1967 Indianapolis 500

51st running of the Indianapolis 500

The 51st International 500 Mile Sweepstakes was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana, over two days, Tuesday May 30 and Wednesday May 31, 1967. The race was dominated by Parnelli Jones in the radically new, four wheel drive STP Paxton Turbocar gas turbine entered by prolific car owner Andy Granatelli. With three laps to go, however, Jones coasted to a stop when a $6 transmission bearing failed. A. J. Foyt assumed the lead, and weaved his way through a pileup on the final lap, to win his third Indy 500 victory. Foyt's victory was the first Indy 500 win for Goodyear tires since 1919. After leaving the sport in 1922, Goodyear returned to the sport in 1964, and in 1967, snapped Firestone's record of 43 consecutive Indy 500 wins. The race was scheduled for Tuesday May 30. The race started on time at 11:00 a. m. EST, but after only 18 laps, rain began to fall. The race was red flagged, and the resumption was held at 10:00 a. m. the following day. Though temperatures on Wednesday were cool, skies were sunny, and the race was run to completion.

Going into time trials, Mario Andretti was the favorite for the pole position. On the final day of practice, he turned the fastest practice lap in Indy history at over 168 mph. Among the others that were expected to challenge for the front row were Roger McCluskey, A. J. Foyt, and Gordon Johncock. Parnelli Jones, driving the new Granatelli STP Paxton Turbocar gas turbine was in the top ten of practice speeds, but never on top, and some in the garage area were accusing the team of sandbagging. The first car out to qualify was Ronnie Duman. At about 2:30 p. m., Joe Leonard took over the provisional pole position with a run of 166.098 mph, a new track record. About an hour and a half later, Dan Gurney took over the pole with another record run of 167.224 mph. Gurney's time on top was short lived, however, as Mario Andretti was the next car to make an attempt. Andretti set new 1 lap and 4 lap track records to win the pole position for the second year in a row. His third lap (169.779 mph) stood as the single lap record, and his four lap average wound up at 168.982 mph. At the end of the day, the field was filled to 25 cars. Later in the day, Gordon Johncock (166.559 mph) squeezed himself on to the front row, qualifying third. A. J. Foyt suffered mechanical trouble on his first attempt, and pulled off the course. Later on, he returned to the track to qualify in fourth starting position. Parnelli Jones in the Granatelli Turbine qualified 6th. As was noted by many other teams at the time, Jones qualified with a race day set up, while the piston powered entries practiced and qualified with "qualifying setups," including light fuel loads, lightened transmission components, higher revving gear ratios, a percentage of "pop," or nitromethane in the fuel, and so on. The STP crew had Jones qualify with a straight race day setup, including the use of standard fuel (aircraft grade kerosene, in this case). Pos (Position) No. (Car Number) Name Speed(mph) Notes 1 1 Mario Andretti 168.982   2 74 Dan Gurney 167.224   3 3 Gordon Johncock 166.559   4 14 A. J. Foyt 166.289   5 4 Joe Leonard 166.098   6 40 Parnelli Jones 166.075   7 25 Lloyd Ruby 165.229   8 6 Bobby Unser 164.752   9 5 Al Unser 164.594   10 26 George Snider 164.256   11 2 Jim McElreath 164.241   12 39 Bobby Grim 164.084   13 16 Art Pollard 163.897   14 15 Mel Kenyon 163.778   15 53 Wally Dallenbach Sr. 163.540   16 31 Jim Clark 163.213   17 98 Ronnie Duman 162.903   18 19 Arnie Knepper 162.900   19 45 Johnny Rutherford 162.859   20 21 Cale Yarborough 162.830   21 23 Larry Dickson 162.543   — 78 Jerry Grant 162.352 Bumped by #81 — 43 Jackie Stewart 162.221 Bumped by #56 — 57 Bob Harkey 162.140 Bumped by #84 — 29 Bob Hurt 161.261 Bumped by #23 — 27 Lucien Bianchi — Waved off — 12 Roger McCluskey — Pulled off — 14 A. J. Foyt — Pulled off — 42 Richie Ginther — Pulled off — 82 Bob Christie — Pulled off — 84 Bob Wente — Crash — 41 Carl Williams — Waved off

