Front rows of the 1970s: 1977

 

Penske Entertainment/Indianapolis Motor Speedway

Tom Sneva was the first to officially exceed 200 mph during qualifying
for the 1977 Indianapolis 500. He was joined on the front row
by the Unser brothers, with Bobby in the middle and Al on the outside. 

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 (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.

1977 front row: Tom Sneva (pole), Bobby Unser, Al Unser

How it started: 4 Indianapolis 500 victories (Bobby Unser 1968, 1975; Al Unser 1970, 1971)

How it ended: 8 Indianapolis 500 victories (Tom Sneva 1983; Bobby Unser 1968, 1975, 1981; Al Unser 1970, 1971, 1978, 1987)

About the 1977 race: With boost limits raised and the eight-cylinder Cosworth now the powerplant of choice among many of the big-name teams, the magic, but still elusive, 200-mph mark was ready to fall. Mario Andretti was the first to unofficially break the barrier in practice, but on Pole Day Tom Sneva was the only one to exceed 200 mph in qualifying. His “New Track Record” for one lap was 200.535 mph in the Norton Spirit McLaren/Cosworth. Sneva dropped down to an average of 198.884 mph for his four laps, which topped Johnny Rutherford’s record from 1973.

Bobby Unser, in the Cobre Tire/Clayton Dyno-Tune Lightning/Offy, started next to Sneva. Brother Al Unser was on the outside in the American Racing Parnelli/Cosworth. This was the only time the Unser brothers were on the front row together at Indianapolis.

A.J. Foyt led a star-studded second row joined by Gordon Johncock and Mario Andretti. Career-wise, the top six starters in the 1977 Indianapolis 500 accounted for 15 500 victories. I haven’t done all the research, but I think that’s the most Indianapolis 500 wins over the first two rows ever.

Johncock took control of the second half of the race and seemingly had victory in his grasp when he suffered a broken crankshaft – a comparatively rare failure – after 184 laps. Foyt took it from there and finally had his cherished fourth Indianapolis 500 victory.

 

Penske Entertainment/Indianapolis Motor Speedway

Just to give you an idea of how competitive it was in the 1970s, the second row
of the 1977 Indianapolis 500 had A.J. Foyt, Gordon Johncock and Mario Andretti.

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