The 65th Indianapolis 500 was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana, on Sunday, May 24, 1981. The race is widely considered one of the most controversial races in Indy history. Bobby Unser took the checkered flag as the winner, with Mario Andretti finishing second. After the conclusion of the race, USAC officials ruled that Unser had passed cars illegally while exiting the pit area during a caution on lap 149 (of 200). Unser was subsequently issued a one-position penalty. The next morning, the official race results were posted, and Unser was dropped to second place. Andretti was elevated to first place and declared the race winner.
Controversy followed the ruling. After a lengthy protest and appeals process, the penalty was rescinded, and Unser was reinstated the victory on October 8. Officially, it became Unser's third-career Indy 500 victory and his final win in Indy car competition. Unser stepped out of the car at the end of the season, and ultimately retired from driving. The race was officially part of the 1981–82 USAC season; however, most of the top entrants participated in the 1981 CART PPG Indy Car World Series. Championship points for the 1981 Indy 500 were not awarded towards the CART title and the race was considered a non-championship race for that series.
The hectic month of May 1981 was interrupted several times by rain. Pole qualifying stretched over three days due to inclement weather, and several days of practice were cut short or lost due to rain. The 1981 race is also remembered for the horrifying crash of Danny Ongais, and a major pit fire involving Rick Mears. Ongais was critically injured, and Mears suffered burns, but both drivers would recover. Another massive pit fire occurred eight weeks later at the Norton Michigan 500. This prompted new rules and standards be put in place regarding the safety of fueling rigs, and pit area safety in general.
Background Three years into the first open wheel "Split", the sport of Indy car racing began settling into a more stabilized environment by 1981. A joint-sanctioning agreement known as the Championship Racing League (CRL) dissolved in mid-1980. USAC and CART went their separate ways, and actually awarded separate national championship titles that season. Johnny Rutherford happened to win both, and was the consensus champion for 1980. Beginning in 1981, the Indianapolis 500 remained sanctioned by USAC, while the preeminent national championship was now the one being sanctioned by CART. The Indy 500 field would consist of the CART-based teams, along with numerous independent, "Indy-only" teams, some of which were USAC-loyal holdovers. Indianapolis was designated an "invitational" race, and for 1981–1982, did not pay championship points to the CART title, although all of the CART teams were still invited. USAC kept alive their own Gold Crown championship, running Indianapolis, the Pocono 500, and a few dirt races.
A record total of 105 entries were expected to shatter the previous records for drivers on the track and qualifying attempts. Speed-cutting measures were still in place, and no drivers were expected to challenge the track records in 1981. The biggest rule change by USAC during the offseason was the banning of ground effects side skirts on the sidepods.
Mario Andretti, as he had done in previous years, planned to race at Indianapolis in-between his busy, full-time Formula One schedule. His plans included qualifying at Indy on pole day weekend (May 9–10), then flying to Europe for the Belgian Grand Prix (May 17). After Belgium, he would fly back to Indianapolis in time for race day (May 24).
In response to a spectator fatality in the infield in 1980 (the result of an overturned Jeep), track management decided to take deliberate steps to curtail the revelry in the infamous "Snake Pit". For the 1981 race, bleachers were erected in the turn one infield. Over the next few years, additional capital improvements further scaled back the size of the area, and eventually the intensity of the rowdiness dropped substantially.
Race schedule For the first time, USAC held a special test session for first-time drivers. The first-ever Rookie Orientation Program was organized and held over three days in early April. It allowed newcomers the opportunity to take their first laps at the Speedway and acclimate themselves to the circuit in a relaxed environment. It would be held without the pressure of veteran drivers crowding the track, without the distraction of spectators, and with minimal media coverage. The drivers were allowed to take the first phases of their rookie test during the ROP. They would then return to complete the final phase of the test during official practice in May.
Since the 500 had been moved to the Sunday of Memorial Day weekend, the 1981 race marked the earliest date (May 24) on which the race had ever been held. According to the calendar, May 24 is also the earliest date in which it can be scheduled.
Race schedule — April 1981SunMonTueWedThuFriSat 1 2 3 4ROP5ROP6ROP 7 8 9 10 11 Race schedule — May 1981 1 2Practice 3Practice 4Practice 5Practice 6Practice 7Practice 8Practice 9Pole Day10Time Trials11Practice12Practice13Practice14Practice15Practice16Time Trials17Time Trials18 19 20 21Carb Day22Mini-Marathon23Parade24Indy 50025Memorial Day26 27 28 29 30 31 Color Notes Green Practice Dark Blue Time trials Silver Race day Red Rained out* Blank No track activity * Includes days where trackactivity was significantlylimited due to rain
ROP – denotes RookieOrientation Program
Practice and qualifying
Practice – week 1 Practice started on Opening Day, Saturday May 2. The two most notable rookies of the field made most of the headlines for the afternoon. Young Josele Garza (actually 19 at the time, lied on his entry form to say he was 21) and Geoff Brabham both passed their rookie tests.
