1972 Indianapolis 500

First day time trials – Saturday May 13

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.

Second day time trials – Sunday May 14

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) ^[5]

Unser established himself as the man to beat for the pole position. He shattered the previous year's track record by over 17 mph. Twelve cars completed runs and the 6 o'clock gun closed the track with six cars still left in line. The pole position round would be stretched into the following weekend. Among those not yet on the track were Mark Donohue and Peter Revson. After blowing his engine Saturday, A. J. Foyt was ineligible for the pole, and was not yet in the field either.

Third Day – Saturday May 20

Six cars entered the day still eligible for the pole round, and five of those made attempts. Mark Donohue put himself on the front row with a run of 191.408 mph. Moments later, Peter Revson put himself second with a run of 192.885 mph. Bobby Unser held on to the pole position, and the front of the field was set. For the first time since 1940–1941, the same three drivers qualified on the front row in consecutive years. Unser, Revson, and Donohue started on the front row (albeit in different order) in 1971 as well.

At 11:30 a.m., "third day" qualifying commenced. A. J. Foyt put his car solidly in the field with 188.996 mph. Two-time defending race winner Al Unser, Sr. also qualified. The fastest of the "third day" qualifiers would be Jerry Grant, with a run of 189.294 mph.

At the end of the day, the field was filled to 27 cars.

Bump Day – Sunday May 21 (Jim Hurtubise "Beer engine")

After blowing five engines during the month, Gordon Johncock finally put a car in the field. His speed of 188.511 mph would be the fastest of the day (8th-fastest overall), and he qualified in 26th.

At 5 p.m., Salt Walther filled the field to 33 cars. Wally Dallenbach (178.423 mph) was now on the bubble. Dallenbach survived three attempts, but was eventually bumped by Cale Yarborough with a half-hour remaining. Yarborough (178.864 mph) beat Dallenbach's time by a mere 0.50 seconds, however, Yarborough himself was now on the bubble. An agonizing final 25 minutes saw six drivers try to bump him out. One by one, they each fell short. Seconds before the 6 o'clock gun, Wally Dallenbach got in a back-up car for one last chance. His first two laps were just shy of bumping in, and on his third lap, the car began smoking. He was forced to pull into the pits and wave off the run. The field was set with Yarborough holding on to make the field. All 33 cars in the field qualified faster than the pole car from the previous year.

As the attention on the track was focusing on Cale Yarborough, Jim Hurtubise wheeled his Gohr Distributing-sponsored Mallard roadster in the qualifying line shortly before the closing deadline of 6 p.m. Gohr Distributing was a Buffalo-area beer distributor for various brands of beer, and they promoted the Miller High Life brand on the car. ^[7] 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,' ^[8] 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. ^[9] 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. ^{[10] [11]} 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. ^[12] 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.

Carburetion Day

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. ^[13]

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.

Alternates

• First alternate: Wally Dallenbach (#10, #73)

Failed to qualify

Pre-race ceremonies — Jim Nabors

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, ^{[17] [18]} it was nevertheless the beginning of a 36-year tradition that would see Nabors perform the song at Indianapolis nearly every year through 2014.

Start

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. ^[19] 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.

First half

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. ^{[20] [21]} He refueled and rejoined the race, but was subsequently disqualified for leaving the race track. ^[8] Some feel it was a "payback" gesture by USAC for Hurtubise's antics on bump day regarding his 'beer engine.' ^[8]

Second half

Gary Bettenhausen continued to lead, pushing record speeds. Attrition began to take its toll on the field. By the 400-mile mark, eighteen cars were out of the race.

Lee Kunzman lost a wheel in turn two, bringing out a yellow light on the leader's lap 147.

Wally Dallenbach had his third fire in the pits on lap 151. The final round of scheduled pit stops occurred for the leaders around laps 160-165. Bettenhausen pitted first on lap 162, briefly giving the lead over to Jerry Grant. When Grant pitted four laps later, his long pit stop relinquished the lead back to Bettenhausen. Grant himself later theorized that, because he was running a high line to improve his Eagle-Offy's handling, he might have picked up debris that caused a puncture of his right-front tire.

The yellow light came on with about 27 laps to go for debris on the backstretch. When the green light came back on, Gary Bettenhausen's car seemed to hesitate. With 25 laps to go, Bettenhausen suddenly started slowing in the north end of the track. After leading 138 laps, his car quit with ignition trouble. Bettenhausen later reported that the car had also suffered a pinhole puncture in the radiator earlier in the race. Slowly losing water, the engine temperature stayed in a mostly safe range while at racing speed, but during the yellow caution period, it overheated. He limped around very slowly for a handful of laps, then parked the car in the pits for a 14th place finish.

