30 Days in May Bonus: No. 62, Wally Dallenbach, 1973 Olsonite Eagle/Offy

Welcome to our monthlong countdown celebrating notable drivers and cars from the Indianapolis 500!

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Wally Dallenbach started 20th and finished 24th in the 1973 Indianapolis 500. 

30 Days in May Bonus: No. 62, Wally Dallenbach, 1973 Olsonite Eagle/Offy. Then calling East Brunswick, New Jersey, home, Wally Dallenbach was about to enter a major career upswing in 1973, though not with Dan Gurney’s All American Racers. Dallenbach’s oddly numbered No. 62 joined AAR holdovers Bobby Unser and Jerry Grant for the 1973 500. In the race, Dallenbach is best remembered for helping rescue Salt Walther from his burning and battered car after his horrendous first-lap accident. 

Once the race finally got under way – two days later – Dallenbach made a nice charge from his 20^th starting position into the top 10 before a broken connecting rod bolt (a common malady that year) sidelined him after 48 laps, resulting in a 24^th-place finish. 

Dallenbach joined the STP/Patrick team later in 1973, winning the California 500 at Ontario Motor Speedway. Save for a one-year sabbatical with Jerry O’Connell’s Sugaripe Prune team in 1978, Dallenbach remained with Patrick the rest of his career, retiring after the 1979 season. He returned to the cockpit in 1981 to qualify a Patrick car for Mario Andretti, who was unavailable due to Formula 1 commitments. 

Dallenbach then enjoyed a second career as a much-respected official in CART. 

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30 Days in May: No. 2, A.J. Foyt, 1972 ITT-Thompson Coyote/Foyt

 Welcome to our monthlong countdown celebrating notable drivers and cars from the Indianapolis 500!

Majeske collection

I taped this postcard to a wall in my room when I was a little boy. It's a bit worse for
wear, but I'm glad I still have it.

The year 1972 was the last time A.J. Foyt didn’t run No. 14 in the Indianapolis 500. Overall, it was a pretty forgettable year for Super Tex at IMS. He blew the engine on his first qualifying attempt and wound up starting 17^th (his speed ranked sixth, however). On Race Day, he had trouble getting going, starting from a comparative dead stop as the field roared down to take the green flag. Foyt was out after 60 laps due to turbocharger trouble, finishing 25th. 

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Indianapolis 500 Front Rows of the 1970s: 1970

In addition to the usual Month of May countdown, we’re also recounting the front rows of the 1970s, which included some of the most accomplished drivers in the history of the Indianapolis 500.

Faithful readers of this space know that this decade is part of my personal golden age at the Speedway. I’m grateful I got to witness much of it first-hand as a boy.

Here’s a statistical look at the front-row drivers of the 1970s:

Driver	Indianapolis 500 poles (career)	Indianapolis 500 wins (career)
Al Unser	1	4
Johnny Rutherford	3	3
A.J. Foyt	4	4
Peter Revson	1	0
Mark Donohue	0	1
Bobby Unser	2	3
Wally Dallenbach	0	0
Mike Hiss	0	0
Gordon Johncock	0	2
Tom Sneva	3	1
Danny Ongais	0	0
Rick Mears	6	4
Totals	20	22

For each year, we’ll have the front row, how many Indianapolis 500 wins were represented on the front row at the start of the race, the number of Indianapolis 500 wins in the drivers’ respective careers and a brief recap of practice, qualifying and the race.

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Al Unser was on the pole for the 1970 Indianapolis 500, with Johnny Rutherford
in the middle and A.J. Foyt on the outside.

1970 front row: Al Unser (pole), Johnny Rutherford, A.J. Foyt

How it started: 3 Indianapolis 500 victories. At this point, only Foyt had won the race, and based on numerology alone, you could make a case he was the favorite to win in 1970 because he had previously been victorious in 1961, 1964 and 1967 – every three years.

How it ended: 11 Indianapolis 500 victories. When it comes to total Indianapolis 500 career wins, no front row is more successful than the one from 1970. Foyt added a fourth victory in 1977. Unser was just starting his climb to 500 glory in 1970 with his first win, then added another in 1971 and 1978 before joining Foyt in the exclusive four-time winners’ club in 1987. Rutherford had to wait a little longer. He hooked up with McLaren for 1973, taking the pole, and won in 1974 and 1976 before adding his third in Jim Hall’s Chaparral in 1980 – a ride that Unser left after the 1979 season.

About the 1970 race: Unser dominated from the pole, leading 190 laps in one of the most beautiful and striking creations ever at the Speedway in his Johnny Lightning P.J. Colt/Ford. Rutherford, in the Patrick Petroleum Eagle/Offy (aka “Geraldine”) lost out on the pole by one-hundredth of a second. He got the jump on Unser at the start, but Unser quickly dispatched him. Foyt, in his Sheraton-Thompson Coyote/Ford, was 10^th, five laps down.

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Looking back at the front row of the 1970 Indianapolis 500. 

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30 Days In May: No. 1 Joe Leonard, 1973 Samsonite Parnelli/Offy

Welcome to our monthlong countdown celebrating notable drivers and cars from the Indianapolis 500!

