Indianapolis 500 Memories: 1981, Part One

Photo credit: Indianapolis Motor Speedway

 

The 1981 Indianapolis 500 is remembered mainly for the months-long dispute over who actually won the race – Bobby Unser, who took the checkered flag, then was penalized a lap for passing cars under the yellow; or Mario Andretti, who initially finished second then was elevated to the top spot.

 

Unser, of course, ended up being declared the winner, officially becoming the first to win the 500 in three different decades.

 

In thumbing through the Carl Hungness yearbook recently, something else struck me: The diversity in both chassis and engine in that year’s starting lineup. The top six, for example, featured six different combinations. Here's a look at the field:

 

Chassis	Number	Drivers	Remarks
PC-9B	3	Bobby Unser, Bill Alsup, Rick Mears	Penske’s team car
Wildcat VIII	4	Mario Andretti, Gordon Johncock, Dennis Firestone, Gordon Smiley	Patrick Racing’s “house” cat
McLaren	2	Vern Schuppan, Tony Bettenhausen	McLaren left Indy racing after the 1979 season
Phoenix	1	Kevin Cogan	I think this was the last Sugaripe Prune car
PC-9	2	Geoff Brabham, Josele Garza	Garza was very popular his rookie year
Longhorn LR-01	1	Sheldon Kinser	Memorable paint scheme
PC-7	7	Steve Krisiloff, Michael Chandler, Larry Dickson, Bob Lazier, Tom Bigelow, Pete Halsmer, Pancho Carter	First ground-effects car from Penske
Coyote	1	A.J. Foyt	Started on the front row
Parnelli	1	Tim Richmond	Richmond’s last Indianapolis 500
McLaren-Karl	1	Jerry Karl	Nose is the only thing that looks McLaren in my opinion; the rest represents the hard-working Karl’s efforts to create a pseudo ground-effects car. Kudos for getting it into the field
PC-6	1	Scott Brayton	First 500 for Brayton
Longhorn LR-02	1	Al Unser	Al Jr. was still a couple of years away from his Indy debut
March	3	Don Whittington, Bill Whittington, Tom Sneva	First appearance for this make, which would be a strong contender the rest of the decade
Lightning	1	Gary Bettenhausen	Listed as Janet Guthrie’s car from 1980
Interscope	1	Danny Ongais	Ongais was badly injured in a crash during the race
Schkee DB-4	1	Tom Klausler	I remember this car being VERY loud
Chaparral	1	Johnny Rutherford	Finished 32nd after winning the year before; in 1977, Lone Star JR was last after winning in 1976
Eagle	1	Mike Mosley	Loved this car; more on it later