man I love these old cars, they were so much more raw and brute compared to new cars and successfully getting your car to survive the whole race was much harder. Everything was on the knife edge of blowing up/failing, it was intense.
I couldn't believe I was actually seeing his whole body. Legs and shoes sticking out where the front of the car should've been. One of the worst I've ever seen. Thank God he survived.
32:58 Sam Posey explains ground effects. This is great. (ahem) I was 12 when this race happened. Didn't know I loved racing yet. Nobody in my family saw anything interesting "watching a bunch of cars drive around in a circle." If I could have been put in front of the tv at this moment, I would have been hooked a lot earlier. This is high education in a 90 sec format. (or however long). Really cool, love watching this old indy 500s! p.s. didn't recognize the intro song, but it was NOT Jim Neigbors.
I don't know what the deal was with that guy. They didn't even have the Purdue band accompanying him. He must have thought he was good enough that he didn't want the band taking anything away from his performance. 😂
That was also my first Indy 500 that I sat through from start to finish. I watched only a small part of the 1980 race. A bit of my back story: In order to watch the ‘81 Indy 500 (I was very young at the time) I decided that I needed to pick a favorite driver from the year before, so I picked Mario Andretti; because it turned out that my AFX racing set had his 1978 John Player Lotus that he won the F-1 title in. I miss that AFX track.
@@moonytheloony6516Me too! I had some of the G Force cars, or whatever they were called, with the strong magnets to keep them held down. I also had a couple of the grand stands that made "engine noise" but they sounded more like a chainsaw! LOL! But, all in all, those race tracks and cars were awesome! I remember I had some Porsche 917 CanAm cars, a bunch of NASCARS, the aforementioned F1 GForce cars. Life was good as a kid. Thanks for triggering some nice memories!
What a wild race and a raw and real ABC broadcast: the terrifying Mears pit fire, the disputed results, the appalling Ongais crash and the sight of his limp limbs hanging out of the wreckage; the unglamorous, blue-collar Economaki hustling through the pits with the energy of man half his age, a peeved Al Unser swatting him away, a taped segment with that wily rooster Bobby Unser pronouncing himself "the best", the late night comments from the protesting Mario and the exhausted Dr. Trammell. A spectacle. As good as it gets.
I think you'll find a lot of people who agree with you on the "controversial" part. After all was said and done, Bobby Unser was the winner, but the fight over whether or not he was subject to a penalty left such a bad taste in his mouth that he retired from racing (well, driving _in_ races; he did later go into the commentary booth). Can't say I blame him.
My grandmother was a nurse. She worked at Methodist Hospital (now IU Health). She treated various famous drivers, such as Danny Ongais. She also treated Landon Turner. She worked with Dr. Terry Trammell.
Safety workers used up a lot of fire extinguishers in the Rick Mears pit fire. In later years, they would douse the fire by throwing buckets of water to dilute the alcohol. That was more effective at putting the fire out quickly. They also added a man with a water hose to spray around the fuel receptacle to dilute any alcohol that may have spilled when the refueling hose was pulled out.
In fact, the foam from the fire extinguishers completely blocked the main straightaway to the point that the any drivers going on the main straightaway would have been completely blinded for a lap or two, which is one reason the caution flag should have been thrown for that pit fire (another is the number of safety personnel and equipment that were used in the fighting of that fire).
I going to watch this many times over. The cars -engine sounds, crowds.....listened to the race with just the audio....those were the best times and races. ABC and the announcer s.
Gordon Smiley is one of my favorites and he was a very talented driver back in the days. One of my parents have been watching Auto Racing for 40 years and I've rarely been a fan of sports on TV most of my life until I got into Racing sports by one of my friends I really enjoy watching old races and new races. Rest in Peace Gordon Smiley you were a very talented man 💚
"33:00" - "35:10" Sam Posey has a very informative and easy to understand explanation,for the layman, about Ground Effects. A little insert for anyone who doesn't know about the effect......like his demo!!
@@brandond5209 Reading your comments I can see you're a connoisseur of this stuff,so I'd like you to tell me something about what issues did the ground effect bring into driving on oval raceways, especially on banked curves.Thx a lot.
Ongais`s crash traumatized me when I saw this live, as a kid. It`s also spooky seeing Gordon Smiley race and crash here, knowing what happened a year later.....
@@saltybildo4415 "Saw", not "Seen" ... but your comment is right on. No racing fan goes to the track to view carnage. It's the most "real" sport, in that the prospect of death is always present. Respect to all those who put their lives on the line.
@@saltybildo4415 Just so everyone knows; Stan Fox was not killed in that crash. I saw that crash on TV, and thought "another Indycar driver with major leg trauma". But it turned out his legs were OK. He did have a concussion.
