Indianapolis 500

Indianapolis Motor Speedway, 24 May 1981

Notes on the cars:

1. McLaren M24B (Vern Schuppan): Vern Schuppan acquired a McLaren M24 from McLaren, and a single Cosworth DFX engine from Cosworth, and entered the car for the Indy 500 in 1981. Listed as car "owner" was Len Immke (Columbus, OH), a car dealer and an early investor in his friend Dave Thomas's Wendy's Hamburger chain, and Len's son Jim Immke, who would continue with Schuppan as he moved into team ownership. His car was described in the Hungness yearbook as being "Johnny Rutherford's back-up car in 1978", which might mean it was his unused M24B, but could also mean that it the team's last remaining 1977 car. In May 1981, a feature on Schuppan by The Associated Press said that his car, Rutherford's 1978 backup, had not been to Indianapolis before (or not driven at, in another verstion of the story), hinting that it was used by Rutherford as a short track car in 1977, 1978 and 1979. In a story in the Anderson Daily Bulletin after the race, it was described as a 1977 McLaren that had been Rutherford's backup in 1977. Schuppan qualified in 18th position in 1981, and finished in a remarkably impressive third place. He raced the car again later in the season, but soon replaced it with a new March 81C. Schuppan later sold this car to Tom Malloy, and it is now said to be chassis 003, which is consistent with it having been a 1977 McLaren team car.
2. Phoenix 80 (Kevin Cogan): The first Phoenix was built for Jerry O'Connell's Sugaripe Prune team with Jud Phillips as chief mechanic and Tom Sneva driving (Autosport 22 May 1980 p37). It was "totalled" in Sneva's accident on 14 May and Sneva drove an older McLaren in the race. The car was rebuilt later in the year (Hungness says the 1981 Indy 500 car had raced at the 1980 Indy 500) and won the last race of the season, appropriately at Phoenix. Sneva moved to Bignotti-Cotter for 1981 but "borrowed" the Sugaripe Prune Phoenix for the opening race of the season: Phoenix again. Kevin Cogan then took over the drive, taking fourth at Indy and second in the next race at Milwaukee but the car was sold in September to Tony Bettenhausen's team (On Track 1 Oct 1981 p7) leaving Cogan out of a drive. Bettenhausen raced the Phoenix at the last three races of 1981 and a single race in 1982. Subsequent history unknown.
3. Wildcat Mk 8 (Gordon Johncock): Gordy Johncock's car at the Indy 500 is presumed to be the same car he drove all season, although it is quite possible that he used a different car on short tracks. His Indy 500 car was bought for 1982 by Tom Mitchell (Ozona, TX) for his driver Chet Fillip, and was run for him by Bill Hite. The car was intended as a practice car with a new car intended for the Indy 500. Fillip raced the Wildcat once in 1982 and twice in 1983. Subsequent history unknown.
4. McLaren-Karl [M16C/D-6] (Jerry Karl): New in 1974 for McLaren Cars as a M16C/D for David Hobbs to drive at the 1974 Indy 500 as the #73 Carling Black Label entry. Sold to George Walther by early July for Salt Walther to drive and used as his main #77 car at the Indy 500 in 1975, 1976 and 1977. Walther had other McLarens during this time and he is likely to have used those on short tracks. Sold with M16C/2 to Jerry Karl for 1978 and entered as his #88 Offy car at the 1978 Indy 500 with Frank Fiore as chief mechanic and a #89 RasCar/Atlanta as his backup. This was Karl's car at Pocono, Ontario and Trenton later in 1978, and again at five races in 1979. It was modified as a "McLaren-Karl" for 1980 and 1981 but was wrecked at Riverside in August 1981. Karl then used his backup M16C/2 in the last few races of the season. Both M16Cs were sold to Chuck Haines (St Louis, MO) and stored for some years, before undergoing a complete restoration in 2015. Appeared at the Historic Indycar Exhibition in May 2016 in immaculate Carling livery. To Rob Dyson (Millbrook, NY) of Dyson Racing c2017.
5. Penske PC7 [006] (Tom Bigelow): This car was identified by a later Chuck Haines advert as Penske PC7 chassis 006, a Penske team car for Rick Mears in 1979 and then passing to Dick Hammond and driven by Joe Saldana in 1980 and Tom Bigelow in 1981. The advert is slightly puzzling as it appears to show the car today in #58 Genesee Beer livery; at the 1982 Indy 500 there appear to have been two Genesee Beer cars: a #56 DFX car and a #58 Chevy car? Is the story of 006 less clear cut than it appears?
6. Penske PC7 [011] (Pete Halsmer): This car was identified by a later Chuck Haines advert as Penske PC7 chassis 011, owned and raced by Bill Alsup in 1980, 1981 and early 1982 but raced in the 1981 Indy 500 by teammate Pete Halsmer. It passed to Jim Buick in 1983.
7. March 81C [2] (Tom Sneva): Bignotti-Cotter's first March 81C in 1981. At Riverside in August (On Track 17 Sep 1981 p13), Sneva "was in the Bignotti-Cotter team's spare March 81C - a new and previously unraced chassis". It's not clear which car he then used at Milwaukee a week later but it would be reasonable to assume that this would be his older car as the setup for Riverside and Milwaukee would be so different. At Michigan in September, On Track notes that Tom Sneva drives "his spare" 81C (a subsequent advert suggests his older car) but this car is heavily damaged in Sneva's accident during the race. He presumably returns to the newer car for the next two races but crashes this heavily in Mexico in October. At Phoenix two weeks later, On Track (12 Nov 1981 p4) notes that Sneva used the car he had crashed at Michigan. Jerry Sneva drives a March 81C in 1982 which is advertised (National Speed Sport News 28 July 1982) by Richard Hoffman as March Indy 'driven by Tom and Jerry Sneva. Won Milwaukee and Phoenix'.
8. Lightning 80 [LHR-002] (Gary Bettenhausen): Manufactured in June 1980 and presumably the car raced by Johnny Parsons Jr at Ontario in October 1980 after he had demolished the first 1980 Lightning in practice at Pocono in June. Raced by Bettenhausen in the 1981 Indy 500 and was then Bettenhausen's backup car at the 1982 Indy 500. This was the car fitted with a twin-turbo Chevrolet V6 and entered as a "Spirit 83" for the 1983 Indy 500 where Bettenhausen made two qualifying attempts but came in both times. It was raced by Bettenhausen at Milwaukee in June but he drove the sister car at Pocono in August. Bettenhausen also practiced the turbo Lightning at Mid-Ohio in September but felt unwell on race day and Herm Johnson was flown in to take over the drive. Then unknown until offered for sale by Chuck Haines (St Louis, MO) still in its 1983 #28 livery.