Jerry Grant blasted by to take the lead, and Bettenhausen's Penske teammate Mark Donohue was now promoted to second place.

Finish

With 13 laps to go, Jerry Grant led Mark Donohue and Al Unser Sr. Grant was forced to make a pit stop on lap 188 to change a bad tire. Grant entered the pit area, but he overshot his own pit stall and instead pulled into the pit box of his teammate Bobby Unser (Unser was already out of the race). Grant's crew carried their equipment to Unser's pit box and serviced Grant's right front tire. In the confusion, Unser's crew refueled Grant's car with fuel from Unser's pitside tank. By the time Grant went back out on the race track, he had lost the lead.

With Grant's unscheduled pit stop, Mark Donohue took the lead on lap 188. Grant dropped to second place on the track. Donohue had about a one-lap lead over Grant, and third place Al Unser was two laps down. Mike Hiss spun in the south shortchute between turns 1 and 2 on lap 194, but did not hit the wall. Hiss continued, and the yellow light was on for less than one minute. The green flag came back out with five laps to go.

Donohue led the final 13 laps, and scored his first Indy 500 victory, and the first Indy victory for car owner Roger Penske. Per the rules of the time, the remainder of the field was permitted to continue racing for about five minutes after Donohue took the checkered flag. During that time, Sam Posey and Mario Andretti made pit stops, with Posey taking on fuel and returning to the track to finish 5th. Andretti was out of fuel, and dropped from 5th to 8th in the final standings.

In the immediate aftermath of the finish, USAC official Frank Delroy announced there would be no penalty for Grant pitting in the wrong stall. The initial ruling was that no fuel actually flowed into the tank. However, the decision would be further investigated during the evening, and a final ruling would be made when official results posted at 8:00 a.m. the next morning.

Jerry Grant penalty

The morning after the race, USAC officials penalized Jerry Grant for taking fuel from Bobby Unser's pit tank. They disqualified him from that point on, and erased the final 12 laps from his tally. He was officially scored as out of the race with 188 laps completed. The penalty elevated Al Unser Sr. to second place, and dropped Grant to 12th finishing position. ^{[22] [23]} 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. ^[24] 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.

Post-race notes

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.

Race statistics

Radio

The race was carried live on the IMS Radio Network. It was carried on over 1,200 affiliates, including shortwave transmission to Japan, Vietnam, the Arctic and Antarctic. The broadcast reached an estimated 100 million listeners worldwide. Sid Collins served as chief announcer and Len Sutton served as "driver expert" for the seventh and final time. At the conclusion of the race, Lou Palmer reported from victory lane.

Sid Collins celebrated his milestone 25th year as chief announcer. During the pre-race coverage, Governor Edgar Whitcomb presented Collins with the Distinguished Hoosier Award, a recognition from American Forces Network, and a personalized letter of recognition from President Richard Nixon. Indianapolis mayor Dick Lugar likewise presented Collins with a silver microphone and declared May 27, 1972, as "Sid Collins Day". ^[29]

The entire on-air crew remained mostly consistent from 1966 to 1971. Bob Forbes was assigned as "wireless" microphone, covering the garages and roving reports. For 1972, the pre-race coverage expanded from 30 minutes to 45 minutes and came on-air at 10:15 a.m. local time. Howdy Bell's vantage point in turn two (an observation spot against the outside of the retaining wall), would be the final time reporting from that location. Starting in 1973, the vantage point would move to the new VIP Suites.

Jim Shelton (born May 27, 1919 ^[30] ), who was reporting his 23rd race on the crew, was also celebrating his 53rd birthday. ^{[31] [32]}

Television

The race was carried in the United States on ABC Sports on a same-day tape delay basis. The race was held in the afternoon, and the broadcast aired in prime time later in the day. The two and a half hour broadcast was hosted by Chris Schenkel. Jim McKay and Jackie Stewart served as booth announcers. Chris Economaki was one of the pit reporters. Keith Jackson and Stu Nahan hosted a separate 30-minute trackside report before the ABC telecast that was available to some viewers on the west coast. ^[33]

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References

Works cited

• 1972 Indianapolis 500 Press Information - Daily Trackside Summary
• Indianapolis 500 History: Race & All-Time Stats - Official Site
• 1972 Indianapolis 500 Radio Broadcast, Indianapolis Motor Speedway Radio Network

See also

• 1972 USAC Championship Car season