1980 Indianapolis 500 Film

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This is the 64th Indianapolis 500, run on May 25, 1980.

NOTE: While I use the host segments for the Indy 500: The Classics airing of the highlight film, this is, in fact, a combined version between the SpeedVision version and ESPN's Legends of the Brickyard series. Thus virtually the entire film is presented in one upload.

When the teams arrived at Indy to begin a new decade of speed, one thing was apparent. The road to success went through the Jim Hall team, which had a different driver for 1980, as 2-time Indy winner Johnny Rutherford replaced 3-time Indy champ Al Unser, who was dissatisfied with car owner Jim Hall over who should have gotten credit for the design of the Chaparral car. But there was no doubt that was the car to beat, and in a year that saw the deepest rookie field in many years attack the Brickyard, it would be experience that would win out.

There were 24 rookies entered and nearly half of them qualified for the race, including future NASCAR star Tim Richmond, sports car racing legend Hurley Haywood, and Bill and Don Whittington, who won the 24 Hours of LeMans in 1979 and before they arrived at Indy, had become the first pair of brothers to race in the Daytona 500 as rookies, and would make the same history at Indy.

During qualifications, Rutherford, Mario Andretti, and Bobby Unser qualified for the front row, making 1980 only the second year that the front row was comprised of three winners (1975 had been the only previous time that happened). But that was about the only thing predictable about qualifications in 1980, because defending Indy champion Rick Mears was outqualified by Spike Gehlhausen and Jerry Sneva, the latter driving a Jim Hall car that Al Unser had driven in 1978. Jerry's more distinguished brother, Tom, had a rough go, qualifying 14th and then crashing in between the two qualifying weekends. His team would bring out a back-up car and start last, but he wouldn't stay there. It was even worse for 1973 winner Gordon Johncock, who fractured his left ankle during the first week of practice, but persevered. Pole day also saw one of the biggest blunders ever made when Janet Guthrie's team waved off a run that would have easily qualified her for the race. She would never get another chance, as horrendous weather during the second qualifying weekend prevented her from making another bid. That wasn't the case for Tim Richmond, who despite his own pre-qualifying mishap, did qualify on the second weekend and contended into the second half of the race.

With 10 rookies sprinkled throughout the field and the veteran drivers worried about a lack of horsepower, many feared a caution-marred race, and unfortunately, that's exactly what transpired. While Rutherford and Bobby Unser dueled early, the caution came out four times in the first 100 miles, including for one crash involving two rookies (Bill Whittington and Dick Ferguson) and another for the surprisingly strong Spike Gehlhausen, allowing other drivers to lead, such as rookie Roger Rager, veteran George Snider, Johncock, and Pancho Carter, who would later be penalized one lap for passing the pace car. Andretti also led in the early stages (before dropping out, of course), the first time he led at Indy since his 1969 win.

But the biggest benefactors were Tom Sneva and fellow last row starter Gary Bettenhausen, who was the slowest qualifier. Both moved into contention as the cautions and attrition mounted (there were 13 caution periods in this race). Both Unser brothers, Jerry Sneva, A.J. Foyt, and Snider were also among those that fell by the wayside, as would Rager, who got caught up in veteran Jim McElreath's mishap.

But nothing could stop Rutherford, who late in the race, had Rick Mears to deal with, but Mears eventually fell victim to a late flat tire, and Rutherford won by 30 seconds to become Indy's sixth 3-time winner. But the real stories lied in those who finished behind JR. Sneva became the first driver ever to lead the race after starting last (he led 13 laps). Bettenhausen, the slowest qualifier, wound up third, the highest finisher for a driver that was the slowest qualifier. Johncock, who also led early, finished fourth with a broken ankle. Mears wound up fifth, followed by Carter, who would have finished second, if not for that one lap penalty for passing the pace car. Danny Ongais was next, in seventh place, followed by veteran Tom Bigelow. Ninth place (and Indy's top rookie honors) went to Tim Richmond, who ran out of fuel on the final lap and was given a ride to victory lane by JR. Rounding out the top ten was another rookie, Greg Leffler, in Sherman Armstrong's third car, all of which finished in the top 10 (Both Bigelow and Bettenhausen started in the back row).