30 Days in May Bonus: No. 31, John Mahler, 1972 Harbor Fuel Oil McLaren

OK, so this year’s Indianapolis 500 won’t be run in the month of May. For many of us, however, May is more than just a month – it’s a state of mind. So let’s still celebrate great cars and drivers of the past anyway!

 

Photo credit: Indianapolis Motor Speedway photo

John Mahler started 29th and finished 22nd in his first

Indianapolis 500 in 1972.

30 Days in May Bonus: No. 31, John Mahler, 1972 Harbor Fuel Oil McLaren/Offy. We wrap up with John Mahler, who was one of eight rookies in the starting lineup for the 1972 Indianapolis 500. He actually qualified for the 1971 race but was “bumped” by his car owner, Dick Simon.

Mahler had qualified Simon’s back-up car in 1971, becoming the fastest rookie in 500 history in the process. But then Simon was bumped, so he took over Mahler’s ride for the race.

So began what was to be an interesting, colorful Indianapolis 500 career for Mahler, who made four starts from 1972 through 1979. In 1973, he was part of the Champ Carr Enterprises team with Sam Posey. Mahler likely would have made the race had he been allowed to complete either of his two qualifying attempts, both of which were tracking toward an average fast enough to make the race.

As it turned out, Posey was bumped and Jim McElreath took over Mahler’s car and made the field in the final minutes of qualifying.

Mahler’s best finish was in 1977, when he was credited with 14^th after getting some relief help from Larry “Boom Boom” Cannon. He almost squeezed into the 1983 lineup, accepting a speed that was some 27 mph off the pole speed with the hope that rain would curtail qualifying. The gamble almost paid off, but Mahler was knocked out by Dennis Firestone, who completed his run as showers hit.

In 1972, Mahler wound up 22^nd, sidelined by piston failure after 99 laps. A highlight film produced by Channel 6 in Indianapolis indicates that Mahler had to pull in before the start because he forgot his gloves.

30 Days in May: No. 30, Arie Luyendyk, 1990 Domino's Pizza Lola

OK, so this year’s Indianapolis 500 won’t be run in the month of May. For many of us, however, May is more than just a month – it’s a state of mind. So let’s still celebrate great cars and drivers of the past anyway!

 

Photo credit: Indianapolis Motor Speedway photo

Arie Luyendyk won his first Indianapolis 500 in 1990 at a record

average speed of 185.981 mph.

30 Days in May: No. 30, Arie Luyendyk, 1990 Domino’s Pizza Lola/Chevrolet. It’s hard to believe that it’s been 30 years since Arie Luyendyk won his first Indianapolis 500 (and first IndyCar race) after starting third. Domino’s chose the number 30 as a tie-in to its “30 minutes or less” delivery guarantee, a slogan that eventually was abandoned in the interests of safety. The Flying Dutchman added another 500 win in 1997 and still holds the one-lap and four-lap qualifying records, which he set in 1996.

Side note: In 1990, barely a year out of college, I covered practice, qualifying and the race for the Logansport (Indiana) Pharos-Tribune, where I was the Assistant Sports Editor. I was fortunate enough to get a one-on-one interview with Mr. Luyendyk, who was extremely gracious answering what likely were novice-level questions. Also, against all professional protocol, at the end of the interview I asked for an autograph for my then-girlfriend (and now wife of almost 28 years), which he signed. And we still have. Thanks, Arie!

30 Days in May: No. 29, Pancho Carter, 1987 Hardee's March

OK, so this year’s Indianapolis 500 won’t be run in the month of May. For many of us, however, May is more than just a month – it’s a state of mind. So let’s still celebrate great cars and drivers of the past anyway!

 

Photo credit: Indianapolis Motor Speedway photo

Pancho Carter started 29th and finished 27th in the 

1987 Indianapolis 500.

30 Days in May: No. 29, Pancho Carter, 1987 Hardee’s March/Cosworth. Pancho Carter, the 1974 Rookie of the Year, was a steady presence in the 500 lineup through 1991, missing only the 1988 race. His big day came in 1985, when he won the pole with a Buick-powered machine. The “TT” indicates this car was a backup to a backup, which was the result of Carter taking a "header" in practice in his primary car, then withdrawing his backup car to qualify this one. 