The second day of time trials was rained out. Pos (Position) No. (Car Number) Name Speed(mph) Notes — — — — Rained out

The field filled to 33 cars after 23 attempts were made. Six cars were bumped including Jackie Stewart. Roger McCluskey, who was not able to qualify on pole day, was the fastest car of the afternoon (165.563 mph). Pos (Position) No. (Car Number) Name Speed(mph) Notes 22 12 Roger McCluskey 165.563   23 41 Carl Williams 163.696   24 69 Denis Hulme 163.376   25 10 Bud Tingelstad 163.228 Bumped #90 26 67 LeeRoy Yarbrough 163.066 Bumped #23 27 8 Chuck Hulse 162.925   28 46 Bob Veith 162.580   — 27 Lucien Bianchi 162.484 Bumped by #42 — 56 Jim Hurtubise 162.411 Bumped #43; Bumped by #32 — 87 Jochen Rindt 162.389 Bumped by #24 — 90 Pedro Rodriguez 162.352 Bumped by #10 — 23 Ronnie Bucknum 162.243 Bumped #29; Bumped by #67 — 84 Gary Congdon 161.783 Bumped #57; Bumped by #48 — 42 Richie Ginther — Waved off — 23 Ronnie Bucknum — Waved off — 56 Jim Hurtubise — Waved off — 60 Mickey Shaw — Waved off — 71 Bobby Johns — Waved off — 84 Gary Congdon — Waved off — 47 Norm Brown — Waved off — 10 Bud Tingelstad — Pulled off — 20 Masten Gregory — Waved off — 24 Jackie Stewart — Waved off

Graham Hill and Jackie Stewart successfully bumped their way into the field. Jim Hurtubise tried to qualify using a front engined car, but he was too slow. Pos (Position) No. (Car Number) Name Speed(mph) Notes 29 24 Jackie Stewart 164.099 Bumped #87 30 42 Jerry Grant 163.808 Bumped #27 31 81 Graham Hill 163.317 Bumped #78 32 48 Jochen Rindt 163.051 Bumped #84 33 32 Al Miller 162.602 Bumped #56 — 11 Jim Hurtubise 161.936 Too Slow — 17 Bobby Johns — Waved off — 85 Bill Cheesbourg — Waved off

RowInsideMiddleOutside 11 Mario Andretti74 Dan Gurney3 Gordon Johncock 214 A. J. Foyt 4 Joe Leonard40 Parnelli Jones 325 Lloyd Ruby6 Bobby Unser5 Al Unser 426 George Snider2 Jim McElreath39 Bobby Grim 516 Art Pollard 15 Mel Kenyon53 Wally Dallenbach Sr. 631 Jim Clark 98 Ronnie Duman19 Arnie Knepper 745 Johnny Rutherford21 Cale Yarborough22 Larry Dickson 812 Roger McCluskey41 Carl Williams69 Denny Hulme 910 Bud Tingelstad67 Lee Roy Yarbrough 8 Chuck Hulse 1046 Bob Veith24 Jackie Stewart42 Jerry Grant 1181 Graham Hill 48 Jochen Rindt 32 Al Miller

The race started on Tuesday May 30 under threatening skies. At the start, polesitter Mario Andretti briefly took the lead into turn one. However, Jones swept to the outside from 6th starting position, and passed four cars in turn one. Exiting turn two, he dove below Andretti and took the lead down the backstretch. Jones ran the first lap at a record 154 mph, and started pulling out to a sizable lead. On lap 3, LeeRoy Yarbrough spun in turn four, briefly bringing out the yellow. His car was not damaged, and he continued. After only a few laps, Mario Andretti pulled into the pits with mechanical troubles. The crew went to work on the car. On lap 18, rain began to fall, and the yellow light came on with Jones leading. On the 19th lap, the red flag came out and the race was halted at approximately 11:16 am. The rain continued most of the afternoon, and at about 4:15 p. m., officials postponed the conclusion until the next day. Scoring reverted to the completion of the 18th lap, and all cars were eligible for the resumption except Lloyd Ruby, who had already wheeled his car back to the garage with broken valves.