9. Lightning 77 (Tom Klausler): Tom Klausler raced a "Schkee DB4" at the Indy 500 in 1981, entered by Doug Schulz, fitted with a 209ci Chevrolet V8 turbo built by Dick Jones of Champion, and with Chuck Looper as chief mechanic. The car was clearly a Lightning, and Jones described it in an interview with the Indy Star as "a redesigned 1979 Lightning". It was similar to the cars run by Lindsey Hopkins' team at Indy in 1979 and 1980 but Schulz later described it as a four-year-old (1977) car. Klausler qualified 30th, but retired from the race after only 60 laps with gearbox problems. The car did not race again and at some point joined the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum's collection.
10. Eagle 81 [8103] (Mike Mosley): Built by AAR as the works "Pepsi Challenger" for Mike Mosley to drive as AAR's #48 entry. Mosley drove the car at the Indianapolis 500, where he qualified second but was the first retirement, then at Milwaukee where he won. He later drove it at Michigan in July, but when he returned to Milwaukee for the Tony Bettenhausen 200 in early September, he crashed in practice after qualifying and the car was destroyed.
11. Lightning 77 (Herm A. Johnson): New to Alex Morales for 1977 and entered as the #78 Alex Foods car for Bobby Olivero. Presumably his #78 car for the rest of the season but it is possible that the sister #15 car was also used as the #78 at some points during 1977. Then the #78 Alex Foods car for Max Mosley in 1978 and presumed to be the same #78 car he uses all season but it is again quite likely that the sister car was used somewhere. This was then Pancho Carter's Offy-powered #10 Alex XLNT Foods car at the 1979 Indy 500 and as the sister car had been converted to Drake V8 power, this is presumably the Offy car he used through 1979. As the Drake car was converted to a Cosworth DFX and retained for 1980, this Offy car would be the car sold to John Menard's team and entered as the #28 for Herm Johnson in 1980, still with Offy power. For 1981, the Menard team, led by ex-Parnelli mechanic Dan Cota, extensively modified the car with new ground-effect sidepods and fitted a normally-aspirated Chevrolet stock block engine. The car went well at the Indy 500 but Herm Johnson was bumped. To Larry Walker (Indianapolis, IN) for 1982, and entered by his Timberwood Racers at the Indy 500 in 1982 and 1983 as the #88 Frito-Lay Racer, for Billy Scott in 1982 and Roger Rager in 1983, but did not qualify. Subsequent history unknown.
12. McLaren M24 (Billy Engelhart): After Tom Sneva's #1 Jerry O'Connell Sugaripe Prune McLaren M24 was crashed at the 1979 Indy 500, the team acquired a new M24, believed to be chassis M24B-003. This car was first seen at Michigan in July 1979, but Sneva crashed it in practice, "causing extensive damage". Photographs indicate that Sneva raced the new car at Trenton in August, and at Ontario in September, but used his regular "Ol' Hound" at other races. Sold to ex-sprint car driver Billy Engelhart and Beaudoin Racing before (or maybe at) the Indy 500, and raced by him as the #29 Beaudoin Racing entry at five more races later in 1980. Returned for four more races in 1981, but did not qualify at Indy. Engelhart rebuilt the car himself for Indy in 1982, now entered as #59, but again did not qualify after his only engine exploded. In 2015, Engelhart commented that car was now owned by Don Devine.
13. Penske PC6 [005] (Dennis Firestone): One of Penske Racing's four PC6s at Indy in 1978, this car was only used in practice by Mike Hiss as #7T before he qualified Andretti's car. It was sold to Bobby Hillin's Longhorn Racing for 1980 (Hungness) and driven by Tom Bagley and was then Jack Rhoades' car for Dennis Firestone in 1980 and 1981. It was spotted in Portugal in early 2002 where it was still in Firestone colours and wearing a '5' chassis plate.
14. Eagle 81 [8102] (Steve Chassey): New to Max Dowker & Bob Soltow of Jet Engineering as the team's #64 entry for Steve Chassey to race in 1981. Retained for 1982, again as the team's #64, for Chassey at the opening race, then Bob Frey at two races, and then Greg Leffler for the rest of the season. Retained by Jet Engineering for a third season in 1983, when it was driven by Leffler, and by Tom Bigelow once at Laguna Seca at the end of the season. The two Jet Engineering cars, 8102 and 8109, remained together and were acquired by an unknown owner in 1996, who used 8102 with a 358 ci Donovan Chevrolet engine in vintage racing at Road America and IRP. They were advertised on race-cars.com in 2001.
15. SEA 01 (Armstrong) (Tom Bagley): The SEA 01 (also known as the Armstrong) was designed by Pete Swingler for Sherman E. Armstrong's team and was a development of thei March-built 1980 Orbitor chassis. It was fabricated by Pete Howerton, previously responsible for the Williams-based Longhorn. Tom Bagley briefly qualified the car for the 1981 Indy 500 but was bumped soon after. Johnny Parsons Jr, qualified the car for the poorly-supported USAC raceat Pocono but its only other race was at Phoenix in October, where Greg Leffler was an early retirement. It was highly modified for 1982 with new rear suspension, nose and tunnels, and Leffler tried it again at two races but was unable to qualify for either.
16. McLaren M16B/A [B-3/A-2] (John Martin): McLaren Cars 1972 for Gordy Johncock (#24) and 'wrecked' at Ontario. Repaired and sold to John Martin 1973 (#89) and 1974 and 1975. Wrecked at Milwaukee June 1975 and tub "thrown in dumpster". Rebuilt using a M16A monocoque bought from Lindsey Hopkins, first appearing in this form at Pocono three weeks later, and raced by Martin to the end of 1975. To Bill Freeman in January 1977 for Elliot Forbes-Robinson in the 1977 Indy 500, but it arrived too late for EFR to complete his rookie test. Bob Harkey took over the drive but failed to qualify. It was raced by Johnny Parsons Jr later in the 1977 season. The car was then sold to Fred Ruth for 1978 and qualified for the Indy 500 by Jerry Sneva that year as the #30 Smock Material entry. Ruth was joined at some point as co-owner by Marv Schmidt. Returned again in 1979, entered by Thunder Racing and with Molly Mate sponsorship. It was next seen in 1981 when John Martin qualified at the Indy 500 but was bumped. Cliff Hucul ran it later that year as the #57. Then unknown until 1991 when it was owned by Chuck Haines (St Louis, MO) and still in Hucul livery.
17. King 'PC7' (Roger Mears): Built by Grant King as a copy of the Penske PC7 for the 1980 Indy 500, but could not be prepared in time. Roger Mears qualified it for the 1981 Indy 500 but was bumped. Jim McElreath took over the drive for 1982, but did not make an attempt to qualify. The car did not appear again after this, and remained at Grant King's workshops.
18. Phoenix-March (Johnny Parsons Jr): Bignotti-Cotter had a 1980 Phoenix as a backup car for 1981, which had been modified with suspension modelled on that of the team's March 81C. It was used in practice at the Indy 500 by Tom Sneva but he decided to use the March instead. Roger Rager then used it, but his qualifying attempt was flagged off. Finally Johnny Parsons Jr completed an attempt but was too slow. Sneva then raced it at Milwaukee, finished fourth, and then Salt Walther raced it at Pocono and Michigan later in the year. Unknown after 1981.
