Indianapolis 500

Indianapolis Motor Speedway, 30 May 1970

Notes on the cars:

1. Colt 70 [001] (Al Unser): A brand new car fabricated by George Bignotti's crew for 1970, and raced by Al Unser for Vel's Parnelli Jones Ford as the #2 Johnny Lightning 500 Special. Unser dominated the 1970 Indy 500 in this car, and he also raced it at Ontario later in the season. This is believed to have been Unser's car for the early 1971 races, winning three of them. It was then the backup car that Unser drove at Pocono and Michigan in July, and at Milwaukee in August, where during a battle between Unser and his brother Bobby for the lead, the Colt suddenly swapped ends and hit the barrier, leaving the car "a mangled wreck". The damage was sufficient that the car was retired, but was later restored to its 1970 colours and used as a show car, before spending many years in the VPJ Collection's private museum in Torrance, CA. It returned to the Speedway for a race day celebration in 2010, and was acquired by the IMS Museum in May 2012 together with the rest of the VPJ Collection.
2. Lola T153 2WD [SL153/6] (Mark Donohue): New to Roger Penske, and raced by Mark Donohue at the 1970 Indy 500 as the #66 Sunoco entry, finishing second, and at Ontario in September, where Donohue was an early retirement. Raced by Donohue at Phoenix and Trenton in early 1971 and then qualified by David Hobbs for the Indy 500, but crashed in the race. The "demolished" car was bought from Penske by Leonard Faas, who wanted the Ford engine to fit in a Lola T150 he had bought from The Vel's Parnelli team. The T153 was repaired and entered in the Ontario 500-mile race by Agajanian-Faas as #97 for John Martin to drive, but he was bumped from the grid after initially qualifying. Faas then entered the Lola as #112 at Phoenix in October, where Martin was too slow to qualify. It remained with Faas until sold to Chuck Haines in 1985. To John Darlington in June 2003, and restored. It ran in a demo at the Indy 500 in 2004, and at the Goodwood Festival of Speed later that year.
3. Eagle 70 [801] (Dan Gurney): New for Dan Gurney as the #48 AAR entry at Indianapolis in 1970, using a turbo Offy engine. Raced again by Gurney as the #48 at Ontario, where he qualified on the front row and led for five laps but then crashed heavily into the wall. Gurney retired from driving after this race, and Bobby Unser joined AAR from Leader Card Racers to take his place. Both 1970 Eagles were then significantly modified with wide, flat bodywork extending from behind the front wheels all the way to above the rear wheels, to act as a huge spoiler. Unser raced this car in this form at Phoenix, again as the #48 entry Olsonite entry, starting from second place on the grid and leading until he was forced out with a broken gearbox. This is presumably the car he raced as the #2 Olsonite Eagle entry in the opening races of the 1971 season at Rafaela, Phoenix and Trenton. Exactly how this car was used later in 1971 remains unresolved.
4. Eagle 67 [212] (Donnie Allison): The #74 AAR entry for Dan Gurney at the 1967 Indy 500, fitted with a Ford V8 and with support from Wagner Lockheed. Sold after the race to AJ Foyt and photographs show that it was the car raced by Joe Leonard at Mosport Park in July 1967, still in works livery. The history of the car over the next three years remains unknown but according to the Hungness Yearbook, it reappeared at the 1970 Indy 500 still as part of the Foyt team but now equipped with a turbo Ford and entered as the #83 Greer car for Donnie Allison, who finished fourth. Then sold to Bill Simpson (Los Angeles, CA), fitted with a 203 ci Chevrolet turbo engine built by Bruce Crower, and raced by Simpson at two late-1970 races. Fitted with an Offy turbo for Simpson in 1971 and 1972. Sold to Marv Carman (Union City, Michigan) and turned into a Super-Modified, but at some point the car was very badly damaged in a workshop fire. The remains of the car were acquired by Richard Bible and they were stored until 2008, when bought by Indycar collector Bill Wiswedel (Holland, Michigan). In 2012, Wiswedel sold the fire-damaged tub and its surviving components to Justin Gurney, son of Dan Gurney and then CEO of AAR. He sent the tub to John Mueller and Jerry Wise of Entrepreneur's Motor Sports (Fresno, CA), who built a completely new car to take its place, there being no part of the damaged tub that was usable. Joe Boghosian built a quad-cam Ford engine for it. The new car was unveiled on Dan Gurney's 84th birthday in April 2015, when Autoweek quoted Mueller saying that "every piece on that car is new except uprights, the hubs and the transmission".
5. Coyote 70 ['69-2'] (Jim McElreath): New for Roger McCluskey at the 1969 Indy 500 as AJ Foyt Enterprises' #82 G. C. Murphy entry. McCluskey had started the season in Foyt's 1966 Coyote, but appears to have driven the new 1969 car at every race from the Indy 500 onwards. Entered for the 1970 Indy 500 as the #14 Greer-Foyt car for Jim McElreath. This car was described in Hungness as new but photographs show that it was the 1969 Coyote that Roger McCluskey had raced the previous season. It was raced by AJ Foyt at Milwaukee in June and at Michigan in July, then by McElreath again at the California 500 at Ontario in September which he won. McElreath's win was only the fifth by a Coyote and the only time anyone other that Foyt ever won a race in a Coyote. McElreath drove it again at the 1971 Indy 500, but was bumped. Foyt then used it at Milwaukee in June and Michigan in July, just as he had in 1970, and its final appearance with the team was as Donnie Allison's #84 Purolator entry at Ontario in September. The car was then sold to MVS as a backup car to their 1971 Coyote and used on short tracks by Jim Hurtubise and George Snider in 1972. It also appeared at Indy in 1973 as Snider's backup car. The car became part of the collection of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum at some point during the 1970s, and was on display at a Ford-themed auto show at Indiana State Fairgrounds in November 1981. It has remained in the collection ever since.
6. McNamara T500 ['2'] (Mario Andretti): New for Mario Andretti at the 1970 Indy 500 as the #1 STP entry, replacing the car crashed during practice on 11 May. This second car got on track on Thursday 14 May, two days before qualifying began, and set times in the 166 mph range. He then qualified on the Saturday in eighth place with a speed of 168.209 mph. The car was not handling well during the race due to a jammed half-shaft and Andretti could only finish sixth. Cured of this problem, the car was "perfect" in practice at Milwaukee a week later and Andretti snatched pole position, but was pushed down during the race and finished fifth. Andretti used the repaired prototype on road courses and the old Hawk on short ovals so this car was next seen at Ontario in September, where the engine failed, then at Trenton where the suspension broke, and finally at Phoenix when he lost control of the McNamara during practice and struck the barrier on the main straight, wrecking the car.
7. Eagle 68 [403] (Jerry Grant): Jerry Grant drove for Tom Friedkin (Houston, TX) at Indy from 1967 to 1969, getting new Eagles in 1967 and 1968. Having driven for Marvin Webster for much of 1969, Grant returned to the 1968 ex-Friedkin Eagle for 1970, when he qualified it at Indy in Nelson Iron Works colours, with John Gorman and Gary Duff (both from Seattle) as his mechanics. Grant set up his own team for 1971, Jerry Grant Racing Enterprises, with the 1968 Eagle and again employing Gorman and Duff. He entered the car for the 1971 Indy 500 as the #78 Farrell's Ice Cream car, but it was driven by Sam Posey after Grant was employed by Shelby-Dowd to race a newer Eagle. Posey qualified but was later bumped. It was used by Jerry Grant a few times later in 1971, including at the USAC Road Racing event at Seattle. It then joined Marv Webster's stable and was still with him in 1973, awaiting a rebuild. Subsequent history unknown, but according to Chris Wilke, scion of the Leader Cards family, this was chassis 403 and has now been restored as Bobby Unser's Indy 500 winner and is the car on display in the Unser Racing Museum (Albuquerque, NM). The car still carries its original '403' chassis plate. This may be the yellow 1968 Indy Eagle that Joe Baird (Shelbyville, Indiana) acquired from Bob LaWarre in Florida as part of a package of cars in the 1990s. Baird sold the Eagle to Al Unser.
8. Hawk I (65) (Rick Muther): The first Hawk appeared at the 1965 Indianapolis 500 as the #12 Dean Van Lines entry for Mario Andretti. Andretti used this car for seven other races in 1965, and also used it with great success in 1966, taking pole position nine times and winning seven times from ten race starts. The car was rebuilt for the 1967 season along the lines of the new 1967 Hawk but was damaged in practice at Phoenix. It was then Andretti's #64 backup car at the Indy 500, and then became the regular road racing car, being used by Andretti at Mosport Park in July, Mont-Tremblant in August, where it won both races, Hanford in October, Riverside in November, and finally Las Vegas in March 1968. It was entered at Indy again in 1968, this time as the #57, but did not appear on track. When the second 1968 Hawk was complete, the 1965 car was redundant, and its final appearance in Andretti's hands was at the Pikes Peak Hill Climb at the end of June. It was then sold to aircraft dealer Jack Adams, and it was raced as the #38 by Jim McElreath at four races from August onwards. It was entered by Adams for McElreath at the 1969 Indy 500 and although he qualified it, he retired early due to an engine fire. McElreath then left the Adams team and his replacements focused on the team's 1967 Lola, and the Hawk was not seen again until Indy the following May, when it was one of the team's three entries and had been rebuilt with wedge-shaped bodywork. Rick Muther qualified the car and went on to a most impressive eighth place. The Adams team by now was focused on a turbine car, but the Hawk was raced at Michigan and Ontario later in 1970. It returned yet again to the Indy 500 in 1971 and as the team's turbine car was again unable to get up to speed, Muther climbed into the ancient Hawk, now wearing inelegant bodywork crafted by chief mechanic Howard Millican, and qualified for its fifth Indy 500 in its seventh season of racing. Muther crashed out on this occasion. The car was still in Millican's workshop in February 1972 and it was sold for 1973 to Fred Graves (Hastings, NY) to be used as a Super-Modified at Oswego and Lancaster Speedways in northern New York State in 1973, still wearing the 1971 Millican bodywork. Graves crashed while leading at Lancaster on 25 July 1973 and the car was very badly damaged in the ensuing fire. The history of the car is then unknown for 16 years until 1990, when Steve Forristall (Houston, TX) was reported to own its remains. Nearly 25 years later it was acquired by Ray Evernham in 2014 in a very dilapidated condition and with many of its original components long gone. Evernham was aware that a replica that had been built by Tom Brawner, nephew of the late Clint Brawner, which he had created using the template from the long-abandoned Brabham BT12 frame and had completed using all the redundant parts found in his uncle's workshop. Evernham bought this replica and took both the heavily modified ex-Super-Modified car and the replica to the Hawk's original mechanic Jim McGee and Steve Panarites of Steve's Auto Fab (Jamestown, IN) for restoration. They carefully restored the original 1965 frame and built up the car using the original parts taken from the replica. It reappeared in early 2016 at the Amelia Island Concours where it took first in class, was driven at the Speedway by Andretti in May 2017, and was at the 2017 Pinehurst Concours and the 2018 Pebble Beach Concours. Sold by Evernham at the Mecum Auction in May 2022 to Ray Skillman (Greenwood, IN).
9. McLaren M15A [3] (Carl Williams): Chris Amon's planned car for the 1970 Indy 500 was taken over by Carl Williams when Amon withdrew. It was sold to Gordy Johncock after the 500 and became his main car after M15/2 was wrecked at Michigan. Sold to Rolla Vollstedt for 1971 and raced for him by Johncock and Denny Zimmerman in 1971 and 1972. This car was later acquired by Tom Black (Portland, OR) and sold by him to the UK. Believed to be the car acquired from collector Nick Mason by McLaren International, restored and put on display in the Donington Collection.
