1969 Indianapolis 500

53rd Indianapolis 500

Indianapolis Motor Speedway
Indianapolis 500
Sanctioning body	USAC
Season	1969 USAC season
Date	May 30, 1969
Winner	Mario Andretti
Winning team	Andy Granatelli
Average speed	156.867 mph (252.453 km/h)
Pole position	A. J. Foyt
Pole speed	170.568 mph (274.503 km/h)
Fastest qualifier	Foyt
Rookie of the Year	Mark Donohue
Most laps led	Mario Andretti (116)
Pre-race ceremonies
National anthem	Purdue Band
Back Home Again in Indiana	Mack H. Shultz
Starting Command	Tony Hulman
Pace car	Chevrolet Camaro SS
Pace car driver	Jim Rathmann
Honorary starter	None
Attendance	300,000 (estimated)
TV in the United States
Network	ABC's Wide World of Sports
Announcers	Jim McKay, Rodger Ward
Nielsen Ratings
Chronology
Previous	Next
1968	1970

The 53rd International 500 Mile Sweepstakes was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Friday, May 30, 1969. Mario Andretti led 116 laps and won for car owner Andy Granatelli. Hard luck driver Lloyd Ruby was leading the race just after the midpoint, but during a pit stop, pulled away with the fueling hose still attached. He ripped a hole in the fuel tank, and was out of the race. The incident put Mario Andretti in the lead for rest of the way.

For 1969 not a single front-engined car managed to qualify for the race, and ultimately, one would never do so again. All 33 cars in the field were rear-engined, piston-powered, machines. After the historic failures of the controversial STP Granatelli Turbine machines in 1967 and 1968, USAC imposed additional restrictions that effectively rendered them uncompetitive. The annulus inlet was further reduced from 15.999 in² to 11.999 in², and the Granatelli team parked them forever.

Recap

Mario Andretti crashes in practice and suffers burns two weeks before the race, but he hops into a back-up car and wins going away. Andy Granatelli, who abandoned the turbine cars for 1969, plants a famous kiss on his cheek in victory lane. Interesting fact: The type of engine in his car was known to overheat, so Cliff Brawner, his chief mechanic, managed to insert a radiator underneath Mario's seat, making it the hottest ride Mario had ever driven at the speedway. Also, for the official front row picture, Mario's twin brother Aldo was standing in for him.

Race schedule

Race schedule — May, 1969 Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat         1 Opening Day 2 Practice 3 Practice 4 Practice 5 Practice 6 Practice 7 Practice 8 Practice 9 Practice 10 Practice 11 Practice 12 Practice 13 Practice 14 Practice 15 Practice 16 Practice 17 Pole Day 18 Time Trials 19 Practice 20 Practice 21 Practice 22 Practice 23 Practice 24 Time Trials 25 Bump Day 26   27   28 Carb Day 29 Meeting 30 Indy 500 31

Color Notes Green Practice Dark Blue Time trials Silver Race day Red Rained out* Blank No track activity * Includes days where track activity was significantly limited due to rain

Jigger Sirois

On pole day, Saturday May 17, rain threatened to wash out the afternoon. At the time, the rules did not specifically provide for rain delay extensions during the pole round. Only cars who made an attempt before the rains came (and the track being closed) might be eligible for the pole unless officials made a ruling. Rookie Jigger Sirois drew the #1 qualifying spot in the order.

At 4:12 p.m., the track finally was opened for qualifying, and Sirois took to the track. He completed his first three laps at:

• Lap 1 - 161.783 mph
• Lap 2 - 162.279 mph
• Lap 3 - 160.542 mph

However, on his fourth and final lap, his crew waved off the run, and it was aborted. Arnie Knepper was the second car in line, and pulled away for his warm up laps. Rain began to fall, and Knepper was unable to complete a single lap. The rain washed out the rest of the afternoon, and continued into Sunday, washing out the entire weekend. Had Sirois' crew not waved off his final lap, he would have been the lone qualifier of the weekend, and would have sat on the provisional pole position for an entire week.

On the second weekend of time trials, Sirois waved off his second attempt, and also waved off his third and final attempt when his speed was not fast enough. Sirois's first attempt the weekend before would have been fast enough to qualify for the race. Sirois never managed to qualify at Indy in subsequent years, and became a source of popular folklore.