19. McLaren M24B [002?] (Bill Tempero): Johnny Rutherford's works McLaren at the 1979 Indy 500 (and presumably through the rest of 1979) is the car then driven by Tom Sneva at the 1980 "500". The car had been entered as the #81 O'Hanlon Lil Cheaper Special and practiced by Al Loquasto but the team had run out of engines. When Sneva wrote off O'Connell's Phoenix, the team hired the M24B (Daily Report 15 May 1980) rather than reclaim one of their own M24s. This is presumably the car run by O'Hanlon for the rest of 1980 and then as the #15 Tempero/O'Hanlon M24-Chev in 1981. O'Hanlon advertised an ex-Rutherford 1979 M24B in NSSN 28 Jul 1982 p38, when it was described as the last Indy car built by McLaren.
20. Eagle 80 [8001] (Spike Gehlhausen): Eagle's 1980 'BLAT' car appeared for Mike Mosley at the 1980 Iindy 500 fitted with a Chevrolet stock block engine. It only appeared two more times that season. After the 1980 season, the Eagle appears to have been upgraded to DFX spec and sold to the Wysard team. It is referred to as a Eagle 80 in On Track in 1981 and 1982 (e.g. 1981 issue 12 p13 Riverside report).
21. McLaren M16C/D [4] (Phil Caliva): The history of this car in 1973 and 1974 remains unproven, but believed to be new for Peter Revson as McLaren Cars' #15 entry at the 1973 Indy 500. Crashed by Revson and it is unclear when the car returned to the team. Almost certainly Johnny Rutherford's black rollhooped short track car in 1974. McLaren records show that M16C/4 was sold to Roger Penske in November 1974. Raced by Tom Sneva in 1975 as the #68 Norton Spirit entry after his original M16C was wrecked at the Indy 500. Used again by Sneva as his #68 car during 1976, and appears to have been the #68 driven by Mario Andretti in two late-season races. Sold to Bill Simpson with M16C/3 and became part of Teddy Yip's Theodore Racing team in 1977 as their #38 car, raced by Clay Regazzoni at the Indy 500 and by Rick Mears later in the season. Unknown in 1978 but reappeared in 1979 as Bill Alsup's #41 WASP Racing car. Raced by Phil Caliva for Alsup Racing in 1980 as the #47 and at Indy 1981 where it was "extensively damaged" on 12 May in an accident during practice. Not seen again.
22. Lightning 77 (Joe Saldana): Chassis "ROMLIN/7" was one of the 1977 Lightnings but its history before it was raced by Bobby Unser for the Teddy Yip/Dan Gurney AAR team in early 1978 is unresolved. It was used for the opening four races of 1978 before being replaced by the team's new Eagle. To Richard Hoffman (Milford, OH) for 1979 and raced by Joe Saldana as the #59 or #69 car during 1979 and 1980. These entry numbers were also used by the team's old 1972 Eagle and exactly how the two cars were used is still to be determined. The Lightning was run in practice at the 1981 Indy 500 with modified sidepods and nose but was crashed by Saldana. It was acquired by Dean Vetrock (Racine, WI) for 1982, but he failed to qualify for the Indy 500 and did not appear in the series again. Vetrock raced this car briefly in the CAT (ex-Can-Am) series in 1987. Four years later, the car was acquired from a Monterey area dealer by a client of Tom Tatalovich Racing Services (Golden Valley, AZ). Tatlovich restored the car to AAR livery, and it was sold at a Barrett-Jackson auction in Scottsdale, Arizona in January 1992. Tom recalls that the buyer was from Hilton Head. By 2002, the car was owned by Larry Wharton, who completed a restoration that year. In 2008, it was bought from Wharton by David S. Morrison (Long Beach, CA).
23. Eagle 74 [7302?] (Phil Krueger): Built in time for Bobby Unser to drive as AAR's #8 Olsonite entry at Texas World Speedway in April. He then used the same car at Trenton, but had a further new car, chassis 7304, for Indianapolis. Exactly how 7302 was then used is still being resolved, but it is assumed for now to be the car he crashed at Milwaukee in August. The unrepaired chassis then sat on pallets at AAR until the autumn of 1975 when it was bought by Joe Hunt (Torrance, CA), repaired, and run by him as the #99 Joe Hunt Magneto entry starting when John Martin drove it in the final race of the 1975 season. Hunt continued to run it at Indy races at Ontario and at Phoenix through the next five seasons. It was taken to the Indy 500 in 1981 for Phil Krueger to drive and was crashed heavily during practice, but rebuilt yet again, and raced until 1982. Subsequent history unknown, but it was acquired by Jack Danko (Laurel Run, PA) in January 2004, and rebuilt to be used in Pensylvania hillclimbs by his son Darryl Danko from 2005 to at least 2011.
24. Eagle 74 [7306] (Jim McElreath): Patrick Racing acquired a new 1973 Eagle after the 1973 Indy 500, probably either chassis 7305 or 7306. It was fitted with a Ford V8 engine and used in practice at Ontario by Graham McRae as the #60 entry, but failed to qualify. Raced by Dick Simon at two later races that season. It may have been Steve Krisiloff's intended #60 Patrick entry at Indy in 1974, identified by Hungness as an Eagle "of 1973 vintage", but the car Krisiloff actually qualified was an older 1972 car. The 1973 car finally reappeared when raced by Krisiloff at Pocono and a few races later in the 1974 season, by which time it had a turbo Offy engine. Sold by Patrick Racing's chief crew George Bignotti to Fred Carrillo (San Juan Capistrano, CA) and entered as the #73 Spirit of Orange County entry for Jerry Grant at Ontario at the start of 1975. Later in 1975, the car was fitted with a 209 ci AMC stock block V8 engine developed for Carrillo by Dick Jones, and was driven by Grant in late 1975 and early 1976, now with Dave Klym as chief mechanic. Carrillo then acquired a newer Eagle chassis for the AMC engine and the 1973 Eagle was rebuilt in 1977 to Offy specification and sold to Jim McElreath for son James to drive as the #26 McElreath Racing entry in 1977. Then for Jim McElreath in 1978. In 1979, McElreath acquired a second Eagle, apparently the ex-O'Connell 1974 car, which was numbered as the #23 with the older car continuing as #26. The older car continued in use until 1981. In 2017, it was reported that this was chassis 7306, and had remained at Jim McElreath's home in Texas from 1983 until his death in 2017. It was then owned by Angus Russell (Ormond Beach, FL).
