Front Rows of the 1970s: 1970

In addition to the usual Month of May countdown, we’re also looking back at 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	Indianapolis 500 wins
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.

Majeske Collection

Al Unser won his first Indianapolis 500 pole by a narrow margin over
Johnny Rutherford, with A.J. Foyt on the outside of the first row for the 1970 race. 

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 wins, no front row ended up being more successful than the one from 1970. Foyt finally got his 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. Rutherford had to wait a little longer. He hooked up with McLaren for 1973, taking the pole, and won in 1974 and 1976 before getting 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. Rutherford wound up 18^th. Foyt, in his Sheraton-Thompson Coyote/Ford, was 10^th, five laps down.

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