1971 Indianapolis 500

55th running of the Indianapolis 500

The 55th 500 Mile International Sweepstakes was a motor race held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana on Saturday, May 29, 1971. Al Unser Sr. won for the second consecutive year, dominating most of the race. Unser became the fourth driver to win the Indy 500 in back to back years, and it was his second of a record tying four Indy victories. The race was marred by a crash involving the pace car at the start. Eldon Palmer, a local Indianapolis area Dodge dealer, lost control of the Dodge Challenger pace car at the south end of the pit area, and it crashed into a photographers' stand, injuring 29 people, two seriously. Peter Revson started on the pole with a record speed of , more than a mile per hour faster than any other qualifier, with defending Indy 500 winner and USAC National Champion Al Unser in the middle of the second row. Mark Donohue, who qualified in the middle of the front row, took the lead at the start of the race and led the first 50 laps. A mechanical issue ended his day, however, on lap 66, at which time Unser assumed the lead. He and Joe Leonard swapped the lead several times during the middle portion of the race, but Unser led for the final 83 laps, giving him a win for the second year in a row. He was the first to successfully defend his title since Bill Vukovich won in 1953–1954. Unser became the first and only driver to date to win the race on his birthday (32nd); which was also coincidentally the first time the race had ever been held on May 29, and he also became the first winner to celebrate in the new victory lane. The new winner's area, now featuring black and white checkered ramps, was moved from the south end of the pits to the "horseshoe" area immediately below the Master Control Tower, near the start/finish line. The 1971 Indy 500 was part of the newly re organized USAC Marlboro Championship Trail, in which dirt tracks were separated from the paved ovals and road courses. From then on, the Gold Crown championship schedule would consist solely of paved tracks (both ovals and road courses), giving the national championship a decidedly new look for the 1970s and beyond. In addition, with 500 mile races at Ontario and Pocono now on the schedule, Indy car racing formed its first "triple crown." The city of Indianapolis celebrated its Sesquicentennial in 1971, and the occasion was reflected on the bronze and silver pit badges for the month of May. During the week leading up to the race, Indianapolis was also the site of 1971 NATO International Conference of Cities.

For the first time, USAC firmed up the rules regarding pole day qualifying. As had been done in previous years, a blind draw would be held to determine the order of qualifying on pole day. However, starting in 1971, all drivers/cars in the original qualifying draw order would be allowed the opportunity to make at least one attempt in the pole round regardless if rain halted the session and pushed it off to another day. Previously, if rain interrupted the qualifying line on pole day, any cars left in the original qualifying order at the time the track closed because of weather or the track closing at 6:00 p. m. were deemed to qualify on the next round. During practice, McLaren arrived at the track with the new M16 chassis, drawing attention and some controversy due to presence of a large rear wing affixed to the engine cover. USAC rules through 1971 required that any aerodynamic devices were to be an integral part of the bodywork. After inspection, officials ultimately approved the device, as McLaren argued it was part of the engine cover. The engine cover was not much more than a flat, plate like shape that ran along the top of the engine, with the wing affixed to the rear. As practice began, the McLaren entries quickly established themselves as favorites for the pole position.

McLaren M16 cars dominated qualifying during a record shattering afternoon. The chassis took 1st, 2nd, and 4th starting positions, but the results were not without some surprise. Mark Donohue in the Penske owned McLaren had broken the 180 mph barrier during practice on Thursday, establishing himself as the favorite for the pole. Donohue lucked out with an early draw on Pole Day, going out third in line. He posted a four lap average of 177.087 mph to sit on the provisional pole. It was a new track record, but a little disappointing compared to the 180 mph lap he had two days earlier. Later in the day, Peter Revson, driving a works McLaren, bumped Donohue from the pole with a four lap average of 178.696 mph. The pole position far out of reach for the rest of the field. Donohue reportedly suffered handling problems with his car during his run, purportedly as a result of his crew refusing to dial it in as he requested. Donohue then confided with his friend Revson, who then clandestinely borrowed Donohue's chassis set up advice to knock him off the pole. Bobby Unser in an Eagle chassis, squeezed between the three McLaren cars by qualifying third.

Three drivers completed runs, with Bud Tingelstad (170.156 mph) the fastest of the afternoon. Mike Mosley returned after two crashes the previous day, and qualified solidly over 169 mph.

A busy day saw the field filled to 33 cars car. The day concluded with Steve Krisiloff bumping out rookie Sam Posey.

Strong winds kept speeds down, and only three drivers successfully bumped their way into the field. The windy conditions led to six crashes, and hopefuls waited until the final 45 minutes before they took to the track. The session started out with Mel Kenyon bumping out Carl Williams. Bob Harkey bumped Dick Simon, and Art Pollard got back into the field by bumping Jim McElreath. Jim Hurtubise once again tried to qualify his front engined roadster, but on his second lap, hit the outside wall at the head of the main stretch. His first two laps would not have been fast enough to bump his way in. The day ended as Dick Simon (waved off) and Jerry Grant (waved off) made unsuccessful attempts. After qualifying, car owner Dick Simon announced he was going to take over the machine qualified by John Mahler. By rule, the car must move to the rear of the grid (33rd) on race day.