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Joe Leonard started 29th and finished 18th in the 1973 Indianapolis 500.

For 1973, Joe Leonard had a brand-new Parnelli chassis designed by Maurice Philippe as well as the same sponsor (Samsonite) and number (1, for winning the 1972 national championship) he had the previous year. For whatever reason, unlike in 1972, Leonard had a tough time getting up to a comfortable speed in qualifying. He waved off twice, then accepted a somewhat precarious 189.954 mph average on his third strike on the second day of time trials.

A.J. Foyt found himself in a similar predicament as his four-lap average of 188.927 was the 29^th fastest of the 30 cars that qualified after the first weekend. (Leonard was 28^th.)

Fortunately, each had a backup car and started working up to speed during the next week of practice, Foyt in the No. 84 Gilmore Racing Coyote (which was handed over to George Snider at literally the last minute) and Leonard in the No. 41 Samsonite Parnelli.

As it turned out, enough cars qualified a bit slower to give Leonard and Foyt a little breathing room.

On Race Day, Leonard was able to dodge the melee created by Salt Walther’s horrendous crash on the first lap. When the race finally resumed two days later after persistent rain, Leonard overcame a spin but was sidelined by a bad hub after 91 laps and finished 18^th. 

Sadly, the 1973 500 was Leonard’s last race at Indianapolis. He suffered devastating foot and ankle injuries during the 1974 California 500 at Ontario Motor Speedway and never raced again. His injury also signaled the end of the Vel’s Parnelli Jones “Super Team” with Al Unser and Mario Andretti. Expected to dominate USAC racing starting in 1972, Leonard’s national championship that year was one of the few major highlights.

Jan Opperman replaced Leonard at Indianapolis and Pocono in 1974, but essentially the operation became a two-driver team that started to dwindle even further. Unser and Andretti were together for 1975’s three 500-mile races, but then it was down to just Unser for 1976 with sponsorship from American Racing Wheels. For 1976, Andretti joined Roger Penske’s team, running some USAC races while he pursued a World Championship in Formula One.

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30 Days in May Bonus: No. 48, Bobby Unser, 1975 Jorgensen Eagle/Offy

Welcome to our monthlong countdown celebrating notable drivers and cars from the Indianapolis 500!

Majeske Collection

Bobby Unser earned his fourth front-row start in five races in qualifying for the
1975 Indianapolis 500. He started third and collected his second 500 victory.
It's hard to believe that was 50 years ago!

30 Days in May Bonus: No. 48, Bobby Unser, 1975 Jorgensen Eagle/Offy. After charging to the front early but failing to finish after starting first and second in 1972 and 1973, respectively, Bobby Unser took a more measured approach from his No. 3 starting position in 1975. He stayed with the leaders all day, but led only 11 laps, including the last 10 before the race was halted after Lap 174 following a torrential downpour. This was the first 500 our entire family went to, and it was extremely hot. We drank all of our Shurfine and Faygo pop well before the green flag, then had to suck on the ice cubes from our Skotch Kooler to try to stay cool.

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30 Days in May: No. 25, Danny Ongais, 1978 Interscope Racing Parnelli/Cosworth

Welcome to our monthlong countdown celebrating notable drivers and cars from the history of the Indianapolis 500!

Majeske Collection

Danny Ongais and the Interscope Racing Parnelli/Cosworth made a fast
combination in 1978, and other years as well.

30 Days in May: No. 25, Danny Ongais, 1978 Interscope Racing Parnelli/Cosworth. Some cars and drivers just sum up an era at Indianapolis and are indelibly linked. While not a legend of the Brickyard like, say, A.J. Foyt or Rick Mears, if you went to the track from the late 1970s to the mid-1980s, you remember Danny Ongais and the black Interscope No. 25.

Danny On-Gas was fast, fearless and spectacular. When Tom Carnegie or John Totten piped up on the PA system that Ongais was on the track, you paused from munching on your Sno-Cone and gave the 2 ½-mile oval your undivided attention.

In 1978, the Flying Hawaiian started second and led 71 laps before the engine blew. Ongais wound up 18^th with 145 laps to his credit. 

 

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30 Days in May: No. 24, Robbie Buhl, 2001 Purex G Force/Infiniti

Welcome to our monthlong countdown celebrating notable drivers and cars from the Indianapolis 500!

 

Penske Entertainment/Indianapolis Motor Speedway

Robbie Buhl's Purex-sponsored car was one of the most colorful of the IRL era.

30 Days in May: No. 24, Robbie Buhl, 2001 Purex G Force/Infiniti. Robbie Buhl was one of the drivers who benefited from the infamous split in open-wheel racing. The former Indy Lights champion (1992) had trouble finding a good ride in CART, but the arrival of the Indy Racing League in 1996 provided an opportunity to finally show his talent.

He had success with both John Menard and Dreyer & Reinbold, winning a race for each. Buhl’s Purex machine was one of the more striking liveries of that era. In 2001, he started ninth and finished 15^th in the 500.

Buhl competed in the 500 from 1996-2003, with a best finish of sixth in 1999 driving for A.J. Foyt. As a side note, the Buhl family is quite prominent in the history of Detroit.

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