that figuring he's a tough enough man under these circumstances to hang on to a jerry grant in the spirit of orange county car number 73 it has a lot of support from santa ana colleges rolling into pit road it looks like he too may be out of fuel now here we come down with aj ford beginning to move through traffic and he's running in behind uh tom steeler eldon rasmussen number 58 is in the yellow car [Music] [Applause] behind him he was able to afford it somehow but tom smith is in the car he's moving around he's trying to get out an incredible accident on turn number 68 tom steva there is fire question is is there fire in the cockpit what what a spectacular clip and the fire suit hopefully will protect young tom sniva as he struggles to get out of the car after such a terrible accident that's one of the most horrifying crashes i've ever seen to have a driver come out of that even moving the way he is now look at the replay of the accident they go into the turn together as they go into turn one there you can see they're going even going into turn two even as they go through there together somehow they touch now you see sneaker in the blue car low down and he actually goes into what i would call a classic open wheel racing car action that climbs over the front wheel of the yellow car of rasmussen's car this is the type of accident that can occur it seems to be that thom sniver was in the inside line rather than stayed parallel with him but look at that car slam against the wall burst into flame the cab disintegrating as it goes through the suites there the people very close to the accident the wheels are coming off the engine is ripped off completely what an accident it looked to me as if these two cars tried to go through turn two together i don't think it was tom steve's fault but i can't honestly say that it was rasmussen's fault either the yellow flag is out but it looks to me as if it was just a standard motor racing accident they're still getting torn out he's standing up key that's a miracle to me incredible what a lucky young man this is he's walking we know there has been fire around him how much he may be burned we don't know but he is at the moment moving at least partially under his own power and he will be moved with great dispatch to the hospital well you know i think he's wise looking at this race from turn to this must have been a horrifying sight for all of the people who so closely connected with that accident but young tom sniver is okay and we can only thank god for that now with the yellow out now with the yellow out everybody hits the bits there's bobby youngster jumping in for fuel fuel again let me say is the critical thing so while we have the yellow out and we know that tom steve is well enough let's spend a moment with chris leader wally delavac has just made his sixth pit stop his competition up and down pit road insists that the car is burning more fuel than it has for the entire 500 miles crew chief george pigotti says that's not the case that he knows his business yet here the crew has covered up the sight gauge on the fuel tank so that the competition cannot see how much fuel is left whether they have enough or whether they are really burning too much the story really here is fueling the coupling with their computers and figuring very closely the yellow flag we're on at the moment is a break for walid elephant all right chris now let's move down with sam posey and check the mclaren fit the word is that george mcnaughty has just covered over his fuel gauge the sight glass with a rag he doesn't want anyone to know now how much fuel he's running what do you think of this well i think it's an excellent tightening it's a good idea whether it'll pay off or not we'll find out at the end of the race of course uh perhaps he's in trouble we're all right still okay and uh but do you think this yellow flag situation might help him i think he's been running rather hard it'll help everybody of course very much and no i've asked them where it'll help and that'll mean a better race at the end of the race okay and uh as for the mclaren pitted candor all the way down here right we can see how much gas you've got left if you like you can look rasmussen being towed in and of course teddy mayer is the fifth boss for johnny rutherford the boss of that team and eldon rasmussen apparently it was he stopped over there to try to help i believe and there is the wreckage of tom steva's car incredible the yellow is still out let's spend the moment with chris schenkel it's an awful looking site wasn't it in the background you see the tremendous number of cars parked in the infield here at the vast indianapolis motor speedway covering nearly 600 acres there are many unique things here at the indianapolis speedway as we look at the standings now at this point of the indianapolis 500 such as uh 27 holes of golf nine within the infield itself 18 without and all a part of the indianapolis motor speedway as wally dallenbach has the lead you see bobby unsure has driven a very conservative very well-paced race in second johnny rutherford last year's winners in third aj point who was the leader is now racing fourth and there you see that george snyder is running fifth and we come back to the action on the racetrack now as bobby unser car number 48 comes wheeling around you might point out that aj foyt is a left down running in the number four position right now let's spend a moment now with the young man out of it johnny parsons i'm with johnny parsons who's had a brilliant drive up into fifth place in this race but something's gone wrong what was it george uh sam is just out of gear on me coming off the second corner and it over ripped and uh gearbox broke i couldn't get it back in the gearbox in any gear that just put me out uh car was handling great we were running laps 185 in a race and like you said we were running fifth i know i could have done better than that if i could only just finish i haven't got a problem about finishing a race and maybe fight for finishing i'll be right in there incidentally to update on tom smith he was conscious as he was taken by ambulance to the hospital he does have we understand some what appears to be minor burns but we will confirm