Several years ago on RUclips this video of the 1981 Indianapolis "500" was one of the many on RUclips to watch. In finally watching (sometimes skipping some parts) one thing I can say about this event: It was exciting! And...in a brief interview from Scotland's F1 Champ and two time "runner" of the "500", Jackie Stewart, his chat with winner, Bobby Unser, was great. Great in the respect that literally no other Indy Car Champ like "Uncle Bobby" (as the late auto sport writer and Internet show producer and interviewer/ "open wheel racing driver historian" Robin Miller, always said of Unser)...Bobby KNEW his stuff! I wish Bobby was still around with us. He spoke his mind! Though "Uncle Bobby" probably should not have won the '81 race at I.M.S. ... he won. Yes, Mario would have had been a deserving champ of the 65th running, he STILL is a Champ. Thank God, as of this date in this comment from me (5-18-2023), Mario is still with us. Also note...I think all the ABC main guys except, Jackie and Sam Posey, are gone. Jim McKay was a great narrator of the auto car races. Miss those guys!...much better than what's been on TV Indy race events of many years now. Where's Paul Page...Bob Jenkins (which I know past away a few years ago)?! Those guys had "class"!
And just as amazingly, in the 33-car field in 1981, there were 11 different chassis in the field. Of course, you had Penskes, Wildcats, the Eagle and the Chaparral, but also in that field were McLarens, two Longhorns, a Schkee driven by Tom Klausler, a Lightning driven by Gary Bettenhausen, a Phoenix chassis from Jerry O'Connell's team, the Coyote of A.J. Foyt, the Parnelli driven by Tim Richmond (Foyt's other team car), Interscope Racing's self-built car, and two teams, Bignotti-Cotter and the Whittington Brothers Racing, brought a preview of the future with the Indy debut of the March, with Sneva being the fastest qualifier and Bill Whittington being the fifth-fastest qualifier in the field. In fact, among the top six finishers, there were five different chassis makes, Penske (B. Unser and Brabham), Wildcat (Andretti), McLaren (Schuppan), Phoenix (Cogan), and Longhorn (Sheldon Kinser).
Its palpable how the broadcast was targetted to a much more knowledgeable, mature and interested audience, they are keener to explain technical elements are do not shy away from telling hard truths and hard-to-watch images. Just shows how much we are devolving as a species.
For those who believe Mario is the rightful winner: The rules, as they were written in 1981, declared that the apron was an extension of the pitlane. Cars exiting the pits under a yellow flag were told to take their position at the end of the yellow line in Turn 2 (seen clearly when Rutherford's car drops out early). According to Johnny, Al, and A.J., these cars were allowed to pass any car except the pace car and the car immediately behind it, as long as they stayed under the yellow line. Yes, on the face of it, this is a stupid procedure. USAC rules were dysfunctional and outdated (think about how many guys were hit with a black flag for "passing under yellow" when the other car had a puncture, or just after the blend line like Raul Boesel). There's no way the apron should be an extension of the pitlane under yellow. But that was the rule at the time. What Bobby (and Mario) did was certainly not ethical by modern standards, but it was legal at the time. There was no stated penalty in the rulebook for that action. Penske & Unser were absolutely right to call BS on being moved back to 2nd. With all due respect to Mario, Uncle Bobby is the rightful winner.
My Dad and I both sat in Bobby Unser's (eventual) winning car a couple years later and had our pictures taken in it after the car had been repainted in different colors. I still have the Polaroid.
I remember watching these ABC broadcasts of the Indy 500 when I was a kid. It always amazed me, as it does today, how the cameraman would zoom in on the first car in line when the two cars behind were side-by-side entering a turn. I mean this is not an occasional accident, it was years and years and years of terrible camerawork. But great upload of real racecars!!
Fascinating production to see now. We’re used to live sports, not these heavily edited ‘tape delay’ versions, curated for a prime time audience, with only a few minutes of actual racing between each prerecorded insert and interview, and the supposedly live commentary added AFTER the race to cater for all these extras.
The way they did it was to record the coverage of the start and end as it happened, and then do the coverage of the rest of the race as it was broadcast
Sir Jackie Stewart, awesome. One of my favorite F! racers. He won, back when cars were much harder to drive. Hamilton has it soo easy compared to the older generation pilots. RUclips has footage of Stewart racing at the old Nurburgring. Incredible footage.
I've recently started watching these classic races and these guys were fearless.Growing up it was f1 that I watched being British but indycar and nascar beat f1 hands down for me.
@@ikshields It's not exactly the same design as 1981, but Simpson's "Bandit" series still has a very similar design. simpsonraceproducts.com/images/products/620.png
@@ikshields actually Mr Shields, it's not a Darth Vader, it's a Storm Trooper helmet. I raced Go-karts thru the 70's-80's & had a Trooper helmet, then sold it to buy the new Simpson. I've been kicking myself for doing that the last 38yrs! 😭
The problem is that the commercials were "racked" to play in a certain order. With it being 1981, there may not have been time to slip that spot to a later time.