25. McLaren M24B (Vern Schuppan): Vern Schuppan acquired a McLaren M24 from McLaren, and a single Cosworth DFX engine from Cosworth, and entered the car for the Indy 500 in 1981. Listed as car "owner" was Len Immke (Columbus, OH), a car dealer and an early investor in his friend Dave Thomas's Wendy's Hamburger chain, and Len's son Jim Immke, who would continue with Schuppan as he moved into team ownership. His car was described in the Hungness yearbook as being "Johnny Rutherford's back-up car in 1978", which might mean it was his unused M24B, but could also mean that it the team's last remaining 1977 car. In May 1981, a feature on Schuppan by The Associated Press said that his car, Rutherford's 1978 backup, had not been to Indianapolis before (or not driven at, in another verstion of the story), hinting that it was used by Rutherford as a short track car in 1977, 1978 and 1979. In a story in the Anderson Daily Bulletin after the race, it was described as a 1977 McLaren that had been Rutherford's backup in 1977. Schuppan qualified in 18th position in 1981, and finished in a remarkably impressive third place. He raced the car again later in the season, but soon replaced it with a new March 81C. Schuppan later sold this car to Tom Malloy, and it is now said to be chassis 003, which is consistent with it having been a 1977 McLaren team car.
26. Eagle 74 (Bubby Jones): New to Robert L. 'Bob' Fletcher's Cobre Firestone team and entered as the #21 car for Jimmy Caruthers in 1974. Firestone withdrew from racing in August 1974 and Fletcher, who ran the largest Firestone dealership in the US, had to use Goodyear tyres in 1975. He also lost chief mechanic Jim McGee to Penske. This car became the white #11 entry for Duane Carter in 1975. Bobby Unser and his mechanic Wayne Leary both moved from Eagle to the Fletcher team for 1976, and Unser won in this car at Phoenix in March. Unser then used the Leary-modified sister car at the enxt few races. He returned to this car in August, winning in it at Ontario in Septenber. This car was then kept as a spare to the team's new Lightnings in early 1977. Both Fletcher Eagles were sold to Carl Gehlhausen in July 1977 and this unmodified car was raced by his 23-year-old son Danny 'Spike' Gehlhausen as the #19 PV Corp car at five races towards the end of the 1977 season. He wrecked the car at the final race of the season, and it was then significantly modified with straight sides by designer-fabricator Jackie Howerton assisted by Gehlhausen's chassis chief John Barnes and chief mechanic Eddie Baue. It first appeared at the 1978 Indy 500, where Gehlhausen qualified, but crashed heavily in the race. The revised car was repaired in time for Pocono, and is presumably the car he wrecked again at Michigan in July. After he crashed heavily in his backup car at Michigan in September, Gehlhausen then bought Pat Santello's '74 Eagle to use in the two British races. The Howerton-modified car was repaired for 1979, but was now Gehlhausen's second car. He drive it at Atlanta in April, then it was driven by Al Loquasto as the team's #39 entry at the Indy 500 and at Michigan. After Gehlhausen bought Fletcher's Lightnings, the Howerton-modified Eagle was sold to Walter L. Medlin for Tony Bettenhausen II to drive in 1980 as his #32 Vita Fresh entry. It reappeared for Bubby Jones as Medlin's #58 entry at the 1981 Indy 500 but did not qualify. The car remained with Medlin and is part of a collection of unrestored cars photographed on occasions since.
27. Lightning 77 (TBA): Chassis 'ROMLIN/4' was new to Alex Morales' Alex Foods team for 1977 as part of a two-car team of Lightnings for Bobby Olivero. This was Olivero's #15 car at the Indy 500 but he raced the #78 backup. This #15 car was then raced by Vern Schuppan later in the season, and also by Pancho Carter at Phoenix. Retained for 1978 and raced by Olivero and then by Mike Mosley, but exactly how the two cars were used that season is unclear. For 1979, this car was fitted with a Drake V8, replacing the original Offy turbo, and was raced by new team driver Pancho Carter as the #10 Alex Foods entry on several occasions. It was then converted to a Cosworth DFX later in 1979, the sister car retaining its original Offy turbo. Morales acquired a Penske PC7 for Carter to drive in 1980 but the Lightning-DFX was retained as a backup and was raced at Pocono in 1980 after the Penske was damaged in practice, at Milwaukee in 1981 and at Watkins Glen in October 1981. Photographs may reveal that it was used more often than this. It was used as a show car thereafter, and was still in the livery of Morales' 1983 #21 entry when acquired by Toney Edwards (Greenwood, Indiana). In January 2016, the car was being restored by Peter Jamie and was to be fitted with a Drake V8.
28. Finley Eagle ['72 7228?] (Frank Weiss): As well as the new Penske PC6 copy, the Finley team had an older car at the 1981 Indy 500 running as #93. This car looked very much like the "Bear" that the team had run in 1979 and as such may be descended from either the team's "new" 1976 car or the '72-style Eagle (chassis 7228) that the team had acquired for the 1975 season.
29. Wildcat Mk 2 (Dick Ferguson): Another new Mk 2 was built for Gordon Johncock to use in 1978 and he used this car throughout the 1978 season, the Mk 3 and Mk 4 having been effectively abandoned. Sold to Herb & Rose Wysard for 1979 and became their #34 Wysard Motors entry for Vern Schuppan. Retained for 1980 and raced by Pete Halsmer and Schuppan up to Watkins Glen in August, after which it was sold to Larry Cannon to replace his Mk 1. Probably the car raced by Cannon in the last few races of 1980 and then entered for Dick Ferguson and Herm Johnson in early 1981. Both Cannon's Wildcats were later bought by Maurice Kraines of Kraco and used as display cars at store openings and malls. Subsequent history unknown.
30. Wildcat Mk 1 (Bob Harkey): New for Gordy Johncock in 1975 as Patrick Racing's #20 Sinmast entry. Retained for 1976 and used by Johncock at short track events, winning at Trenton and twice finishing second at Milwaukee. Sold to Wildcat Racing Associates (Lynbrook, NY), a partnership of Frank Curtis, Gene Langsam and Walter Albert, with Curtis as chief mechanic and to be raced by Vern Schuppan as the #85 entry. The car was repossessed by lawyers at Pocono, and in August was sold to Danville barber Larry Cannon, who raced it for the rest of 1977 still entered as #85. Retained by Cannon for 1978, 1979 and 1980, qualifying for the Indy 500 in 1980. The car was again entered by Cannon in 1981 for guest drivers. Both Cannon's Wildcats were later bought by Maurice Kraines of Kraco and used as display cars at store openings and malls. Subsequent history unknown.
31. Phoenix-March (Roger Rager): Bignotti-Cotter had a 1980 Phoenix as a backup car for 1981, which had been modified with suspension modelled on that of the team's March 81C. It was used in practice at the Indy 500 by Tom Sneva but he decided to use the March instead. Roger Rager then used it, but his qualifying attempt was flagged off. Finally Johnny Parsons Jr completed an attempt but was too slow. Sneva then raced it at Milwaukee, finished fourth, and then Salt Walther raced it at Pocono and Michigan later in the year. Unknown after 1981.
