1981 Indianapolis 500

The 65th Indianapolis 500 was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Sunday, May 24, 1981. A hectic month of May was interrupted several times by rain. Bobby Unser took the checkered flag as the winner, with Mario Andretti second. The following morning, USAC officials ruled that Unser had passed cars illegally while exiting the pit area on lap 149, and issued him a one-lap penalty. The official results posted scored Unser finishing second, and declared Andretti the winner.

After a lengthly protest and appeals process, the penalty was rescinded, and Unser was reinstated the victory on October 9. The race is widely considered one of the most controversial races in Indy history.^[1]

Background

Three years into the first open wheel split, the sport of Indy car racing began settling into a mostly stabilized environment by 1981. The upstart CART series sanctioned the season of races, while the Indianapolis 500 itself became an invitation-only race sanctioned by USAC.

A record total of 105 entries were expected to shatter the previous records for drivers on the track and qualifying attempts. Speed-cutting measures were still in place, and no drivers were expected to challenge the track records in 1981.

Mario Andretti, as he had done in previous years, planned to race at Indianapolis in-between his busy, full-time Formula One schedule. His plans included qualifying at Indy on pole day weekend (May 9-10), then flying to Europe for the Belgian Grand Prix (May 17). After Belgium, he would fly back to Indianapolis in time for race day (May 24).

Practice and qualifying

Practice - week 1

Practice started on Opening Day, Saturday May 2. The two most notable rookies of the field made most of the headlines for the afternoon. Young Josele Garza (actually 19 at the time, lied on his entry form to say he was 21) and Geoff Brabham both passed their rookie tests.^[2]

On Sunday May 3, Al Unser became the first driver to practice over 190 mph.^[2] A day later, his brother Bobby Unser pushed the speeds over 197 mph.^[2] The first incidents of the month occurred Monday, when Gordon Smiley spun, and Pete Halsmer crashed in turn 4.^[2]

Tuesday (May 5) was completely rained out, and Wednesday (May 6) was windy, keeping the speeds mostly down. A record 50 cars took to the track on Thursday (May 7), with Mario Andretti fastest of the day at 194.300 mph.

On Friday, the final day of practice before pole day, Penske teammates Bobby Unser and Rick Mears were hand-timed just a tick below 200 mph. Mario Andretti was a close third over 198 mph.

Time trials - weekend 1

On Saturday May 9, rain delayed the start of pole position time trials until 3:34 p.m. An abbreviated session saw only 9 cars finish qualifying runs. A. J. Foyt was the fastest of the nine, sitting on the provisional pole at 196.078 mph. Rain stopped qualifying for the day at 5:49 p.m., and pushed pole qualifying into the next day.

On Sunday May 10, pole position qualifying was scheduled to resume. Rain fell all afternoon, however, and canceled all track activity for the day. 27 cars were still eligible for the pole position, and the resumption of pole day qualifying was scheduled for the following Saturday.

Practice - week 2

Rain continued to fall, and washed out practice on Monday (May 11). On Tuesday May 12, the 200 mph barrier was finally broken in practice for the month by Danny Ongais. Mario Andretti took his final practice run of the week, and departed for Belgium. Two major crashes occurred, involving Phil Caliva and Phil Krueger. Tim Richmond and Larry "Boom Boom" Cannon both were involved in spins, but suffered no contact.

On Wednesday May 13, Rick Mears pushed the fastest speed of the month to 200.312 mph. Retired veteran driver Wally Dallenbach climbed into Mario Andretti's car, and began to take some shake down laps. Due to Andretti's absence for the rest of the week, the Patrick Racing team decided to have Dallenbach qualify the car for him. On race day, Andretti would take over the cockpit once again. Dallenbach was quickly up to speed, over 191 mph on his first day.

Rain closed the track on Thursday. On Friday, Bobby Unser upped the speed even further, turning a lap of 201.387 mph. A record 63 cars took to the track on the final full day of practice. World of Outlaws star, and Indy rookie Steve Kinser crashed in turn 1.

Time trials - weekend 2

Pole day time trials resumed on a sunny Saturday May 16. About a half hour into the session, Bobby Unser took over the pole position with a four-lap average of 200.546 mph. Meanwhile, Wally Dallenbach put Mario Andretti's car safely in the filed at over 193 mph. Mike Mosley squeezed himself into the front row posting a 197.141 mph run. Moments later, Rick Mears took to the track. After a lap over 200.9 mph, his car developed a vibration, and he was forced to wave off, giving up his chance for the pole position. Pole qualifying continued until 2:00 p.m., when the original qualifying line was finally exhausted. Bobby Unser was awarded the pole, and the next round of qualifying began.

After pole qualifying was over, Tom Sneva qualified his car at 200.691 mph. It was the fastest speed of the month, but since it did not take place in the pole round, he was not eligible for the pole position. Later in the day, Rick Mears took a back-up car out to qualify, but had to settle for a slower speed, and 22nd starting position.