his condition as the time we're on but we do know that he was in conversation with those who extracted him from the wreckage of his car that does not mean uh gordy john guck that's an indication to wally dallinbach who's working out of the same pit crew gordy johncock has long since been gone from the big naughty team as he ran into bad luck very early but bobby unser now begins to appear uh a rather ominous figure for those who have been running up in front bobby has not spent any time up there so far today but he's certainly very evident and here is aj foyt ducking into the pits indicating to his crew what he wants and as he stops it that will put him two laps down to the leaders that's an awful lot at this time of the race i would like to be in that position right now two laps there's a lot of ground to catch up eg fight in the pitch you can see the clock running he's just past the 13th second as he's pushed away 13.3 seconds and very fast remember these mechanics are having to work with hot equipment straight off the racetrack eg fight cruise back on the track and don't forget the man from baseball colorado wally dahlenbach number 40 he leads it with bobby unser and johnny rotherberg the defending champion and johnny rutherford certainly not turning it loose bobby unser now is looking for the gas and fire stop as he comes down fifth road they've got to keep these engines running as they come down the driver must keep the engine running if the engine stalls in any way of course this can cost time and an engine doesn't always stop too easily when it's so hot the clock again on the the eagle pit the dan gurney pit the jorgensen eagle being on there you can see the front left hand wheel being changed and he's taken a little bit longer 16.5 seconds aj point took three seconds on that but that is still using your time economically three cars in the same lap it is dull and back and uncertain rutherford 42 laps down followed by george snyder five down then comes sam sessions and pancho carter and carter still very much in the hunt and now george schneider has ducked into the pits he'll get tires and fuel and he'll continue in a moment [Music] we have three cars running in the same lap here at the indianapolis motor speedway number 40 what a doll in fact slowing down heading down this road perhaps that's not exactly the place to be slowing down if you're looking for a pit stop oh the smoke coming out he is going into the back straight he is a long way away from the pits just first glance i thought perhaps he was on a different turn but no indeed wally is in trouble as he passed the main grandstand here i have the car going off it looks as if it almost burst actually just below us here the car is smoking now i'm afraid this is a very ominous situation what a disappointment for the man who's laid this way so convincingly he's in the pit lane now he's still driving the car down but that smoke coming out it's really a messy looking engine to be and you know what that will give the lead to johnny ruffa ford and a lot of people thought that johnny's reporter might be a man who could win it for a second time he's in the lead right now as darling back comes posting down into his hit area and we'll watch the examination he indicates rather disgustedly towards the back of the [Music] oh it must be heart-rending for everybody to have it in hand and suddenly have it trickle away like that that's the rub of the game [Music] big round of applause building up from the grandstands along trip road as well as back and [Music] he hasn't forth realized the total disappointment i think life at night is going to be even worse for wally dolan back now he knows he's led the indy 500 he knows he's dominating the race it's a horrible disappointment but sadly the full realization of this as i've experienced will not come even tonight perhaps it will come most tomorrow morning but while spirits sang in one place they go up in another and they will certainly zoom now for johnny rutherford and the mclaren people as the gatorade mclaren uh assuming the lead but now he too must come to the pit it is time for fuel and as he comes into the pits that will give the lead to bobby unser there is betty rutherford wife of the driver johnny as he brings it in she starts the clock time is so precious as the five men come holding over the wall and work furiously to get the gas into the tank the tires change they go inside and outside this time and out on the racetrack it is number 48 wheeling along the jorgensen eagle being driven by bobby unser it is not a particularly quick stop [Music] and aj ford should have unlapped himself during that process of pit stop so there would be your standings now let's join wally dahlenbach wally it had to be one of the tough ones again what was the trouble well everything was just beautiful we just knew we were gonna win it so that rear tire went flat we picked up some dream when we had a debris when we had to go in the grass on the second turn and when the tire went flat i had to let off on it too much and it turns and then leaned her down and burned a piston again as long as i could what do you feel inside wally very empty and very disappointed for a lot of people that were rooted for me and i thought really and truly all month long i had this one in the back [Music] yeah well i'll be back next year i'm not going to rest until it's mine that's the way wally wally jalaback one of the great ones here all right chris economically thank you very much here's alexer in the pits al has not been among the front runners today he has run a steady race and the way things can swing and change the fortunes can head and flow you never know do you bobby unser has the lead right now as his brother al sits in the fence johnny ruckman is running in second place and aj foyt is now third and they're all in the same lap and again i'll remind you that there are some very heavy clouds hanging on the horizon this time of the year in this part of the country you never know when you're going to get that flash of lightning thunder and here can come the rain so quickly but we do have an official race [Music] they must consider this because if there's any threat of rain they've got to work the race strategy