10. Coyote 70 ['70-1'] (AJ Foyt): New for AJ Foyt at the 1970 Indy 500 as the #7 Sheraton-Thompson entry. Also raced by Foyt at Ontario in September, but he used an older 1969 car at other races that season. The 1970 car can be distinguished by a very different rollhoop construction to the earlier cars, and photographs show that it was not used by the Foyt team again. In 1972, the 1970 Coyote was sold to Lee Brayton to replace the 1969 car that he had wrecked in Indy 500 practice. Raced by Brayton later in 1972, at one race in early 1973, and even at two races in early 1975. It was eventually acquired from Brayton by a sponsor, Harry Oppenhuizen, and was sold by Oppenhuizen to Bill Wiswedel (Holland, MI) in 1988. Owned by Wiswedel and then his son, also named Bill, ever since.
11. Eagle 67 [210] (Bobby Unser): Sold to the Jud Phillips half of the Leader Card team, fitted with a Ford V8 and entered for Bobby Unser as the #6 Rislone car from the start of the 1967 season. In 1968, this car was used by Unser on ovals, helping Unser to the USAC title, together with a second 1967 Eagle used for road racing and a 1968 Eagle with which he won the Indy 500. Retained again for 1969, but only raced Unser at Dover Downs. However, after his other 1967 Eagle was wrecked, this original car was used by Unser on ovals in 1970, with the 1968 Eagle being used on road courses. Unser and Phillips both left Leader Card Racers later in 1970, and their equipment was transferred to the AJ Watson half of the Leader Card team. The 1967 Eagle was raced by Watson's driver Mike Mosley to win at Trenton in April 1971, and by George Snider at five later races. At some point, this car was damaged, and the unrepaired monocoque was given by Watson to Bentley Warren, who was racing the ex-Michner 1967 Eagle. It was still unrepaired when bought from Warren by consortium "Eagle Partners" who restored the ex-Unser car and sold it in July 2005 to Aaron Lewis (Cessnock, NSW, Australia). Sold by Aaron in 2014 to Scott Borchetta (Nashville, TN), the founder of Big Machine Records, who ran it in the vintage event at Indianapolis in May 2015.
12. Eagle 70 [804] (Sammy Sessions): Jim Robbins (Troy, MI), of auto parts manufacturer Jim Robbins Co. entered a number of cars during the 1950s and 1960s up to his death in a plane accident in September 1966. His son Jim Marshall Robbins took over the team and for 1970 bought a brand new Eagle, to be prepared by crew chief Bill Spangler. It was entered at Indy for Sammy Sessions as the #67 car and finished 12th. It was also entered later that season at Ontario but Larry Dickson could not qualify it. At this point Robbins Jnr took up racing himself, competing in SCCA racing and progressing later to Trans-Am but was obliged by his father's will to continue to enter a car at the Indianapolis 500. The team's 1968 Eagle was sold but the 1970 car continued to be entered up to 1975, looking increasingly forlorn at each appearance. At that point the Robbins cars were for sale, but a year later the Eagle was back at Indy, now with a 305 ci Chevrolet engine in it, used by Robbins as a protest at the costs of running a car. It was next seen in August or September of 1989 when Canadian racing car dealer Jack Boxstrom purchased the car from someone in Indianapolis, and Steve Kaping went to Indianapolis to pick it up and bring it to Canada. Kaping checked over the car and gave it a brief test at a nearby airport. History then unknown until bought by David Morrison (Long Beach, CA) from Fantasy Junction in February 2004, when it was fitted with a 350 ci Chevrolet engine and Hewland LG500 gearbox. Morrison ran the car in the Victory Lane Historic Champ/Indy Car Showcase in June 2005.
13. Brabham BT32 ['1'] (Jack Brabham): New for Jack Brabham at the 1970 Indy 500 as Motor Racing Developments's #32 Gilmore Brabham entry. Brabham qualified 26th and finished 13th. Driven by Lee Roy Yarbrough at the California 500 in September, where it was sponsored by Norris Industries and tended by mechanic Roy Billington. It was sold to the Michner Industries/Patrick Petroleum team part way through 1971, replacing the 1966 Eagle that driver Johnny Rutherford had used earlier in the season. Driven again by Rutherford in early 1972, and then by Swede Savage later in 1972 after Rutherford moved to the Gerhardt team. It was not seen again after the end of 1972. At some point it was acquired by the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum, and according to Aaron Lewis, it was in the basement for many years awaiting its turn to be restored.
14. Vollstedt 67 ['A'] (Dick Simon): New for 1967 and run by Vollstedt Enterprises as the #17 Bryant Heating & Cooling Spl in 1967 and 1968 with a 255 ci Ford quad cam engine. Appeared at Indy in 1969, now with a turbo Ford but still as the #17 Bryant Heating & Cooling Spl. Dick Simon raced this car for the Vollstedt team at a few races late 1969 as the All Seasons Sports car and then acquired the car, which became his #44 entry in 1970 and then his #44 TraveLodge Sleeper backup in 1971. Retained as part of Simon's stable until the end of 1975 when it was sold to Art Sugai (Ontario, OR) and became his #90 Eastside Café entry for Frank Weiss in 1976. Sold in 1978 to Tom Black (Portland, OR) and Bob Ames and restored by them as the #21 ex-Jim Clark car after being incorrectly identified as that car by Rolla Vollstedt. Then to Don Mack and Hank Albers in 1979 and sold a year later via Eoin Young to Peter Briggs and put on display in his York Motor Museum in Western Australia. Offered for sale by Bonhams at Quail Lodge in August 2009 at which point it was correctly identified as the #17 car. Sold to Greg Smith in 2010.
15. Cecil 69 (Ronnie Bucknum): Probably built late in 1969, but not known to have raced until 1970. Raced by Ronnie Bucknum in 1970 as the #19 MVS Special with stock block Ford or turbo Ford engines. Retained for 1971, again as the #19, when it was used by Arnie Knepper at the Indy 500, but he did not make a qualifying attempt. Bud Tingelstad failed to qualify it at Milwaukee in June, then Bon Harkey drove in practice at Pocono before being asked to step aside for Bob Harkey, who qualified, but retired early in the race. The car was not seen in 1972 but was then sold to Lloyd Gifford (Ft Wayne, IN) to replace an ancient Gerhardt and entered for Benny Rapp from Michigan 1973 to 1975 or 1976. At least one entry list in 1975 described it as a "Brabham". About 1985, it was bought from Gifford by Jim Mann who sold it directly to collector Bill Wiswedel (Holland, Michigan). It was retained in Bill's collection still in its red-and-blue Gifford livery until he sold it to Mark Klingerman (Bourbon, IN) in August 2014.
16. Coyote 66 ['66-1'] (Mel Kenyon): Built for AJ Foyt for 1966 by Eddie Kuzma and Lujie Lesovsky as "a new sturdier copy of a Lotus" (Hot Road Magazine). Crashed in practice by Foyt at the 1966 Indy 500. Raced by Foyt later in the season as the #2 and then by Joe Leonard at three races in 1967, including the Indy 500, as the #4. Raced by Foyt in early 1968 after his 1967 car had been wrecked in testing. For Jim McElreath at the 1968 Indy 500 and then used by Foyt to win at Continental Divide in July 1968. For Roger McCluskey in early 1969 but wrecked at Hanford and not repaired until 1970, when it was sold to Mel Kenyon and prepared by Don Kenyon as part of the Lindsey Hopkins team. Raced by Mel Kenyon (relieved by McCluskey) in the 1970 Indy 500 but wrecked. The damaged tub passed through a number of hands and by 2016 was with Bob Boyce. Boyce bought the 1968 car from Chuck Haines to use as a template for the repairs to the 1966 car. Both cars were then sold to John Darlington (Indianapolis, IN) in 2016, and by the end of that year they were with Walter Goodwin for restoration. In May 2017, the fully restored car was displayed at the IMS Museum as part of an AJ Foyt exhibit. It later appeared at Pebble Beach in 2018 and at the Pocono Historic event in August 2019.
17. Coyote 66 ['66-1'] (Roger McCluskey): Built for AJ Foyt for 1966 by Eddie Kuzma and Lujie Lesovsky as "a new sturdier copy of a Lotus" (Hot Road Magazine). Crashed in practice by Foyt at the 1966 Indy 500. Raced by Foyt later in the season as the #2 and then by Joe Leonard at three races in 1967, including the Indy 500, as the #4. Raced by Foyt in early 1968 after his 1967 car had been wrecked in testing. For Jim McElreath at the 1968 Indy 500 and then used by Foyt to win at Continental Divide in July 1968. For Roger McCluskey in early 1969 but wrecked at Hanford and not repaired until 1970, when it was sold to Mel Kenyon and prepared by Don Kenyon as part of the Lindsey Hopkins team. Raced by Mel Kenyon (relieved by McCluskey) in the 1970 Indy 500 but wrecked. The damaged tub passed through a number of hands and by 2016 was with Bob Boyce. Boyce bought the 1968 car from Chuck Haines to use as a template for the repairs to the 1966 car. Both cars were then sold to John Darlington (Indianapolis, IN) in 2016, and by the end of that year they were with Walter Goodwin for restoration. In May 2017, the fully restored car was displayed at the IMS Museum as part of an AJ Foyt exhibit. It later appeared at Pebble Beach in 2018 and at the Pocono Historic event in August 2019.
18. Eagle 66 (Wally Dallenbach): A customer car sold to Lindsey Hopkins and entered for the 1966 Indy 500 for Roger McCluskey to drive as the #8 G. C. Murphy car. Also raced by McCluskey for the rest of 1966 then McCluskey's backup #72 entry in 1967. Hopkins bought a new 1967 Eagle for McCluskey in 1967 and he used the newer car at the Indy 500, but used the 1966 car at Milwaukee in June, at Mosport Park in July, and at Riverside in November. The 1966 car was also raced Hanford and Phoenix early in 1968 but it was badly damaged at the latter race, and was not seen again until Phoenix in November and Riverside two weeks later, where AJ Foyt relieved McCluskey for part of the race. Wally Dallenbach took over as Hopkins' driver in 1969 and Hopkins' stable of four Eagles was reorganised. The 1966 car was raced by Dallenbach at Phoenix and Hanford at the start of 1969, was his backup at the Indy 500, and was then fitted with a Chevrolet engine for road races at Continental Divide and Indianapolis Raceway Park. After Dallenbach's usual primary car was heavily damaged at Dover Downs, the 1966 car, now nicknamed "Old Clyde", was his usual car in late 1969 and early 1970. He continued with "Old Clyde" during the 1970 season after the team's new Kuzma chassis proved too slow, and was last seen at Phoenix in November 1970. It was then retired but may have remained in Dallenbach's part of the Hopkins operation when Duane Glasgow (Hasting, MI) became his chief mechanic for the 1971 season. Glasgow remained with Hopkins until he retired from the sport in 1974, and he sold the 1966 Eagle and the two newer 1972 Eagles he'd been running to Fred Fuhr (Hastings, MI). Fuhr sold the 1966 car in 1979 to Bob Ames (Portland, OR), who sold it in about 1986 to Wally Dallenbach. Paul Dallenbach drove the car to Indianapolis in 1987 to be restored by Wayne Leary, and an article on the restoration in Open Wheel (December 1989 p66) referred to it as the 1966 McCluskey car. It later spent many years on display in the lobby of Unser Karting (Denver, CO). In late 2018 or early 2019, it was reported that the car had been sold to Chris MacAllister (Indianapolis, IN).
