1972 Indianapolis 500

56th running of the Indianapolis 500

The 56th 500 Mile International Sweepstakes was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana, on Saturday, May 27, 1972. The race is notable in that for the first time, the cars were permitted bolt on wings, and speeds climbed dramatically. Bobby Unser won the pole position at a then remarkable speed of for four laps, breaking Peter Revson's track record of from 1971 by – the largest one year track record increase in Indy history. The race average speed of was also a new record, which stood until 1984. Gary Bettenhausen led 138 laps until his car suffered ignition trouble on lap 176, and he coasted to the pits. Jerry Grant took over the lead, but pitted for a new tire and fuel on lap 188 in teammate Bobby Unser's pit for which he was later disqualified. Bettenhausen's Penske teammate Mark Donohue won the race, after leading only the final 13 laps. It was owner Roger Penske's first of nineteen Indy 500 victories (as of 2023) and the first victory for a McLaren chassis at Indy. Al Unser Sr., who won the race in 1970 and 1971, was looking to become the first driver in history to "three peat" at the Indianapolis 500. He fell short, but his runner up finish ties for the best three year span (1st 1st 2nd) in Indy history. For the first time, Jim Nabors was invited to sing "Back Home Again in Indiana" during the pre race ceremonies. Nabors accepted and performed with little rehearsal and was warmly received. It was the beginning of a 36 year tradition, where Nabors performed nearly every year from 1972 through 2014. The 1972 race was the first to utilize the Electro PACER Light system to facilitate the yellow light periods. Speedway officials still did not utilize the pace car during cautions, and this enforcement tool would be used at Indy for seven years, albeit not without controversy in subsequent races. This system was similar in concept to systems such as the Virtual Safety Car and the "Slow zone" that became popular in the 2010s. Although the technology for the Electro PACER system was primitive compared to the later systems used over forty years later. After the decade of the 1960s saw numerous drivers from Europe and other nationalities, the 1972 race was the first since 1962 and the last to have an all American lineup. Mario Andretti who was born in Istria (part of Italy at the time) was a naturalized U. S. citizen at the time of this race.

In 1972, for the first time, USAC allowed bolt on wings to be affixed the cars. Previously, "wings" were required to be integral parts of the car's bodywork. Downforce levels increased by significant margins, and speeds climbed substantially during practice. During a tire test in March, Bobby Unser reportedly drove a lap of 190.8 mph, the first driver ever to lap the Speedway unofficially at over 190 mph. The existing official track record going into the month had been set by Peter Revson in 1971 at 179.354 mph. During the first week of practice, the stage was set for record speeds early on. During the first day the track was available, Sunday April 30, Jim Malloy became the first driver to break the 180 mph barrier in practice, at 181.415 mph. Later in the week, Malloy ran a practice lap of 188.048 mph, by far an unofficial track record. By the end of the first week of practice, 11 drivers had practiced over 180 mph. During the second week of practice, Gary Bettenhausen turned a lap of 190.315 mph on Sunday May 7. He became the first driver ever of the month to break 190 mph. Two days later, Bettenhausen was over 191 mph. Not to be upstaged, on Wednesday May 10, Bobby Unser blistered the track at 194.721 mph. By the eve of pole day, three drivers had cracked the 190 mph barrier in practice, and more than a dozen had practiced faster than the existing qualifying record.

Pole day time trials were scheduled for Saturday May 13, however, rain kept the track closed most of the day. The track opened briefly for practice, and at 5:50 p. m. time trials began. Three cars made it on the track, but none of them completed runs. A. J. Foyt was the last car out, but he blew his engine in turn two right after taking the green flag.

