1972 Indianapolis 500

The 1972 Indianapolis 500 was held at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Saturday, May 27, 1972.

Gary Bettenhausen leads 138 laps until his engine blows on lap 176. Jerry Grant gets the lead but pits for new tires on lap 188 in team mate Bobby Unser’s pit. Bettenhausen’s Penske team mate Mark Donohue wins after leading 13 laps. After a post-race re-examination, scoring is stopped on Grant because of the pit lane violation. Bolt-on wings were allowed for the first time, and during qualifying Bobby Unser runs over 196 mi/h, breaking the one-year-old track record by over 17 mi/h. During the race, Wally Dallenbach Sr.'s car catches fire on each of his three refueling stops.

Race Notes

 * This was the first Indy 500 during which Jim Nabors sang "Back Home Again in Indiana" during the pre-race festivities. Nabors has performed the song at most editions of the 500 ever since.


 * This race was slowed 5 times for caution for only 20 minutes.


 * The Indy Emergency Medical Center was enlarged that year.


 * Jerry Grant crossed the finished line 2nd but officials later penalized him 12 laps for an illegal pit stop. Grant had consumed all of the fuel in his pitside fuel tank, so he pulled into the pit of his teammate Bobby Unser (who had retired after 31 laps) and refuelled there.  USAC ruled that Grant's race ended at that point with 188 laps completed.


 * Jim Malloy died four days after a practice crash.