1970 Indianapolis 500

54th Indianapolis 500

Indianapolis Motor Speedway
Indianapolis 500
Sanctioning body	USAC
Season	1970 USAC Trail
Date	May 30, 1970
Winner	Al Unser, Sr.
Winning team	Vel's Parnelli Jones Racing
Average speed	155.749 mph (250.654 km/h)
Pole position	Al Unser, Sr.
Pole speed	170.221 mph (273.944 km/h)
Fastest qualifier	Al Unser, Sr.
Rookie of the Year	Donnie Allison
Most laps led	Al Unser, Sr. (190)
Pre-race ceremonies
National anthem	Al Hirt
Back Home Again in Indiana	Saverio Saridis
Starting Command	Tony Hulman
Pace car	Oldsmobile 442
Pace car driver	Rodger Ward
Honorary starter	None
Attendance	250,000 (estimated)
TV in the United States
Network	ABC's Wide World of Sports
Announcers	Jim McKay, Rodger Ward
Nielsen Ratings
Chronology
Previous	Next
1969	1971

The 54th 500 Mile International Sweepstakes was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Saturday, May 30, 1970.

Al Unser, Sr. dominated the race, leading 190 laps en route to victory. He joined his brother Bobby as the first duo of brothers to win the Indianapolis 500. It was the first of four victories for Al at Indianapolis. Car owner Parnelli Jones, who won the race as a driver in 1963, became the first individual to win separately as a driver and as an owner.

Unser took home $271,697 out of a record $1,000,002 purse. For the first time in Indy history, the total prize fund topped $1 million.

Rain on race morning delayed the start by about thirty minutes. On the pace lap, Jim Malloy smacked the outside wall in turn four, which delayed the start further.

All 33 cars in the field were turbocharged for the first time. This would be the final 500 in which the winner celebrated in the old victory lane at the south end of the pits. Victory lane would be relocated for 1971.

Race schedule

Race schedule — May, 1970 Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat           1 Practice 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 Pole Day 17 Time Trials 18 Practice 19 Practice 20 Practice 21 Practice 22 Practice 23 Time Trials 24 Bump Day 25   26 Parade 27 Carb Day 28   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

Practice and Time trials

Al Unser, Sr. set the fastest speed during practice, with a lap of 171.233 mph. Unser led the speed chart on five of the practice days, and was the only driver to crack the 170 mph barrier during the first two weeks. A. J. Foyt (169.173 mph) and Art Pollard (169.1 mph) were close behind.

John Cannon wrecked on Sunday May 10, and was unable to qualify. On Monday May 11, defending race winner Mario Andretti] spun and wrecked in turn four. His car hit the inside wall twice, and the car was heavily damaged. Andretti was not injured.

On Tuesday May 12, Dennis Hulme's car caught fire in turn three. He bailed from the moving machine, suffering burns to his hands and feet. He withdrew due to the injuries.

Pole Day - Saturday May 16

Al Unser, Sr. won the pole position over Johnny Rutherford by 0.01 seconds, a record closest margin for the pole position at the time. A. J. Foyt rounded out the "all over 170 mph" front row. Unser's pole speed of 170.221 mph (his fastest single lap was 170.358 mph) was not a record - which marked the first time since the 1940s that two consecutive years went by without track records set during time trials at Indy.

Rain halted pole day qualifying at 3:42 p.m. with 17 cars in the field . A few cars (namely Lloyd Ruby, Gary Bettenhausen, and Peter Revson) were still waiting in line when the rains came. USAC officials closed the track for the day, and those cars were deemed ineligible for the pole round. In subsequent years, the rules would be changed to allow all cars in the original qualifying draw order at least one chance to make an attempt during the pole round, regardless if it extended into an additional calendar day due to rain.

Rookie Tony Adamowicz suffered bad luck during his attempt. On his first qualifying lap, the yellow light was turned on by error. He slowed down, and his first lap was turned in at 160.829 mph. The green light came back on moments later, and he completed the run. Though he had two laps over 166 mph, his first lap pulled his average down to 164.820 mph, and made him the second-slowest car in the field for the day.

Second Day - Sunday May 17

Three drivers shut out from the pole round came back to qualify on the second day. Peter Revson (167.942 mph) was the 9th-fastest car in the field, but lined up 18th due to being a second day qualifier. Lloyd Ruby had a lap over 169.4 mph, but blew the engine on his final qualifying lap. Ruby went out again later in the day, but waved off after one slow lap.

