30 Days in May: No. 14, Roger McCluskey, 1972 American Marine Underwriters Antares/Offy

 

Penske Entertainment/Indianapolis Motor Speedway

Although he started 20th, Roger McCluskey's speed ranked a respectable 15th for the
1972 Indianapolis 500.

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

 As chronicled in some of our other entries, 1972 was a year of dramatic change at Indianapolis. This change included how cars were built. Antares Engineering, Inc., based in Troy, Michigan (a city where I used to work), jumped into Indy car construction with cars for both the Lindsey Hopkins and Patrick-Michner teams, according to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway’s 1972 Press/TV/Radio Fact Book.

A supposed advantage of the Antares was that it was purported to be completely designed by computers and used telemetry, which was a radically new concept. A key distinguishing feature was the boat-shaped front end to help aerodynamics.

Unfortunately, the Antares performed better in the lab than on the track. Roger McCluskey, a capable veteran, qualified 20^th and finished 24^th, exiting with valve trouble after 92 laps. Trivia time: This was the last time someone other than A.J. Foyt, or a Foyt driver, used the No. 14 at Indianapolis.

The Hopkins team abandoned the Antares after Indianapolis in favor of a McLaren, which McCluskey drove to victory in that year’s California 500 at Ontario Motor Speedway. McCluskey used a McLaren quite successfully in 1973 as well, winning the USAC national championship.

The Antares continued to pop up as the alleged chassis in Indianapolis 500 entries for the rest of the decade. In 1979, Eldon Rasmussen heavily reworked an Antares, then called a Manta, and qualified for the race – a tremendous testament to his talent as a builder/fabricator and skill as a driver.

The McCluskey Antares was part of an exhibit a few years ago at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum, which allowed me to get these photos.

Majeske photo

The Antares has been beautifully restored. 

Majeske photo

The nose is one of the more interesting features of the Antares.

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