RowInsideMiddleOutside 186 Peter Revson66 Mark Donohue2 Bobby Unser 285 Denny Hulme1 Al Unser 9 A. J. Foyt 312 Lloyd Ruby15 Joe Leonard5 Mario Andretti 442 Jim Malloy32 Bill Vukovich II 7 Gordon Johncock 516 Gary Bettenhausen21 Cale Yarborough95 Bentley Warren 668 David Hobbs 58 Bud Tingelstad38 Rick Muther 74 Mike Mosley84 Donnie Allison80 George Snider 86 Roger McCluskey22 Wally Dallenbach Sr.18 Johnny Rutherford 998 Sammy Sessions45 Larry Dickson20 Steve Krisiloff 1043 Denny Zimmerman 41 George Follmer32 Mel Kenyon 1164 Art Pollard99 Bob Harkey44 Dick Simon

For 1971, none of the Big Three auto manufacturers chose to supply a pace car for the Indianapolis 500, as the muscle car market had dried up and marketing efforts were shifted elsewhere. Four local Indianapolis area Dodge dealers, spearheaded by Eldon Palmer, stepped up to supply the fleet of pace cars. The vehicle chosen was the Dodge Challenger 383 4V. Palmer was chosen to drive the pace car at the start of the race. In preparation for the race, Palmer or an aide supposedly set up an orange flag (sometimes reported as an orange traffic cone) in the pit lane to provide himself with a braking reference point. However, there has been some dispute regarding the existence of the marker at all. One account claimed it had not been there for several days. During the parade and pace lap, Tony Hulman, ABC broadcaster Chris Schenkel, and John Glenn served as passengers in the car. Palmer practiced the run the day before the race. As the field came down the main stretch for the start, Palmer pulled into the pits and accelerated down the pit lane. Palmer continued to accelerate, under the impression that he was required to cross the start/finish line in the pit area prior to, or at the same time, as the race cars doing so out on the track. However, testimony during a 1974 civil trial stated that the pace car was supposed to be ordered with power disc brakes, but was built and delivered to the track with only manual drum brakes. Furthermore, Palmer's attorney added that a security guard running out of the way effectively blocked the exit to the pits. The stand toppled and collapsed, injuring 29 people, but no one was killed. Dr. Vicente Alvarez, a freelance photographer from Argentina, was one of two on the stand who were seriously injured. Alvarez survived, and died in the late 1990s. Tony Hulman suffered a sprained ankle, and a shaken Schenkel sat out the remainder of the ABC broadcast. Palmer maintained possession of the car, and eventually it was repaired and restored. Ultimately, Palmer himself was largely exonerated. Indiana businessman Steven Cage purchased the vehicle in 2006, and it currently is displayed at his RPM Collection in Fishers, Indiana. Reactions of the accident were very critical afterwards, and for the next several years, the pace car drivers selected were either former Indy drivers or people with racing experience.

Despite the pace car crash near the exit of the pits, the green light came on, and the race continued underway. Mark Donohue grabbed the lead from the middle of the front row. On lap 12, Steve Krisiloff blew an engine, spilling oil in turn three. Mel Kenyon slid in the oil making contact with the turn three wall. Gordon Johncock and Mario Andretti continued to race each other through three yellow lights. When they arrived at turn three, track workers were on the scene beside the Kenyon machine. Having not heeded the yellow lights, both Johncock and Andretti slid in the oil with Johncock crashing into the Kenyon car, running over the top of it and destroying both cars. Kenyon, fortunately, had seen Johncock coming and dropped back down into the cockpit of his race car. Johncock's car left a tire mark on the top of Kenyon's helmet. The only injury received by Kenyon was a small cut on his shin from the dash board being pushed down onto his legs. All four cars were out of the race, and the yellow light was on for 19 minutes to clean up the accident. Donohue led the first 50 laps, then the lead traded hands during pit stops between Joe Leonard, Bobby Unser, as well as Al Unser. After leading a total of 52 laps, Mark Donohue dropped out on lap 66 with broken gears. He came to a stop in turn four, and parked the car in the infield, just north of the entrance to the pits. Lloyd Ruby led at the halfway point.