Third Day - Saturday May 23

After a disappointing first weekend, Lloyd Ruby rebounded to complete his qualifying attempt at 168.895 mph. A busy day saw 14 attempts, and the field was filled to 33 cars. Two drivers (Bentley Warren and Tony Adamowicz) were bumped.

Bump Day - Sunday May 24

Jim McElreath put the fourth Foyt entry in the field, bumping Bartlett. No other cars, however, were able to show enough speed to make the field. Jigger Sirois, infamous for missing the 1969 race, fell far short in Jack Adam's Turbine car.

Race recap

Start

Rain delayed the start of the race by about 25 minutes. On the final pace lap, the field was coming through turn four to take the green flag. Suddenly, Jim Malloy on the outside of the third row, suffered a rear suspension failure, and smacked the outside wall. His car veered across the track to the inside, but narrowly avoided contact with any other car. The field was halted on the mainstretch under the red flag to clean up the accident.

The field was restarted after the red flag, and 32 cars took the green flag. Johnny Rutherford swept across to take the lead into turn one. Down the backstretch, Al Unser, Sr. tucked in behind, and took the lead going into turn three. Unser led the first lap.

Lloyd Ruby, who started 25th, notably passed ten cars on the first lap. By the third lap, Ruby was in the top ten.

First half

The early laps focused on the mad charge of Lloyd Ruby, who was up to 5th place by about lap 28. The yellow flag came out when Art Pollard blew an engine. Under the caution, Mario Andretti was forced to make an unscheduled pit stop to repair to loose bodywork. He rejoined the race, but lost many positions.

As the race passed the 100-mile mark, Al Unser, Sr. led, with Johnny Rutherford running second, and A. J. Foyt and Lloyd Ruby battling for third.

Al Unser, Sr. led the first 48 laps. He gave up the lead to A. J. Foyt during a pit stop on lap 49. One lap later, Foyt entered the pits, giving the lead to Lloyd Ruby. Suddenly Ruby was given the black flag for smoke due to broken drive gears. Ruby's dramatic race was over after completing only 54 laps. Meanwhile, Johnny Rutherford stalled exiting the pits, losing considerable track position.

Unser re-took the lead on lap 54, and led until the halfway point.

Second half

Al Unser moved back to the front on lap 106, and he would not relinquish the lead. Johnny Rutherford, who was a factor in the first half, dropped out after 135 laps due to a broken header.

Roger McCluskey relieved Mel Kenyon on lap 112.

On lap 172, Roger McCluskey (driving for Kenyon), spun going into turn three, and crashed hard into the outside wall. Ronnie Bucknum was collected in the crash. Sammy Sessions locked up the brakes, and nearly slid into the crashed cars. Sessions, gained control, and weaved his way through, and continued. Spilled fuel started pouring from one of the crashed cars, and a small fire broke out. As the field approached the scene, several cars got into the fluid and spun. Wally Dallenbach and Jack Brabham spun but continued. The fire was quickly extinguished.

Finish

With about 25 laps to go, Al Unser, Sr. had lapped the entire field. Unser's crew gave his the "E-Z" sign on his chalkboard, and both Mark Donohue and A. J. Foyt got their lap back.

With Unser leading comfortably, the focus became the battle for second between Mark Donohue and A. J. Foyt. With only a handful of laps left, Foyt suddenly slowed in turn one. He pulled to the apron, but stayed out on the track attempting to nurse the car to the finish line.

Al Unser, Sr. led a total of 190 laps en route to his first Indy victory. Unser won by 32.19 seconds over second place Mark Donohue. A very slow A. J. Foyt fell to 10th in the final standings.