32. Lightning 80 [LHR-002] (Johnny Parsons Jr): Manufactured in June 1980 and presumably the car raced by Johnny Parsons Jr at Ontario in October 1980 after he had demolished the first 1980 Lightning in practice at Pocono in June. Raced by Bettenhausen in the 1981 Indy 500 and was then Bettenhausen's backup car at the 1982 Indy 500. This was the car fitted with a twin-turbo Chevrolet V6 and entered as a "Spirit 83" for the 1983 Indy 500 where Bettenhausen made two qualifying attempts but came in both times. It was raced by Bettenhausen at Milwaukee in June but he drove the sister car at Pocono in August. Bettenhausen also practiced the turbo Lightning at Mid-Ohio in September but felt unwell on race day and Herm Johnson was flown in to take over the drive. Then unknown until offered for sale by Chuck Haines (St Louis, MO) still in its 1983 #28 livery.
33. Phoenix-March (Tom Sneva): Bignotti-Cotter had a 1980 Phoenix as a backup car for 1981, which had been modified with suspension modelled on that of the team's March 81C. It was used in practice at the Indy 500 by Tom Sneva but he decided to use the March instead. Roger Rager then used it, but his qualifying attempt was flagged off. Finally Johnny Parsons Jr completed an attempt but was too slow. Sneva then raced it at Milwaukee, finished fourth, and then Salt Walther raced it at Pocono and Michigan later in the year. Unknown after 1981.
34. McLaren M24B [002?] (Bill Tempero): Johnny Rutherford's works McLaren at the 1979 Indy 500 (and presumably through the rest of 1979) is the car then driven by Tom Sneva at the 1980 "500". The car had been entered as the #81 O'Hanlon Lil Cheaper Special and practiced by Al Loquasto but the team had run out of engines. When Sneva wrote off O'Connell's Phoenix, the team hired the M24B (Daily Report 15 May 1980) rather than reclaim one of their own M24s. This is presumably the car run by O'Hanlon for the rest of 1980 and then as the #15 Tempero/O'Hanlon M24-Chev in 1981. O'Hanlon advertised an ex-Rutherford 1979 M24B in NSSN 28 Jul 1982 p38, when it was described as the last Indy car built by McLaren.
35. Lightning 79 (Johnny Parsons Jr): For the 1979 season, Lindsey Hopkins' team had a new blue #15 Lightning fitted with a Drake V8 engine for Johnny Parsons to drive. This car had several detail differences from the earlier type of Lightnings, including a straighter nose and a fuel filler at shoulder height behind the driver. In the USAC races at the start of the 1979 season, Parsons finished second in this car at Ontario and qualified second at TWS. He started practice at the 1979 Indy 500 in the Drake V8 car but elected to swap cars with teammate Hurley Haywood so the new blue Drake V8 car became Haywood's #51 entry. Haywood went faster than Parsons in both cars and was looking likely to qualify well when engine failures ruined both qualifying attempts. George Snider later drove this car at Pocono as the #51. For the 1980 Indy 500, this car was fitted with a turbocharged 207ci (3.4 litre), cast-iron V6 Chevrolet engine built by Ryan Falconer and developing 670bhp on 58ins of boost. After some swapping of cars during practice, Haywood again ended up in this car and after qualifying in 25th position, retired from the race with turbocharger problems. The car was also used by Parsons at Pocono after he wrecked his 1980 Lightning in practice, and also at the two Michigan races. It was also at Indy in 1981 where it was driven in practice by Parsons and Gary Bettenhausen but Parsons was unable to qualify it. The car was not seen again. Current owner Chris Schunk (Wyoming, Ohio) bought it from someone who had acquired it from Hopkins' estate and by 2015 had restored it to 1979 livery with a Drake V8 engine.
36. Watson 'PC7' (Dick Simon): For 1981, AJ Watson built a copy of a Penske PC7, using "some pieces" that Bill Finley had fabricated for Grant King and were just "laying around". Watson understood that a Penske cost $70,000, and felt he could build his own "ground effect" car for $20,000. Dick Simon moved from Rolla Vollstedt's team to the Leader Card team, bringing sponsor Vermont-American with him. Neither of the Leader Card entries qualified for the 1981 Indy 500, and although Simon continued with the car for the rest of 1981 and through 1982, he neither Watson qualified in 1982 either. This car was wrecked in Dick Simon's massive accident at Riverside in 1982. It evidently survived, and is believed to have been restored by Eddie Baue after King died in December 1999. It was next seen when acquired by Bill Wiswedel from a guy in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and Wiswedel then sold it to Chuck Haines, who sold it to Dave Bartush (Bloomfield Hills, Michigan).
37. Watson 77 (Billy Vukovich): New for Tom Bigelow to drive as the Leader Card #24 Thermo King entry at the 1977 Indy 500. He qualified 22nd and finished sixth. Bigelow raced the Watson at six more races that season, but used one of the team's old Eagles at Mosport Park and at the short-track races. He was replaced by Sheldon Kinser for 1978, and he raced this car at the opening races before moving to the new 1978 car. Tom Bagley then took over the 1977 car for the rest of the season at was at his best on road courses, qualifying fifth at Mosport, seventh at Silverstone and eighth at Brands Hatch. Billy Vukovich took over the car for 1979, the year of the CART/USAC schism and achived several good placing in the poorly-supported USAC races, including second place at Milwaukee in June. The car was only seen a few times in 1980 and was then sold to Harry Schwartz' Rattlesnake Racing for Billy Vukovich to drive in 1981.
38. SEA 01 (Armstrong) (Greg Leffler): The SEA 01 (also known as the Armstrong) was designed by Pete Swingler for Sherman E. Armstrong's team and was a development of thei March-built 1980 Orbitor chassis. It was fabricated by Pete Howerton, previously responsible for the Williams-based Longhorn. Tom Bagley briefly qualified the car for the 1981 Indy 500 but was bumped soon after. Johnny Parsons Jr, qualified the car for the poorly-supported USAC raceat Pocono but its only other race was at Phoenix in October, where Greg Leffler was an early retirement. It was highly modified for 1982 with new rear suspension, nose and tunnels, and Leffler tried it again at two races but was unable to qualify for either.
39. Eagle 81 [8101] (Chip Mead): Originally built by AAR as a team car for Tom Sneva, chassis 8101 was sold after Sneva's sponsorship package fell through to a new team being put together by Chip Mead. Unlike the other 1981/82 Eagles, it used Cosworth DFX engines. John Barnes was crew chief, and the car was entered as #49. Mead failed to qualify for the Indy 500, but raced the car at Pocono, the July Michigan and the October Phoenix. It was loaned to Bobby Hillin's Longhorn Racing for Al Unser (Sr) to drive at the September Michigan. Bill Jamieson bought Mead's team for 1982, keeping on Mead and Barnes. After wrecking the car at Milwaukee in June, Mead left the team and Spike Gehlhausen, who had been driving the team's older Penske PC7, took over the Eagle, only to wreck the car again in testing five days before the Pocono race. It was rebuilt and both Chris Kneifel and Jacques Villeneuve (Sr) drove it later that season. Jamieson acquired a second 1981 Eagle for 1983, and the only time 8101 was used was when Bob Ward drove it in practice. After Jamieson Racing disbanded at the end of 1983, chassis 8101 went to an unknown owner and was seized by the government after it was involved in a drug deal. Little is known of it after that until it was bought from Bill Goodridge of Connecticut by the Dresang family in June 2008.
