1975 Indianapolis 500

The 1975 Indianapolis 500 was held at Indianapolis on Sunday, May 25, 1975.

Wally Dallenbach Sr. had a twenty-second lead when he retired on lap 162 with a burned piston. Johnny Rutherford lost the inherited lead to Bobby Unser when he pitted. On lap 171 the yellow came out for rain and the two leaders ducked into the pits for fuel. On lap 174 a downpour stopped the race and Unser was declared the winner. The rain stopped a few minutes later. Early in the race, Tom Sneva touched wheels with Eldon Rasmussen and flipped into a spectacular, fiery crash in turn two. He would walk away with only minor burns due to the improper embroidering of his uniform's patches, and from wearing a wristwatch.

Race schedule

Race schedule — May, 1975 Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat         1   2   3   4 Opening Day 5 Practice 6 Practice 7 Practice 8 Practice 9 Practice 10 Pole Day 11 Time Trials 12 Practice 13 Practice 14 Practice 15 Practice 16 Practice 17 Time Trials 18 Time Trials 19   20   21   22 Carb Day 23   24 Parade 25 Indy 500 26 Memorial Day 27   28   29   30   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

Race results

Finish	Start	No	Name	Qual	Rank	Laps	Led	Status
1	3	48	Bobby Unser	191.073	3	174	11	Running
2	7	2	Johnny Rutherford	185.998	9	174	5	Running
3	1	14	A.J. Foyt	193.976	1	174	53	Running
4	18	11	Pancho Carter	183.449	22	169	0	Flagged
5	22	15	Roger McCluskey	183.964	17	167	0	Flagged
6	8	6	Bill Vukovich II	185.845	10	166	0	Flagged
7	15	83	Bill Puterbaugh	183.833	18	165	0	Flagged
8	24	97	George Snider	182.918	23	165	0	Flagged
9	21	40	Wally Dallenbach, Sr.	190.648	4	162	96	Piston
10	23	33	Bob Harkey	183.786	19	162	0	Flagged
11	29	98	Steve Krisiloff	182.408	28	162	0	Flagged
12	26	19	Sheldon Kinser	182.389	29	161	0	Flagged
13	20	30	Jerry Karl	182.537	27	161	0	Flagged
14	10	78	Jimmy Caruthers	185.615	12	161	0	Flagged
15	19	45	Gary Bettenhausen	182.611	26	158	0	Crash FS
16	11	4	Al Unser	185.452	13	157	0	Rod
17	25	36	Sammy Sessions	182.751	25	155	0	Engine
18	33	17	Tom Bigelow	181.864	32	151	0	Magneto
19	12	93	Johnny Parsons	184.521	14	140	0	Transmission
20	14	73	Jerry Grant	184.266	16	137	0	Piston
21	30	44	Dick Simon	181.891	31	133	0	Flagged
22	4	68	Tom Sneva	190.094	5	125	0	Crash T2
23	17	24	Bentley Warren	183.589	21	120	0	Flagged
24	32	58	Eldon Rasmussen	181.910	30	119	0	Valve
25	13	16	Bobby Allison	184.398	15	112	1	Gearbox
26	5	12	Mike Mosley	187.833	6	94	0	Engine
27	16	89	John Martin	183.655	20	61	0	Radiator
28	27	21	Mario Andretti	186.480	8	49	0	Crash BS
29	31	94	Mike Hiss	181.754	33	39	0	Crash T3
30	28	63	Larry McCoy	182.760	24	24	0	Piston
31	2	20	Gordon Johncock	191.653	2	11	8	Ignition
32	6	7	Lloyd Ruby	186.984	7	7	0	Piston
33	9	77	Salt Walther	185.701	11	2	0	Ignition

Failed to Qualify: Larry Cannon (#59), George Follmer (#28, #52), Chuck Gurney (#23), John Hubbard (#53), Jim Hurtubise (#52, #56), Lee Kunzman (#52, #55), Al Loquasto (#38, #86), Graham McRae (#75), Dan Murphy (#25), Rick Muther (#46, #52), Bob Nagel, Jan Opperman (#28, #46), Billy Scott (#76), Bill Simpson (#52, #98), Jigger Sirois (#52), Jerry Sneva (#37, #38),

Notes:

• Race stopped on lap 174 due to rain (begun on lap 171).
• This was the final race for Mary Catherine "Mom" Unser (mother of Jerry, Bobby, and Al), a fixture in the garage area who was famous for her spicy chili. She died December 17, 1975.

See also

• 1975 USAC Championship Car season