19. Eagle 66 [203] (Johnny Rutherford): A customer car sold to John W. Klug (Newport Beach, CA) of Pacesetter Homes, fitted with a 255ci Ford V8 and entered at the 1966 Indy 500 as the #88 Bardahl-Pacesetter Homes Special for Jerry Grant to drive, with Roy Campbell as chief mechanic. Klug's USAC entry form identifies the car as chassis 203. Grant was dropped by AAR's team of Can-Am Lola T70s at the beginning of October 1966, and set up Friedkin Enterprises Racing Division with financial backing from his old friend Tom Friedkin (San Diego, CA), and with ex-AAR mechanics Larry Stellings and Larry Webb. The new operation had two Eagles, Grant's #88 Indy 500 car chassis 203 which Friedkin acquired from Klug and the former Yamaha #6 car of Joe Leonard, and acquired a new Lola T70 which Grant drove at Riverside in October, entered by Alan Green Chevrolet. Grant drove the #88 Eagle at Phoenix in November as a Bardahl entry and this is presumably the #78 Friedkin Enterprises entry for Grant at the 1967 Indy 500 and at road course events later in the season. It was entered by Friedkin Enterprises as the #76 for Jerry Titus at the 1968 Indy 500. No sign has been found of it racing again in 1968, but photographs show that this was the car used in the Universal Pictures film 'Winning', starring Paul Newman and filmed during the summer of 1968, where it appeared as the #42 car of Robert Wagner's character Luther Lou Erding. It was then sold to Jackson oilman Walt Michner for his Michner Petroleum team, and used by driver Johnny Rutherford as a backup to his 1967 Eagle. The 1966 car was fitted with an Offy turbo for 1969 and entered as the #36 Patrick Petroleum car for Rutherford throughout the season. Retained by Michner for Rutherford during the 1970 and 1971 seasons still in partnership with Michner's 1967 Eagle as the #18 entry. The 1966 car was nicknamed "Geraldine" during this time and the 1967 car "Old Shep". Then to Marvin Webster (who had previously owned 'the AAR/Leonard car') and on the entry list at Ontario in 1972 for Don Brown. Next seen in practice at the 1973 Indy 500, entered by Webster as the #76, and later at Ontario in September 1973 where John Cannon raced it. Advertised by Webster in December 1973 with a 1968 Eagle. Unknown until owned by Anthony Seibert (Boulder, CO) in May 1983. Reappeared when sold by Joseph D Lhotka, Trustee, Shawn S Trust (Westminster, CO) to Centennial Import Motor Co (Boulder, CO) in April 1987, and then sold almost immediately to Chuck Haines (Manchester, MO). Retained by Haines until 2005, when sold to Aaron Lewis (Cessnock, NSW, Australia) and restored to Rutherford #36 livery. Run at the Phillip Island Classic 2011 by Lewis, and displayed car at Indianapolis in 2017 and 2018. Sold to Bobby Rahal (Chicago, IL) in October 2018.
20. Eagle 68 [404] (Lee Roy Yarbrough): Dan Gurney's #48 Olsonite entry at the 1968 Indy 500 was a new 1968 Eagle fitted with the Gurney Weslake Ford 303 ci stock block V8 engine. This car was highly successful on road courses later in the year, Gurney winning at IRP, twice at Mosport and at Riverside. The car was sold to Marshall Robbins of Jim Robbins Co. for 1969 and crew chief Jim Spangler fitted a Ford turbo for Lee Roy Yarbrough to drive at the Indy 500. Robbins and Spangler brought the car back to the Speedway for 1970 for Yarbrough to drive. It was last seen with the Robbins team at Ontario in 1970. This was later identified by Carl Hungness as the car raced by Mike Mosley at the 1972 Indy 500, but when the car moved from Robbins to the AJ Watson/Leader Card team is unclear. Mosley crashed this car at the 1972 Indy 500, and was again injured. Photographs of the car at this race show several diagonal rows of rivets at the back of the tub on the left, indicating a major repair. This pattern of rivets then identifies the car in pictures at Ontario in 1972, at Ontario in 1973, and in the present day. After the 1972 Indy 500, Rick Muther used the team's other 1968 Eagle until Mosley again returned from his injuries in September, and this ex-Robbins car was ready for him to drive at the Ontario 500. The team's other 1968 Eagle was donated to the IMS Museum in January 1973, leaving this car to act as a backup to Leader Card Racer's new 1972/73 Eagles. It was raced by Mosley again at Trenton in early 1973, by Johnny Parsons Jr at Milwaukee and by Tom Sneva at Ontario. That was the last time it was seen on a racetrack, but in 1978 it was sitting in Jim Hurtubise's garage at the Indy 500 wearing #54 with its rear wing acting as a drinks table. By 1995, it had been restored to 1972 livery and was hanging in the roof of AJ Watson's shop. Since then, the car has been retained by the Wilke family.
21. Coyote 69 ['69-1'] (George Snider): New for AJ Foyt at the 1969 Indy 500 as Ansted-Thompson Racing's #6 Sheraton-Thompson entry. Foyt qualified on pole position and finsihed eighth. Photographs indicate that he raced the car at Milwaukee in June, Trenton in July, Dover Downs in August 1969, Trenton in September, and Phoenix in November. He used a 1968 Coyote on short tracks and road courses that season. In 1970, this may well have been Foyt's early-season car. It was then driven by George Snider at Indy in 1970 as the #84 Sheraton-Thompson entry. Later in the season it was Foyt's road racing car at Continental Divide (probably) and at IRP in July, and the car he used at Milwaukee in August, when it had acquired an extra fuel tank on the left side. Assumed to be the car he drove at Phoenix in November. During this time it also had different fuel fillers to the other Coyotes. In 1971, it was used by Foyt at Phoenix in March, and was then Donnie Allison's #83 Purolator entry at the Indy 500 and presumably the #83 he drove a week later at Milwaukee. Its last observed outing with the team was as Foyt's car at Milwaukee in August 1971. For 1972, the car was sold to Lee Brayton (Coldwater, MI) and was the blue #61 Eisenhour Racing Coyote that he crashed during practice on 11 May. It was replaced by a 1970 Coyote and was not rebuilt. Brayton kept the damaged car in storage for many years until it was reported to have been sold some time around 2008. In 2016, it emerged that Bob Donahue (Indianapolis, IN) was the new owner.
22. Eagle 68 [402] (Mike Mosley): Sold new to the Leader Card team and prepared by Jud Phillips and Tom 'Red' Herrmann for Bobby Unser to race in 1968 as the #3 Rislone entry. He won the Indy 500, but just two weeks later "wiped out" his 500 winner in an accident on only the third lap at Mosport Park. Unser used his two 1967 Eagles after that, and also in early 1969 until his new Lola T152 was ready. After the Lola was badly damaged at Milwaukee in June, Unser appeared in a 1968 Eagle at Continental Divide in July and at other road course events later in the season. At Riverside on 5 December 1969 his car was described as "the actual Indy winner". This car was transferred to the AJ Watson half of the Leader Card operation and was raced by Mike Mosley at the Indy 500 and at Ontario in 1970 as the #9 G. C. Murphy entry. For 1971, Watson acquired a second '68 Eagle, but Mosley wrecked this at the Indy 500. George Snider drove the original ex-Unser car at the Indy 500, and also drove it for the team later in the season, while Mosley was recovering from his accident. Photographs show that this was the car used by Mosley in the first two races of 1972, but the team had also bought the ex-Dan Gurney '68 Eagle from the Jim Robbins team, and it was that car that Mosley raced in the Indy 500. After his crash in the Indy 500, Mosley was again out of racing for some months, and Rick Muther drove the team's original ex-Unser car in four races in the summer of 1972. Mosley returned again in time for the Ontario 500, at which he raced his repaired Indy 500 mount. Photographs show that the ex-Robbins car was used at Ontario in 1972, and at Ontario in 1973, so it is assumed here that it was also used in the intervening races. The last race for the ex-Unser car was therefore at Milwaukee in August 1972. In January 1973, it was sold to the Indianapolis Speedway Museum, and by May 1973, it was on display as Bobby Unser's 1968 Indy 500 winning car. It has remained on display ever since, and still carries the 402 chassis plate.
23. McLaren M15A [2] (Peter Revson): This was the #73 race car for Denny Hulme at Indy in 1970 and taken over by Peter Revson after Hulme withdrew. Then sold to Gordon Johncock and raced three times before being wrecked at Michigan when the center of the right rear wheel broke and the car spun into the wall. The chassis damage was repaired by Johncock's chief crew Duane Glasgow but it was not raced again. Sold at the end of 1970 to Dave Paul (Berrien Springs, MI) but he did not have an engine for it and sold it a few years later. In 1985 it was sold by Jim Mann (Elkhart, IN) to Bill Wiswedel (Holland, MI) and he still had the car in 2010.
24. Hayhoe 68 (Billy Vukovich): One of two cars built by Hayhoe Racing Enterprises, this is the #62 Cleaver Brooks car in which Bruce Walkup was bumped at the Indy 500 in 1968. This car may have been used as the #59 entry at some point during 1968 but its next definite appearance was at the 1969 Indy 500 when it was the #39 backup car for new owner 3-K Racing Enterprises but did not appear on track. In 1970, the cars had moved to Jerry O'Connell's Sugaripe Prune team and both were raced at selected events that season. Both cars were run again in 1971 and this car was the #58 Sugaripe Prune entry for Bud Tingelstad at the three 500-mile races. Crashed heavily at the Ontario 500 and reportedly destroyed.
25. Colt 70 [002?] (Joe Leonard): A second 1970 Colt built for Joe Leonard to drive for Vel's Parnelli Jones Ford as the #15 Johnny Lightning 500 entry. Leonard only used the car at the Indy 500, Milwaukee in June which he won, and Ontario in September. Photographs show that for the first few races of 1971, Leonard drove the Colt-Lola that Al Unser had used on mile tracks in 1970. Leonard then used his new 1971 Colt at the Indy 500, at Milwaukee in June, and at Pocono, but at Michigan in mid-July he was back to an older car, presumably this 1970 car. After damaging that car against the wall at Michigan, he was reported to be driving Unser's 1970 short track car again at Milwaukee in August before returning to his new 1971 Colt for the last three races of the season. Subsequent history unresolved but photographs suggest this was the car sold to the Fejer Brothers and George Eaton in July or August 1971.
26. Scorpion 70 ['1'] (Roger McCluskey): Clint Brawner's original Scorpion was driven by Roger McCluskey at Indy in 1970 and was the #64 backup car for Art Pollard at the 1971 Indy 500 (Hungness 1971). In between these races, it is hard to speculate to its history as Brawner had a second Scorpion for Pollard to drive alongside McCluskey at the 1970 California 500 and then Pollard wrecked a Scorpion at Phoenix at the start of 1971. Jimmy Caruthers had driven the #64 car in practice for the 1971 Indy 500 and it is presumed that this is the same car he ran as the #64 second car at Milwaukee and Pocono.
27. Gerhardt 70 (Gary Bettenhausen): New for Gary Bettenhausen for the 1970 Indy 500 as the Gerhardt team's #16 Thermo-King entry, where he qualified 20th and retired early. He used this car at Milwaukee eight days later, but then used one of his 1969 cars for much of the summer before racing his Indy 500 car again at Ontario in September, Trenton in October and Phoenix in November. He raced it again at Rafaela in February but then used the heavily modified sister car at Phoenix and Trenton. This car was modified along the same lines for Bettenhausen to use at the 1971 500. It was then modified again, this time along McLaren M16 lines, for Bettenhausen to race at Pocono in July, Michigan in August, Ontario in September, and Phoenix in October. It was then Jim Malloy's #16 entry at the start of the 1972 season, then the #46 car at the 1972 Indy 500 that was changed to run as #16 for Jerry Karl after Malloy's crash in the team's new Eagle. Johnny Rutherford then took over the car at Milwaukee in June but consumed in a "fiery and spectacular crash".