Pole qualifying was moved into Sunday, and the qualifying line picked up where it had left off the day before. The track opened for practice promptly at 9 a. m. At 10:21 a. m., Jim Malloy slid high exiting turn 3, and hit the outside wall in the north short chute. He suffered fractured arms and legs, burns, and was in critical condition. Four days later, Malloy would die from his injuries. After the Malloy crash, rain closed the track until 2:30 p. m. Bill Vukovich II was the first driver to make a qualifying attempt. His first lap of 185.797 mph was a new one lap track record, and the first official lap at Indy over 180 mph. However, he did a 360° spin in turn one, and came to rest against the outside wall on the second lap, and the run was for naught. Mike Mosley went out next, but the car quit on the final lap. More rain fell, and the track closed for another hour to wait out the shower. At 4:15 p. m., Joe Leonard (185.223 mph) became the first driver to complete a qualifying run. He set one and four lap records, but they would not last long. Mario Andretti (187.617 mph) was the next car out, and he took over the top spot temporarily, also breaking the track record in the process. Shortly before 5 p. m., Bobby Unser took to the track. He set new all time one and four lap qualifying records, becoming the first driver to officially break the 190 mph barrier at Indianapolis. Lap 1 – 46.17 seconds, 194.932 mph (new 1 lap track record)
Lap 2 – 45.91 seconds, 196.036 mph (new 1 lap track record)
Lap 3 – 45.76 seconds, 196.678 mph (new 1 lap track record)
Lap 4 – 45.89 seconds, 196.121 mph
Total – 3:03.73, 195.940 mph (new 4 lap track record) Since Hurtubise had already qualified himself, when asked why he was putting the car in line, he claimed he 'might put someone else in it,' a practice that was commonplace at the time. Hurtubise had become known for last minute (unsuccessful) qualifying efforts in his obsolete front engined roadster, usually to the delight of fans, but sometimes drawing the ire of others. Time expired before the Mallard got anywhere near the front of the line. In fact, Hurtubise purposely queued the car late on purpose so it would not make it to the front. The engine cover was then removed to reveal that car had no engine. Instead it had a plastic lined trough filled with ice and a number of chilled bottles of his sponsor's product, which he shared with the other pit crews and race officials. Most in attendance found the gesture to be humorous, however, some officials were not amused. Some were even becoming skeptical before he opened the cover, as already melting ice was leaving a trail of water visible on the pit lane beneath the car. It would be the first of several run ins Hurtubise would have with USAC officials. This type of stall tactic infuriated officials, which made further rule changes to prevent this ruse. (In modern times, alcohol is prohibited in the pit area owing to WADA Code that prohibits alcohol among participants in motorsport events.) As a result, cars are now subject to cursory inspection, even before arriving at the official technical inspection area, and must obtain a sticker from officials to notify officials the car has been approved before entering the qualifying line.

During practice on May 16, Art Pollard wrecked his qualified car. The team was forced to replace it with a back up car. Pollard, however, suffered a fractured leg, and was out for the remainder of the month. The team hired Wally Dallenbach (who had been bumped) to drive as a substitute. For race day, the car was moved to the 33rd starting position due to the car/driver change. The final practice session was scheduled for Wednesday May 24 from 1 4 p. m. Gordon Johncock (186.4 mph) was the fastest car of the day. No accidents were reported, and two drivers (John Mahler and Carl Williams) skipped the session altogether.

The Carburetion Day practice session was expanded to allow the drivers more opportunity to practice under the new Electro PACER Light system. The new devices were installed around the track to facilitate enforcement of the caution periods. At the time, the pace car was not utilized during caution periods, nor did the field pack up under yellow. The PACER system featured a series of eight message panels situated around the track at equal intervals. They were programmed to enforce an 80 mph speed limit during caution periods. Drivers were instructed to hold their position under yellow, and each message board around the track would display a number from 1 to 9, illustrating the gap between themselves and the car in front of him. The goal and the requirement was to keep the numbers consistent at all of the boards around the entire circuit. For instance, if a driver saw a "7" on the first board he encountered, he was to drive at such a speed that would display a "7" at all of the boards around the circuit for the remainder of the caution period. If he saw a "6" on the next board, it indicated that he was going too fast, and he would have to slow down a bit. If it displayed an "8" on the next board, that meant he was driving too slow, and needed to speed up slightly.

