Front rows of the 1970s: 1978

 

Penske Entertainment/Indianapolis Motor Speedway

The Penske PC-6/Cosworths of pole-sitter Tom Sneva and rookie

Rick Mears bracket the Parnelli/Cosworth of Danny Ongais
on the front row of the 1978 Indianapolis 500.

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.

1978 front row: Tom Sneva (pole), Danny Ongais, Rick Mears

How it started: 0 Indianapolis 500 victories (the only front row in the 1970s without a win when the green flag dropped)

How it ended: 5 Indianapolis 500 victories (Tom Sneva 1983; Rick Mears 1979, 1984, 1988, 1991)

About the 1978 race: As he did in 1977, Tom Sneva let others grab the headlines in practice, then again was the only driver to set a “New Track Record” with a lap of 203.620 mph leading to a four-lap average of 202.156 mph in the Norton Spirit Penske/Cosworth. Two new faces joined Sneva on the front row: second-year charger Danny Ongais and rookie Rick Mears.

Roger Penske brought in Mears to sub for Mario Andretti when Andretti had other commitments and also as a third entry at selected events – like the 500. He wound up 23^rd after going out with an engine problem after 103 laps in his CAM2 Penske/Cosworth. Despite the poor finish, Mears’ front-row efforts helped him earn Rookie of the Year honors with Larry Rice, who was 11^th.

Ongais was definitely on the gas, leading a total of 71 laps before the engine blew in his Interscope Racing Parnelli/Cosworth. Al Unser, something of an afterthought in pre-race prognostications, turned in a quietly dominating performance in his First National City Travelers Checks Lola/Cosworth by leading for 121 laps, including all but 1 of the last 90, to finish ahead of Sneva.

 

 

Majeske collection

IMS put out some nice trading cards for a couple of years.

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