1977 Indianapolis 500: Wikis

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Updated live from Wikipedia, last check: May 28, 2012 23:24 UTC (52 seconds ago)

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The 1977 Indianapolis 500 was held at Indianapolis on Sunday, May 29, 1977.

Gordon Johncock led 129 laps and had a 16 second lead on A.J. Foyt one lap after final pit stops when his crankshaft broke. Foyt became the first driver to win four times. Tom Sneva broke the 200 mph (320 km/h) barrier in qualifying, and Janet Guthrie became the first female to drive in the race. On the radio, Paul Page became the new Voice of the 500. This also marked Tony Hulman's final Indianapolis 500 appearance; the man who resurrected the Speedway after World War II died in October at the age of 76.

Race results

Finish	Start	No	Name	Qual	Rank	Laps	Led	Status
1	4	14	A.J. Foyt	194.563	5	200	46	Running
2	1	8	Tom Sneva	198.886	1	200	3	Running
3	3	21	Al Unser	195.950	4	199	17	Flagged
4	10	40	Wally Dallenbach, Sr.	189.563	13	199	0	Flagged
5	11	60	Johnny Parsons	189.255	14	193	0	Flagged
6	22	24	Tom Bigelow	186.470	25	192	0	Flagged
7	24	65	Lee Kunzman	186.384	27	191	0	Flagged
8	18	11	Roger McCluskey	190.992	10	191	0	Flagged
9	25	92	Steve Krisiloff	184.691	33	191	0	Flagged
10	16	36	Jerry Sneva	186.616	23	187	0	Flagged
11	5	20	Gordon Johncock	193.516	6	184	129	Crankshaft
12	28	16	Bill Puterbaugh	186.799	22	170	0	Valve
13	32	58	Eldon Rasmussen	185.119	31	168	0	Flagged
14	31	42	John Mahler	185.242	30	157	0	Flagged
15	8	48	Pancho Carter	192.452	9	156	0	Engine
16	21	98	Gary Bettenhausen	186.596	24	138	0	Clutch
17	23	84	Bill Vukovich II	186.393	26	110	1	Wing Strut
18	2	6	Bobby Unser	197.618	2	94	2	Oil Leak
19	9	5	Mike Mosley	190.064	12	91	0	Timing Gear
20	7	25	Danny Ongais	193.040	8	90	0	Header
21	33	72	Bubby Jones	184.938	32	78	0	Valve
22	27	29	Cliff Hucul	187.198	21	72	0	Gearbox
23	20	73	Jim McElreath	187.715	19	71	0	Turbocharger
24	13	18	George Snider	188.977	16	65	2	Valve
25	14	78	Bobby Olivero	188.452	17	57	0	Piston
26	6	9	Mario Andretti	193.351	7	47	0	Header
27	19	10	Lloyd Ruby	190.840	11	34	0	Crash T2
28	15	86	Al Loquasto	187.647	20	28	0	Magneto
29	26	27	Janet Guthrie	188.403	18	27	0	Timing Gear
30	29	38	Clay Regazzoni	186.047	28	25	0	Fuel Cell
31	30	17	Dick Simon	185.615	29	24	0	Overheating
32	12	97	Sheldon Kinser	189.076	15	14	0	Piston
33	17	2	Johnny Rutherford	197.325	3	12	0	Gearbox

Failed to qualify: Larry Cannon (#67), Larry Dickson (#80), Tom Frantz (#88), Spike Gehlhausen (#19), Todd Gibson (#22, #96), Jerry Grant (#69, #75), Bob Harkey (#88), Jim Hurtubise (#56), Gary Irvin (#23), Jerry Karl (#37, #57, #88), Mel Kenyon (#88), John Martin (#28), Larry McCoy (#63), Graham McRae (#33), Rick Mears (#90), Teddy Pilette (#91), Joe Saldana (#64), Vern Schuppan (#15, #85), Bill Simpson (#38), Salt Walther (#33, #77)

Trivia

A.J. Foyt became the first driver to win 4 Indianapolis 500s
Janet Guthrie became the first female driver to participate in the Indy 500
It was the last Indy 500 race for Texan Lloyd Ruby.
Tom Sneva became the first driver to officially complete one lap over 200 miles (320 km) an hour in the four-lap qualifying format. His first lap was 200.401 mph (322.514 km/h), and his second was faster, at 200.535 mph (322.730 km/h).

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Sanctioning bodies

AAA (1909–1955) • USAC (1956–1997) • IRL (1998–present)

Ownership

Fisher Era	Carl Fisher • James Allison • Arthur Newby • Frank A. Wheeler
Rickenbacker Era	Eddie Rickenbacker
Hulman/George Era	Tony Hulman • Wilbur Shaw • Mary F. Hulman • Mari Hulman George • Tony George

Officials

Speedway Presidents	Carl Fisher (1909–1927) • Eddie Rickenbacker (1928–1945) • Wilbur Shaw (1946–1954) • Tony Hulman (1955–1977) • Joe Cloutier (1978–1979) John Cooper (1980–1981) • Joe Cloutier (1982–1989) • Tony George (1990–2004) • Joie Chitwood (2005–2009)
Chief Stewards	C. W. Sedwick (1909–1916) • W. D. Edenburn (1919–1934) • Charles Merz (1935–1939) • Ted Doescher (1940–1941) • J. H. Mehan (1946–1948) Tommy Milton (1949–1952) • Harry McQuinn (1953–1957) • Harlen Fengler (1958–1973) • Tom Binford (1974–1995) • Keith Ward (1996–1997) Brian Barnhart (1998–present)