On race morning, track president Tony Hulman was reportedly chatting with William F. Harrah, owner of Harrah's casino. Jim Nabors was accompanying Harrah as a guest at the race. Hulman recognized Nabors, and asked him if he wanted to 'sing the song' during the pre race ceremonies. Believing that Hulman was talking about "The Star Spangled Banner", Nabors agreed, and walked over to arrange with the Purdue Band. Nabors asked the band leader what key they were going to play, and it was not until that moment that he was informed he was going to be singing "Back Home Again in Indiana". A surprised Nabors quickly jotted the lyrics down on a sheet of paper, climbed up on a ladder, and performed the song unrehearsed. Although some contemporary accounts vary, it was nevertheless the beginning of a 36 year tradition that would see Nabors perform the song at Indianapolis nearly every year through 2014.

Tony Hulman gave the command to start engines, and the field began to pull away for two pace laps. After the pace car crash a year earlier, the veteran driver Jim Rathmann was assigned the pace car driving duties. The passengers in the Hurst/Olds pace car included Tony Hulman, astronaut Pete Conrad, Chris Schenkel of ABC Sports, Bob Draper (Hurst), and Dolly Cole (wife of GM executive Ed Cole), believed to be the first woman ever to ride in the pace car. As the field pushed off from the starting grid, A. J. Foyt's car stalled and failed to pull away. His crew hurriedly wheeled the car to the south end of the pit, and tried to figure out what was wrong with the machine. With the rest of the field gone, Foyt was possibly out of the race before the green flag. As the field was coming out of turn four, the starter held up one finger, indicating that the pace car should take the field on a second pace lap. However, at that moment the crew got Foyt's car running, and quickly pushed him away. The starter waved the pace car off the track and abruptly dropped the green flag, catching many drivers in the wrong gear to go racing and making for a ragged start. With Foyt slowly coming up to speed on the apron, the field blasted by him into turn one. Just as the race went green, rookie Salt Walther dropped out from a parts failure.

Bobby Unser grabbed the lead in the first turn, and led the first 30 laps. Unser set a blistering pace with Mark Donohue and Jerry Grant running close behind. On lap 31, Bobby Unser slowed and headed to the pits with a broken ignition rotor. Unser was out of the race, and Gary Bettenhausen took the lead. A. J. Foyt was forced to play catch up from the onset, but was running fast laps in the 180 mph range. His day was short, however, as he blew the turbocharger. After several lengthy pit stops, Foyt dropped out of the race. Among the early outs were Peter Revson (started 2nd) and Johnny Rutherford (started 8th). During a pit stop around lap 42, Jerry Grant and Mark Donohue battled side by side as they exited their stalls, and Donohue nearly crashed into the scoring pylon. Meanwhile, a fire broke out in the pit area of Wally Dallenbach, but he was able to continue. Mike Mosley took the lead on lap 54. Two laps later, he lost a wheel and crashed into the outside wall in turn four. The impact ruptured the fuel tank, and the car caught fire as it slid down the mainstretch. Mosley unbuckled before the car came to a rest and jumped from the car trying to put out the flames. Mosley suffered burns but was not seriously injured. It was the second year in a row Mosley wrecked out in the fourth turn. On lap 81, for the second time, Wally Dallenbach had a fire in the pits. At the halfway point, 13 cars were out of the race. Gary Bettenhausen continued to dominate the race, and led at the halfway point. After completing 94 laps, Jim Hurtubise ran out of fuel in turn two. When the safety truck went to tow him back to the pits, they proceeded to tow him through the infield and the garage area gate rather than directly around the track back to his pit stall. He refueled and rejoined the race, but was subsequently disqualified for leaving the race track. According to the rules, each car was allotted a strict limit of only 250 gallons of methanol in their pit side tank (not including the fuel in the car at the start of the race) to complete the full 500 miles. The details of the pit snafu were never fully explained, and remains a topic of discussion among historians and fans. The team maintained that fueling the car was an unintentional mistake, however, others felt otherwise. It has been reported by some witnesses that Grant was directed into Unser's pit stall by the crew, while others believe Grant simply overshot his own stall. Several possible theories emerged, with one prevailing opinion suggesting that Grant's car was out of fuel, and his pit side tank was also empty, due to him running high turbocharger boost during the race. Grant supposedly needed a splash of fuel to make it to the finish, and since Bobby Unser dropped out early, his pit side tank was still mostly full. It was thought that Grant deliberately stopped in Unser's pit, aware of the predicament, and knowing Unser's tank would fill his car sufficiently and quicker. Another claim was made to Grant's defense that while the fuel hose was admittedly hooked up, no fuel actually flowed into the car. This claim was quickly dismissed. Grant maintained later in life the infraction was unintentional, maintained his innocence, and felt the penalty was unjust.