28. Mongoose 70 (Lloyd Ruby): One of two new cars built by the Gene White team for 1970, both of which were raced by Lloyd Ruby during the season. Both the #12 and #25 cars were acquired by Robert B. McConnell (Urbana, OH) and this #25 car was restored between 2002 and 2007, emerging for the 2007 Ault Park Concours d'Elegance in Cincinnati, Ohio, where it won Best in Class. Also at the Amelia Island concours in 2009. Still in the McConnell Collection in 2014.
29. Gerhardt 68 (Gordon Johncock): After starting the season with his existing stable of one 1966 Gerhardt and two 1967 Gerhardts, Gordy Johncock acquired two new 1968 Gerhardts in time for the 1968 Indy 500. He used one of these at the Indy 500, and at Milwaukee, and later at Langhorne, Michigan, and Phoenix, but acquired a 1968 Eagle for road racing, and the backup 1968 Gerhardt appears to have remained unused that season. As Johncock's 1969 Gerhardt and 1970 Eagle were both flops, at least one of these 1968 Gerhardts remained in his stable until well into 1970, after which he acquired a McLaren M15A. Late in 1971, Lawrence S. McCoy of Eastern Racing Associates, announced that a Gerhardt-Offy would be entered in Indycar racing for his son Larry McCoy. The press material included a picture of Johncock's #5 Gerhardt, as used at the 1970 Indy 500, and this would appear to be the car McCoy had acquired. McCoy qualified for Michigan, Milwaukee and Trenton in 1972. Subsequent history unknown.
30. Mongoose 67 (Bruce Walkup): New to the G. C. R. team managed by Jim Rathmann and backed by two US astonauts. Entered as the #71 at the 1967 Indy 500 but crashed in practice by Bobb Johns. Reappeared as Milwaukee later in the year as the #76 for Gary Congdon when it had been converted from Offy to Ford power. Then sold to J.C. Agajanian and entered as the #98 Agajanian REV 500 for Billy Vukovich at Riverside at the end of the season. Retained as the #98 entry for Vukovich through 1968 except at the Indy 500 where it was the #97 entry for Gary Bettenhausen. Retained again for 1969, again as the #98 for Vukovich when it was used with Ford, Offy and Chevrolet engines. Retained again for 1970 but now as the #97 entry as the Agajanian team had a new Wolverine car as the #98. It appeared yet again in the middle of 1971, when it was raced twice by John Martin as the team's #97 entry. Then unknown until it was bought from Bob Jongbloed by an unknown owner as a "Brabham" but still wearing a USAC registration tag '71 - 97'. Identified by Dave Laycock from photographs as a 1967 Mongoose. Sold it 2012 to Butch Gilbert (Westley, CA) who started a restoration of the car to its 1969 livery.
31. Kingfish 70 (Art Pollard): Built by Grant King for 1970 and raced by Art Pollard in the early races of the season as his #10 Pollard Car Wash entry. Pollard and King separated after Milwaukee in June, and the car was next seen at Ontario where it was the #41 Grant King entry for Greg Weld. Weld then crashed it in practice at Trenton in October. It returned in 1971, still as the #41 entry, and was driven by Roger McCluskey at Rafaela. George Follmer put it in the race at Indianapolis and it then became the #40 STP entry for Larry Dickson and others later that season, including George Snider. As far as can be determined, this car was Snider's #35 car at the opening race of the 1972 season, and then used by Steve Krisiloff as the #15 at two short track raced later that season. It was then Krisiloff's #24 entry at the opening race of the 1973 season before finally being retired.
32. Hawk III (68) (George Follmer): A second 1968 Hawk built for Mario Andretti to use in road racing events in 1968. This is presumably the car used by Andretti at Mosport Park, Continental Divide, Indianapolis Raceway Park, Mont-Tremblant and Riverside during 1968. Became part of the STP team for 1969, and likely to have been Andretti's #64 backup car at the 1969 Indy 500. Probably used at Langhorne in June, then likely to be the road racing car again used at Continental Divide and Indianapolis Raceway Park. After the oval racing sister car was wrecked at Dover Downs in August, the road racing car was used on oval tracks as well, and was raced by Andretti at Brainerd, Trenton, Seattle, Phoenix and Riverside. Retained for 1970 and used by Andretti at the beginning of the season, then by Follmer at the 1970 Indy 500, although it was reported at the time to be Andretti's 1969 Indy 500 car. Later in the season, Andretti drove it at Langhorne and at Michigan, where he crashed. Repaired and raced by Andretti at Milwaukee in August, by Follmer at Ontario, then by STP's No 2 driver Steve Krisiloff at Trenton in October, at Phoenix in November, and at Trenton again in April 1971, where he crashed it. The car was repaired for exhibition purposes and was later acquired by the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum, where it is displayed as a replica of Andretti Indy 500 winner.
33. Gerhardt 69 (Greg Weld): A Gerhardt wedge built for Grant King's STP-backed team for the 1969 season and raced by Art Pollard at the start of the season as the #20 STP Oil Treatment entry. Became the #57 at the Indy 500 where it was raced by Carl Williams. Won at Milwaukee in June in Pollard's hands. Fitted with a Plymouth stock block engine for road races and won again at Dover Downs in August. Retained for 1970 as part of Pollard's team and raced by Pollard as the #10 at Phoenix and by Greg Weld as the #93 at the Indy 500. Sold by Pollard later in the year to Roy 'Shorty' Emrich (Manchester, PA) who fitted a Chevrolet engine and ran it for local sprint car star Bobby Allen at Phoenix in November 1970. Emrich also ran the car a few times in 1971, and it appeared at Trenton in April 1972 for Dick Tobias, but failed to start . Later restored by Bill Smith and reunited with the Plymouth engine in the late 1980s when Smith persuaded Vince Granatelli to part with it. Was on display at the Eddie Evans Car Museum (Bedford, Indiana) around 2000. On display at the Museum of American Speed in Lincoln, NE in 2012.
34. Gerhardt 68/69 (Jim Malloy): A late-1968-style Gerhardt that first appeared as part of the Federal Automotive team at the 1969 Indy 500 as the #31 Federal Engineering entry for Bobby Johns. Johns did not qualify and Bud Tingelstad took over the #31 for the rest of 1969. This car returned to Indy in 1970 as Federal's #31 Stearns Transi-Tread entry with Paul Brooks as chief crew for driver Jim Malloy who qualified. The 1969 car is presumed to be the #31 car from then until the team disappears at the end of 1971. Subsequent history unknown until Hurricane Charley in August 2004 damaged a building in Florida, revealing the little-known car collection of real estate developer Walter Medlin. The #31 Gerhardt, in apparently original condition, was visible in pictures of the damaged building. In April 2007, the car was pictured on an open transporter on Interstate 65 heading north of Nashville, TN. With it were the 1979 Cicada and an unidentified #99 car. Rumoured to be in a private museum in Indianapolis (and the I-65 through Nashville is exactly on the route from Florida to Indianapolis).
35. Gerhardt 68 (Al Loquasto): Arthur W. 'Buzz' Harvey's Bulldog Stables Inc (Hardwick, Mass) entered what was later claimed to be a new Gerhardt turbo Offy as their #26 entry at the 1969 Indy 500 for Rick Muther, who narrowly failed to qualify the car. It was the same shape as Gerhardt's own #16 entry, with the same outboard front suspension. After 1969, it was then sold to Al Loquasto (Manchester, PA), who ran it in 1970 and 1971 as the very popular Indy-On-A-Shoestring #26 Gerhardt turbo Offy. The car was entered by Bob Raines (New York, NY) and filmmaker Judd Maze at the 1970 Indy 500 with Frank Curtis as crew chief, but blew two engines during practice and then damaged its front suspension when the throttle on its sole remaining engine stuck open, so could not qualify. Loquasto started at Michigan and Trenton later in 1970, and had another attempt to qualify for the 500 in 1971. On this occasion he crashed again during practice, on 23 May, and the car was extensively damaged. Repaired and sold to Carl Gehlhausen (Jasper, IN) and Jim Masson (Kansas City, KS), and entered for Jerry Karl (Manchester, PA) in 1972, with Eddie Baue (Sparta, IL) as chief mechanic. After Karl was released, it was driven by Tom Bigelow later in the season. The team acquired a 1972 Kingfish for 1973, and the subsequent history of the Gerhardt is unknown.
36. Gerhardt 67 (Al Loquasto): Dan Levine's Federal Engineering acquired two new Gerhardts for the 1967 season, one with Dzus-fastened sides which was fitted with a supercharged Offy engine, and this fully-rivetted car which was fitted with a Ford engine. This was the #10 Federal Engineering entry for Bud Tingelstad at the 1967 Indy 500 and was his car at most races that season. It was fitted with a turbo Offy for 1968, and was again Tingelstad car at the Indy 500 and most races. It is thought to have been Bobby John's #35 Federal Engineering Special at Indy in 1969, a car that had outboard front springs. It continued in use alongside the team's newer 1968-type Gerhardt in 1970 and also had a handful of outings in 1971, being driven by Eldon Rasmussen at the last two races of the season. History then unknown until a car with outboard springs seen fully restored to Tingelstad's #10 livery at Indianapolis in May 2011 when it was driven by Parnelli Jones. Prepared then by Greg Elliff of G.E. Autosports (Avon, IN).
37. Hayhoe 68 (Sonny Ates): One of two cars built by Hayhoe Racing Enterprises, this is the car entered as the #59 Cleaver Brooks Spl in 1968. Presumed for now to be the same car used as the #59 on the team's other appearances, but it is possible that the sister car (the #62 at the Indy 500) was used at some events that season. To 3-K Racing Enterprises for 1969 and entered as the #59 Krohne Grain Transport at the Indy 500, but again it is possible that the sister car (the #39 at the Indy 500) was substituted at later short track events. To Jerry O'Connell for 1970 and both cars were entered as Sugaripe Prune Spls at four races that year. Retained for 1971 when Jud Phillips joined as O'Connell's new chief mechanic and run for most of the year with this car now as the #32 Sugaripe Prune entry for Billy Vukovich. Unknown after 1971 but if this was the only survivor, it would be the car raced by Dave Bowling (San Jose, CA) in Northern Auto Racing Club (NARC) Sprint Car Racing in Northern California in 1975. It would also be the basis of his "ecology car", raced in 1977, and probably his rear-engined car in 1974. In 2008 the car was for sale with Chuck Haines (St Louis, MO), restored to its 1971 #32 livery. By 2015, it had been sold to Jim Griggs (Panama City, FL).
38. Lola T92 [SL92/5] (Jigger Sirois): New to John Mecom's team, fitted with a Ford engine and entered for Jackie Stewart as Mecom's #43 Bowes Seal Fast entry at the 1967 Indy 500, with the same entry number and sponsor Stewart used in 1966. Stewart qualified on the first weekend but his time was slow, so another car was built up for him to use on the second qualifying weekend. His #43 car was indeed bumped, and Stewart qualified and raced the newer car. After Mecom closed his team and George Bignotti continued with Al Unser as a Retzloff entry, it is unclear how the three T92s were used, but photographs suggest that the #43 car was John Surtees' #24 Bowes Seal Fast at Riverside in November. Press reports then suggest that this was the car bought from Bignotti in April 1968 by Memphis and Mississippi aircraft dealer Jack Adams as a backup to his main turbine car at the 1968 Indy 500, an identification which is supported by photographs. Howard Millican was Adams' chief mechanic on the Lola. Bob Hurt initially drove it as the #36 Jack Adams Aircraft entry but Larry Dickson took over the drive before qualifying. Dickson qualified but was bumped. Dickson was replaced by Jim McElreath later in 1968. For 1969, the car's Ford engine was replaced with a turbo Offy, and it was driven by Bobby Grim, Jim Malloy and Rick Muther. By the end of 1969, reports said that it had been updated with "Eagle-copy front and Brabham-copy rear suspensions" but when it appeared at the 1970 Indy 500 its front suspension appeared normal. This car's last appearance was at that 1970 Indy 500, when it was entered by 'Two Jacks' as the #72 Hustlin' Hoosier for Jigger Sirois. Sirois hit the wall on 23 May and caused minor damage to the car, leaving no time for repairs before final qualifying the next day. The Adams team continued the season with the other two cars in its stable and the Lola was not seen again. Subsequent history unknown.
