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1979 Indianapolis 500 Previous race results / Next race results                     Previous at this track / Next at this track     Post USAC Champ Car Series race number 3 of 7 Sunday, May 27, 1979 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Speedway, IN 200 laps on a 2.500 mile paved track (500.000 miles) Time of race: 3:08:48 Average speed: 158.889 mph Pole speed: 193.736 mph Cautions: 6 for 34 laps Margin of victory: 45.69 sec Attendance: n/a Lead changes: 9 Glossary    1979 USAC Champ Car Series results   /   1979 standings

Pos St # Driver Sponsor / Owner Chass./Eng. Laps Money Status Led Pts 1 1 9   Rick Mears Gould Charge   (Roger Penske) Penske / Cosworth 200 252420 running 25   2 6 14   A.J. Foyt Gilmore Racing   (A.J. Foyt) Parnelli / Cosworth 200 99058 running 1 800 3 12 36   Mike Mosley Theodore Racing   (Dan Gurney) Eagle / Cosworth 200 59828 running 0   4 27 25   Danny Ongais Interscope / Panasonic   (Ted Field) Parnelli / Cosworth 199 37987 running 0   5 4 12   Bobby Unser Norton Spirit   (Roger Penske) Penske / Cosworth 199 59353 running 89   6 5 3   Gordon Johncock North American Van Lines   (Pat Patrick) Penske / Cosworth 197 32074 running 0   7 13 46   Howdy Holmes Armstrong Moulding   (Sherman Armstrong) Wildcat / DGS 195 35964 running 0 300 8 34 22   Billy Vukovich, Jr. Hubler Chevrolet / WNDE   (Ralph Wilke) Watson / Offy 194 27921 running 0 250 9 15 11   Tom Bagley Dairy Queen / Kent Oil   (Bobby Hillin) Penske / Cosworth 193 24710 running 0   10 31 19   Spike Gehlhausen Sta-On Car Glaze   (Carl Gehlhausen) Wildcat / Cosworth 192 24209 running 0   11 28 7   Steve Krisiloff Frosty Acres   (Robert Fletcher) Lightning / Cosworth 192 23645 running 0   12 16 77   Salt Walther Dayton-Walther   (George Walther) Penske / Cosworth 191 22757 running 0   13 25 72   Roger McCluskey National Engineering   (Warner Hodgdon) McLaren / Cosworth 191 24480 running 0 25 14 30 44   Tom Bigelow Armstrong Moulding   (Sherman Armstrong) Lola / Cosworth 190 23953 running 0 25 15 2 1   Tom Sneva Sugaripe Prune   (Jerry O'Connell) McLaren / Cosworth 188 28769 crash 0   16 26 69   Joe Saldana KBHL-FM   (Hoffman Racing) Eagle / Offy 185 22721 running 0   17 29 97   Phil Threshie Giuffre Bros.   (Grant King) King / Chevy 172 22969 running 0 20 18 8 4   Johnny Rutherford Budweiser   (Bruce McLaren) McLaren / Cosworth 168 29121 running 0   19 23 31   Larry Rice S&M Electric Lightning / Offy 142 19496 crash 0   20 17 10   Pancho Carter Alex XLNT Foods   (Alex Morales) Lightning / Offy 129 20125 wheel bearing 0   21 22 34   Vern Schuppan Wysard Motors   (Herb Wysard) Lightning / Offy 111 19068 transmission 0   22 3 2   Al Unser Pennzoil   (Chaparral Racing) Chaparral / Cosworth 104 38195 transmission 85   23 33 50   Eldon Rasmussen Bivouac Vans   (BFM Enterprises) Antares / Offy 89 18047 header 0 15 24 24 80   Larry Dickson Polak Construction   (Russ Polak) Penske / Cosworth 86 17797 fuel pump belt 0 15 25 32 92   John Mahler Sport Magazine   (Intercomp) Eagle / Offy 66 17572 fuel pump 0   26 20 17   Dick Simon Sanyo   (Rolla Vollstedt) Vollstedt / Offy 57 17960 clutch 0 10 27 7 6   Wally Dallenbach Foreman Industries   (Pat Patrick) Penske / Cosworth 