Mark Donohue won the race leading only the final 13 laps, the third lowest total in Indy history to that point (Joe Dawson led two laps in 1912, and Graham Hill led ten laps in 1966). The race was slowed five times for cautions for only 20 minutes. Donohue's average speed of 162.962 mph set a new race record that would last until 1984. Vanguard Racing (of which Leonard W. Miller was involved), became the first African American owned team to enter a car in the Indy 500. John Mahler (who was white) served as the driver. He dropped out after 99 laps with a broken piston.

Att# Time QualDay Car# DriverName Laps QualTime QualSpeed Rank Start Comment Saturday, May 13, 1972 1 17:50 1 17 Denny Zimmerman 0 — — — —   2 17:53 1 14 Roger McCluskey 0 — — — —   3 17:57 1 2 A. J. Foyt 0 — — — — blown engine Sunday May 14, 1972 4 14:38 1 4 Al Unser 0 — — — — blown engine 5 14:46 1 3 Billy Vukovich II 1 — — — — accident 6 15:08 1 98 Mike Mosley 3 — — — — pulled off 7 16:14 1 1 Joe Leonard 4 3:14.3600 185.223 10 6   8 16:19 1 9 Mario Andretti 4 3:11.8800 187.617 9 5   9 16:25 1 18 Johnny Rutherford 4 3:16.4700 183.234 14 8   10 16:31 1 44 Dick Simon 0 — — — —   11 16:36 1 52 Sam Sessions 3 — — — —   12 16:43 1 7 Gary Bettenhausen 4 3:10.6000 188.877 6 4   13 16:49 1 6 Bobby Unser 4 3:03.7300 195.940 1 1   14 16:56 1 34 Sam Posey 4 3:15.2500 184.379 12 7   15 17:01 1 72 Mike Hiss 0 — — — —   16 17:05 1 40 Art Pollard 4 3:18.2100 181.626 18 33 driver injured; replaced by Wally Dallenbach 17 17:19 1 5 Lloyd Ruby 4 3:18.4400 181.415 20 11   18 17:24 1 95 Carl Williams 0 — — — —   19 17:27 1 21 Cale Yarborough 0 — — — —   20 17:31 1 10 Wally Dallenbach 0 — — — — flagged off 21 17:40 1 10 Wally Dallenbach 4 3:21.7700 178.421 — — bumped by #21 22 17:46 1 42 Swede Savage 4 3:18.1000 181.726 17 9   23 17:55 1 89 John Martin 4 3:20.4300 179.614 28 14   24 17:59 1 56 Jim Hurtubise 4 3:18.8400 181.050 22 13   Saturday May 20, 1972 25 11:02 1 15 Steve Krisiloff 4 3:18.4200 181.433 19 10   26 11:07 1 23 Mel Kenyon 4 3:18.4700 181.388 21 12   27 11:13 1 66 Mark Donohue 4 3:08.0800 191.408 3 3   28 11:22 1 58 Jerry Karl 0 — — — —   29 11:23 1 12 Peter Revson 4 3:06.6400 192.885 2 2   30 11:30 3 2 A. J. Foyt 4 3:10.4800 188.996 5 16   31 11:36 3 14 Roger McCluskey 4 3:17.0600 182.685 15 20   32 11:43 3 4 Al Unser 4 3:16.0600 183.617 13 19   33 11:49 3 84 George Snider 4 3:17.9600 181.855 16 21   34 11:55 3 52 Sam Sessions 