39. Morris 70 (Kevin Bartlett): According to Bob Sawicki who talked with Jeff Walther at the Walther Auction, the Walthers bought a car from George Morris for the 1970 season, and then had two more built for the 1971 season. The 1970 car appeared at the 1970 Indy 500 where Kevin Bartlett narrowly failed to qualify. Whether this was the second 1969 car or a new 1970 car is not clear. Photographs of the car at Indy in 1970 show a car very similar to the 1969 Morris used by MVS. It was raced for the rest of the 1970 season as the #77. Again according to Jeff Walther, this 1970 car was the #55 entry at Indy in 1971 and was then wrecked by Salt Walther during Indy testing in the fall of 1971.
40. Eagle 67 [214] (Tony Adamowicz): New to Walt Michner's Michner Petroleum team and described as a new 1968 Eagle for the 1968 Indy 500, but photographs show that it was a 1966/67-type Eagle. Assigned to Mike Mosley, then Rick Muther, then Ronnie Duran, and finally to Bill Cheesbourg, who qualified it but was bumped. Norm Brown then took over the drive but was badly injured at Milwaukee in the accident that took the life of Ronnie Duman and destroyed the Michner Lola T80. Michner then recruited Johnny Rutherford and he drove this car, and a 1966 sister car, in 1969, 1970 and 1971, by which time the team had become Patrick Racing. This 1967 car, nicknamed "Old Shep", appears to have been the road racing car in 1969, and was then the car qualified by Tony Adamowicz for the 1970 Indy 500, but bumped, while Rutherford raced the sister car, known as "Geraldine". Rutherford then wrecked it in practice at Langhorne in June and it was not seen again that season. In July 1971, the 1967 car was the first of the pair to be fitted with McLaren M16-style wings instead of the wedge bodywork used on "Geraldine" at the 1971 Indy 500. Sold to Bentley Warren for 1972 as his #36 Bay State Racing entry. Retained for 1973 and 1974, after which the car remained in his garage. In the early 2000s, Warren sold the car to a consortium "Eagle Partners", who rebuilt the car to the 1971 wedge-sided configuration used on the sister car, "Geraldine". In 2006, the restored car appeared at the Amelia Island Concours, and in 2007 it was sold at auction by Kruse (Auburn, IN) to Chuck Haines. In 2008, Haines sold it to Jim Vieira, and it appeared at an Indianapolis historic event in 2009. By early 2011, it was at John Mueller of Entrepreneur's Motor Sports (Fresno, CA), to be restored to Richie Ginther's 1967 #42 livery. In this form, it was sold in 2013 to Rob Dyson (Millbrook, NY). See full history: the Michner Eagle.
41. Gerhardt 66 (Steve Krisiloff): Having run a 1966 Gerhardt in 1967, Ken Brenn (Warren, NJ) acquired a replacement Gerhardt with 255ci Ford V8 engine for the 1968 season, and ran it for Bob Harkey at the Indy 500 as the #88 entry, where he was bumped. This car has been described as a 1967 Gerhardt, but Simmo Iskül's analysis shows it was built to a 1966 pattern and The Indy Star called it a 1966 car in 1970. It was driven later in the 1968 season by Bruce Walkup. It was then sold to Mike Krisiloff's American Racing Associates (Lake Hiawatha, NJ) and run for his son Steve Krisiloff backed by VTM Finishing. The Gerhardt ran as #112 in 1969 and #92 in 1970. At Indy in 1970, Hungness notes that it has an underpowered non-turbo Ford, given as a 225 ci in press reports. It last appeared at Michigan International Speedway in July 1970, after which it was reported that it had been stolen from the Holiday Inn at New Stanton, PA, while on its way back to New Jersey. Subsequent history unknown but reported to have been parted out.
42. Gerhardt 69 (Jim McElreath): New wedge Gerhardt for Myron Caves team for 1969. Although announced in February 1969, the Caves Buick wedge was not expected to race until the Indy 500 and the team's older car was used by Jigger Sirois in the early-1969 races. The car actually missed the Indy 500 as it was still being put together in chief mechanic Bob Higman's garage in Romney, Indiana, and it first raced by Jim McElreath as the #14 Quaker State Spl at Trenton in July 1969. It was then the #74 Gerhardt driven by McElreath, Arnie Knepper and Sam Sessions in 1970. McElreath could not qualify the car at the 500 that year, where photographs show a very exaggerated wedge shape. Caves had heart surgery in June 1970 and his team disappeared until Ontario 1971 where the car was entered as the #37 Caves Buick with Bruce Walkup in the seat. Lee Kunzman qualified this car for the 1972 Indy 500, and it was raced later in the season by McElreath, Johnny Parsons Jr and Greg Weld. The Caves Buick team was wound up at the end of 1972. In 1978, Jim Jorgensen (Sanger, CA) started racing a 1969 Gerhardt as a Super-Modified that bore a very strong resemblance to the Caves Buick car. It had been fitted with a 350 ci Chevrolet V8 and a rollcage, and was raced by Jorgensen as #61 in open competition races at Madera Speedway. After he finished racing it, it was reported to be in a barn in the Sanger area in the mid-1980s. Its history is then unknown until acquired by Toney Edwards (Greenwood, Indiana) in the Fresno area around 2020.
43. Gerhardt 67 (Arnie Knepper): The Caves Buick team acquired a backup car in time for the 1968 Indy 500 that was described as a "twin" to their 1967 car. After Bob Hurt crashed the primary car during practice, it is assumed that Sammy Sessions drove this "twin" thereafter as the #14 Caves Buick entry. In 1969, Jigger Sirois took over the Caves drive and his car was described as a 1967 Gerhardt and also as "last year's car" at the start of the season, but his car had outboard springs at the Indy 500, a 1968/69 modification, whereas both cars at the 1968 Indy 500 had had inboard springs. Sirois was called off by Caves during his qualifying run when he would, with hindsight, have taken pole. Bob Harkey and Jim McElreath took over the drive later in 1969. At Trenton in July 1969, the team had a brand new Gerhardt wedge which implies the early 1969 car was their 1968 car carried over. A photo of the #14 car at Indy in 1969 (Hungness p37) matches the team's backup #53 car at Indy in 1970. The car was last seen at Langhorne in June 1970 when it was very badly damaged by fire after it was crashed by Sammy Sessions. Caves, who was then very unwell, said he doubted he'd repair it as it was "getting too bruised to be competitive".
44. Gerhardt 68 (Denny Zimmerman): A new 1968 Gerhardt built for Mel Kenyon after his City of Lebanon 1967 Gerhardt was wrecked at Milwaukee in June 1968. This car had the same overall shape as the early-season 1968 cars but had outboard front suspension. Entered as the #15 in 1968, becoming #9 Krohne Grain Transport Spl at the 1969 Indy 500 where Kenyon finished in a fine fourth place. Driven by Sonny Ates as the #59 at Trenton later that year and by Kenyon at both Milwaukee races. This car then became Joseph B. Hunt's #99 'Joe Hunt Magneto Spl' from the start of 1970. Denny Zimmerman failed to qualify it for the 1970 Indy 500 but Bob Harkey put it in the 1971 Indy 500. It was then replaced by an ex-Bettenhausen 1968 Gerhardt, but may have continued in use as a short track car. Hunt died in June 1985, and about a year later both Gerhardts were sold by his widow Mary to Jack Thompson (Doylestown, PA).
45. Gerhardt 66 (Jigger Sirois): New to Myron Caves, originally from Madison, Wisconsin and by 1966 a long-established Buick dealer in Gerhardt's home town of Fresno, CA. Fitted with a supercharged Offy and run for Mike McGreevy as the #85 Caves Buick Co. entry at the start of the season and also at Indy but despite the efforts of three drivers, it did not qualify. Presumably the same #85 Caves Buick Gerhardt-Offy SC driven principally by Al Miller through to the end of 1966, and at Phoenix in April 1967, where it was wrecked. Caves had a new Gerhardt for the 1967 Indy 500, but this 1966 car may have been repaired and retained as a short track car in 1967, 1968 and even 1969. Next seen when sold to Jack Adams who had entered a car at Indy in 1969 with a Bryant chassis and Allison helicopter turbine engine. The Gerhardt was rebuilt by chief crew Howard Millican to take the turbine and was practiced at Indy in 1970 by Jigger Sirois but could not find the speed to qualify. Raced by Rick Muther later in 1970, finishing eighth at Trenton, and in 1971. The chassis was sold to Mark Stainbrook in 1971 and he later sold it to Gary Bettenhausen. Subsequent history unknown.
46. Vollstedt 66 [9] (John Cannon): Built for 1966 as the #17 Jim Robbins car and used by several drivers at Indy that year but did not qualify. Became the #67 in 1967 and raced by Lee Roy Yarbrough at the Indy 500. Raced by Jim Malloy at a few races later in the season and then as a regular entry through 1968. For Lee Roy Yarbrough again at the 1969 Indy 500 as the #27 Jim Robbins entry but did not qualify. Returned to Vollstedt for 1970 and run as the #17 on a few occasions in 1970 and early 1971. Sold by Vollstedt to the Crombie Brothers for 1976, and raced by Ed Crombie (Williams Lake, British Columbia) at Trenton on 2 May. Crashed in practice at the Speedway later that month and not raced again. According to Michael McKinney's research, it was acquired from Crombie by Jerry Proper (Spokane, WA), modified significantly, and raced in CAMRA (Canadian American Modified Racing Association) Super-Modified races in the Pacific North West and Western Canada in the 1980s and 1990s.
47. Vollstedt 67 ['B'] (John Cannon): New for 1967 and run by Vollstedt Enterprises as the #21 Bryant Heating & Cooling Spl in 1967 and 1968 with a 255 ci Ford quad cam engine. Driven by Jim Clark as the #21 Sperex entry at Riverside in November 1967. Acquired a turbo engine in late 1968 and continued to run as the #21 Bryant Heating & Cooling Spl in 1969 and then as Vollstedt Enterprises' #21 car in 1970 and 1971. Raced by Gordon Johncock as the #7 on some occasions in 1971, and last seen with the team at Phoenix in November 1971 when it was raced by Wally Dallenbach. Sold to Art Sugai (Ontario, OR) and entered at Phoenix in November 1972 as the #17 East Side Special for Kenny Hamilton, but he slid into guard rail during practice and the car was heavily damaged. The remains went to local car builders Tom Fox and Ron Yurich in 1976 who intended to use it to build a Super Modified but it remained with them, still unrepaired, until 2007 when purchased from Yurich's son John by Michael McKinney (Kennewick WA) together with friends Ron Hjaltalin and Marc Prentice. The car was restored over the next few years and was run at Indianapolis in May 2011.
