A few teams discovered what they considered a "loophole" in the rules. Dina Lynn, his wife, and their two children, Clint, 6, and Cole, 4, travel with Mears on the circuit, and she seems to take the travel pretty well. That handed the lead to Rick Mears with 19 laps to go. Rick Mears led, with A. J. Foyt at the tail-end of the pack. With twenty laps to go, Bobby Unser led his Penske teammate Rick Mears by a few car lengths. At 4:50 p.m., the original pole qualifying round was over, and "Second Day" qualifying commenced. Starting from the pole, he led the race three times for a total of 25 laps. Mears accepted the offer, but not before collecting 60 trophies for motorcycle racing. Mears describes himself as “conservative,” and his driving style reflects the trait. The race was carried live on the IMS Radio Network. To preserve these articles as they originally appeared, The Times does not alter, edit or update them. The 63rd 500 Mile International Sweepstakes was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana, on Sunday May 27, 1979. A short article on his win can be found at Racing News here. The "Rejected Six" CART teams took their first laps of the month, with Rick Mears turning the fastest lap of the day at 187.578 mph (301.878 km/h). “I'd go crazy if I were married to a normal 8‐to‐5 guy,” she said. "[4] USAC sent the owners a telegram informing them of the situation while they were participating in the CART race at Atlanta, the Gould Twin Dixie 125s.[8]. The broadcast has re-aired on ESPN Classic since May 2011. Billy Scott, who failed to qualify for the race, served as the "driver expert.". The proposal offered Monday was considered void since two teams refused to sign on. Bobby Unser became the latest driver over 190 mph (310 km/h), and Al Unser, Sr. was the fastest of the afternoon at 193.341 mph (311.152 km/h). Spike Gehlhausen had the only incident of the day, when a water line broke, spewing hot fluid into the cockpit. It was also Mears' first of a record six Indy 500 pole positions. There were no wave offs allowed, and if the run was incomplete, or if the driver missed their turn in line, the attempt was forfeited. A fifth day of time trials (May 26) was added to resolve a controversy that arose during qualifying (see below). [10] Like the format used in NASCAR and at other Indy car races, when the caution flag came out, the pace car would enter the track and pick up the leader. Bob Forbes' primary duties again involved covering the garage area and roving reports. Only two cars accomplished the feat, and they were added to the back of the grid for a field of 35 cars. A. J. Foyt was running third, one lap down. After lengthy repairs, he returned to the race. Mears’ likeness also is forever cast in sterling silver on the Borg-Warner Trophy for victories in 1979, 1984 and 1988. The leaders pits stops were over, and Mears now held a 38-second lead over Foyt. Rather than welding a washer inside of the wastegate like others had done, his mechanic Wayne Woodward had welded a complete obstruction in the pipe,[9] attempting to illegally over-ride the popoff valve. During time trials, several cars were disqualified due to illegal wastegate exhaust pipes. With John Martin now on the bubble, Dick Ferguson took to the track. Mears, who was born in Wichita, KS, had also won the race 1979, 1984 and 1988, and thereby joined A.J. [13] Bonnett went on to win the Dover NASCAR race, and never returned to Indy. Mike Mosley was storming down the frontstretch at full speed, but Foyt nipped him at the finish line by 2.3 seconds to hold on to second position. Mears, when he is not racing, operates heavy con§truction equipment in California. Driver expert: Billy Scott Of the 33 cars thus qualified, 31 took practice laps. They utilized a larger diameter wastegate pipe, but welded a washer inside of it that had a circular opening of exactly 1.470 inches. His speed of 184.644 mph (297.156 km/h) bumped Martin from the field. (IMS Archives Photo) Suddenly Unser slowed. At 4:32 p.m., Foyt's run of 189.613 mph (305.153 km/h) was far short of being fast enough for the pole, but secured him a spot in row 2. With the increased scrutiny on the wastegate inlets, drivers claimed it was difficult for a legal car to bump out a car already in the field that had cheated, and that the officials were not policing it properly. Stewart reported live while driving the Ford Mustang pace car. Penske PC-6 (Rick Mears 1979 Indy 500 winner) I've always liked Rick Mears as a race car driver. Two years later, he came to Indianapolis for the first time, qualified at 200.078 miles per hour on the outside of the first row, but lost his engine after completing 103 laps. Dick Ferguson was not among the 11 drivers named as eligible for the special session, so his car owner filed suit in county court on Tuesday to have the race halted until his car was re-instated. Speeds dropped off for the day, with A. J. Foyt having the best lap of the day at 189.036 mph (304.224 km/h). Bill Alsup was the first car to make an attempt, and John Martin was bumped out of the field once again. Runner up was team Jerry O'Connell with driver Tom Sneva. On April 26, the "rejected six" teams filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana, requesting an injunction to allow the teams to compete in the 1979 Indy 500.