Box score

Finish	Start	No	Name	Qual	Rank	Laps	Led	Status
1	2	2	Mario Andretti	169.851	2	200	116	Running
2	10	48	Dan Gurney	167.341	10	200	0	Running
3	3	1	Bobby Unser	169.683	3	200	0	Running
4	24	9	Mel Kenyon	165.426	24	200	0	Running
5	33	92	Peter Revson	160.851	33	197	0	Flagged
6	11	44	Joe Leonard	167.240	11	193	0	Flagged
7	4	66	Mark Donohue	168.903	4	190	0	Flagged
8	1	6	A.J. Foyt	170.568	1	181	66	Flagged
9	31	21	Larry Dickson	163.014	31	180	0	Flagged
10	32	97	Bobby Johns	160.901	32	171	0	Flagged
11	13	10	Jim Malloy	167.092	13	165	0	Flagged
12	23	11	Sammy Sessions	165.434	23	163	0	Flagged
13	22	90	Mike Mosley	166.113	22	162	0	Piston
14	6	82	Roger McCluskey	168.350	6	157	0	Split Header
15	18	15	Bud Tingelstad	166.597	18	155	0	Engine
16	15	84	George Snider	166.914	15	152	0	Flagged
17	14	59	Sonny Ates	166.968	14	146	0	Magneto
18	25	42	Denis Hulme	165.092	25	145	0	Clutch
19	5	12	Gordon Johncock	168.626	5	137	0	Piston
20	20	4	Lloyd Ruby	166.428	20	105	11	Fuel Tank
21	19	22	Wally Dallenbach, Sr.	166.497	19	82	7	Clutch
22	21	29	Arnie Knepper	166.220	21	82	0	Crash T4
23	8	67	LeeRoy Yarbrough	168.075	8	65	0	Split Header
24	29	95	Jack Brabham	163.875	29	58	0	Ignition
25	30	57	Carl Williams	163.265	30	50	0	Clutch
26	9	8	Gary Bettenhausen	167.777	9	35	0	Piston
27	27	62	George Follmer	164.286	27	26	0	Engine
28	7	38	Jim McElreath	168.224	7	24	0	Engine Fire
29	17	36	Johnny Rutherford	166.628	17	24	0	Oil Tank
30	16	45	Ronnie Bucknum	166.636	16	16	0	Piston
31	12	40	Art Pollard	167.123	12	7	0	Drive Line
32	26	98	Bill Vukovich II	164.843	26	1	0	Rod
33	28	16	Bruce Walkup	163.942	28	0	0	Transmission

Alternates

• First alternate: Rick Muther

Tire participation chart
Supplier	No. of starters
Goodyear	25
Firestone	8*
* - Denotes race winner

Race notes

• After suffering burns to his face in a practice crash, Mario Andretti had his twin brother Aldo stand in for him during the traditional front row qualifying photo session.

Broadcasting

Radio

The race was carried live on the IMS Radio Network. Sid Collins served as chief announcer and Fred Agabashian served as "driver expert." At the conclusion of the race, Lou Palmer reported from victory lane.

The broadcast was carried on over 950 affiliates, including AFN, shortwave to troops in Vietnam, and the CBC. The broadcast reached an estimated 100 million listeners. Among the visitors interviewed in the booth were Senator Birch Bayh, along with his teenage son, future senator Evan Bayh.

Indianapolis Motor Speedway Radio Network
Booth Announcers	Turn Reporters	Pit/garage reporters
Chief Announcer: Sid Collins Driver expert: Len Sutton Statistician: John DeCamp Historian: Donald Davidson	Turn 1: Mike Ahern Turn 2: Howdy Bell Backstretch: Doug Zink Turn 3: Ron Carrell Turn 4: Jim Shelton	Chuck Marloe (north pits) Luke Walton (center pits) Lou Palmer (south pits)

Television

The race was carried in the United States on ABC's Wide World of Sports. The broadcast aired on Saturday, June 7. Jim McKay anchored the broadcast with Rodger Ward as analyst and Chris Economaki as pit reporter.

The telecast featured a summary of time trials as well as pre-race interviews. During the race, McKay and Economaki served as roving pit reporters, and their interviews were edited into the final production.

The broadcast has re-aired on ESPN Classic starting in May 2011.

Gallery

• 

  1969 Camaro pace car replica

Notes

Works cited

• 1969 Indianapolis 500 Press Information - Daily Trackside Summary
• Indianapolis 500 History: Race & All-Time Stats - Official Site
• 1969 Indianapolis 500 Radio Broadcast, Indianapolis Motor Speedway Radio Network

1968 Indianapolis 500 Bobby Unser

1969 Indianapolis 500 Mario Andretti

1970 Indianapolis 500 Al Unser