Box score

Finish	Start	No	Name	Qual	Rank	Laps	Led	Status
1	1	2	Al Unser	170.221	1	200	190	Running
2	5	66	Mark Donohue	168.911	5	200	5	Running
3	11	48	Dan Gurney	166.860	15	200	0	Running
4	23	83	Donnie Allison	165.662	29	200	0	Running
5	33	14	Jim McElreath	166.821	16	200	0	Running
6	8	1	Mario Andretti	168.209	9	199	0	Flagged
7	29	89	Jerry Grant	165.983	26	198	0	Flagged
8	15	38	Rick Muther	165.654	30	197	0	Flagged
9	19	75	Carl Williams	166.590	18	197	0	Flagged
10	3	7	A.J. Foyt	170.004	3	195	2	Flagged
11	7	3	Bobby Unser	168.508	8	192	0	Flagged
12	32	67	Sammy Sessions	165.373	33	190	0	Flagged
13	26	32	Jack Brabham	166.397	22	175	1	Piston
14	31	44	Dick Simon	165.548	32	168	0	Flagged
15	27	19	Ronnie Bucknum	166.136	23	162	0	Crash T3
16	22	23	Mel Kenyon (Relieved by Roger McCluskey; Laps 112-160)	165.906	27	160	0	Crash T3
17	24	22	Wally Dallenbach, Sr.	165.601	31	143	0	Coil
18	2	18	Johnny Rutherford	170.213	2	135	0	Header
19	13	27	LeeRoy Yarbrough	166.559	19	107	0	Turbo Gear
20	10	84	George Snider	167.660	12	105	0	Suspension
21	12	9	Mike Mosley	166.651	17	96	0	Radiator
22	16	73	Peter Revson	167.942	10	87	0	Magneto
23	30	58	Bill Vukovich II	165.753	28	78	0	Clutch
24	18	15	Joe Leonard	166.898	14	73	0	Switch
25	4	11	Roger McCluskey	169.213	4	62	0	Suspension
26	20	16	Gary Bettenhausen	166.451	21	55	0	Valve
27	25	25	Lloyd Ruby	168.895	6	54	2	Drive Gear
28	17	5	Gordon Johncock	167.015	13	45	0	Piston
29	14	97	Bruce Walkup	166.459	20	44	0	Timing Gear
30	6	10	Art Pollard	168.595	7	28	0	Piston
31	21	20	George Follmer	166.052	25	18	0	Oil Gasket
32	28	93	Greg Weld	166.121	24	12	0	Piston
33	9	31	Jim Malloy	167.895	11	0	0	Crash T4

Alternates

• First alternate: Arnie Knepper

Tire participation chart
Supplier	No. of starters
Goodyear	21
Firestone	12*
* - Denotes race winner