40. Kingfish 73 ['3'] (Jim Hurtubise): Built in 1975 by Grant King as a new chassis but built up using parts from the original #24 car and raced by Bentley Warren at Pocono in 1975. King built a pair of new cars for 1976 and the 1973 cars were rarely used over the next three seasons. This car was raced by Bob Harkey at Pocono in 1976 as the team's #96 entry and as more photographs emerge it may be found to have been raced on other occasions. The 1976 cars were dropped after 1978, and the two old 1973 cars were fitted with Chevrolet V8 engines for 1979. This car was raced as the #97 JC Agajanian/Grant King entry in 1979 and 1980. It was then sold to Norm Hall for 1981 and continued running in CART as the #65 Luxury Racers car, qualifying for races sporadically. Its last known appearance was at Road America in July 1983. In 2014, Jacques Dresang reported that this car was in the offices of Giuffre Bros Cranes Inc, in Milwaukee, WI.
41. Riley 74 (Ken Hamilton): New for the 1974 season and entered by Lindsey Hopkins as the #1 English Leather entry for his reigning USAC champion driver Roger McCluskey. Retained for 1975 when it was the #15 Silver Floss Sauerkraut entry for McCluskey. Retained as a backup for 1976 when Mike Hiss drove it as the #11 Hopkins entry at Indy but did not qualify. Chuck Looper told Pete Klain that Hopkins traded three cars to Rolla Vollstedt, including the Riley, and Vollstedt sold it to Kenny Hamilton (Boise, ID) who fitted a Chevy engine and ran it as the #63 Spirit of Idaho in 1981, failing to qualify at Indy but starting at Riverside later that year. It then went to Terry Nish (Salt Lake City, UT) who used the suspension on a Sprint Car or Super-Modified. The chassis and other parts passed through several more owners until sold by Gary Trout (Zionsville, Indiana) to Pete Klain (Beverly Hills, MI). Klain visited Nish and bought the original uprights and started work on a complete rebuild with original fabricator Chuck Looper.
42. Wildcat 'Mk 5' (Roger Rager): New for Wally Dallenbach at Phoenix in March 1979 as the Patrick Racing #40 entry, where Autosport described it as a chassis previously fitted with a Drake V8. Practiced by Gordon Johncock at the Indy 500 as Patrick Racing's #90 Foreman Industries entry, and then qualified by Spike Gehlhausen on the back row. It raced as #19 with backing from Sta-On Car Glaze, Guarantee Auto and WIRE. Johncock and Dallenbach used their Penske PC6s through the rest of 1979, but it is possible the Wildcat was used, unbilled, at one or more short track races. The "Wildcat-Cosworth" that Dallenbach raced at Phoenix in October was presumably this car. Sold to Roger Rager (Mound, MN) for 1980, and fitted with a 355 ci Chevrolet V8 engine, described as being from a school bus. Retained for 1981. Subsequent history unknown.
43. Eagle 72 [7204] (Bob Frey): One of two 1972 Eagles bought new by Jerry O'Connell's Sugaripe Prune team and raced by Billy Vukovich as the #3 entry in 1972, with Jud Phillips as chief mechanic. As the later history of 7207 is known from an invoice, and as the cars have distinct differences that can be seen in photographs, 7204 can be safely identified as Vukovich's 1972 Indy 500 car, after which it swapped roles with 7207 and became his short track car. It remained his short track car in 1973, and is then believed to have raced just twice in 1974. Sold to Donald Mergard and very probably the car raced by Bob Harkey as Mergard Racing's #42 entry at Michigan late that season. Retained by Mergard for another six seasons, racing as the #42 with numerous drivers and sponsors. In 1981, this car appears to have become Tom Frantz' #71 entry for Bob Frey. Subsequent history unknown.
44. Finley 80 ('PC6') (John Mahler): Built for John Mahler's team for 1980 as a copy of a Penske PC6, but arrived too late to practice at the 1980 Indy 500. Mahler raced it at five races later in the season, but did not finish any of them. He returned to the Indy 500 with the car in 1981, but again failed to qualify. Later that season, he raced the car three more times, but again failed to finish a race. It was driven by Michel Jourdain at the Copa Mexico 150 in October 1981. Mahler then retired from racing and entered the car for Jerry Sneva at the 1982 Indy 500. Ed Sneva designed new tunnel sidepods for the car and a rear end modelled on the latest Eagles, the resulting mishmash being described as a "PC7". When the Snevas left the team, Mahler returned to the cockpit just before qualifying, but crashed heavily on Thursday 20 May. The car was extensively damaged, and was not seen again.
45. Antares 72 (Phil Caliva): Sold to Lindsey Hopkins and entered at the 1972 Indy 500 as the #10 Gilmore Racing car for Wally Dallenbach. Dallenbach qualified Hopkins' 1970 Eagle for the race instead of the Antares but was forced into the Antares when the Eagle was bumped. The Offy engine blew during its qualifying run so it did not make the race. According to a history written by Kevin Triplett, this car and the Swede Savage car were returned to Antares Engineering and remained there until the two cars were bought by Ed Finley, Gary Miller and Keith Shuck in 1975. This ex-Dallenbach car was not used in 1976 but returned to the Indy 500 in 1977 when Ken Mahoney and Doug Beiderstedt had joined as part owners. Raced by Ed Finley in 1977 and 1978, then in 1979 by Frank Weiss and Eldon Rasmussen who managed to qualify it for the 1979 Indy 500. Reappeared a handful of times in 1980 and 1981 and then sat at the workshop of Ken Mahoney (Peru, IL) for some years. This car and all Mahoney's other Antares bits were acquired from him at some point by Jack Layton (Howell, Michigan), and he sold this ex-Dallenbach to Bob McConnell (Urbana, OH). By 2012, the car was fully restored in 1981 Roman Wheels #87 livery.
46. Kingfish 73 ['3'] (Jerry Miller): Built in 1975 by Grant King as a new chassis but built up using parts from the original #24 car and raced by Bentley Warren at Pocono in 1975. King built a pair of new cars for 1976 and the 1973 cars were rarely used over the next three seasons. This car was raced by Bob Harkey at Pocono in 1976 as the team's #96 entry and as more photographs emerge it may be found to have been raced on other occasions. The 1976 cars were dropped after 1978, and the two old 1973 cars were fitted with Chevrolet V8 engines for 1979. This car was raced as the #97 JC Agajanian/Grant King entry in 1979 and 1980. It was then sold to Norm Hall for 1981 and continued running in CART as the #65 Luxury Racers car, qualifying for races sporadically. Its last known appearance was at Road America in July 1983. In 2014, Jacques Dresang reported that this car was in the offices of Giuffre Bros Cranes Inc, in Milwaukee, WI.