Wednesday May 31 dawned cool but sunny and the race was resumed at 10:00 a. m. local time. George Snider fell ill overnight with a cold, and Lloyd Ruby, who had dropped out the day earlier, took over his car in relief for Wednesday. Two unscored warm up laps were run behind the pace car, and the field of now 32 cars took the green flag to restart single file. Jones continued where he left off and led on what was now the 19th lap.

On lap 52, LeeRoy Yarbrough suffered his second spin in turn four in two days. This time he tangled with the leader Parnelli Jones. Jones went low to lap Yarbrough, but was pinched down on the apron and the two cars touched wheels. Both cars went spinning into the grass, but they were not damaged and both drivers drove away unscathed. Dan Gurney briefly took the lead after the incident, but gave it up after only two laps when he pitted. The first half shaped up with Jones dominating in the Turbine, chased by Dan Gurney, A. J. Foyt, and Al Unser, Sr., among others. On the leader's 65th lap, Mario Andretti lost a wheel in the exit of turn one. He came a stop in turn two and was out of the race with only 59 laps completed. On his first pit stop on lap 80, Parnelli Jones escaped possible disaster as he began to pull away before the fuel hose was disengaged. The hose jerked and caused a spill, but Jones pulled away without damage and without a fire breaking out. A. J. Foyt slipped by to take the lead. Four laps later Foyt handed the lead back to Jones when he himself pitted. Several cars were involved in a quick succession of crashes around the midway point. Art Pollard spun in turn three, but continued. Moments later, Carl Williams spun in front of Bob Veith as they diced through traffic in turn three. Veith's car suffered major damage to the nose, but both drivers were able to continue. Under the same yellow light, Wally Dallenbach wrecked into the inside wall of the mainstretch. Moments later, Cale Yarborough spun out in the north chute. Approaching the scene, Lloyd Ruby (in George Snider's car) spun out with LeeRoy Yarbrough, and both cars went sliding to the infield grass in turn four. Ruby's car hit the inside fence and was out. LeeRoy Yarbrough, after his third spin of the race, was also out. Cale Yarborough, however, got back in his car and continued. About three laps later, Johnny Rutherford wrecked on his own in turn two.

Parnelli Jones continued to dominate the race, but gave up the lead to A. J. Foyt for laps 131–149. Dan Gurney, a contender in the first half, dropped out on lap 160. Arnie Knepper (engine), Jackie Stewart (engine), Cale Yarborough and Mel Kenyon (crash), all dropped out of the race. Jochen Rindt, who experienced a difficult month and a difficult race, dropped out with a broken valve. Rindt, apparently not impressed with the Speedway, said he was not interested in coming back, but he did return one additional time in 1968. With about 7 laps left for the leaders, Gordon Johncock spun out, briefly bringing out the yellow. At this point, Parnelli Jones seemingly had the race wrapped up, holding nearly a full lap lead over second place A. J. Foyt. Third place Al Unser was more than two laps down. Shockingly, with only four laps to go, a $6 transmission bearing failed, and the Turbine quietly coasted to a stop near the entrance to pit lane. The STP Granatelli team was in disbelief as they ran to the car's aid. A. J. Foyt drove by into first place with only four laps to go, but the drama was not yet over. On the final lap, Foyt was driving through turn four when a four car crash broke out at the north end of the main straightaway. Foyt had a premonition of trouble (he later suggested that he had subconsciously noticed the crowd looking down the straightaway instead of at him) and backed off, and with savvy driving, weaved his way through the wreckage. He avoided the spinning cars and debris and took the checkered flag for his third win at Indianapolis. Foyt's winning speed of was a new record. The red and checkered flags immediately halted the race. Al Unser finished in second place for the first of three times in his career.

NOTE: The revolutionary #40 STP Turbine in the photo taken in the Speedway Museum is actually a replica built from the blueprints (as is the replica of Parnelli Jones' 1963 #98 Indy 500 winning car): The actual #40 is in the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History.