Rick Mears, the winner of the 1979 Indy 500

By: Todd Klaassen Posted at 4:43 PM, Apr 21, 2016 . The standard pipe diameter was typically 2 inches. R  = Indianapolis 500 rookie W  = Former Indianapolis 500 winner Indicates diver eligible for CART Championship points only. He planned on putting in a qualifying time for the Winston Cup race on Friday, then returning Saturday to Indianapolis in order to qualify for the Indy 500. The final day scheduled for qualifying began on time around noon. Rick Ravon Mears (born December 3, 1951 in Wichita, Kansas) is a retired American race car driver. Two other yellows closed the track for another ten minutes, and the day came to a close at 6 p.m. without a single car being able to make a qualifying attempt. Meanwhile, Tom Bigelow bumped out Steve Krisiloff as this was going on. He did it in 1979, 1984, 1988 and 1991. Rutherford then headed to the pits with a broken gear. Wally Dallenbach was the next car out, and temporarily put himself on the pole with a speed of 188.285 mph (303.015 km/h). Mears went on to win three USAC races in 1978 and when he returned to Indianapolis in 1979, he had a full-time ride at Team Penske. Bill Vukovich II, who was one of only two drivers to make the field during the special Saturday qualifying session, charged all the way from 34th starting position to 8th at the finish. However, in the morning, the skies cleared, the track dried, and the race began on-time as scheduled. The day opened with 8 spots available on the grid. The previous system, the Electro-PACER Light system, was scrapped. Jerry Sneva took over the car. In addition, several complaints surfaced when teams charged USAC with essentially changing the rules in the middle of qualifying – a move which actually affected other already-qualified cars from the first weekend. Johnny Rutherford was the first driver to complete a run at 188.137 mph (302.777 km/h), and became the coveted 'first driver in the field.' Occasionally the digitization process introduces transcription errors or other problems; we are continuing to work to improve these archived versions. Rain fell the night before the race, and the weather forecast for race day was bleak. At the end of the day, the field was filled to 25 cars. 21. Though some think the plane crash was used as an opportunistic way to force change in the sport, it was merely a coincidence, more aptly described as a concomitant result. Suddenly with 8 laps to go, Tom Sneva wrecked in turn four, bringing out the yellow, and bunching up the field. Mears retired at age 41 with 29 victories in major open-wheel racing (22 in CART, seven in USAC) and three Champ Car titles (1979, 1981 and 1982). They charged that the turbocharger wastegate inlet rules were unfair, and there was too much of a gray area to begin with. The ruling created controversy in the garage area, as a further examination of the rules showed a "gray area" regarding the inlet opening configuration. TimesMachine is an exclusive benefit for home delivery and digital subscribers. The green flag back came out with Bobby Unser now leading. Indicates driver eligible for USAC Championship Trail points only. Ongais had complained that USAC officials were deliberately preventing him from returning to the cockpit after his injury. Sneva was bumped to second on the grid. Indy car events outside of Indianapolis were suffering from poor attendance, and few events were even televised. Further complicating the day, USAC disqualified Bill Alsup for using the same engine that Bobby Unser had already qualified with. Down on power, Foyt began to slow. Ford also served as the grand marshal of the 500 Festival Parade. This was one of two races Foyt would not win during the USAC Season as he won the other five out of seven races to easily take his seventh and final championship. • Mears, back again this year, won the pole position at 193.736 m.p.h. These six teams (19 cars) were alleged to be "harmful to racing" and "not in good standing with USAC. 0. A total of 34 cars took laps, without any major incidents. During the first practice session, Danny Ongais, a favorite for the front row, wrecked in turn 4 after completing a lap of 191.205 mph. At 4 p.m., Tom Sneva (who won the pole position in 1977–1978) took to the track looking for his record third consecutive Indy 500 pole. After the race, officials discovered a scoring error, and realized that Mosely was not credited with a lap at the start of the race. Rick Mears. Tom Bigelow was now on the bubble. The first major salvo was made on March 25, 1979, when the CART-based teams boycotted the USAC Datsun Twin 200 at Ontario. A look back at Rick Mears' first of four wins in Indianapolis. This would be the final Indianapolis 500 participation for Team McLaren who left Indy car racing as a team all together until their return in 2017. At the start, Al Unser Sr. swept from the outside of the front row, and led the field into turn one. Part of the suit called for all 33 qualified cars to be summoned to court to have their wastegate pipes measured. Shortly before 1 p.m. Al Unser Sr. took over the provisional pole position with a four-lap average of 192.503 mph (309.804 km/h). 