@@almostfm And of course, the first thing that played during that particular break was a promo for ABC's Monday Night Baseball, and of course, MLB went on strike shortly after the race (the original strike deadline was for five days after this race was run, but was extended two weeks to June 12, when the MLB players went out on strike). For some strange reason, the Indianapolis 500 always seemed to reflect the times, and 1981 was certainly right on cue, whether it was the post-qualifying controversy involving Jerry Sneva and Jerry Karl, Karl getting arrested at IMS on Carb Day, resulting in veteran Bob Harkey having to practice Karl's car (Karl was released and drive in the race). Then of course, before the two major controversies, there was the botched start, when seven cars passed the S/F line BEFORE the green flag came out, and then during the caution for Don Whittington's crash, both Tom Sneva and Bill Whittington passed the pace car in anticipation of a restart that never happened (neither driver was penalized because they let the pace car repass them, so no advantage was gained). And that was all before the Mears pit fire, which should have brought out the caution, but didn't, and the controversy regarding Bobby Unser and Mario Andretti both passing cars leaving the pits during the caution for Gordon Smiley's crash (Unser passed 8 and Andretti passed 3, though Andretti did appear to let the furthest forward of the 3 cars her passed repass him).
I remember how we left the race track thinking Bobby won. Then we got home and started getting the news that it was being contested. It sure tainted my memories of it...as sparse as they are now.
The IHRA was running on alcohol fuel also. They added a contaminant to color the burning fuel. Bobby legitimately won this race folks. Years after, they went through the rules as presented to the drivers before the race, and found that a driver had until the start/finish line to "merge", and Bobby did so at the very last second, which was within the defined rules. Bobby should never have been fined. And even if it had been against the rules (which it wasn't), Mario and Vern also passed cars under yellow. So Bobby would have won regardless. Plus Bobby Unser is the greatest Indycar driver ever so just go suck it LOL.
Mario just gave Uncle Bobby the finger. Bobby won the Fast Masters series (in Jaguar XJ220s) in 1993 against the likes of David Pearson, Derek Bell, Parnelli Jones, and Bobby Allison - had alot of hubris about how good he was vs. everyone else racing in the series.....but hey, that was Bobby.
I find all these replays of Indy on RUclips interesting mainly due to the weather. Some racedays were blazingly hot and humid , some very cool and cloudy (The Roberto Guerrero spins on the pace lap (1992?) races should have been delayed it was so cold)
Unser clearly jumped the start, little did anyone know that because of this, the ensuing rule change for the pace speeds would indirectly lead to one of the all-time infamous crashes ever at IMS a year later. And the irony of it was that it was Unsers replacement, Kevin Cogan who would instigate the crash.
Of note, 1981 was the first year that Gordon Johncock ran the Richard Petty STP paint scheme, which made his win in the following year's race in the first NASCAR-style finish Indy ever had more than a bit ironic. He had been sponsored by STP from 1973-'77, but ran the red paint scheme made famous by Andy Granatelli, who was still a part of the operation when Johncock won the 1973 race, but when STP returned to sponsor Pat Patrick's team in 1981, Johncock's #20 carried the paint scheme Richard Petty made famous.
Spot on bud! I've often wondered if "The King" was/still is abit miffed at Patrick's use of Petty-Blue on they're racecar's. However, Ol' King Richard wasn't no country bumpkin, so he probably was compensated in some manner 💪😎👍
@@Slinger43 I believe that was actually a tribute of some kind to Petty that they ran what was effectively a version of his paint scheme on an IndyCar, especially considering that both Petty and Johncock won the biggest races in their form of the sport in 1973 with the STP sponsorship and then Petty won the Daytona 500 again in 1974. And when Johncock came out of retirement in 1987, he ran that exact same paint scheme, even though he was driving for another team.
@@cjs83172 Yes, I think you're right about that 👍 I absolutely know this much for sure, it is without a doubt the most iconic paint scheme in the history of Motorsport. Gordy did it proud & I'm sure "The King" was pleased when his colors won at Indy!😎
@@cjs83172 Actually Johncock's ride in 1987 was by extension a Patrick ride since he inherited what was originally supposed to be Patrick's car for the winner of the ARS series, but when the winner Fabrizio Barbazza took a ride with Arciero, it then went to Jim Crawford's whose practice wreck then opened the door for Johncock.
He has an open fracture on hi right leg. Broken left hip. Chest injuries. Possible internal injuries. A concussion. He was on fire. "His condition is fairly good" If you say so Doc...
Even if you took the young'ns, with they're i-phones, to Indy, they still wouldn't truly experience one of those fire breathing monster's screaming past them at 240mph, because they would STILL be looking at they're i-phones! 🤬 Truly a shame they have no clue what wonders of life they're missing 😣
After all the smoke cleared............ Bobby Unser was declared the winner! Those that make the decisions at the IMS upheld the finishing order. Mario finished 2nd. Quit the sniveling people, it was almost 40 years ago. Let it go already!
No, actually Bobby was penalized enough time to put him 2nd & Mario was declared "The Winner" the next day. Then Penske sued & the case went to court. Almost 6-months later, that decision was reversed (I don't recall by a court decision, or if Indy just threw in the towel) and Bobby was declared "Winner" once again. In the end, just follow the 💰 cause Penske had more than the other guys. The fastest car won the race, so I don't have a problem with it 🤷🏻♂️
422,000 paid attendance! The Golden Age of Indy is behind us, Rest in Peace Bobby Unser. (Bobby was always a better commentator than Jackie I thought.)
