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Indianapolis 500
USAC Indy Car race
Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Indianapolis, IN
May 24, 1981
200 laps on 2.5 mile paved oval; 500 miles
Fin
| St
| Driver
| #
| Owner
| Car
| Laps
| Money
| Status
| Laps Led
|
1
| 1
| Bobby Unser
| 3
| Roger Penske
| Penske PC9B/Cosworth
| 200
| 279,002
| running
| 89 |
2
| 32
| Mario Andretti
| 40
| Pat Patrick
| Wildcat VIII 03/Cosworth
| 200
| 118,611
| running
| 12 |
3
| 18
| Vern Schuppan
| 33
| Vern Schuppan
| McLaren M24/Cosworth
| 199
| 81,945
| running
| 0 |
4
| 12
| Kevin Cogan
| 32
| Jerry O'Connell
| Phoenix 80/Cosworth
| 197
| 54,675
| running
| 0 |
5
| 15
| Geoff Brabham
| 50
| Josele Garza
| Penske PC9/Cosworth
| 197
| 51,259
| running
| 0 |
6
| 23
| Sheldon Kinser
| 81
| Bobby Hillin
| Longhorn LR01/Cosworth
| 195
| 40,737
| running
| 0 |
7
| 16
| Tony Bettenhausen Jr.
| 16
| Wayne Hillis
| McLaren M24A 5/Cosworth
| 195
| 40,261
| running
| 0 |
8
| 17
| Steve Krisiloff
| 53
| Josele Garza
| Penske PC7/Cosworth
| 194
| 36,126
| running
| 0 |
9
| 4
| Gordon Johncock
| 20
| Pat Patrick
| Wildcat VIII/Cosworth
| 194
| 58,867
| engine
| 52 |
10
| 28
| Dennis Firestone
| 4
| Pat Patrick
| Wildcat VIII/Cosworth
| 193
| 32,832
| engine
| 0 |
11
| 7
| Bill Alsup
| 7
| Roger Penske
| Penske PC9B/Cosworth
| 193
| 32,212
| running
| 0 |
12
| 25
| Michael Chandler
| 74
| Warner W. Hodgdon
| Penske PC7/Cosworth
| 192
| 30,748
| running
| 0 |
13
| 3
| A.J. Foyt
| 14
| A.J. Foyt
| Coyote 81 1/Cosworth
| 191
| 32,385
| running
| 0 |
14
| 33
| Tim Richmond
| 84
| A.J. Foyt
| Parnelli VPJ6C/Cosworth
| 191
| 30,294
| running
| 0 |
15
| 31
| Jerry Karl
| 38
| William Compton
| McLaren M16C/Cosworth
| 189
| 32,285
| running
| 0 |
16
| 29
| Scott Brayton
| 37
| Lee Brayton
| Penske PC6/Cosworth
| 174
| 29,002
| engine
| 0 |
17
| 9
| Al Unser
| 88
| Bobby Hillin
| Longhorn LR02/Cosworth
| 166
| 28,533
| running
| 0 |
18
| 19
| Larry Dickson
| 31
| Andy Kenopensky
| Penske PC7/Cosworth
| 165
| 27,630
| piston
| 0 |
19
| 13
| Bob Lazier
| 35
| Robert Fletcher
| Penske PC7/Cosworth
| 154
| 30,752
| engine
| 0 |
20
| 14
| Tom Bigelow
| 56
| Richard Hammond
| Penske PC7 006/Chevrolet
| 152
| 27,199
| engine
| 0 |
21
| 27
| Bill Whittington
| 90
| Whittington Brothers
| March 81C 01/Cosworth
| 146
| 28,129
| stalled
| 0 |
22
| 8
| Gordon Smiley
| 60
| Pat Patrick
| Wildcat VIII/Cosworth
| 141
| 26,369
| accident
| 1 |
23
| 6
| Josele Garza Martínez
| 55
| Josele Garza
| Penske PC9/Cosworth
| 138
| 37,392
| accident
| 13 |
24
| 24
| Pete Halsmer
| 79
| William Alsup
| Penske PC7 011/Cosworth
| 123
| 27,850
| accident
| 0 |
25
| 20
| Tom Sneva
| 2
| Dan Cotter
| March 81C 02/Cosworth
| 96
| 35,143
| clutch
| 25 |
26
| 11
| Gary Bettenhausen
| 8
| Lindsey Hopkins
| Lightning 79/Cosworth
| 69
| 25,212
| rod
| 0 |
27
| 21
| Danny Ongais
| 25
| Ted Field
| Interscope 81/Cosworth
| 64
| 27,455
| accident
| 4 |
28
| 10
| Pancho Carter
| 5
| Alex Morales
| Penske PC7/Cosworth
| 62
| 24,984
| compression
| 0 |
29
| 30
| Tom Klausler
| 51
| Douglas Schulz
| Lightning/Chevrolet
| 60
| 25,218
| gearbox
| 0 |
30
| 22
| Rick Mears
| 6
| Roger Penske
| Penske PC9B 005/Cosworth
| 58
| 25,767
| pit fire
| 1 |
31
| 26
| Don Whittington
| 91
| Whittington Brothers
| March 81C 04/Cosworth
| 32
| 26,029
| accident
| 0 |
32
| 5
| Johnny Rutherford
| 1
| Jim Hall
| Chaparral 2K/Cosworth
| 25
| 26,861
| fuel pump
| 3 |
33
| 2
| Mike Mosley
| 48
| Dan Gurney
| Eagle 8103/Chevrolet
| 16
| 28,536
| radiator
| 0 |
|
| Rodger Ward
|
| IMS Radio Network
|
|
| 0
| color commentary
| |
|
| Duke Nalon
|
|
| Buick Regal
|
| 0
| pace car
| |
|
| Sam Posey
|
| ABC
|
|
| 0
| pit reporter
| |
|
| Paul Page
|
| IMS Radio Network
|
|
| 0
| lead announcer
| |
|
| Jackie Stewart
|
| ABC
|
|
| 0
| color commentary
| |
|
| Chris Economaki
|
| ABC
|
|
| 0
| pit reporter
| |
|
| Bob Jenkins
|
| IMS Radio Network
|
|
| 0
| turn 4
| |
Notes: Qualifying times based on 4 lap (10 mile) distance.
Tom Sneva set a qualifying time of 179.38, but did not qualify on Pole Day.
Car #40 qualified for Mario Andretti by Wally Dallenbach.
Car #84 qualified by George Snider, who yielded the seat to Tim Richmond.
Bobby Unser was initially penalized one lap for pit lane exit violations, but was instead only fined $40,000 on appeal.
Time of race: 03:35:46
Average Speed: 139.029 MPH
Pole Speed: 179.51 seconds
11 cautions for 68 laps
Race Purse: $ 1,609,375