43 18470 lost wheel 0   28 10 24   Sheldon Kinser Genesee Beer   (Ralph Wilke) Watson / Offy 40 17025 piston 0 10 29 18 29   Cliff Hucul Hucul Racing   (Emil Hucul) McLaren / Offy 22 20346 valve 0 5 30 11 89   Lee Kunzman Vetter / Windjammer   (Conqueste Racing Team) Parnelli / Cosworth 18 16820 scavenger pump 0   31 21 73   Jerry Sneva National Engineering   (Warner Hodgdon) Spirit / AMC 16 17117 piston 0 5 32 9 15   Johnny Parsons Goodyear   (Lindsey Hopkins) Lightning / Offy 16 17695 piston 0 5 33 35 59   George Snider KBHL   (Hoffman Racing) Lightning / Offy 7 17691 valve 0 5 34 14 45   Janet Guthrie Texaco Star   (Sherman Armstrong) Lola / Cosworth 3 16899 piston 0 5 35 19 23   Jim McElreath AMAX Coal   (Jim McElreath) Penske / Cosworth 0 17453 valve 0 5

Failed to qualify, withdrew, or driver changes: Pos Name Nbr Sponsor Owner Car Earle Canavan 0 Kosin's Auto Parts Tom Frantz 16 Freight Train Spike Gehlhausen 19 Sta-On / WIRE Bob Harkey 19 Sta-On / WIRE John Martin 20 Scientific Drilling Billy Vukovich, Jr. 22 Hubler Tony Bettenhausen, Jr. 23 Jim McElreath Jim McElreath 23 Jim McElreath Bill Scott 28 Wheel Center Dana Carter 30 Molly-Mate Bill Puterbaugh 35 Medlin Jerry Karl 38 Tonco Trailer Al Loquasto 39 American Rustproof Tom Bigelow 43 Armstrong Molding Hurley Haywood 51 Hopkins Woody Fisher 52 Eagle Magnetic Jim Hurtubise 56 Moran Electric Eldon Rasmussen 58 Bivouac / WFMS Ed Finley 62 Bob Olmstead's V12 Roger Rager 66 Advance Clean Sweep Bill Alsup 68, 19 Penske, Hubler / Sta-On Joe Saldana 69 WBHL Todd Gibson 75 Gibson Racing Dick Ferguson 81 Aero Electronics Jan Opperman 81 Aero Electronics Billy Engelhart 83 Beaudoin Racing Larry McCoy 93 O'Hanlon Racing Larry Cannon 95 That's My Racer Gary Bettenhausen 98 Oberdorfer DC Frank Weiss 50 Bivouac Vans DC Neil Bonnett 73 National Engineering DC Jerry Miller 97 Giuffre Bros. Caution flag breakdown: Condition From Lap To Lap # Of Laps Reason Free Pass 1 27 27     28 31 4   #29 tow-in   32 42 11     43 48 6   #24 tow-in   49 92 44     93 99 7   #80 tow-in   100 102 3     103 107 5   #97 tow-in   108 155 48     156 162 7   #31 accident turn 2   163 191 29     192 196 5   #30 accident turn 4   197 200 4       Percent of race run under caution: 17.0%             Average green flag run: 23.7 laps Lap leader breakdown: Leader From Lap To Lap # Of Laps   Al Unser 1 24 24   Rick Mears 25 27 3   A.J. Foyt 28 28 1   Al Unser 29 69 41   Bobby Unser 70 73 4   Rick Mears 74 76 3   Al Unser 77 96 20   Bobby Unser 97 181 85   Rick Mears 182 200 19 Points Standings after this race: Rank Driver Points Diff 1   A.J. Foyt 1600     2   Billy Vukovich, Jr. 690   -910   3   Cliff Hucul 445   -1155   4   Sheldon Kinser 350   -1250   5   Johnny Parsons 335   -1265   6   Gary Bettenhausen 328   -1272   7   George Snider 305   -1295   7   Larry Dickson 305   -1295   9   Howdy Holmes 300   -1300   10   Tom Bigelow 205   -1395   11   Dick Simon 130   -1470   11   Todd Gibson 130   -1470   13   Jim McElreath 95   -1505   14   Tony Bettenhausen Jr 80   -1520   15   Eldon Rasmussen 65   -1535   16   Jerry Karl 60   -1540   16   Dana Carter 60   -1540   18   Dick Ferguson 48   -1552   19   Roger McCluskey 45   -1555   20   Jerry Sneva 21   -1579   21   Phil Threshie 20   -1580