On lap 111, David Hobbs blew an engine on the main stretch. Rick Muther spun in the oil, his car veered to the inside wall, then bounced across the track, hitting Hobbs, and lifting up on two wheels. Hobbs' car was pushed head on into the wall, but he was not seriously injured. Both cars slid down the main stretch, and came to a rest just beyond the start/finish line. The track was blocked except for a narrow portion on the inside where other cars were able to skirt by. The incident happened right in front of Al Unser, who was the leading the race at the moment. The yellow light came on for 12 minutes to clean up the crash. After a series of pit stops by the leaders under the yellow, the green eventually came back out with Al Unser leading. With less than 40 laps to go, Al Unser continued to lead, with Peter Revson second, Bobby Unser third, and A. J. Foyt fourth. On lap 167, Mike Mosley lost a wheel in turn 4. He smacked the outside wall in turn four hard, then bounced across the track and hit the inside wall. Leader Al Unser was ahead of the crash, and second place Peter Revson just slipped by. Third place Bobby Unser spun to avoid Mosley, and hit the outside wall. Mosley's car then crashed into the parked cars of Mark Donohue and Steve Krisiloff, that were sitting near the entrance to the pits. A fire broke out, at which time 8th running Gary Bettenhausen stopped his car, and ran to the scene to help. Fire crews quickly doused the flames, and Mosley suffered a broken leg. Bill Vukovich II also spun to avoid the crash, but he was able to continue. The yellow remained on for 22 minutes to clean up the crash. The green light came back on with less than 20 laps to go. Al Unser held a comfortable lead, and won his second 500 in a row. Despite four yellows for 53 minutes (about 48 laps), the average speed of 157.735 mph was a new record at the time. Bettenhausen, who finished 10th, was given a cheer at the finish for stopping to help Mosley and Unser on lap 164.

Att# Time Car# Driver Laps QualTime QualSpeed Rank Start CommentSaturday, May 15, 1971 1 4Mike Mosley0————accident 2 9A. J. Foyt43:26.52174.31766  3 66Mark Donohue43:23.29177.08722  4 32Billy Vukovich II43:29.70171.6741211  5 10Dick Simon43:33.14168.903——Bumped by #99 6 14Jim McElreath3————Waved off 7 16Gary Bettenhausen43:30.24171.2331613  8 68David Hobbs43:32.30169.5713016  9 1Al Unser43:26.16174.62255  10 7Gordon Johncock43:30.05171.3881412  11 42Jim Malloy43:29.50171.8381110  12 86Peter Revson43:21.46178.69611  13 77Carl Williams1————Waved off 14 8Art Pollard3————Waved off 15 18Johnny Rutherford0————Blown engine 16 15Joe Leonard43:28.38172.76188  17 2Bobby Unser43:24.76175.81633  18 83Donnie Allison1————Waved off 19 28Bill Simpson43:33.94168.271——Bumped by #45 20 12Lloyd Ruby43:27.11173.82177  21 5Mario Andretti43:28.56172.61299  22 85Denis Hulme0————Pulled off 23 45Larry Dickson3————Accident 24 14Jim McElreath3————Waved off 25 83Donnie Allison43:34.12168.130——Withdrawn 5/22 26 85Denis Hulme43:25.82174.91044  27 92Jerry Grant43:33.66168.492——Bumped by #78 28 21Cale Yarborough43:30.81170.7701914  29 14Jim McElreath43:34.52167.817——Bumped by #6; Reinstated by #83; Bumped by #84 30 38Rick Muther3————Blown engine 31 77Carl Williams43:33.29168.784——Bumped by #23 32 8Art Pollard43:33.82168.366——Bumped by #46 33 95Bentley Warren43:32.23169.6272815 Sunday May 16, 1971 34 4Mike Mosley03:32.29169.5792919  35 38Rick Muther03:31.80169.9722518  36 58Bud Tingelstad03:31.57170.1562417 Saturday May 22, 1971 37 80George Snider43:29.79171.6001321  38 43Denny Zimmerman43:32.07169.7552728  39 44John Mahler3————  40 98Sam Sessions43:31.32170.3582025  41 22Wally Dallenbach43:30.33171.1601723  42 94Bruce Walkup2————Waved off 43 45Larry Dickson3————Waved off 44 41George Follmer43:32.76169.2053229  45 44John Mahler43:31.56170.1642333Replaced by Dick Simon 46 18Johnny Rutherford43:30.34171.1511824  47 6Roger McCluskey2————Out of fuel 48 6Roger McCluskey43:30.23171.2411522Bumps #14 49 20Steve Krisiloff0————Pulled off 50 84Donnie Allison43:29.42171.9031020Bumps #14 51 45Larry Dickson43:31.41170.2852126Bumps #28 52 46Jim McElreath43:32.81169.165——Bumps #8; Bumped by #64 53 94Bruce Walkup1————Pulled off 54 78Sam Posey43:33.30168.776——Bumps #92; Bumped by #20 55 20Steve Krisiloff43:31.97169.8352627Bumps #78Sunday May 23, 1971 56 23Mel Kenyon43:31.51170.2052230Bumps #77 57 99Bob Harkey43:32.77169.1973332Bumps #10 58 17Jerry Grant1————Waved off 59 64Art Pollard43:32.39169.5003131Bumps #46 60 56Jim Hurtubise2————Accident 61 33Dick Simon1————Waved off 62 17Jerry Grant1————Waved off