Bob Frey missed qualifying......I remember that...He was my uncle ....He was married to my Mom's sister they're long since divorced ......Great race driver !
The announces stated that Sneva being a "brides maid" might have cost him his Penske seat. he won the Drivers Championship in 1977-78. That pit fire still freaks me out 41 years later.
![KSI - Thick Of It (feat. Trippie Redd) [Official Music Video]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/At8v_Yc044Y/mqdefault.jpg)
man I love these old cars, they were so much more raw and brute compared to new cars and successfully getting your car to survive the whole race was much harder. Everything was on the knife edge of blowing up/failing, it was intense.
I love how long the tires last compared to the 2020's.
Agreed. Back then it was a battle of ideas, engineers and drivers.
44:53 when racing drivers could act like themselves and actual people instead of walking advertisements
will always amaze me how Danny survived that crash, that car utterly exploded.
I couldn't believe I was actually seeing his whole body. Legs and shoes sticking out where the front of the car should've been. One of the worst I've ever seen. Thank God he survived.
I thought he was dead he was unresponsive the entire time
I thought he was died
he hit so hard he knocked the concrete wall down and hurt some spectators!
I was young at the time and I thought he was gone. I went to bed and thats all I could remember is Ongais in the wreckage like that.
Thank you Indycar, for uploading these great races from the past.
32:58 Sam Posey explains ground effects. This is great. (ahem) I was 12 when this race happened. Didn't know I loved racing yet. Nobody in my family saw anything interesting "watching a bunch of cars drive around in a circle." If I could have been put in front of the tv at this moment, I would have been hooked a lot earlier. This is high education in a 90 sec format. (or however long). Really cool, love watching this old indy 500s!
p.s. didn't recognize the intro song, but it was NOT Jim Neigbors.
I don't know what the deal was with that guy. They didn't even have the Purdue band accompanying him. He must have thought he was good enough that he didn't want the band taking anything away from his performance. 😂
This was my first Indy 500 and we got home in time to see the race on TV.
That was also my first Indy 500 that I sat through from start to finish. I watched only a small part of the 1980 race.
A bit of my back story:
In order to watch the ‘81 Indy 500 (I was very young at the time) I decided that I needed to pick a favorite driver from the year before, so I picked Mario Andretti; because it turned out that my AFX racing set had his 1978 John Player Lotus that he won the F-1 title in.
I miss that AFX track.
@@moonytheloony6516Me too! I had some of the G Force cars, or whatever they were called, with the strong magnets to keep them held down. I also had a couple of the grand stands that made "engine noise" but they sounded more like a chainsaw! LOL! But, all in all, those race tracks and cars were awesome! I remember I had some Porsche 917 CanAm cars, a bunch of NASCARS, the aforementioned F1 GForce cars. Life was good as a kid. Thanks for triggering some nice memories!
What a wild race and a raw and real ABC broadcast: the terrifying Mears pit fire, the disputed results, the appalling Ongais crash and the sight of his limp limbs hanging out of the wreckage; the unglamorous, blue-collar Economaki hustling through the pits with the energy of man half his age, a peeved Al Unser swatting him away, a taped segment with that wily rooster Bobby Unser pronouncing himself "the best", the late night comments from the protesting Mario and the exhausted Dr. Trammell. A spectacle. As good as it gets.
1981. My favourite Indianapolis 500 of all time apart from many others. And in my opinion the most controversial.
I think you'll find a lot of people who agree with you on the "controversial" part. After all was said and done, Bobby Unser was the winner, but the fight over whether or not he was subject to a penalty left such a bad taste in his mouth that he retired from racing (well, driving _in_ races; he did later go into the commentary booth). Can't say I blame him.
I remember those days when the race was taped delayed. RIP Bobby Unser.
the largest sporting event in the world and its tape delay!
It was always shown that evening...never understood that, always a sellout like 300,000 people.
@@topmech71 It was actually 500,000 I have been to four of them. I have witnessed Mears fourth and Unser Sr. The best time in my life.
My grandmother was a nurse. She worked at Methodist Hospital (now IU Health). She treated various famous drivers, such as Danny Ongais. She also treated Landon Turner. She worked with Dr. Terry Trammell.
True fact Landon turner's basketball career came to an abrupt end he almost got killed
Safety workers used up a lot of fire extinguishers in the Rick Mears pit fire. In later years, they would douse the fire by throwing buckets of water to dilute the alcohol. That was more effective at putting the fire out quickly. They also added a man with a water hose to spray around the fuel receptacle to dilute any alcohol that may have spilled when the refueling hose was pulled out.
In fact, the foam from the fire extinguishers completely blocked the main straightaway to the point that the any drivers going on the main straightaway would have been completely blinded for a lap or two, which is one reason the caution flag should have been thrown for that pit fire (another is the number of safety personnel and equipment that were used in the fighting of that fire).
I going to watch this many times over. The cars -engine sounds, crowds.....listened to the race with just the audio....those were the best times and races. ABC and the announcer s.
What a great broadcast. Jim Mackay and Jackie Stewart.
Miss Jim McKay
Rest in Peace, Bobby Unser.