On Sunday, bump day time trials were very busy. Ten cars were bumped during 25 attempts.

Carburetion Day

On Thursday May 21, the final scheduled practice session was held. All 33 qualified cars, along with 2 alternates that took laps. Mario Andretti returned from Belgium, and practiced in his already-qualified car. Jerry Karl was arrested during the week, but would be released on bond in time for race day. Bob Harkey practiced his car for him.

The starting grid was altered slightly after qualifying. Wally Dallenbach, who qualified Mario Andretti's car 8th, stepped aside as planned, and the car moved to the rear of the grid. In addition, George Snider vacated his ride in favor of Tim Richmond.

Bobby Unser continued his dominance of the month, and led the speed chart for the afternoon, with a hand-timed lap of 197.6 mph. Later in the afternoon, hoping to sweep the month, his Penske Racing pit crew also guided him to a victory in the Miller Pit Stop Contest.

Race recap

Start

Mears pit fire

Danny Ongais crash

Unser pit incident

On lap 146, Gordon Smiley crashed in turn 4. Three laps later, leader Mario Andretti and second place Bobby Unser went into the pit area for service. Unser finished his pit stop first, and was the first driver to exit the pit area. Andretti followed a few seconds behind.

While the two cars were exiting the pits, the pace car was leading the field at reduced pace through turn 1 and turn 2. Unser stayed on the track apron, below the painted white line, and proceeded to pass by 14 cars and blend into the field at the exit of turn two. He took his place in line immediately behind the pace car as the leader. Andretti appeared to pass two or three cars before he blended into the field in the south short chute.

The moves went largely unnoticed at the time. Andretti claims that he immediately called his pit crew on the radio and told him that Unser had passed cars under the yellow.^[3] Though no action would be taken, he wanted it observed for the record. During the live radio broadcast, no announcers made note of the incident, nor was it yet reported that any penalty was under consideration.^[4]

Finish

Gordon Johncock led late in the race, but slowed and eventually suffered a blown engine with less than 10 laps to go. Bobby Unser assumed the lead on lap 182, with Mario Andretti second. Unser held on to win by 5.18 seconds, one of the closest finishes at Indianapolis to that point.

Unser celebrated his third Indy 500 victory (also 1968 and 1975), while Andretti was lauded for charging from 32nd starting position to a 2nd place finish.

Controversy

Post race

Shortly after the race was over, ramblings over a possible protest or penalty were surfacing. Andretti's team, Patrick Racing, was voicing concern over Bobby Unser passing cars under the yellow on lap 149. At the time, it was the policy of USAC to post official results for the Indianapolis 500 at 8 a.m. the morning after the race. USAC officials announced that the scoring and video tapes would be reviewed overnight.

Television controversy

ABC televised the race on same-day tape-delay at 9 p.m. EDT. At the time, it was the policy of ABC Sports to record live commentary of the race at the start of the race and at the end of the race. For the remaining portions of the race, commentary was recorded during post-production.^[5][3]

Unlike the live radio broadcast, which did not notice nor mention the infraction,^[4] the television broadcast focused heavily on the incident, and reported it as it was being aired.^[6] It was later revealed that commentators Jim McKay and Jackie Stewart had provided the commentary in post-production, and did so with the knowledge already that Unser had won the race, and a protest was in the works.^[3] The broadcast was considered misleading, as it suggested that the infraction was noticed by all parties at the time it occurred. The broadcast was also accused of being biased towards against Unser, as Stewart only pointed out Unser passing cars under the yellow, and not Andretti doing so.

Official results

USAC spent the night reviewing race tapes and scoring reports. At 8 a.m. EST, the official results of the race were posted. Bobby Unser was charged with passing cars under the yellow, and was penalized 1 lap for the infraction. The penalty dropped Unser down to second place, and elevated Mario Andretti to first place. Andretti was declared the victor, and it made him a two-time Indianapolis 500 winner.

Penske Racing, Bobby Unser's team, immediately protested the decision.