48. Watson 64 (Arnie Knepper): Built new by AJ Watson for Rodger Ward to race in 1964 for the Leader Card team as the #2 Kaiser Aluminum entry. Fitted with a Ford V8. Finished second at Indy that year and had two other second places later in the season. Taken by Leader Card to Indy again in 1965 as the #15 backup and used in practice by Jud Larson but wrecked and did not start. Brought back out later in the 1965 season for Bob Mathouser, and again for the same driver once at the start of 1966. Sold to Norm Hall over the 1966/67 close season who linked up with Barney Navarro to use the 199 ci 6-cylinder AMC Rambler turbo engine that Navarro had been developing. Appeared from 1967 to 1972 but, as a general rule, failed to qualify or failed to start. It appeared at Rafaela 1971 - only its fourth actual race start - driven by Dave Strickland and in practice at Indy that year by Les Scott. Jigger Sirois made another unsuccessful attempt to qualify the #50 Navarro-Rambler at the 1972 Indy 500. It was later acquired from Navarro by Rodger Ward and restored to its 1964 specification in the late 1980s. Subsequent history unknown until part of a display of Indycars at Monterey in August 2007 when it was owned by Tom Malloy and said to be "s/n 001" and then at Fontana in March 2008 alongside the Branson sister car.
49. Eisert 69 (Kevin Bartlett): New to Marvin Webster's Webster Racing and fitted with Webster's 319 ci stock block Ford V8 engine for Jim Malloy to drive in the California 200 at Hanford Motor Speedway in April 1969. It was later raced by Jerry Grant at Continental Divide, Indianapolis Raceway Park, Seattle and Riverside later that year. He also drove it at Phoenix in November but was too slow to qualify. Kevin Bartlett drove it at Sears Point in April 1970, then failed to qualify at the Indy 500, and later drove it at Continental Divide in June. Rob Grable raced it at IRP in July, after which it was not seen for over a year until Lothar Motschenbacher raced it at Seattle in August 1971, when it was still black with a red stripe, as it had been since new. Ronnie Bucknum tried it briefly in practice at Ontario, and then Johnny Parsons Jr crashed it while trying to qualify at Phoenix. Its last known appearance was when Don Brown drove it at Ontario in 1972, but again no attempt was made to qualify. According to a later Bonhams auction catalogue, the car was then stored by Webster until 1987, when he sold it to Tom Armstrong (Bellevue, WA). Armstrong restored it with a Gurney-Weslake V8 and used it in US historic racing from 1988 to 2003. It was offered for sale from 'the Tom Armstrong Collection' by Bonhams in August 2012, but did not sell.
50. Gerhardt 70 (Larry Dickson): As well as his #16 primary car, Gary Bettenhausen also had a second brand new car entered as the Gerhardt team's #78 Thermo-King entry at the 1970 Indy 500. This car was driven in practice by Larry Dickson, whose qualifying run had to be aborted, and Tony Adamowicz, who brushed the wall just before the start of final qualifying. As far as can be determined (so far), this car was not used again in 1970 as Bettenhausen had his primary 1970 car and also one of the 1969 cars to use. It is presumably the modified car that he drove at Phoenix and Trenton in early 1971, and was then his #46 backup car at the 1971 Indy 500, which was qualified by Jimmy McElreath but bumped. Later on in the season it was Bettenhausen's regular short-track car, being used at both Milwaukee races. It was then used by Jimmy Caruthers as the team's #46 entry at Ontario, by Bettenhausen as the #16 at Trenton in October, and by Caruthers as the #46 again at Phoenix. After Johnny Rutherford destroyed the sister car at Milwaukee in June 1972, this is likely to be the car he raced at Michigan in July and Milwaukee in August. Subsequent history unknown, but possibly the car that Bruce Crower used for his Dodge Hemi project in 1973, although it remains more likely that Crower had a 1969 car.
51. Eagle 66 [201] (Sam Posey): The first 1966 Eagle, chassis 201, was fitted with a 255ci Ford V8 and was Dan Gurney's #31 AAR entry at the 1966 Indy 500. Then fitted with the 303 ci Gurney Weslake Ford V8 stock block engine, and raced by Jochen Rindt as the #48 AAR entry at the 1967 Indy 500. Used by Gurney to win at Riverside in November 1967, and at Las Vegas in March 1968. Sold to Lothar Motschenbacher (Beverly Hills, CA) later in the year, fitted with a Chevrolet V8 and repainted red with Leader Card Racers signwriting. Motschenbacher intended to take part in the Rverside race in December, but did not take part. Then sold to Jerry Hansen (Long Lake, MN) for the Brainerd, Seattle and Riverside Indy road races in 1969. Then to the Tassi Vatis team, and was the team's #95 entry for Sam Posey at the 1970 Indy 500 but failed to qualify. It was the #95 entry again at the 1971 500, this time raced by Bentley Warren. Warren and later Carl Williams raced it in other events later in 1971 and Williams qualified it for the 500 in 1972. According to a later auction catalogue, it was sold to Bob Johnson and then to Jim Mann in 1978 before passing via Bob and Don Tarwaki to collector Bob Sutherland. It was restored for Sutherland by Jim Robbins then sold to Joe MacPherson (Tustin, CA). After MacPherson's death, it was sold at auction in 2008 to Riverside International Automotive Museum's Doug Magnon. The car was on display in the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum in May 2015, replacing the Museum's own 1966 car which had been on display earlier in the month.
52. Gilbert 68 ['1'] (Bill Simpson): The #28 Gilbert was the first Gilbert to appear in 1968 and was raced by George Follmer in the early races of that season as George R. Bryant's #28 entry. Follmer took over the sister #41 car at the Indy 500 and the #28 was run in practice by Rick Muther but crashed. After Bryant died in June 1968, the #28 reappeared at the end of 1968 when it was raced by Bill Simpson (Los Angeles, CA) at Riverside in December as his #28 Simpson Safety Equipment entry. Retained by Simpson for the 1969 season when it was fitted with a Chevrolet engine and used in both USAC and SCCA Formula A races. Raced regularly by Simpson again in 1970 as the #28 Carborundum-Kynol car in Indy races and last seen at Milwaukee in August. Sold in mid-1970 to Chuck Elliot (Playa del Rey, CA) who prepared it for Bruce Eglinton to drive at the Riverside USAC race. The car did not appear, but Elliott later used it in local SCCA Regional Formula A races. Advertised by Charles W. Elliott (Manhattan Beach, CA) as a "Gilbert-Brabham" in December 1974. Sold to Art Evans in 1985 and raced in vintage events from 1985 to 1987 by drivers including Jack Brabham and Rodger Ward. Evans started a restoration in 2001 but that stalled until the car was bought by Tim Kuchel (Adelaide, Australia) in 2005. It was then restored by Greg Mobbs in Adelaide. Sold in September 2016 to Steve Francis (New Milford, CT) and shipped to the US.
53. Huffaker 66 (Tom Bigelow): In 1968, Frank J. Fiore brought a 1966 Huffaker to the Indy 500 for Chuck Booth to drive, entered as the #34 Speedy's Broasted Chicken Spl. Booth stepped out of the car on 13 May, saying that it was not safe to drive, and was replaced by Dee Jones. Jones started his refresher test in the car but had to withdraw after two laps due to engine problems, and that was the last that was heard of the car that month. Jones was entered at Milwaukee on 9 June but was too slow to start the race. George Benson qualified the car at Hanford in December, but retired with a seized engine. Fiore entered Johnny Parsons Jr in the car for the 1969 Indy 500, but he was refused a rookie test due to inexperience, so the drive went to midget racer Dave Strickland. The car was unable to get up the speed necessary to get Strickland through his rookie test. The car was then sold to Carl Gehlhausen for his driver Tom Bigelow, then doing very well in Gehlhausen's #84 sprint car, prepared by mechanic Eddie Baue. The Huffaker was entered as the #34 Midwest Manufacturing car for Bigelow for a number of races in 1969, 1970 and early 1971, all without success. It was then converted by Gehlhausen as a sprint car and raced with great success by Tom Sneva in 1973 until it was banned. By 1990, it was in Chuck Haines' collection in St Louis, MO.
54. Eagle 66 (Charlie Glotzbach): Sold new to W & W Enterprises, which was Sidney Weinberger, a wealthy sportsman and building contractor from Ulica, Michigan, and his partner Frank Wilseck. Fitted with a Ford quad cam engine and entered by Weinberger Homes for Gordy Johncock at the 1966 Indy 500 as the #5 car. Johncock preferred his 1966 #72 Gerhardt at Indy and elsewhere, and the #5 Eagle only raced at Fuji, where Bobby Unser took it to second place. After Johncock and chief crew Duane Glasgow left, the Eagle was entered by Weinberger at the 1967 500 for Johnny Rutherford to drive, now with Wally Meskowski as chief crew. Raced later in the year by Rutherford, still with its Ford V8, as the team also now had another 1966 Eagle with an Offy turbo. The car remained in the Weinberger stable for 1968, when Ronnie Bucknum drove for the team with Dick Oeffinger, formerly with Gordon Johncock, as chief mechanic. This car was the Ford-powered car raced by Bucknum in 1968, and was later identified as the #45 Weinberger entry for Charlie Glotzbach in 1970. In October 1974, Wilseck sold the car to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum as "car number 49" but as different W&W Eagles wore #49 at different times, this may have caused it to be misidentified. In May 1975 it was on loan by the Museum to an Indianapolis bank, restored in the livery of Lloyd Ruby's #14 AAR Bardahl Eagle but otherwise described correctly as having been driven by Rutherford at the 1967 Indy 500 and Bucknum in the 1968 Indy 500. It continued to be used as part of the museum's backup collection for many years.
55. Philipp 64 (Larry Cannon): This car was originally built by Bob "Rocky" Phillip in Culver City, CA as the Rose Trucking Co.'s #10 rear-engined Offy entry for the 1964 Indy 500 to be driven by Ebb Rose. It was used in practice by Johnny Rutherford, running as a Racing Associates entry, but no attempt was made to qualify it. It was raced by Rutherford at Sacramento in October with a Chevrolet engine and then again at Phoenix (as the #24) at the start of 1965 with an Offy again. Rose drove it in practice for the 1965 Indy 500 where it was the #79 but crashed during practice. What happened next is unknown, but an article in the Decatur Daily Review in April 1970 revealed that the car had been bought by Richard 'Unk' Blacker (Champaign, IL) and repaired. Blacker then fitted a Chevrolet engine and entered it for Super-Modified class driver Larry 'Boom Boom' Cannon (Danville, IL) in 1970 Indy racing as the #47 Autotron Photoelectric 'Blacker-Chevrolet'. After two failures to start a race early in the 1970 season, Cannon then crashed the car during practice for the Indy 500. He qualified for a couple of short track events later in 1970, and then joined the trip out to Argentina for the Rafaela race in early 1971. After two more failures to qualify later in 1971, the car was not seen again. Blacker, a former owner of Unk's Tavern in Champaign, died in 2002, aged 82. Cannon died in 1995. Nothing more is known of the history of their car.