Gordon Smiley is one of my favorites and he was a very talented driver back in the days. One of my parents have been watching Auto Racing for 40 years and I've rarely been a fan of sports on TV most of my life until I got into Racing sports by one of my friends I really enjoy watching old races and new races.
Rest in Peace Gordon Smiley you were a very talented man 💚
Look for a video called “who was gordon smiley” a very well done tribute!
"33:00" - "35:10" Sam Posey has a very informative and easy to understand explanation,for the layman, about Ground Effects. A little insert for anyone who doesn't know about the effect......like his demo!!
Posey was a terrible driver and an even worse commentator there is a reason he was in the booth and not on the track. Jim McKay was equally as bad.
@@brandond5209
Reading your comments I can see you're a connoisseur of this stuff,so I'd like you to
tell me something about what issues did the ground effect bring into driving on oval raceways,
especially on banked curves.Thx a lot.
@@brandond5209 why don't you drive and commentate
Posey is a Poser.
Had to watch it again today the day Bobby passed. RIP what an absolute one off!
I bet Our Lord is stoked to have Bob with Him, amazing Life with skill an luck on the edge every week.
Great statement Michael. Beauty Mate.
"luck is where opportunity meets preperation" he said with a look to the camera. what a scene!
There has never been a driver more intense about his craft, than The Great Bobby Unser! 💪😎👍
These cars sound so cool
Ongais`s crash traumatized me when I saw this live, as a kid.
It`s also spooky seeing Gordon Smiley race and crash here, knowing what happened a year later.....
I seen stan fox live it was right in front of us in the south chute, craziest thing I ever seen in person, in no way "traumatized" though RIP Stan
I was in the small grandstand at the entrance of Three. The sound of Danny's car hitting the wall will never leave me.
I'm not understanding the comparison. G. Smileys body blew apart brains and all... Ongias is still alive & well..
@@saltybildo4415 "Saw", not "Seen" ... but your comment is right on. No racing fan goes to the track to view carnage. It's the most "real" sport, in that the prospect of death is always present. Respect to all those who put their lives on the line.
@@saltybildo4415 Just so everyone knows; Stan Fox was not killed in that crash. I saw that crash on TV, and thought "another Indycar driver with major leg trauma". But it turned out his legs were OK. He did have a concussion.
Several years ago on RUclips this video of the 1981 Indianapolis "500" was one of the many on RUclips to watch. In finally watching (sometimes skipping some parts) one thing I can say about this event: It was exciting! And...in a brief interview from Scotland's F1 Champ and two time "runner" of the "500", Jackie Stewart, his chat with winner, Bobby Unser, was great. Great in the respect that literally no other Indy Car Champ like "Uncle Bobby" (as the late auto sport writer and Internet show producer and interviewer/ "open wheel racing driver historian" Robin Miller, always said of Unser)...Bobby KNEW his stuff! I wish Bobby was still around with us. He spoke his mind!
Though "Uncle Bobby" probably should not have won the '81 race at I.M.S. ... he won. Yes, Mario would have had been a deserving champ of the 65th running, he STILL is a Champ. Thank God, as of this date in this comment from me (5-18-2023), Mario is still with us.
Also note...I think all the ABC main guys except, Jackie and Sam Posey, are gone. Jim McKay was a great narrator of the auto car races. Miss those guys!...much better than what's been on TV Indy race events of many years now. Where's Paul Page...Bob Jenkins (which I know past away a few years ago)?! Those guys had "class"!
53 cars trying to qualify!! Amazing, the golden days
And just as amazingly, in the 33-car field in 1981, there were 11 different chassis in the field. Of course, you had Penskes, Wildcats, the Eagle and the Chaparral, but also in that field were McLarens, two Longhorns, a Schkee driven by Tom Klausler, a Lightning driven by Gary Bettenhausen, a Phoenix chassis from Jerry O'Connell's team, the Coyote of A.J. Foyt, the Parnelli driven by Tim Richmond (Foyt's other team car), Interscope Racing's self-built car, and two teams, Bignotti-Cotter and the Whittington Brothers Racing, brought a preview of the future with the Indy debut of the March, with Sneva being the fastest qualifier and Bill Whittington being the fifth-fastest qualifier in the field. In fact, among the top six finishers, there were five different chassis makes, Penske (B. Unser and Brabham), Wildcat (Andretti), McLaren (Schuppan), Phoenix (Cogan), and Longhorn (Sheldon Kinser).
Richmond technically wasn't a Foyt team car. After George Snider qualified the car as a Foyt team car, the car was sold to Richmond's team outright.
I’m sure
This was before the Tony George racing league and his 25-8 rule.
Used to not be an over sanctioned sport back then lol
2:16:38 I have the highest respect for ER doctors like this. TRUE doctors.
My mom worked with him when he was a resident. Good guy.
Dr Trammell helped A LOT of racers post-crash.
@@SolamenteVees absolutely
He saved lives, Alex Zanardi the most famous
Its palpable how the broadcast was targetted to a much more knowledgeable, mature and interested audience, they are keener to explain technical elements are do not shy away from telling hard truths and hard-to-watch images. Just shows how much we are devolving as a species.
