Welcome to our monthlong countdown celebrating notable
drivers and cars from the history of the Indianapolis 500!
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Photo credit: Indianapolis Motor Speedway Mike Mosley started in the middle of the front row for the 1981 Indianapolis 500. |
30 Days in May Bonus: No. 48, Mike Mosley, 1981 Pepsi
Challenger Eagle/Chevrolet. Stunning, fast and loud, 1981 was the only
appearance of the Pepsi Challenger at Indianapolis. Always an innovator, Dan
Gurney was trying to bring stock-block engines to Indy racing as a lower-cost
alternative to the Cosworth engines, which were used by (almost) everyone else.
In terms of speed, this car proved his point as Mosley put it in the middle of
the front row.
The sound of this screaming Eagle is almost impossible to
describe. It had a distinctive roar – in some ways, perhaps, it was the Novi of
its generation. In other words, if you heard it, you never forgot it. The
distinctive shape and color of the Eagle made it look like a dart hurtling down
the straightaway.
Consistent with the lousy fortune Mosley endured at Indianapolis, he went out after 16 laps with a radiator issue, placing 33rd. At Milwaukee a couple of weeks later, Mosley won, going from last to first in an incredible driving display. It was the last of his five wins in Indy cars and the last for Gurney in Indy-car competition as well.
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