Qualifying chronology

Att #	Time	Car #	Driver	Laps	Qual Time	Qual Speed	Rank	Start	Comment
Saturday, May 16, 1971
1		38	RICK MUTHER	4	3:37.32	165.654	30	15
2		31	JIM MALLOY	4	3:34.32	167.973	10	9
3		5	GORDON JOHNCOCK	3	—	—	—	—	FLAGGED OFF
4		5	GORDON JOHNCOCK	2	—	—	—	—	WAVED OFF
5		7	A. J. FOYT	4	—	170.004	3	3
6		97	BRUCE WALKUP	4	3:36.27	166.459	20	14
7		36	TONY ADAMOWICZ	4	—	164.820	—	—	BUMPED BY #58
8		84	GEORGE SNIDER	4	3:34.72	167.660	12	10
9		48	DAN GURNEY	4	3:35.75	166.860	15	11
10		95	SAM POSEY	0	—	—	—	—	BLOWN ENGINE
11		2	AL UNSER	4	3:31.49	170.221	1	1
12		66	MARK DONOHUE	4	—	168.911	5	5
13		92	STEVE KRISILOFF	4	—	162.448	—	—	BUMPED BY #89
14		18	JOHNNY RUTHERFORD	4	—	170.213	2	2
15		23	MEL KENYON	2	—	—	—	—	PULLED OFF
16		10	ART POLLARD	4	3:33.5300	168.595	7	6
17		76	KEVIN BARTLETT	1	—	—	—	—	WAVED OFF
18		27	LEE ROY YARBROUGH	4	3:36.0700	166.613	18	13
19		9	MIKE MOSLEY	4	3:36.0200	166.651	17	12
20		94	BENTLEY WARREN	0	—	—	—	—	PULLED OFF
21		1	MARIO ANDRETTI	4	3:34.0200	168.209	9	8
22		93	GREG WELD	3	—	—	—	—	ACCIDENT
23		11	ROGER MCCLUSKEY	4	3:32.7500	169.213	4	4
24		3	BOBBY UNSER	4	3:33.6400	168.508	8	7
25		74	JIM MCELREATH	1	—	—	—	—	PULLED OFF
Sunday May 17, 1971
26		16	GARY BETTENHAUSEN	4	3:36.2800	166.451	21	20
27		73	PETER REVSON	4	3:34.3600	167.942	11	16
28		19	RONNIE BUCKNUM	2	—	—	—	—	WAVED OFF
29		12	LLOYD RUBY	3	—	—	—	—	BLOWN ENGINE
30		22	WALLY DALLENBACH	4	3:37.3900	165.601	31	24
31		23	MEL KENYON	4	3:36.9900	165.906	27	22
32		74	JIM MCELREATH	4	—	163.592	—	—	BUMPED BY #32
33		75	CARL WILLIAMS	4	3:36.1000	166.590	19	19
34		76	KEVIN BARTLETT	3	—	—	—	—	WAVED OFF
35		12	LLOYD RUBY	1	—	—	—	—	PULLED OFF
36		83	DONNIE ALLISON	4	3:37.3100	165.662	29	23
37		15	JOE LEONARD	4	3:35.7000	166.898	14	18
38		5	GORDON JOHNCOCK	4	3:35.5500	167.015	13	17
39		20	GEORGE FOLLMER	4	—	166.052	25	21
40		56	JIM HURTUBISE	3	—	—	—	—
Saturday May 23, 1971
41		94	BENTLEY WARREN	4	3:38.4400	164.805	—	—	BUMPED BY #44
42		56	JIM HURTUBISE	3	—	—	—	—
43		67	SAM SESSIONS	4	3:37.6900	165.373	33	32
44		19	RONNIE BUCKNUM	4	3:36.6900	166.136	23	27
45		93	GREG WELD	4	3:36.7100	166.121	24	28
46		25	LLOYD RUBY	4	3:33.1500	168.895	6	25
47		77	KEVIN BARTLETT	4	3:37.8400	165.259	—	—	BUMPED BY #14
48		89	JERRY GRANT	4	3:36.8900	165.983	26	29	BUMPS #92
49		78	LARRY DICKSON	1	—	—	—	—	PULLED OFF
50		32	JACK BRABHAM	4	—	166.397	22	26	BUMPS #74
51		50	ARNIE KNEPPER	2	—	—	—	—	WAVED OFF
52		17	JOHN CANNON	2	—	—	—	—	WAVED OFF
53		44	DICK SIMON	4	3:37.4600	165.548	32	31	BUMPS #94
54		58	BILLY VUKOVICH II	4	3:37.1900	165.753	28	30	BUMPS #36
Sunday May 24, 1971
55		54	JIGGER SIROIS	4	3:38.5900	164.692	—	—	TOO SLOW
56		14	JIM MCELREATH	4	3:35.8000	166.821	16	33	BUMPS #77
57		95	SAM POSEY	0	—	—	—	—	ACCIDENT
58		99	DENNY ZIMMERMAN	4	3:46.5400	158.912	—	—	TOO SLOW
59		21	JOHN CANNON	3	—	—	—	—	WAVED OFF
60		53	ARNIE KNEPPER	4	3:37.7600	165.320	—	—	TOO SLOW
61		8	LARRY DICKSON	4	3:47.1600	158.479	—	—	TOO SLOW

Broadcasting

Radio

The race was carried live on the IMS Radio Network. Sid Collins served as chief announcer for the 23rd consecutive year. Len Sutton served as "driver expert" for the fifth year. At the conclusion of the race, Lou Palmer reported from victory lane.

The entire on-air crew remained mostly consistent from 1966-1969.

The broadcast was carried by over 1,000 affiliates in all fifty states, AFN, the CBC, and reached locations such as Vietnam and had four foreign language translations. The broadcast had an estimated 120 million listeners worldwide.

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) Luke Walton (center) Lou Palmer (south)

Television

The race was carried in the United States on ABC's Wide World of Sports. The broadcast aired on Saturday June 6. Jim McKay anchored the broadcast with Rodger Ward and Chris Economaki as analysts. Ward drove the pace car at the start of the race.

For the final time, the race was shown live on MCA closed-circuit television in numerous theaters across the United States. Charlie Brockman served as anchor.

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

See also

• 1970 USAC Championship Car season

Notes

Works cited

• 1970 Indianapolis 500 Press Information - Daily Trackside Summary
• Indianapolis 500 History: Race & All-Time Stats - Official Site
• 1970 Indianapolis 500 at RacingReference.info
• 1970 Indianapolis 500 Radio Broadcast, Indianapolis Motor Speedway Radio Network

1969 Indianapolis 500 Mario Andretti

1970 Indianapolis 500 Al Unser

1971 Indianapolis 500 Al Unser