57:58 The interscope chassis of Danny Ongais looked so unique back in the 1980s
Gurney Eagle?
@@SolamenteVees yes
RIP Bobby Unser.
For those who believe Mario is the rightful winner:
The rules, as they were written in 1981, declared that the apron was an extension of the pitlane. Cars exiting the pits under a yellow flag were told to take their position at the end of the yellow line in Turn 2 (seen clearly when Rutherford's car drops out early). According to Johnny, Al, and A.J., these cars were allowed to pass any car except the pace car and the car immediately behind it, as long as they stayed under the yellow line.
Yes, on the face of it, this is a stupid procedure. USAC rules were dysfunctional and outdated (think about how many guys were hit with a black flag for "passing under yellow" when the other car had a puncture, or just after the blend line like Raul Boesel). There's no way the apron should be an extension of the pitlane under yellow. But that was the rule at the time. What Bobby (and Mario) did was certainly not ethical by modern standards, but it was legal at the time. There was no stated penalty in the rulebook for that action. Penske & Unser were absolutely right to call BS on being moved back to 2nd. With all due respect to Mario, Uncle Bobby is the rightful winner.
Mario got screwed, even the announcers knew what Bobby did was illegal.
This is probably the single most eventful Indy 500 ever. A whole season’s worth of incidents happened in this one race.
My Dad and I both sat in Bobby Unser's (eventual) winning car a couple years later and had our pictures taken in it after the car had been repainted in different colors. I still have the Polaroid.
3:45 When the traditional singing of "Back Home Again in Indiana" meets Barry Manilow at the Copacabana.
I remember watching these ABC broadcasts of the Indy 500 when I was a kid. It always amazed me, as it does today, how the cameraman would zoom in on the first car in line when the two cars behind were side-by-side entering a turn. I mean this is not an occasional accident, it was years and years and years of terrible camerawork. But great upload of real racecars!!
Fascinating production to see now. We’re used to live sports, not these heavily edited ‘tape delay’ versions, curated for a prime time audience, with only a few minutes of actual racing between each prerecorded insert and interview, and the supposedly live commentary added AFTER the race to cater for all these extras.
The way they did it was to record the coverage of the start and end as it happened, and then do the coverage of the rest of the race as it was broadcast
Sir Jackie Stewart, awesome. One of my favorite F! racers. He won, back when cars were much harder to drive. Hamilton has it soo easy compared to the older generation pilots. RUclips has footage of Stewart racing at the old Nurburgring. Incredible footage.
And who's to say anyone from Stewart's time would be able to drive a modern F1 car with their work load and 5g+ cornering
This sure brings back memories I love to watch the Indianapolis 500 !!!
9:51 - Voyage - From East to East. Nice instrumental
Some producer was doing the Jean Luc Picard facepalm that day
RIP Bobby Unser
WTF? Here I am in Australia. 2018. Never really been into Indy until some sim racing this year. I am totally engrossed. lols Thanks
You need to watch the 1982 Indy 500. The last 20 laps will give you goosebumps. I know because I was there!
@@CaptainRon956 he’s making a move! No!
I've recently started watching these classic races and these guys were fearless.Growing up it was f1 that I watched being British but indycar and nascar beat f1 hands down for me.
Even the helmets were better back then.
gr0bbelaar - Yep, that Simpson “Darth Vader” helmet sure made racing fun for awhile, didn’t it? 😎👍🏻
It's so cool it's borderline pornography!
@@ikshields It's not exactly the same design as 1981, but Simpson's "Bandit" series still has a very similar design. simpsonraceproducts.com/images/products/620.png
@@almostfm Helmets are cool but the race definitely wasnt!
@@ikshields actually Mr Shields, it's not a Darth Vader, it's a Storm Trooper helmet. I raced Go-karts thru the 70's-80's & had a Trooper helmet, then sold it to buy the new Simpson. I've been kicking myself for doing that the last 38yrs! 😭
Wow! I’ve never seen these because I grew up next to the track. The race was never on for us, we got the Sunday night move. Awesome to see.
Never understood the epaulets until now... 56:00
RIP Bobby Unser. 40 years ago, he won this race by the blend rule but redeemed after a court hearing.
53:27 the Rick Mears pit fire.
Scary stuff.
I sat in the southwest vista of turn one and saw the huge clouds of smoke & fire retardant
Just watching it yet again...good God was that terrifying
1:04:53 Danny Ongais leaves motionless in an ambulance with the viewer thinking he's dead.
ABC five seconds later: "🎶Celebrate good times, c'mon!!🎶"
The problem is that the commercials were "racked" to play in a certain order. With it being 1981, there may not have been time to slip that spot to a later time.
@@almostfm And of course, the first thing that played during that particular break was a promo for ABC's Monday Night Baseball, and of course, MLB went on strike shortly after the race (the original strike deadline was for five days after this race was run, but was extended two weeks to June 12, when the MLB players went out on strike).