Box score

Finish	Start	No	Name	Qual	Rank	Laps	Led	Status
1	1	3	Bobby Unser	200.546	2	200	89	Running
2	32	40	Mario Andretti	193.040	12	200	12	Running
3	18	33	Vern Schuppan	186.548	31	199	0	Flagged
4	12	32	Kevin Cogan	189.444	18	197	0	Flagged
5	15	50	Geoff Brabham	187.990	22	197	0	Flagged
6	23	81	Sheldon Kinser	189.454	17	195	0	Flagged
7	16	16	Tony Bettenhausen, Jr.	187.013	28	195	0	Flagged
8	17	53	Steve Krisiloff	186.722	30	194	0	Flagged
9	4	20	Gordon Johncock	195.429	7	194	52	Engine
10	28	4	Dennis Firestone	187.784	23	193	0	Engine
11	7	7	Bill Alsup	193.154	11	193	0	Flagged
12	25	74	Mike Chandler	187.567	26	192	0	Flagged
13	3	14	A.J. Foyt	196.078	6	191	0	Flagged
14	33	84	Tim Richmond	189.254	20	191	0	Flagged
15	31	38	Jerry Karl	186.008	33	189	0	Flagged
16	29	37	Scott Brayton	187.774	24	173	0	Engine
17	9	88	Al Unser	192.719	14	166	0	Flagged
18	19	31	Larry Dickson	186.278	32	165	0	Piston
19	13	35	Bob Lazier	189.424	19	154	0	Engine
20	14	56	Tom Bigelow	188.294	21	152	0	Engine
21	27	90	Bill Whittington	197.098	5	146	0	Stalled
22	8	60	Gordon Smiley	192.988	13	141	1	Crash T4
23	6	55	Josele Garza	195.101	9	138	13	Crash T3
24	24	79	Pete Halsmer	187.705	25	123	0	Crash T3
25	20	2	Tom Sneva	200.691	1	96	25	Clutch
26	11	8	Gary Bettenhausen	190.870	16	69	0	Rod
27	21	25	Danny Ongais	197.694	3	64	4	Crash T3
28	10	5	Pancho Carter	191.022	15	63	0	Compression
29	30	51	Tom Klausler	186.732	29	60	0	Gearbox
30	22	6	Rick Mears	194.018	10	58	1	Pit Fire
31	26	91	Don Whittington	187.237	27	32	0	Crash BS
32	5	1	Johnny Rutherford	195.387	8	25	3	Fuel Pump
33	2	48	Mike Mosley	197.141	4	16	0	Radiator

Failed to Qualify

Protest and appeals

Roger Penske filed an appeal after the official results were posted. A hearing was June 12, 1981. Mid-way through the hearing, the meeting was adjourned, and the resumption was scheduled for July 29.^[7]

Bobby Unser's primary argument was based on what he considered to be a vague definition of the "blend rule." When exiting the pit area under caution, drivers were instructed to look to their right and see which car was next to them on the track. After accelerating to sufficient speed, the driver was to "blend" (merge) into the field behind that car. Mario Andretti argued that it was an established guideline that the place to look for the car to blend behind was at the south end of the pit straight, where the concrete wall ends.^[3] Bobby Unser countered that he understood that, as long as the car stayed under the white line and in the apron, the place to blend in was the exit of turn two.^[3] Unser argued that the warm-up apron was an extension of the pit area. He also contended that Andretti had passed at least two cars himself, and should have also incurred a one-lap penalty.^[8]

USAC was faced with a dilemma, as the rulebook was in fact unclear in regards to the blend rule. Officials mulled over the decision for months. On October 9, 1981, a three-member USAC appeals board voted 2-1 to reinstate the victory to Bobby Unser.^[9] He was instead fined $40,000.

Aftermath and lore

The 1981 Indianapolis 500 was largely considered the most controversial running to date.^[1] It was referred to as "The Great Dispute,"^[10] and in some circles was "Undecided."^[11] Bobby Unser, who felt the entire ordeal was politically motivated by his USAC enemies^[1], became disillusioned with auto racing^[12] and took a sabbatical from driving. He sat out the 1982 Indy 500, and retired officially in 1983.

After being reinstated the winner, Bobby Unser was presented with the miniature Borg-Warner Trophy, while Mario Andretti had already been presented with the winner's championship ring.^[3]

References

1. ^ ^{a b c} "Controversy nothing new for 500", Indianapolis Star (2002-05-28). 
2. ^ ^{a b c d} "1981 Indianapolis 500 Daily Trackside Report", Indy500.com (1981). Retrieved on 2008-06-22. 
3. ^ ^{a b c d e f} Classic "Big Ticket" - 1981 Indianapolis 500, ESPN Classic, May 23, 2003
4. ^ ^{a b} 1981 Indianapolis 500 live radio, IMS Radio Netowkr, May 24, 1981
5. ^ McKay, Jim (May 1, 1998). The Real McKay: My Wide World of Sports. E P Dutton. ISBN 0525944184. 
6. ^ 1981 Indianapolis 500 television broadcast, ABC Sports, May 24, 1981
7. ^ "Appeal Panel on Indy 500 Is Adjourned Until July 29", New York Times (1981-06-12). 
8. ^ "Attorney for Unser Says Andretti Was in Violation", New York Times (1981-06-05). 
9. ^ Unser ruled winner of '81 500
10. ^ 1982 Indianapolis 500 television broadcast, ABC Sports, May 30, 1982
11. ^ Legends of the Brickyard - 1981 Indianapolis 500, ESPN, 1987
12. ^ "Sports People; A Bitter Bobby Unser", New York Times (1981-09-04). 

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