On Sunday May 3, Al Unser became the first driver to practice over . A day later, his brother Bobby Unser pushed the speeds over . The first incidents of the month occurred Monday, when Gordon Smiley spun, and Pete Halsmer crashed in turn 4.
Tuesday (May 5) was completely rained out, and Wednesday (May 6) was windy, keeping the speeds mostly down. A record 50 cars took to the track on Thursday (May 7), with Mario Andretti fastest of the day at .
On Friday, the final day of practice before pole day, Penske teammates Bobby Unser and Rick Mears were hand-timed just a tick below . Mario Andretti was a close third over .
Time trials – weekend 1 On Saturday May 9, rain delayed the start of pole position time trials until 3:34 p.m. An abbreviated session saw only 9 cars finish qualifying runs. A. J. Foyt was the fastest of the nine, sitting on the provisional pole at , lightly brushing the North Chute wall and continuing without incident. Rain stopped qualifying for the day at 5:49 p.m., and pushed pole qualifying into the next day.
On Sunday May 10, pole position qualifying was scheduled to resume. Rain fell all afternoon, however, and canceled all track activity for the day. 27 cars were still eligible for the pole position, and the resumption of pole day qualifying was scheduled for the following Saturday.
Among the cars not yet qualified was Mario Andretti, who was due to be in Belgium for the Grand Prix the following weekend. His plans to put the car safely in the field on pole weekend were thwarted, and a contingency plan would have to be made.
Practice – week 2 Rain continued to fall, and washed out practice on Monday (May 11). On Tuesday May 12, the barrier was finally broken in practice for the month by Danny Ongais. Mario Andretti took his final practice run of the week, and departed for Belgium. Two major crashes occurred, involving Phil Caliva and Phil Krueger. Tim Richmond and Larry "Boom Boom" Cannon both were involved in spins, but suffered no contact.
On Wednesday May 13, Rick Mears pushed the fastest speed of the month to . Retired veteran driver Wally Dallenbach climbed into Mario Andretti's car, and began to take some shake down laps. Due to Andretti's absence for the rest of the week, the Patrick Racing team decided to have Dallenbach qualify the car for him. On race day, Andretti would take over the cockpit once again. Dallenbach was quickly up to speed, over on his first day.
Rain closed the track on Thursday. On Friday, Bobby Unser upped the speed even further, turning a lap of . A record 63 cars took to the track on the final full day of practice. World of Outlaws star, and Indy rookie Steve Kinser crashed in turn 1.
Time trials – weekend 2 Pole day time trials resumed on a sunny Saturday May 16. About a half-hour into the session, Bobby Unser took over the pole position with a four-lap average of . Meanwhile, Wally Dallenbach put Mario Andretti's car safely in the field at over . Mike Mosley squeezed himself into the front row posting a run. Moments later, Rick Mears took to the track. After a lap over , his car developed a vibration, and he was forced to wave off, giving up his chance for the pole position. Pole qualifying continued until 2:00 p.m., when the original qualifying line was finally exhausted. Bobby Unser was awarded the pole, and the next round of qualifying began.
After pole qualifying was over, Tom Sneva qualified his car at . It was the fastest speed of the month, but since it did not take place in the pole round, he was not eligible for the pole position. Later in the day, Rick Mears took a back-up car out to qualify, but had to settle for a slower speed, and 22nd starting position. A very busy day saw the field filled at 5:00 pm and two drivers being bumped. A total of 53 qualifying attempts were made on Saturday, breaking the previous single day record of 45.
On Sunday, bump day time trials were very busy. Ten cars were bumped during 25 attempts. The last complete attempt saw Jerry Sneva bump Jerry Karl. However, after being tipped off by Steve Krisiloff, Karl protested and Jerry Sneva was disqualified for using too much boost during his qualification attempt. It marked the first time since 1934 that the venerable Offenhauser engine did not make the race.
Carburetion Day The final practice was held Thursday May 22. All 33 qualified cars took laps, along with first alternate Herm Johnson and Jerry Sneva. Sneva was appealing a decision by USAC in which he was disqualified for qualifying with a tampered pop-off valve. Ultimately, Sneva would lose his appeal.
Bobby Unser (197.5 mph) was the fastest driver of the afternoon. No crashes were reported, but there were five yellows for minor incidents. Johnny Rutherford suffered an electrical fire in the pits due to faulty wiring. The fire was quickly extinguished, and Rutherford was not injured. Repairs were made, and car was back out on the track later in the session. Mario Andretti returned from Belgium, and practiced in his already-qualified car.
Jerry Karl was absent from practice after being arrested on Thursday morning. He was booked downtown, and later bonded out of jail. Bob Harkey substituted for him and took his car out for some practice laps.
The starting grid was altered slightly. Wally Dallenbach, who qualified Mario Andretti's car 8th, stepped aside as planned, and the car moved to the rear of the grid. In addition, George Snider sold his ride on Wednesday night to Tim Richmond. As a result, that car was also moved to the back of the field.
Pit Stop Contest