47. McLaren M16E [001] (Larry Rice): New in 1975 for McLaren Cars main driver Johnny Rutherford as the #2 Gatorade entry. Raced at Ontario and in the Indy 500, where he finished second, but the badly damaged when he "lost it" on the oopening lap of his qualifying run at Pocono. Rutherford then took over the less used M16E-2 that Lloyd Ruby had driven for the two Michigan races but used his older M16C/D elsewhere. At the end of the season, M16E-1 was sold to Bob Fletcher's team, but McLaren stipulated that it could not be driven by Fletcher's main driver, Bobby Unser, until the new McLaren M24s were ready. As the M24 was delayed, Fletcher sold the M16E to Russ Polak's Polak Racing for Larry Dickson to drive as the #80 entry. Raced by Dickson from Michigan in July 1976 to the end of 1977. Not seen in 1978. Then almost certainly the McLaren entered by Jack L. Rhoades as the #20 Scientific Drilling Controls car for John Martin at the 500 mile races in 1979 and for Dana Carter at Indy in 1980. Returned to Indy in 1981 as the #52 Rassey Engines car for Larry Rice. Then unknown until advertised in the late 1980s by Stephen A. Schwartz (Westport, CT), totally restored and in its original Gatorade livery. It was reacquired by McLaren and put on display in the Donington Museum for many years. It was at McLaren HQ in Woking in 2010.
48. McLaren M24 [002] (Phil Threshie): New to Penske Racing for Mario Andretti to drive as the #9 CAM2 Motor Oil entry at eight races in 1977. Sold to George Walther's Dayton-Walther team for his son Salt Walther to drive in 1978. The ex-Andretti car was Salt's intended race car at the Indy 500, but he swapped to his ex-Tom Sneva car for qualifying and the race. Photographs indicate that Walther raced the ex-Andretti car at Pocono and Ontario in 1978. Walther acquired a new Penske PC6 for 1979, but one of the M24s was retained as a backup. The ex-Andretti car was sold to Tom Frantz (Littleton, CO) for 1980, but only appeared at the Indy 500, where he did not qualify, and was then sold to Don Mergard (Cincinnati, OH), whose crew chief Eddie Meinking fitted a Chevrolet stock block engine. Mergard entered it for Phil Threshie at the Indy 500 in 1981, and for Teddy Pilette in 1982, but both failed to qualify. Mergard advertised the car in February 1982 as being "ex-Andretti". The movements of the car are unknown after that date, but at some point it was restored to the livery Sneva's 1977 pole position car and put on display in the Historic Auto Attractions Museum in Roscoe, Illinois. However, it still had its M24-002 chassis plate, its USAC sticker from when Tom Frantz ran it in 1980, and the Chevrolet stock block engine from the Mergard era.
49. Antares 72 (Bob Harkey): Sold to Lindsey Hopkins and entered at the 1972 Indy 500 as the #10 Gilmore Racing car for Wally Dallenbach. Dallenbach qualified Hopkins' 1970 Eagle for the race instead of the Antares but was forced into the Antares when the Eagle was bumped. The Offy engine blew during its qualifying run so it did not make the race. According to a history written by Kevin Triplett, this car and the Swede Savage car were returned to Antares Engineering and remained there until the two cars were bought by Ed Finley, Gary Miller and Keith Shuck in 1975. This ex-Dallenbach car was not used in 1976 but returned to the Indy 500 in 1977 when Ken Mahoney and Doug Beiderstedt had joined as part owners. Raced by Ed Finley in 1977 and 1978, then in 1979 by Frank Weiss and Eldon Rasmussen who managed to qualify it for the 1979 Indy 500. Reappeared a handful of times in 1980 and 1981 and then sat at the workshop of Ken Mahoney (Peru, IL) for some years. This car and all Mahoney's other Antares bits were acquired from him at some point by Jack Layton (Howell, Michigan), and he sold this ex-Dallenbach to Bob McConnell (Urbana, OH). By 2012, the car was fully restored in 1981 Roman Wheels #87 livery.
50. McLaren M24 ["M24/6"] (Jerry Sneva): Warner Hodgdon's National Engineering Co entered a McLaren M24 for Roger McCluskey to drive at the Ontario 200 and Indianapolis 500 in 1979, and later for Jerry Sneva at the California 500 later that season. It was described as being a 1977 car, but was also described as unraced. McLaren, Penske and Hodgdon mechanic Roger Flynn later said about this car, "I built this McLaren from a box of parts we purchased from Penske, from the modified nose, side pods, rear wing, intake plenum and turbo header system, and many, many other components". It was retained for 1980, and raced by Roger Mears in the Ontario 200 in April, and by Michael Chandler in the Ontario 500 in August. It was driven by Sneva and Chandler in practice at the 1981 Indy 500, but did not attempt to qualify. Its final known appearance was at Riverside in August 1981 where it was taken over by H & R Racing for Tony Bettenhausen II to drive after he wrecked his regular car, but he could not get it up to speed. Subsequent history unknown.
51. Lightning 79 (Gary Bettenhausen): For the 1979 season, Lindsey Hopkins' team had a new blue #15 Lightning fitted with a Drake V8 engine for Johnny Parsons to drive. This car had several detail differences from the earlier type of Lightnings, including a straighter nose and a fuel filler at shoulder height behind the driver. In the USAC races at the start of the 1979 season, Parsons finished second in this car at Ontario and qualified second at TWS. He started practice at the 1979 Indy 500 in the Drake V8 car but elected to swap cars with teammate Hurley Haywood so the new blue Drake V8 car became Haywood's #51 entry. Haywood went faster than Parsons in both cars and was looking likely to qualify well when engine failures ruined both qualifying attempts. George Snider later drove this car at Pocono as the #51. For the 1980 Indy 500, this car was fitted with a turbocharged 207ci (3.4 litre), cast-iron V6 Chevrolet engine built by Ryan Falconer and developing 670bhp on 58ins of boost. After some swapping of cars during practice, Haywood again ended up in this car and after qualifying in 25th position, retired from the race with turbocharger problems. The car was also used by Parsons at Pocono after he wrecked his 1980 Lightning in practice, and also at the two Michigan races. It was also at Indy in 1981 where it was driven in practice by Parsons and Gary Bettenhausen but Parsons was unable to qualify it. The car was not seen again. Current owner Chris Schunk (Wyoming, Ohio) bought it from someone who had acquired it from Hopkins' estate and by 2015 had restored it to 1979 livery with a Drake V8 engine.