56. Gerhardt 66? (Jerry Karl): ARDC midget owner Ken Brenn Sr (Warren, NJ) ran a #57 Gerhardt for Bob Harkey in 1967 (also driven by Lothar Motschenbacher at Phoenix) and then ran a #88 Gerhardt in 1968 for a variety of drivers. According to Gary Mondschein, these were two different cars, the first being a '66 car and the second a '67 car, and Brenn told him both cars came from Goodyear and were unraced. Simmo Iskül's analysis supports them being two different cars, but shows that both were 1966 Gerhardts. Brenn's 1967 car went to Bulldog Stables for 1968 and would be the #36 Gerhardt-Chev run on the USAC trail in 1968 and the #68 in 1969 for drivers such as Gene Bergin, Bob Harkey and Denny Zimmerman. It was joined by a Gerhardt-Offy towards the end of 1968 and the team ran both cars a few times early in 1969. The ex-Brenn #68 then reappears as Jerry Karl's Trackstar Helmet entry (photos in the Hungness yearbook 1969 p41 and 1970 p103 show the car almost unchanged) becoming his #52 entry in 1970 and presumably his #102 Winters Transmission entry in 1971. It was then sold to Geoff Bodine who added a roll-cage and set it up as a Super-Modified and raced it at Oswego Speedway (near Syracuse, NY) in 1972, taking a fourth place finish in a race on 3 June 1972. The car was later in the collection of Bob McConnell (Urbana, OH), still unrestored in Bodine's colours. Sold to Gary Mondschein in 2011 and was being restored in 2014 by Walt Goodwin.
57. Gerhardt 66 (Bruce Jacobi): The Leader Card Racers team of Bob Wilke and Jud Phillips acquired two new 1966 Ford-engined Gerhardts and ran them for Don Branson with numbers #4 and #91. Branson raced this first, white, Gerhardt at the opening two races, but preferred the second, blue, car at the Indy 500 and for the rest of the season. After Branson's death, his replacement Bobby Unser drove the white Gerhardt at the opening two races of 1967. It was then Unser's #86 backup car at the Indy 500, and his mount at Langhorne in June and in July. It was then sold to Gordy Johncock, who fitted it with a turbo Offy. He raced it at Phoenix in November 1967, and used to win at Hanford in early 1968. Sold after the 1968 Indy 500 to Boyce Holt, and entered as the #44 Gerhardt-Chev towards the end of the 1968 season. It returned for a few races in 1969 as the #71 Boyce Holt Muffler entry, but was crashed by Bruce Walkup at Milwaukee August 1969. It was then sold to Lloyd W. Gifford (Ft Wayne, IN) who rebuilt it with a 302 ci Ford stock block engine and ran it in 1970, 1971 and 1972. By 1990, a car wearing #71 was with collector Bob McConnell (Urbana, OH) but said to be a 1968 car. Not mentioned in recent descriptions of McConnell's collection.
58. Watson 69 (Bob Veith): AJ Watson built a new car for the Leader Card team in 1969 which was Mike Mosley's #90 Zecol-Lubaid ride at the Indy 500 that year. He raced it at Milwaukee and Langhorne in June, and it is then believed to have been his #90 car for much of the rest of the season, but photographs are slowly clarifying that. In 1970, it was entered for Bob Veith as the #90 G. C. Murphy car but he hit the wall during practice and damaged the car. There is no definite sighting of the car after that; it may have been the #90 car raced by George Snider at Michigan but as he failed to complete a single lap of the race, photographs are proving hard to find. Subsequent history unknown but later to the collection of Bob McConnell (Urbana, OH) and restored for him by Walter Goodwin.
59. Eagle 69 [704] (Bud Morley): New for Denny Hulme to drive at the 1969 Indy 500 as the #42 Olsonite factory entry. Hulme ran second behind Mario Andretti for a while, before his clutch let go. Hulme was only entered for Indy but this is probably the car raced four times later in the season by Swede Savage, its original 159ci Ford quad cam turbo V8 having been replaced by one of the team's 318 ci Gurney Weslake Ford stock block V8s. Identified by a Laycock card as the Eagle-Ford of Bud Morley (Denver, CO) at the Speedway in 1970, crewed by chief mechanic Carroll Horton of ABC Engines assisted by Dick Corrow, and then said to be a car just purchased from Dan Gurney. Morley did not start after failing to complete his Rookie Test, but then fitted the car with a Chevrolet V8 and raced it at Continental Divide later in the season. He was unable to qualify the Eagle-Chevy at Phoenix in November 1970 and again in March 1971, after which he returned to F5000. The Eagle is then unknown until 1976, when Chuck Bartlebaugh (Rochester, MI) acquired an ex-Indy car directly from AAR, which he recalled was still set up for ovals. He entered it as as the #26 Bartlebaugh Eagle, a "1970 Eagle", at the Riverside F5000 race in October 1976 but failed to start. He set the 38th fast time in practice, but the throttle stuck open during practice and although Chuck was able to bring the car to a halt without injury, the engine was damaged and he could not start the race. Bartlebaugh, who later ran the Center for Wildlife at Missoula, Montana, said that his brother sold the car in the Chicago area, where it was to be raced on short ovals. According to the Indy Star, the car was sold by the Bartlebaughs to Dean Vetrock (Racine, WI) in April 1980. He fitted it with a 355 ci Chevrolet V8 and ran it in several Indy events, but the only time he qualified was in the poorly-supported USAC race at Pocono in June 1981. Sold by Vetrock to Chuck Haines (St Louis, MO) in the fall of 1981 and later restored for him by Walter Goodwin. At the Goodwood Festival of Speed in June 2006 completely restored to Hulme's dark blue #44 livery. Bought late 2007/early 2008 by Doug Magnon and put on display in the Riverside International Automotive Museum (RIAM), also having occasional outings at historic events. After Magnon's death in February 2015 the car remained in RIAM until sold by RM Sotheby's at Monterey in August 2016 to Mike Moss (Ottsville, PA).
60. Eisert 69 (Arnie Knepper): Fitted with a 202 ci turbocharged Chevrolet V8 engine to be Jerry Eisert's own #96 entry at the 1969 Indy 500, but Eisert was also chief crew for the Friedkin Green team, with their pair of Eagles. The methanol-fueled engine was developed for Friedkin Green by Eisert, with assistance from Chevrolet's Zora Duntov. The car passed its technical inspection on 11 May, and was tested by Friedkin Green driver Jerry Grant and by Bud Tingelstadt over the next few days, but no speed was recorded. The team reported that Grant reached 161 mph, and that Rick Muther later reached 162 mph, which would have been enough for the final row of the grid. On the final day of qualifying, Al Miller started a qualifying run, but came in after one lap when the engine shut off. The Friedkin Green Eagles also used the turbo Chev engine and Grant was similarly unable to get them up to speed. Grant raced Marvin Webster's stock block Eisert at road courses later that season. The Eisert was next seen a year later at the 1970 Indy 500, still yellow and entered as #96, and still fitted with the turbo Chevrolet engine, but now with slightly modified bodywork. Arnie Knepper managed a couple of laps at 165 mph, which might have been enough for the back row, but made no attempt to qualify. Kevin Bartlett also failed in his attempt to qualify the car for the California 500 at Ontario in September 1970, when it looked much as it had at Indianapolis. The turbo engine expired during practice, so Bartlett drove Lloyd Ruby's backup car instead. The Eisert was on the entry list for the 1971 Indy 500 but did not arrive. Subsequent history unknown.
61. Wolverine 70 (Billy Vukovich): New for Bill Vukovich at the 1970 Indy 500, entered by Agajanian-Faas Racers as the #98 Wynn's Spitfire. Vukovich did not exceed 161.5 mph at any point, and left the team prior to final qualifying. The team continued with the car, but at the California 500 at Ontario in September, it was wrecked by Bruce Walkup, repaired, and then wrecked again by Bill Puterbaugh. The car continued into 1971 as the team's No 2 car, but despite a succession of drivers during Indy practice month, no attempt was made to qualify. Subsequent history unknown.
62. McLaren M15A [3] (Chris Amon): Chris Amon's planned car for the 1970 Indy 500 was taken over by Carl Williams when Amon withdrew. It was sold to Gordy Johncock after the 500 and became his main car after M15/2 was wrecked at Michigan. Sold to Rolla Vollstedt for 1971 and raced for him by Johncock and Denny Zimmerman in 1971 and 1972. This car was later acquired by Tom Black (Portland, OR) and sold by him to the UK. Believed to be the car acquired from collector Nick Mason by McLaren International, restored and put on display in the Donington Collection.
63. McLaren M15A [2] (Denis Hulme): This was the #73 race car for Denny Hulme at Indy in 1970 and taken over by Peter Revson after Hulme withdrew. Then sold to Gordon Johncock and raced three times before being wrecked at Michigan when the center of the right rear wheel broke and the car spun into the wall. The chassis damage was repaired by Johncock's chief crew Duane Glasgow but it was not raced again. Sold at the end of 1970 to Dave Paul (Berrien Springs, MI) but he did not have an engine for it and sold it a few years later. In 1985 it was sold by Jim Mann (Elkhart, IN) to Bill Wiswedel (Holland, MI) and he still had the car in 2010.
64. Eagle 70 [803] (Bobby Unser): New to the Jud Phillips half of the Leader Card team for Bobby Unser to race at the 1970 Indy 500. However, Unser preferred his usual 1967 car and the 1970 car was only used in practice. According to a later Hungness yearbook, the car was entered as a spare in 1971 and in 1972 and raced at least once during those three seasons, by Rick Muther in the 1972 California 500. Acquired by Gus and Richard Hoffman (Milford, OH) of Hoffman Racing and entered for Larry Cannon in 1973 as the #59 PEP Gas Treatment Spl. Returned in 1974 and qualified for the 500, now with American Financial Corp backing. Used again in 1975 before the team acquired a newer 1973 Eagle for the 1976 season. Subsequent history unknown but the ex-Unser, ex-Cannon car advertised by Robert Pass (Maryland Heights, MO) in 1992, having been restored by Jim Robinson. Later advertised by Chuck Haines (St Louis, MO) as being chassis 803. The car had been restored to Cannon's 1974 livery.
65. Eagle 70 [806?] (Gordon Johncock): New to Gordon Johncock for his Gilmore Broadasting-sponsored team and run for the first time in practice at Indianapolis in early May. Both the Eagle and Johncock's 1968 Gerhardt ran wearing #5, the Indy Daily Reports distinguishing them as 5G and 5E. The Eagle was tested on 9 May but ran 4 mph off the pace of Al Unser's Colt and a little slower even than the Gerhardt. Johncock chose to qualify the Gerhardt instead of the Eagle, and the Eagle was not seen again. Subsequent history unknown.
66. Kuzma 70 (Wally Dallenbach): New for the 1970 Indianapolis 500, and fitted with a turbo Ford engine for Wally Dallenbach to use briefly in practice as Lindsey Hopkins' #6 Sprite entry. Chief mechanic Jack Beckley then left the team, and Don Kenyon took over his role. The #6 Kuzma was then presumably the car driven by Mel Kenyon at Michigan in July, and at Ontario in September. The #6 car then became Roger McCluskey's regular Kuzma-Ford during 1971, finishing third at Michigan in July, and second at Phoenix in October. McCluskey drove it at a few short track races in 1972, and it was also his unused spare car at the 1972 Indy 500.
67. Mongoose 70 (Lloyd Ruby): One of two new cars built by the Gene White team for 1970, both of which were raced by Lloyd Ruby during the season. The #12 car appeared at the start of the season and won at Trenton in April. Ruby was the fastest car in practice at Indy on several days in early May in this car before the #25 sister car appeared. Ruby started his qualifying run in this car and was averaging over 168 mph when the engine blew up on the final lap. After another abortive attempt in the #12 car he moved to the #25 car and qualified that instead. According to Hungness, the 1970 #12 was back at the Indy 500 in 1971, again numbered #12. However, a total of four 1970-type Mongoose chassis were built so how this particular car was used in other races is unknown. Three of these cars were acquired by Robert B. McConnell (Urbana, OH) and this #12 car remains in his collection in unrestored condition in 2014.