around that situation because if the rain were to come at the wrong moment while they were in the pits this could lose them and again i want to mention pancho carter dwayne carter jr he has moved well ups and there is the man who's deepened bigger on the front straight that is beckhausen has lost the rear wheel and look at him doing the job of driving holy smokes how in the world did he hold it well that car is only running in three wheels my goodness if you're steering you see it's not properly steering because one wheel [Music] gary injured his left arm a year ago on july in zurich used in a strength car that brings out the yellow unconducts in there were some people who questioned whether or not gary could control a car with that weakened left arm but i think that proves the point unequivocally he handled it masterfully and the debris now being swept off the track just as quickly as possible and there is a very disappointed gary bettenhausen who's become a gentleman farmer down in monrovia indiana johnny rutherford exercising the yellow to jump into the pit to [Music] along there like a bronco look at it now as we can see it in slow motion the rear wheel is thrown off the tire is shredded while it's been coming off then it heads into the wall now look at the car starting to latch it's almost like a a speed boat in water it's going over the wake there it's beginning to roll as it does it he gets it close to the wall so that if it if it does point in at least it's not going to hit the wall at a bad angle he touches the wall he comes away from it looking as if it's a an aeroplane landing you can see the wheel touching down there from time to time as it goes through the car sooner or later that car will pop as well no tag and put up with this but he is controlling the car he's really fighting with it he doesn't want the car to turn drastically into the wall look at him trying to feed the car back into the wall again obviously keeping it close now he's heading for the infield look at the tire touching down it's almost like a like a boat in the water you can see there's no rear wheel there on the left of your picture what a lovely job he did he obviously was fighting all the way and he did not hit the wall to start the accident it just simply sheared off something gave and under the pressure of coming off the turn that right rear wheel apparently just sheared off and there is tom piccolo's number 17 being wheeled down fifth road and taken out of the race so the veteran from whitewater wisconsin is gone from the race as well do we have a pit fire there is a fire down at thick simon spit area from sandy utah dick simon who wept when he qualified for the start of this indy 500 but he's hanging in there they get the fire out and we'll be right back with more [Music] all right let's pick up bobby unser now as we zoom our coverage of the indianapolis 500 and bobby ducking into the pits i think it's going to rain and answer pops in there and just a little bit of fuel just popping off the tanks a very hazardous well a dangerous decision it seems to me now that's for it if he gets by him he can't pass him under the hill i don't believe that he's going gonna have to back up and let aj reassume his position he'll have to slow down as sport comes on up and goes by now they're in the proper perspective in support as the race is concerned so with the yellow on bobby unser ducking in is very blustery now and that big cloud that's been hovering within view for some time has uh again moved very ominously close and i think we're going to get some rain look at that story about pancho carter sitting in the number four position he started today in a car that he had not been in since he wrecked it gary pond his crew they didn't go to bed between thursday and this morning and there is that lane oh and he's very heavy keith it's almost thunder rate it's going to absolutely flood the racetrack look at everybody running but look how heavy the rain is what are these cars going to do in this sort of rain they're going to start slipping and sliding it is a cloud burst an old-fashioned midwest thunderstorm has hit with fury here at the indianapolis motor speedway remember these cars have got slick tires on they're not supposed to run in the rain these tasks can actually play in at even about 20 miles an hour you can see the starter pat be down there he's got the checkered flag in his hand all right let's check the standings now it becomes vital who's leading it is bobby unser who has the lead johnny rockeford is second they're just barely moving along they're beginning to hyper plane they're throwing up for rooster tail aj point is running in third poncho carter is four roger mccluskey five bill feuda bar six and george snyder is seven they're wobbling all over the place here comes coming along aj is a left down almost a lap down to bobby bobby yetzer in the blue car on the right is the leader as they work their way so very carefully at this point however remember must be very careful because if he slides off the racetrack he could still lose this place to johnny rutherford who is feeling his way around it's like walking on on greece remember these drivers are not used to driving in the rain and the cars are certainly not set up i've driven in the rain of course a lot of times because in europe we do drive in the rain but there we have tires and there's cars all over the place i just thought that with the actual planing and the amount of water on the road cars are spinning and look at this cast billy vukov he's trying to control against heavy for the enemy and he's driving it away the red [Music] you can't see it perhaps but bobby unser posting through the cloud there there were four cars tangled up and coming off that fourth turn aj ford coming along he's going to be third and there's your winner car number 48 bobby hunter wins on a driving rain storm here in indianapolis well this is the site of the unexpected it has been so many times but here comes bobby hunter and a.j foyt and absolute the winner here's the man that put him there dan gurney dan gurney your car's just won the race [Music] bobby hunter you've just been trying to talk to him on the right [Applause] bruising around accepting