4 3:19.5400 180.415 26 24   35 12:02 3 95 Carl Williams 1 — — — — waved off 36 12:08 3 31 John Mahler 2 — — — — blown engine 37 12:13 3 98 Mike Mosley 4 3:10.6300 188.848 7 17   38 12:20 3 3 Billy Vukovich II 4 3:14.7900 184.814 11 18   39 12:28 3 48 Jerry Grant 4 3:10.1800 189.294 4 15   40 12:41 3 24 Gordon Johncock 3 — — — — pulled off 41 12:57 3 60 Mike Hiss 4 3:21.1000 179.015 31 25   42 17:20 3 95 Carl Williams 4 3:19.4800 180.469 24 22   43 17:52 3 44 Dick Simon 4 3:19.5300 180.424 25 23   Sunday May 21, 1972 44 12:02 3 24 Gordon Johncock 4 3:10.9700 188.511 8 26   45 12:11 4 37 Lee Kunzman 4 3:20.8200 179.265 30 30   46 12:17 4 11 Jimmy Caruthers 4 3:21.2300 178.900 32 31   47 12:27 4 31 John Mahler 4 3:20.5600 179.497 29 29   48 14:43 4 17 Denny Zimmerman 4 3:19.7700 180.207 27 28   49 16:47 4 58 Jerry Karl 0 — — — —   50 16:53 4 21 Cale Yarborough 3 — — — — waved off 51 16:56 4 33 Salt Walther 4 3:19.4000 180.542 23 27   52 17:06 4 90 Arnie Knepper 1 — — — — blown engine 53 17:20 4 19 Larry Dickson 0 — — — —   54 17:24 4 99 Jerry Karl 0 — — — —   55 17:29 3 21 Cale Yarborough 4 3:21.2700 178.864 33 32 bumps #10 56 17:34 4 16 Jerry Karl 0 — — — —   57 17:39 4 36 Bentley Warren 3 — — — — pulled off 58 17:45 4 10 Wally Dallenbach 1 — — — — pulled off 59 17:50 4 61 Lee Brayton 1 — — — — waved off 60 17:53 4 97 Jigger Sirois 0 — — — —   61 18:00 4 10 Wally Dallenbach 2 — — — — pulled off

The Pace Car was a 1972 Hurst/Olds convertible with a Hurst Performance modified 455 cubic inch W 30 engine built to pre smog high compression 1970 specs. It was equipped with a TH 400 transmission and a "His and Hers" Hurst Dual Gate shifter, plus a 3.42 rear axle ratio. An all aluminum W 27 differential cover was used for weight and cooling purposes. Mark Donohue was given the car for winning the race that day. About 629 of these cars were built for public consumption of which 130 were convertibles, 220 with sunroofs and the remaining 279 being hardtops. Almost all of these Pace Car replicas had the less powerful L 75 455 engine and 3.23 axle. A W 30 (L 77) could be ordered but only with 1972 specs netting 300HP with only 8.5 compression. All were painted Cameo white and carried unique 3M Firefrost Gold reflective fade out(pin dotted) laser stripes. In addition to this package, special Indy Pace Car decals with festival stickers could be ordered with large H/O stickers adorning the quarter panels.