During this time, the Hardee’s restaurants in the Indianapolis area gave out trading cards of IndyCar drivers if you made a certain purchase. It sure would nice to have a set of cards again.

30 Days in May: No. 28, Ryan Hunter-Reay, 2014 DHL Dallara

OK, so this year’s Indianapolis 500 won’t be run in the month of May. For many of us, however, May is more than just a month – it’s a state of mind. So let’s still celebrate great cars and drivers of the past anyway!

 

Photo credit: Doug Mathews/Indianapolis Motor Speedway photo

In his Indianapolis 500 career, Ryan Hunter-Reay has both started

last (2011) and won the race (2014).

30 Days in May: No. 28, Ryan Hunter-Reay, 2014 DHL Dallara/Honda. Ryan Hunter-Reay became the first 500’s U.S.-born winner since Sam Hornish Jr. in 2006 when he held off Helio Castroneves to cap a thrilling duel. Hard, clean and precise racing in the closing laps made the 2014 race one of the most memorable.

30 Days in May: No. 27, Janet Guthrie, 1977 Bryant Heating and Cooling Lightning

OK, so this year’s Indianapolis 500 won’t be run in the month of May. For many of us, however, May is more than just a month – it’s a state of mind. So let’s still celebrate great cars and drivers of the past anyway!

Photo credit: Indianapolis Motor Speedway

Janet Guthrie finished 29th in her first Indianapolis 500 in 1977.

30 Days in May: No. 27, Janet Guthrie, 1977 Bryant Heating and Cooling Lightning/Offy. Janet Guthrie was something of a retread rookie in 1977 after trying valiantly the year before to make the race in a Vollstedt that was, to put it mildly, a bit long in the tooth.

Updated equipment made a big difference for Guthrie the next year, as she made the field comfortably on the last day of qualifying. Mechanical woes doomed her to 29^th place. She made the race the next two years, with a best finish of ninth in 1978. It wasn’t until 1992 that another woman, Lyn St. James, qualified for the 500.

Bryant has been a sponsor at Indianapolis since the furnace and the air conditioner were invented (just kidding). Look for their logo on Tony Kanaan’s car in August.

30 Days in May: No. 26, Marco Andretti, 2006 NYSE Group Dallara

OK, so this year’s Indianapolis 500 won’t be run in the month of May. For many of us, however, May is more than just a month – it’s a state of mind. So let’s still celebrate great cars and drivers of the past anyway!

 

Photo credit: Dan Helrigel/Indianapolis Motor Speedway

Marco Andretti came within a few feet of winning the 

Indianapolis 500 as a rookie in 2006.

30 Days in May: No. 26, Marco Andretti, 2006 NYSE Group Dallara/Honda. Say this for Marco Andretti: He added to the family legacy of Indianapolis 500 frustration and heartbreak right off the bat. As a 19-year-rookie, Andretti led coming out of Turn 4 on the last lap before Sam Hornish Jr. blew past to nip him by 0.0635 of a second.

Last year, nothing went right on Race Day as the third-generation driver wound up 26^th. Overall, Andretti has run well at Indianapolis, with eight top 10 finishes in 14 previous starts entering this year’s (hopefully August) race.

30 Days in May: No. 25, Danny Ongais, 1978 Interscope Racing Parnelli

OK, so this year’s Indianapolis 500 won’t be run in the month of May. For many of us, however, May is more than just a month – it’s a state of mind. So let’s still celebrate great cars and drivers of the past anyway!

 

Photo credit: Indianapolis Motor Speedway

In the 1978 Indianapolis 500, Danny Ongais started second

and led 71 laps, but was out with a blown engine after 145 laps.

30 Days in May: No. 25, Danny Ongais, 1978 Interscope Racing Parnelli/Cosworth. Some cars and drivers just sum up an era at Indianapolis and are indelibly linked. While not a legend of the Brickyard like, say, A.J. Foyt or Rick Mears, if you went to the track in the late 1970s to mid-1980s, you remember Danny Ongais and the black Interscope No. 25.

Danny On the Gas was fast, fearless and spectacular (in both good and bad ways). When Tom Carnegie or John Totten piped up on the PA system that Ongais was on the track, you paused from munching your Sno-Cone and gave the 2 ½-mile oval your undivided attention.

In 1978, the Flying Hawaiian started second and led 71 laps before the engine blew. Ongais wound up 18^th with 145 laps to his credit.