Pocono 500 (Indycar)

The Pocono 500 was an American Open Wheel 500-mile race held at Pocono International Raceway from 1971-1989. It was sanctioned by USAC from 1971-1981, and by CART from 1982-1989. Following the 1989 event, the track was officially deemed too rough and unsuitable for Indycars, and was permanently removed from the schedule. Though this was the stated reason, the more important reason was that the Indycar race had become a big money-loser for the track in the 1980s; money used for the Indycar race was used to begin a steady process of improving the physical plant of the track, including repaving of the surface to remove bumps.

Race history

Past winners

Date	Race Name	Winning Driver	Chassis	Engine	Team
7/3/1971	Schaefer 500	Mark Donohue	McLaren	Offy	Penske Racing
7/29/1972	Schaefer 500	Joe Leonard	Parnelli	Offy	Vel's Parnelli Jones Racing
7/1/1973	Schaefer 500	A. J. Foyt	Coyote	Foyt	A.J. Foyt Enterprises
6/30/1974	Schaefer 500	Johnny Rutherford	McLaren	Offy	Bruce McLaren Motor Racing
6/29/1975	Schaefer 500	A. J. Foyt	Coyote	Foyt	A.J. Foyt Enterprises
6/27/1976	Schaefer 500	Al Unser	Parnelli	Cosworth	Vel's Parnelli Jones Racing
6/26/1977	Schaefer 500	Tom Sneva	McLaren	Cosworth	Penske Racing
6/25/1978	Schaefer 500	Al Unser	Chaparral	Cosworth	Chaparral Cars
6/24/1979	Schaefer 500	A. J. Foyt	Parnelli	Cosworth	A.J. Foyt Enterprises
6/22/1980	True Value 500	Bobby Unser	Penske	Cosworth	Penske Racing
6/14/1981	Van Scoy Diamond Mine 500	A. J. Foyt	March	Cosworth	A.J. Foyt Enterprises
8/15/1982	Domino's Pizza Pocono 500*	Rick Mears	Penske	Cosworth	Penske Racing
8/14/1983	Domino's Pizza 500	Teo Fabi	March	Cosworth	Forsythe Racing
8/19/1984	Domino's Pizza 500	Danny Sullivan	Lola	Cosworth	Doug Shierson Racing
8/18/1985	Domino's Pizza 500	Rick Mears	March	Cosworth	Penske Racing
8/17/1986	Domino's Pizza 500	Mario Andretti	Lola	Cosworth	Newman/Haas Racing
8/16/1987	Quaker State 500	Rick Mears	March	Chevrolet-Ilmor	Penske Racing
8/21/1988	Quaker State 500	Bobby Rahal	Lola	Judd	Truesports
8/20/1989	Pocono 500	Danny Sullivan	Penske	Chevrolet-Ilmor	Penske Racing

• USAC sanctioned the race from 1971-1981.
• The race moved from June to August starting in 1982. The move was made because the track added a second NASCAR Winston Cup Series race to their schedule, and that race was placed in the June date.
• The race switched to CART sanctioning for 1982, and moving to August allowed the race to be distanced from Indianapolis, and set 2-3 after the Michigan 500, giving teams more preparation time between 500-mile races.

Selected race summaries

• 1971: Mark Donohue wins the inaugural USAC Pocono 500. NASCAR Grand National regulars Donnie Allison and Cale Yarborough finish 28th and 32nd respectively.
• 1972: The second annual Pocono 500 is scheduled for late June/early July, however, Hurricane Agnes sweeps through the eastern United States, and forces postponement. The race is rescheduled for July 29, as part of a USAC Indycar/USAC Stock Car 500-mile doubleheader weekend. Pocono became the first track to hold back-to-back 500-mile races in the same weekend. Joe Leonard won the Schaefer 500 while Roger McClusky drove a Plymouth Superbird to win the Pennsylvania 500 stock car race.
• 1981: In the height of the USAC/CART split, A.J. Foyt wins the USAC Van Scoy Diamond Mines 500. This is the final Indycar race USAC sanctioned at Pocono and Foyt's final Indycar win. Many CART regulars boycotted the race, therefore, USAC opened the field to both Gold Crown cars and Silver Crown cars. A rag-tag field of Indycars and converted dirt-track cars ran a two-class race. Rain halted the race shortly after the halfway point, and ended the race early.
• 1985: Rick Mears completes a comeback from his devastating leg injuries suffered at Sanair in 1984 by winning the Pocono 500 in a part-time entry for Penske Racing.
• 1988: The race was slowed 11 times for 65 laps, including six wrecks. Rookie John Andretti suffered a serious wreck with 18 laps to go in turn 3. Most of the contenders dropped out, leaving Bobby Rahal in the lead for the final 28 laps, scoring Judd's first and only IndyCar victory, and Rahal's last with Truesports.
• 1989: Emerson Fittipaldi sets a new all-time track record during qualifying, with a pole speed of 211.715 mph. Danny Sullivan holds off his Penske teammate Rick Mears to win the final IndyCar race at Pocono.