1979: Controversy & Rick Mears. Less than a lap later, A. J. Foyt (now in second) got by Mears to un-lap himself. A look back at Rick Mears' first of four wins in Indianapolis. Some teams began to voice their complaints that it was not fair for USAC to essentially change the rules midway through time trials. The 1979 USAC Championship Car season consisted of seven races, beginning in Ontario, California on March 25 and concluding in West Allis, Wisconsin on August 12. [12] NASCAR qualifying was shifted to Saturday, and due to the time constraints, Bonnett decided to withdraw from Indy. By mid-day Thursday, only 31 of the 33 cars in the field signed the waiver agreeing to extend time trials. Several cars went out in the first hour, and at 1:15 p.m., Jim McElreath filled the field to 33 cars. He took over the top spot with a four-lap average of 192.998 mph (310.600 km/h). [4] USAC began retooling turbocharger boost rules to ensure the Offy and the "stock block" engines remained competitive, which caused new disagreements about equivalency formulas and favoritism. * Includes days where trackactivity was significantlylimited due to rain. Foyt was mired in heavy traffic, and needed to pass at least 14 cars to catch up to Mears. Replicarz isn’t just a retail shop with a wide selection of scale models cars. He's the only driver who scored six pole positions at … The day concluded with Larry Rice bumping out John Mahler. Additionally, Mears still holds the record for most poles in the history of the race with six (1979, 1982, 1986, 1988, 1989 and 1991). However, after lobbying from his co-competitor and friend Al Unser, officials finally cleared him to drive. With Foyt struggling to make up the ground, his engine lost a cylinder. There is none of the down‐home bombast that fans have come to expect from some drivers who were weaned on races in the South. It was also Mears' first of a record six Indy 500 pole positions. Historian: Donald Davidson, Turn 1: Ron Carrell May 28, 1979. On April 19, however, the USAC board of directors voted unanimously to reject the entries of six key teams: Penske, Patrick, McLaren, Fletcher, Chaparral, and Gurney. Announcer: Jim McKay His father, Bill, also racer at one time, got the feeling that two‐wheelers were too risky for his slender son and made a deal to build him a sprint buggy if he would give up motorcycles. The high tensions and numerous technical squabbles during the month attracted considerable negative criticism from sports writers and media. Racing Team Auto Racing Ground Effects Indianapolis Motor Speedway Old Race Cars Indy Cars Car And Driver Formula One Indie. Foyt and Al Unser in the four-time Indy … [4] In addition, the venerable 4-cylinder turbo Offenhauser (a favorite of the USAC-loyal teams) was at a horsepower disadvantage to the new V8 Cosworth DFX. Andretti was participating in Formula One full-time in 1979 to defend his 1978 World Championship, and a scheduling conflict with Monaco was expected to keep Mario away from Indy in 1979. A. J. Foyt moved to the top of the speed chart, completing a lap at 194.007 mph (312.224 km/h). [4] Driver, owner, and advocate Dan Gurney then published his infamous "White Paper,"[6] lobbying several complaints and charges against USAC and IMS, concluding that new organization (i.e., CART) was necessary to ensure the success of Indy car racing into the future. Brothers Al and Bobby Unser combined to lead 174 of the 200 laps, but Al dropped out around the midpoint, and Bobby slipped to 5th place at the finish nursing mechanical issues. Foyt, 1961, 1964, 1967, 1977 Three Victories Dario Franchitti, 2007… A court injunction was issued after USAC initially denied entries by some teams that were part of the CART series. Heavy attrition early on saw seven cars out with mechanical problems by lap 22. He survived three wave offs, but Jerry Sneva managed to bump him out at 2 p.m. Jerry Sneva's run was not without excitement, as he suffered a stuck throttle. They cited antitrust and restraint of trade. Danny Ongais was a close second at 187.188 mph (301.250 km/h). If the driver completed the four-lap qualifying run faster than the slowest car in the field (Roger McCluskey at 183.908 mph (295.971 km/h)), he would be added to the rear of the grid. Paul Page served as anchor for the third year. Moments later, he was back into the pits after it was reported that something may have been leaking or smoking from the back of the car. During the month, a second controversy erupted regarding the technical regulations of the turbocharger wastegate. An appeal was made the next morning, but USAC denied the appeal. Mears went around him to lead the final 19 laps and win his first of four Indianapolis 500s. ... 1979: First Indy 500 win for Mears RTV6 The Indy Channel. Rick Mears would ride the wave of this victory to the Inaugural CART Championship. Back at Rick Mears in only his second and third laps,,. Lap and continued to charge article in its original context from May 28, 1979 failed to for. 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