68. Kuzma 70 (Wally Dallenbach): New for the 1970 Indianapolis 500, and fitted with a turbo Offy engine for Wally Dallenbach to use as Lindsey Hopkins' #22 Sprite entry. After the car blew three engines due to what was believed to be an oil plumbing issue, Dallenbach swapped to an older Eagle for qualifying and the race. The #22 car was used by Dallenbach at Trenton in October 1970, and was then his regular car in 1971, finishing second at Trenton in April, and finishing fourth twice. He crashed the car heavily in practice at Pocono in July, but it was repaired, now in orange paintwork, in time for Milwaukee in August. He then crashed the car again during practice at Phoenix in October 1971, and this time it was "badly damaged". Not seen again.
69. McLaren M15A [1] (Denis Hulme): The prototype M15 was the #79 backup car at Indy in 1970 and was the car Hulme was using when a petrol leak led to a fire in which he was badly burnt. As M15/2 and M15/3 were sold to Gordy Johncock, this must be the car used by Revson in the Ontario 500 and then sold to John Mahler for 1971. Mahler raced it through the 1971 and 1972 seasons before it was retired. Mahler later sold the car to collector Chuck Haines (St Louis, MO) and it was sold by him to the UK in the mid/late 1980s. This may be the car that was later owned by John Foulston (Dunsfold, Surrey), boss of high-flying IBM computer leasing company Atlantic Computers, who bought Brands Hatch, Oulton Park and Snetterton from Eagle Star in May 1986. Foulston was killed testing a M15 at Silverstone on 29 September 1987.
70. McNamara T500 ['1'] (Mario Andretti): New for Mario Andretti at the 1970 Indy 500 as the #1 STP entry. The car arrived late and did not get on track until 11 May, but crashed almost immediately when a universal joint broke and Andretti used a newer car for qualifying and the race. It was rebuilt to road racing specification with a 255 ci Ford engine and used by Andretti at Continental Divide in late June, where he won. Its last known appearance was at Indianapolis Raceway Park in July, when the radiators had been repositioned from the side to the back of the sidepods. It was damaged during the race when Andretti collided with Scooter Patrick's Eisert. It then turned into a show car for use in Europe. It was on display at the Jochen-Rindt-Show at Essen in December 1970, at a show in Stockholm in 1971, and at the Rothmans 50,000 at Brands Hatch in August 1972. In 1977, McNamara loaned a number of their show cars to different institutions and a #1 car, believed to be this one, was noted as being retained at STP Headquarters. Subsequent history unknown.
71. Gerhardt 70 (Tony Adamowicz): As well as his #16 primary car, Gary Bettenhausen also had a second brand new car entered as the Gerhardt team's #78 Thermo-King entry at the 1970 Indy 500. This car was driven in practice by Larry Dickson, whose qualifying run had to be aborted, and Tony Adamowicz, who brushed the wall just before the start of final qualifying. As far as can be determined (so far), this car was not used again in 1970 as Bettenhausen had his primary 1970 car and also one of the 1969 cars to use. It is presumably the modified car that he drove at Phoenix and Trenton in early 1971, and was then his #46 backup car at the 1971 Indy 500, which was qualified by Jimmy McElreath but bumped. Later on in the season it was Bettenhausen's regular short-track car, being used at both Milwaukee races. It was then used by Jimmy Caruthers as the team's #46 entry at Ontario, by Bettenhausen as the #16 at Trenton in October, and by Caruthers as the #46 again at Phoenix. After Johnny Rutherford destroyed the sister car at Milwaukee in June 1972, this is likely to be the car he raced at Michigan in July and Milwaukee in August. Subsequent history unknown, but possibly the car that Bruce Crower used for his Dodge Hemi project in 1973, although it remains more likely that Crower had a 1969 car.
72. Brabham BT25 [2] (Jack Brabham): Masten Gregory's #95 Brabham did not qualify for the 1968 Indy 500 but was qualified for the 1969 race by Jack Brabham. Peter Revson then used it to win the IRP race in July 1969 and it was retained as an unused spare for the 1970 "500" after which it was sold to John Martin. Martin raced it in 1971 and 1972 before acquiring a newer McLaren M16. The car's last race was when leased to Bill Simpson for the race at Ontario Motor Speedway in March 1974 and was then retained by Martin until he restored it in the early 1990s. In 1993, hearing of the restoration, Simpson bought the car and it was displayed at Simpson World in North Carolina until bought by Aaron Lewis (Cessnock, NSW, Australia) in April 2008. In 2014, or shortly afterwards, Lewis sold the car to the ROFGO Collection.
73. Eagle 66 (Charlie Glotzbach): The #14 AAR entry for Lloyd Ruby at the 1966 Indy 500 with Bardahl backing and fitted with a 255ci Ford V8. Ruby preferred to drive AAR's Lotus 38 for most other races in 1967, and the only other races for the Bardahl Eagle in 1966 were for Jim McElreath at Fuji that October and for Ruby at Phoenix in November. Sold to Weinberger Homes, fitted with a turbo Offy engine and used as the team's #47 entry for Norm Brown at the 1967 Indy 500 but crashed in practice. Raced by Johnny Rutherford on other occasions and thought to be the team's Offy car alongside their original Ford-engined Eagle and their Gerhardt, raced by Rutherford in 1967 and Ronnie Bucknum in 1968. Weinberger bought a new Eagle for 1968, relegating this car further down the order. It appears that this car was used in the Universal Pictures film 'Winning', filmed during the summer of 1968, where it appeared as the #3 car of Paul Newman's character Frank Capua. Photographs indicate that it rejoined the Weinberger team in October, and was the car Ronnie Bucknum used when he won the Michigan Inaugural 250. It remained in the Weinberger stable, and was seen a few times in 1969 and 1970, lastly as Weinberger Homes' unused #49 entry for Charlie Glotzbach at the Indy 500 in 1970. It was then sold to Ludwig Heimrath (Scarborough, Ontario, Canada), and fitted with a Chevrolet V8 engine for Formula 5000 in 1972. He retained it until 1975, when he sold to Don Ludewig (Clarkston, MI), and it remained with Don until it was sold to Peter Dyson (Winnetka, IL) in 2014.
74. Eagle 70 [802?] (Johnny Rutherford): The Michner-Patrick team bought a 1970 Eagle but it did not appear at the Speedway that year. Although it may have appeared later in the season, or possibly in 1971, it seems likely that Rutherford stuck with his usual 1967 Eagle "Geraldine" until the team acquired their Brabham. When Swede Savage joined the team for 1972, it is not surprising that he raced the team's Eagle 70 as he had been a part of the development program for that car at AAR. He raced it at Indy in 1972 and it is safe to assume that all other appearances of Savage in a Patrick Eagle also refer to the Eagle 70. Subsequent history unknown, but in 1985 Jim Gilmore commented that he had an ex-Savage Indy car in the recreation room at his house, and there is a good chance that it was this one. The car was seen in the collection of Bob McConnell (Urbana, OH) in 2010, still with the Antares-inspired nose it wore in 1972 and wide 1972 rules rear wing, but painted in orange Gilmore colours and with AJ Foyt's name on it, suggesting Gilmore had used it as a show car.
75. Lola T152 2WD [SL150/3?] (TBA): New to Roger Penske, in December 1968 according to Lola records, although it has been claimed that Penske's car was a rebuild of a car that raced some time in 1968. The car would be driven by Mark Donohue, who was also driving Penske's Lola T70 in sports car racing, and both Lolas used Chevrolet engines. The T150 did not run at the Indy 500, where Donohue used a brand new T152 instead, and was a non-starter at IRP in July. Donohue was seventh and fourth in two races at Brainerd in September, but retired at Seattle and Riverside. The car was fitted with a turbo Ford for testing at the start of 1970, but used a Chevrolet engine when raced at Sears Point and IRP. Sold to Dick Simon for 1971, and raced with a turbo Ford engine as the #10 TraveLodge Sleeper entry. Also used at Milwaukee in August 1972, when Simon focused on his new 1972 Peat-Lola, and possibly at other short track events. The car reappeared in 1976 when Greg Hodges (Indianapolis, IN) attempted to qualify it for several short-track Indycar races, without success. The car then had a Chevrolet engine, and still had the bulbous sidetanks seen when Simon had raced it in 1971. Subsequent history unknown, but some time around 1982 the car was in the collection of Dieter Holterbosch (Cove Neck, NY), a well-known collector of cars who died in July 2016 age 95. It was for sale from the collection at the time for $12,000.
76. Coyote 68 ['68-1'] (Carl Williams): New for AJ Foyt to drive as A.J. Foyt Enterprises' #1 Sheraton-Thompson entry in early 1968, as Foyt's latest car, the 1967 Indy 500 winner, had been wrecked in a tyre test at Phoenix at the end of February. A second 1968 car was built in time for the Indy 500, so this early-1968 car was intended to take up duties as Foyt's road racing car for 1968 but was taken to the 1968 Indy 500 as the team's #84 entry. Carl Williams qualified the car, but crashed during the race and it was damaged by fire. Foyt missed the Mosport race in mid-June because his road-racer was still out of action, and then raced the older 1966 Coyote at Continental Divide, Indianapolis Raceway Park and Mont-Tremblant in July and August. Exactly when the early-1968 car came back into service is unknown, but the Hungness Yearbook reports that it was the #84 Coyote raced by George Snider at the 1969 Indy 500 as a third team entry. How the car was used during the rest of 1969 is also unresolved. In early 1970, it was announced that this car had been sold to Sterling Racing Ltd for Carl Williams to drive at the Indy 500 in 1970. However, the car did not arrive, and the subsequent history of this Coyote is again unknown. It has been identified by Bill Wiswedel as the car sold at some later date by Jack Albinson and Mel Kenyon to Eddie Evans. The car was on display in his Antique Auto and Race Car Museum (Bedford, Indiana) by February 1998, up until its closure in 2003, when the cars were moved to Evans' home. Evans died in April 2006, and his daughter Susan Kern consigned the collection to Kruze Auctions who sold them in June 2008. The Coyote was sold to Chuck Haines, but Haines sold it on shortly afterwards to Bob Boyce (Michigan City, Indiana). In 2016, Boyce sold both this car and his '1967' Coyote to John Darlington. Both cars were at Walt Goodwin's for restoration in early 2017. In 2019, the 1968 Coyote was sold to Bill Wiswedel (Holland, MI).
77. Wolverine 70 (TBA): New for Bill Vukovich at the 1970 Indy 500, entered by Agajanian-Faas Racers as the #98 Wynn's Spitfire. Vukovich did not exceed 161.5 mph at any point, and left the team prior to final qualifying. The team continued with the car, but at the California 500 at Ontario in September, it was wrecked by Bruce Walkup, repaired, and then wrecked again by Bill Puterbaugh. The car continued into 1971 as the team's No 2 car, but despite a succession of drivers during Indy practice month, no attempt was made to qualify. Subsequent history unknown.

Sources

Note that the identification of individual cars in these results is based on the material presented elsewhere in this site and may in some cases contradict the organisers' published results.

The foundation for this research is the work done by the late Phil Harms collating the results of all AAA, USAC and CART races, including the period covered here. His data was refined by Michael Ferner who added more information before making it available to OldRacingCars.com. Since the start of the USAC project on OldRacingCars.com in 2004, a wealth of further information has been gleaned from the Carl Hungness and Donald Davidson Yearbooks, Formula and On Track magazines, USAC News, National Speed Sport News and other published sources. Gerry Measures has also provided much information from his files as have others on TNF and Trackforum. Since 2009, the work of Simmo Iskül and others identifying cars from period photographs has has moved this research forward significantly.

All comments, clarifications, corrections and additions are most welcome. Please email Allen (allen@oldracingcars.com) if you can help in any way with our research.

Individual sources for this event

Competition Press & Autoweek 30 May 1970 p19 contained a full entry list including chassis and engine.