the footage of the crowd and bobby's gonna take his parade laughs he doesn't care if he has to get an oar to get that thing around but he's gonna enjoy it let's have another look at the escapade of billy vukovic coming out of turn four well that car got loose they're only in the water with aqua planing as i said before there's no tread in these cars they are slick tires this is the other entity but billy book of which is reversing faster look at that man avoiding him there he slams into the fence he almost springs back on and he did drive the car back yes he did cars involved up there included uh vukovic jimmy carruthers bentley warren and mike mosley but there's the final results bobby answer the winner for a second time he wanted first in 1968 johnny rutherford defending champion finishes in second place aj fourth takes third so aj is denied the opportunity to win his fourth indianapolis 500 poncho carter with a remarkable ride we'll take fourth place in roger mccluskey we'll move into the number five position here comes your victor splashing down for victory lane i have never in my life seen this kind of an end to an indy 500. there's your winner bobby well there's the celebration in victory lane as albuquerque robert wins it for a second time you know there are now four indy victories in the unser family al unser won it in 70 and 71 bobby winning it in 68 and now again here in 1975. he doesn't care if it's raining it could be snowing he is filled with a warmth of victory and what a victory it is for dan gurney because the economic crush has come along and certainly severely cripped the style of some of the people in a very expensive racing profession but this is a great moment for dan gurney i'm very happy for dan because he's so loved around the world as i said earlier he's been a great ambassador and to win the indy 500 must be a really a dream come true for him a great race but what conditions oh they flagged the race now rather decisively and rather quickly it is official of course if you go one lap past the halfway point it's possible this thunderstorm could drift on over and they might have time to race later no i think that would have been a wrong decision i think they've done the right thing right now i think they've stopped the motor race these conditions were so bad these cars and tires are not suited for this kind of racing they could have had serious accidents they could have had fatalities over the head of it i think the officials have done the right thing and they've run the race very well all of the elements of safety that have been so carefully constructed over the years performed brilliantly here today and the winner is bobby unser yes i think one of the things that must be complimented are the emergency crews because my goodness didn't they deal with these accidents quickly mario andretti's accident of taunts and eva accident all of those things were dealt with great efficiency and we need that because these racing drivers must be protected when they are in such volatile conditions while we're passing out plaudits let us congratulate the winner bobby unser dan gurney and all of their people let's go to victory lane congratulations a little messy for you well it was not messy until the uh rain came but i hate to say it but i kind of welcomed it right about the what about that stop in the rain wasn't that quite a gamble well yes we were fine at the head down dan was calculating that and coming across to me on my radios and telling me exactly what was happening and i said well i didn't know that for sure and i just felt that i had to take a chance on we came here really quick and uh yeah i just couldn't be sure that the rain was going to go and i knew that i've gotten stayed in and the race went on that i was going to have to run real hard so i'm going to have a little fuel to run that hard well dan congratulations it's been a long weekend thank you chris we sure love it and it's not easy to do we found that out we're awfully proud and very proud for a sponsor of the jorgensen steel company okay bobby youngster a two-time winner of the indy 500 the fourth time an answer has gone into victory lane in a soaking wet win here indianapolis motor speedway back to you okay and alongside is chris economaki there were six cars involved in accidents today during the running the 500 one announcer you'll notice the patch on chris's forehead what happened oh i got a little clunk in the pits uh working around a couple of stitches i know you have a report on tom sneeva i was just down at methodist hospital chris and uh he is suffering from first and second degree burns over 10 of his body but surprisingly no broken bones he's being held in the hospital for a 24 to 48 hour observation to see if any of the flames he inhaled caused any internal damage well we wish him a lot of luck and of course vice president joe cloutier recovering from a hard operation one of the mainstays of the speedway and the holman company and we hope you get over your two-stitch job and your forehead two crests is 13 cars finished the race the average speed of 149 and of course there were many uh uh running under the caution light of the yellow flag so bobby unser who took the lead at the 164th lap led for a total of 11 and uh bobby unser and johnny rutherford have just reversed the positions of last year's race because it was answer who finished behind rutherford just one year ago here at the indianapolis speedway a wet blanket didn't bother bobby at all now and of course we should point out chris has spent most of the month of may in indiana and it rained very little but today proves that it doesn't rain in indianapolis indiana so bobby answer the winner johnny rutherford second aj fought third dwayne carter that's a great story because he wrecked the car in the last two minutes roger mccluskey bill putterbaugh george schneider along with bill vukovic of course you saw him in the tragic near tragic accident that he had going up against the fence so it was an action-filled afternoon here at the indianapolis motor speedway

Channel: Matthew McSweeney

Views: 3,722

Keywords: 1975, Indy 500, ABC, Indianapolis 500

Id: ZjZRq692YYo

Length: 87min 3sec (5223 seconds)

Published: Thu Aug 18 2022