For some strange reason, the Indianapolis 500 always seemed to reflect the times, and 1981 was certainly right on cue, whether it was the post-qualifying controversy involving Jerry Sneva and Jerry Karl, Karl getting arrested at IMS on Carb Day, resulting in veteran Bob Harkey having to practice Karl's car (Karl was released and drive in the race). Then of course, before the two major controversies, there was the botched start, when seven cars passed the S/F line BEFORE the green flag came out, and then during the caution for Don Whittington's crash, both Tom Sneva and Bill Whittington passed the pace car in anticipation of a restart that never happened (neither driver was penalized because they let the pace car repass them, so no advantage was gained). And that was all before the Mears pit fire, which should have brought out the caution, but didn't, and the controversy regarding Bobby Unser and Mario Andretti both passing cars leaving the pits during the caution for Gordon Smiley's crash (Unser passed 8 and Andretti passed 3, though Andretti did appear to let the furthest forward of the 3 cars her passed repass him).
I remember how we left the race track thinking Bobby won. Then we got home and started getting the news that it was being contested. It sure tainted my memories of it...as sparse as they are now.
I just love that they used the song "From East to West" by Voyage as their background music.... at 9:50
Sam's ground effects tutorial was good. I DIDN't know how it worked before that.
Thanks for uploading this old stuff . You can't beat the good old days
81 was my 2nd indy, retired after 2010
Poor Dr. Hanna died later that year at 72.
cool gonna run this in the background while finishing my assignment
Thanks for uploading this classic race!
The IHRA was running on alcohol fuel also. They added a contaminant to color the burning fuel. Bobby legitimately won this race folks. Years after, they went through the rules as presented to the drivers before the race, and found that a driver had until the start/finish line to "merge", and Bobby did so at the very last second, which was within the defined rules. Bobby should never have been fined. And even if it had been against the rules (which it wasn't), Mario and Vern also passed cars under yellow. So Bobby would have won regardless. Plus Bobby Unser is the greatest Indycar driver ever so just go suck it LOL.
Mario just gave Uncle Bobby the finger. Bobby won the Fast Masters series (in Jaguar XJ220s) in 1993 against the likes of David Pearson, Derek Bell, Parnelli Jones, and Bobby Allison - had alot of hubris about how good he was vs. everyone else racing in the series.....but hey, that was Bobby.
@@jimbosc So he pulled a Junior Johnson, hah
I find all these replays of Indy on RUclips interesting mainly due to the weather. Some racedays were blazingly hot and humid , some very cool and cloudy (The Roberto Guerrero spins on the pace lap (1992?) races should have been delayed it was so cold)
That's right 1992 is where Guerrero spun on the pace lap
1992 should have neen delayed. It was a wreck fest due to the cold.
Car crashes, tires get cold, goes green, another crash, lather rinse repeat.
I was there. Coldest nastiest day.. my old man sent we to the concession stand for coffee. None. No hot water.
We had to leave.
Unser clearly jumped the start, little did anyone know that because of this, the ensuing rule change for the pace speeds would indirectly lead to one of the all-time infamous crashes ever at IMS a year later. And the irony of it was that it was Unsers replacement, Kevin Cogan who would instigate the crash.
Ahh i love these vintage rsces!!!
Of note, 1981 was the first year that Gordon Johncock ran the Richard Petty STP paint scheme, which made his win in the following year's race in the first NASCAR-style finish Indy ever had more than a bit ironic. He had been sponsored by STP from 1973-'77, but ran the red paint scheme made famous by Andy Granatelli, who was still a part of the operation when Johncock won the 1973 race, but when STP returned to sponsor Pat Patrick's team in 1981, Johncock's #20 carried the paint scheme Richard Petty made famous.
Spot on bud! I've often wondered if "The King" was/still is abit miffed at Patrick's use of Petty-Blue on they're racecar's. However, Ol' King Richard wasn't no country bumpkin, so he probably was compensated in some manner 💪😎👍
@@Slinger43 I believe that was actually a tribute of some kind to Petty that they ran what was effectively a version of his paint scheme on an IndyCar, especially considering that both Petty and Johncock won the biggest races in their form of the sport in 1973 with the STP sponsorship and then Petty won the Daytona 500 again in 1974. And when Johncock came out of retirement in 1987, he ran that exact same paint scheme, even though he was driving for another team.
@@cjs83172 Yes, I think you're right about that 👍 I absolutely know this much for sure, it is without a doubt the most iconic paint scheme in the history of Motorsport. Gordy did it proud & I'm sure "The King" was pleased when his colors won at Indy!😎
@@cjs83172 Actually Johncock's ride in 1987 was by extension a Patrick ride since he inherited what was originally supposed to be Patrick's car for the winner of the ARS series, but when the winner Fabrizio Barbazza took a ride with Arciero, it then went to Jim Crawford's whose practice wreck then opened the door for Johncock.
invisible alcohol fires, absolutely nuts!
Reminds me of "The Ballad Of Ricky Bobby", when Will Farrell was rolling around yelling he was on fire!
Uncle Bobby won his 500’s all 7 years apart.
Thanks for the memories Bobby Unser
He has an open fracture on hi right leg. Broken left hip. Chest injuries. Possible internal injuries. A concussion. He was on fire.