52. Wildcat Mk 2 (Rich Vogler): Wally Dallenbach had a Wildcat Mk 2 for the 1976 season but we cannot be certain when he drove the Mk 2 that season and when he may have used an older Mk 1. The Mk 3s were produced for 1977 but were only used at a handful of races and Dallenbach drove his 1976 Mk 2 at most races. At the end of 1977, the Dallenbach Mk 2 was sold to Sherman Armstrong's Armstrong Mould team and driven by Tom Bigelow through the 1978 season. It was loaned back to Patrick Racing for Steve Krisiloff to drive at Trenton in September after his usual Mk 2 had been wrecked at Ontario three weeks earlier and the alternative Mk 4 had been shipped to England for the two British races. Retained by Armstrong and driven by Gary Bettenhausen and Howdy Holmes in 1979 and by Bettenhausen in 1980. Used briefly by Rich Vogler as an Armstrong Mould entry in Indy 500 practice in 1981. Subsequent history unknown
53. McLaren M24 ["M24/6"] (Michael Chandler): Warner Hodgdon's National Engineering Co entered a McLaren M24 for Roger McCluskey to drive at the Ontario 200 and Indianapolis 500 in 1979, and later for Jerry Sneva at the California 500 later that season. It was described as being a 1977 car, but was also described as unraced. McLaren, Penske and Hodgdon mechanic Roger Flynn later said about this car, "I built this McLaren from a box of parts we purchased from Penske, from the modified nose, side pods, rear wing, intake plenum and turbo header system, and many, many other components". It was retained for 1980, and raced by Roger Mears in the Ontario 200 in April, and by Michael Chandler in the Ontario 500 in August. It was driven by Sneva and Chandler in practice at the 1981 Indy 500, but did not attempt to qualify. Its final known appearance was at Riverside in August 1981 where it was taken over by H & R Racing for Tony Bettenhausen II to drive after he wrecked his regular car, but he could not get it up to speed. Subsequent history unknown.
54. Finley Eagle ['72 7228?] (John Mahler): As well as the new Penske PC6 copy, the Finley team had an older car at the 1981 Indy 500 running as #93. This car looked very much like the "Bear" that the team had run in 1979 and as such may be descended from either the team's "new" 1976 car or the '72-style Eagle (chassis 7228) that the team had acquired for the 1975 season.
55. Vollstedt 73/76 [13] (Bill Puterbaugh): New for 1973 as Vollstedt Enterprises' #17 Norton Spirit entry for Bill Simpson but Simpson crashed during practice for the Indy 500, and the car could not be repaired in time for qualifying. Simpson drove the car again in practice for the Pocono 500, but left the team, saying the car was not fast enough. Bob Harkey took over the drive, and qualified. At the Ontario 500, Tom Sneva was brought into the team, but again crashed the car preventing it from qualifying. The car was converted to the McLaren-style design of the 1972 car for 1974 when it was raced by Bigelow as the #27 Bryant Heating car. Raced by Bigelow at Indy in 1975 but its usage during the rest of that season is still to be determined. Rebuilt extensively for 1976 with its radiators moved to the nose, the same as the 1972 car which had been modified the previous season. Raced by Dick Simon as the #17 Bryant Heating entry in 1976 and in early 1977. It was then retained by the team as a backup car in 1978 and was fitted with an AMC turbo V8 for some races in 1979. Its last known appearance was when driven by Gary Bettenhausen at Pocono in June 1981, when it was described as "an old shovel-nose car". Rolla Vollstedt's son Bruce recalls that the tub sat around for some time, the sides having been taken off with the intention of using it build a different style car. The sides were later put back on, it was sold to to Joe Green, and Rolla rebuilt the car for him in about 2001.
56. Watson 78/80 (Joe Saldana): New for Sheldon Kinser to drive as the Leader Card #24 Thermo King entry at the 1978 Indy 500, and at races later in the season. Kinser continued to race this car for the team in 1979, now with Genesee Beer sponsorship. The car was updated for 1980 with "ground-effect" sidepods. Kinser started the season in it before moving over to the 1979 Watson, and Billy Vukovich then qualified it for the Indy 500, finishing 12th. Kinser and Vukovich both raced it later in the season, as the team rotated all three of the 1977-1979 cars. It was entered as a backup car for Dick Simon in his #22 Vermont American livery at the 1981 Indy 500 and was raced by Simon at Pocono and Milwaukee later that season. It was then sold to Rolla Vollstedt for Max "Rusty" Schmidt to attempt to qualify at the 1982 Indy 500. Vollstedt recalled selling it to a female Formula Ford racer in Portland whose cheque bounced. This must be the Amber Furst (Brightwood, OR) who entered a Watson-Offy for the 1983 Indy 500 with husband Tim Furst as chief mechanic but was refused a chance to take her rookie test. After Vollstedt got the car back he sold it to "a local fellow" who put a Chevy in it. Subsequent history unknown.
57. Coyote 71 (Steve Ball): New for AJ Foyt at the 1971 Indy 500, where he finished third. Presumably the car he used for the rest of the season, but it is possible he used the sister car or older cars at short track events. NSSN reported that he used this car when he won at Phoenix in October 1971, his first USAC race win in over two years, when the car had "undergone major chassis changes, including the moving of the radiators to the rear of the chassis, ala McLaren". The car was sold to the MVS team for 1972 and raced by Jim Hurtubise at the Indy 500. MVS also bought an older 1969/70 Coyote for the short ovals. This car was then raced by George Snider as MVS's #29 entry on the longer tracks later in 1972. Although Sessions was reported to be driving the team's 1972 Eagle at all his races in 1973, photographs and race video show him driving the Coyote at least twice. It was bought from MVS in 1975 less engine by the Dewco Construction team of Jack Owens (Indianapolis, IN), and fitted with a stock block Chevrolet. It ran in this form for two years, but only started one race. Then unknown until the early 1980s when it was entered by Robert W. Gaby's B&G Racing for Steve Ball (Osslar, IN) at the 1981 Indy 500. Ball's entry was withdrawn after the team's owner ran into financial issues, but Ball was invited to start the Pocono race a month later as USAC were short of entries. The car was later sold to Chuck Haines, who later sold it to a new owner who took it to Walt Goodwin to be restored.
58. Eagle 73 [7303] (TBA): New for Jerry Grant to race at the 1973 Indy 500 as AAR's #48 Olsonite Eagle. Grant was not entered at the Pocono 500 and the car was sold to Patrick Racing prior to that race. It was raced by Gordy Johncock for the rest of the season as his Indy-winning car was wrecked at Pocono. Raced by teammate Wally Dallenbach in the early races of 1974, then brought to the Indy 500 to replace a '74 car damaged by Johncock in practice. Raced by Johncock at Indy and at Milwaukee in June, and believed to have been his short track car for the rest of the year. Then to Lee Elkins and entered as the #83 McNamara Eagle for Bill Puterbaugh at Indy and at Pocono in 1975, qualifying for both. Retained for the 500-mile races 1976, when Puterbaugh qualified for the Indy 500 and Ontario, and also in 1977 when, now as the #16 entry, he again qualified for the Indy 500. Immediately after qualifying, the car was acquired by George Walther who wanted to put son Salt into it but after an uproar, Puterbaugh drove it in the race. Then from Walther to Bob Olmstead who fitted a Volker V12 engine for Indy 1978 but did not get the car on track. The car was stored until after Olmstead's death, and was sold to Bill Simpson in the early 1990s. It was restored as a show car for Simpson by Wayne Leary and put on display in North Carolina to represent the Eagle that Simpson had raced at Indy. Sold around 2013 to Jeff Urwin (New York, NY).

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.