1979 Indianapolis 500

63rd Indianapolis 500

Indianapolis Motor Speedway
Indianapolis 500
Sanctioning body	USAC
Season	1979 USAC 1979 CART
Date	May 27, 1979
Winner	Rick Mears
Winning team	Penske Racing
Average speed	158.899 mph (255.723 km/h)
Pole position	Rick Mears
Pole speed	193.736 mph (311.788 km/h)
Fastest qualifier	Rick Mears
Rookie of the Year	Howdy Holmes
Most laps led	Bobby Unser (89)
Pre-race ceremonies
National anthem	Purdue Band
"Back Home Again in Indiana"	Peter Marshall
Starting command	Mary F. Hulman
Pace car	Ford Mustang
Pace car driver	Jackie Stewart
Starter	Pat Vidan[1]
Estimated attendance	350,000[2]
TV in the United States
Network	ABC
Announcers	Host/Lap-by-lap: Jim McKay Color Analyst: Jackie Stewart
Nielsen ratings	13.5 / 24
Chronology
Previous Next 1978 1980

The 63rd 500 Mile International Sweepstakes was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana, on Sunday May 27, 1979. 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. Al was driving Jim Hall's radically new Chaparral 2K ground effect chassis in its Indy debut. The car would be victorious the following year with Johnny Rutherford behind the wheel. Second-year driver Rick Mears took the lead for the final time with 18 laps to go, and won his first Indianapolis 500. Mears would win again in 1984, 1988, and 1991, to become the third driver (along with A. J. Foyt, Al Unser Sr., and later Hélio Castroneves) to win the Indy 500 a record four times. It was also Mears' first of a record six Indy 500 pole positions, a mark that still stands as of 2024.

The month of May 1979 was filled with controversy on and off the track. The race was sanctioned by USAC, and was part of the 1979 USAC National Championship. USAC had sanctioned the Indianapolis 500 and the sport of Indy car racing since 1956. During the offseason, however, several teams broke off and formed Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART), a new sanctioning body a new series. It was the beginning of the first open-wheel "split". Many participants took part in the inaugural 1979 SCCA/CART Indy Car Series, and entered the Indy 500 only as a one-off. USAC responded by rejecting the entries of several top CART-based teams. The owners immediately filed suit, and a court injunction was issued to allow them to participate. Technical squabbles also confounded the month. USAC had re-tooled the turbocharger boost rules, which drew the ire of some crews. During time trials, several cars were disqualified due to illegal wastegate exhaust pipes. Qualifying closed with the traditional 33 cars in the field. However, the day before the race a special qualifying session was arranged to allow certain entries a last chance to qualify. Two additional cars were added to the field, for a total of 35 cars (the most since 1933).

The high tensions and technical squabbles during the month attracted considerable negative criticism from sports writers and media. The race itself, however, was competitive and entertaining, and completed without major incident or further controversy.

Among those in attendance was former president Gerald Ford. Ford also served as the grand marshal of the 500 Festival Parade.^[3] The 1979 race is also notable in that it was the first to utilize the "pack-up" rule during caution periods, eliminating the then-primitive virtual safety car rules ("Electro-PACER") used from 1972 to 1978. On the onset of a caution period, the pace car would now pick up the leader and lead the field under the yellow flag at reduced speed. The remainder of the cars would "pack-up" or "bunch up" behind the leader.