"His condition is fairly good" If you say so Doc...
Comparatively... Considering what happened to Gordon Smiley a year later, it WAS fairly good. But I get what you mean.
Nah back home again with Jim neighbors 👌
Thank you for uploading- Great picture Quality!👍🏼😊
people still argue about this nearly 4 decades later lmao
Safety / fire crews, all dressed in asbestos suits & helmets (1:39:50). Sadly all of these gentlemen passed away two years later.
“Oh James that is a no no.” Love Jackie Stewart. Lol
* Horrific Crash *
* Plays "Celebration" *
If possible please leave old commercials in
I like them too. Some of the older NFL games from this era have if you like.
That has to be the worst rendition of Back Home Again I've ever heard. Was the guy hammered?
i love the look of the early 80s Indy cars.
it's amazing the moment when they put on their heads balaclavas and helmets
“The mechanic is obviously burnt he knows he’s burnt”--classic Jackie Stewart
Another classic Jackie was “I predict that if he holds his position and holds his lead, he’ll win the race “.
Who came here after Aidan Millward? :D
Timemark 1:43:00
Who
I was about 2 weeks old at when this happened but I don't remember it. 😁
The designs brings back memories
Darn!!!! I Was Hoping To Watch The 'Sunday Night 🌙 At The Movies!!!!"🎬 😳🥴😷🙄😅😂🤣😁🤠😎🤓☺Sunday, February 20, 2022!😳🥴😷🙄😅😂🤣😁🤠😎🤓☺
Good ole days. Stands packed. Now racing has to compete with the iphone.
Even if you took the young'ns, with they're i-phones, to Indy, they still wouldn't truly experience one of those fire breathing monster's screaming past them at 240mph, because they would STILL be looking at they're i-phones! 🤬
Truly a shame they have no clue what wonders of life they're missing 😣
Indycar died in 1996 with Tony George's IRL, spec car garbage.
Even Jackie Stewart knew passing cars, on exiting the pits under yellow, was a no-no.
Jackie didn't know the rulebook. Also, his call was made in post-production.
After all the smoke cleared............
Bobby Unser was declared the winner! Those that make the decisions at the IMS upheld the finishing order. Mario finished 2nd. Quit the sniveling people, it was almost 40 years ago. Let it go already!
No, actually Bobby was penalized enough time to put him 2nd & Mario was declared "The Winner" the next day. Then Penske sued & the case went to court. Almost 6-months later, that decision was reversed (I don't recall by a court decision, or if Indy just threw in the towel) and Bobby was declared "Winner" once again. In the end, just follow the 💰 cause Penske had more than the other guys. The fastest car won the race, so I don't have a problem with it 🤷🏻♂️
1:04:56 Most inappropriate music ever
Disco era!
You realize that's a ABC commercial. Has nothing to do with the race
Steve O'Connor
Endstage disco
thought the same thing - the unfortunate timing of the driver just being taken to hospital... then... CELEBRATION TIME CMON !!
Some producer was doing the Jean Luc Picard facepalm that day
U are awesome guys
I miss REAL Indy racing.
Impressive race by Josele Garza. The mexican deserved to be a Indy 500 winner.
Where did they find that singer for "Back Home Again in Indiana"?? Good GAWD that was horrible.....
Paul Tracy is the true winner... OH wait. Wrong race.
Look at that unadulterated starting line-up. Nice and clean!
R.I.P Bobby.
Now,i know why F1 doesn't upload full race
It's hard to get a full race with english commentary and then digitize it
@Syd Floyd they had been re-living the 2008 Brazilian GP
422,000 paid attendance!
The Golden Age of Indy is behind us,
Rest in Peace Bobby Unser.
(Bobby was always a better commentator than Jackie I thought.)
That was a nice explanation and demonstration of ground effect, better than those racing Geek youtuber that just use 3D demo
Mike Mosley's small block Chevy ventilated the block in a big way at about @ 27:05
Ouch.
Jim Nabors didn't sing Back Home Again in Indiana! My whole life is a lie!
And, wow... Phil Harris' rendition was absolutely horrible.
Arguably Phil Harris didn't sing it either.
@@mjanovec No he did the Captain Kirk thing. God it was awful.
@@leegraves8878 You should hear Capt Kirk's
rendition of Sinatra's great tune... "It Was A Very Good Year"...
It's HILARIOUS 🤣!
Jim Nabors sang in 1995
Bob Frey missed qualifying......I remember that...He was my uncle ....He was married to my Mom's sister they're long since divorced ......Great race driver !
Watch "Rapid Response" and you will see why Danny Ongais is still alive today.
Dr. Terry Trammell totally rocks 😎
If you’re wondering, the horror of the Mears Pit Fire is at 53:28.
i remember watching this race when i was 9 years old.
The announces stated that Sneva being a "brides maid" might have cost him his Penske seat. he won the Drivers Championship in 1977-78.
That pit fire still freaks me out 41 years later.
And the Ongais crash.
at 1 44 unser makes the pass under yellow that was not proper in my estimation...