1979 Indianapolis 500

he 1979 Indianapolis 500 was held at Indianapolis on Sunday, May 27, 1979.

The month was filled with controversy on and off the track. A court injunction was issued after USAC denied entries by the start-up CART series. During time trials, several cars were disqualified due to illegal wastegate]manifolds. Qualifying closed with 33 cars in the field. However, the day before the race a special qualifying session was held to allow certain entries a last chance to qualify. Two additional cars were added to the field, for a total of 35 cars (the most since 1933).

Al Unser dominated the first half in Jim Hall's radical Chaparral 2K chassis. However, Unser's brother Bobby took over the lead just prior to the halfway point, and Al was soon eliminated when his car began smoking with a failed transmission. When Bobby slowed with gearbox trouble late in the race, young second-year driver Rick Mears moved out front with less than 20 laps to go and won his first Indy 500. Born in 1951, Mears became the first Indy winner born after WWII. They also changed to the pace car system during caution periods, instead of the pacer light system during the USAC era.

Race results
Failed to Qualify: Bill Alsup (#19, #41, #68 - Disqualified), Gary Bettenhausen (#44, #98), Tony Bettenhausen, Jr. (#23, #26), Neil Bonnett (#73), Earle Canavan, Larry Cannon (#95), Dana Carter (#30), Billy Engelhart (#83), Dick Ferguson (#81), Ed Finley (#62), Woody Fisher (#52), Tom Frantz (#16), Todd Gibson (#75), Bob Harkey (#19), Hurley Haywood (#51), Jim Hurtubise (#56), Jerry Karl (#38), Al Loquasto (#39), John Martin (#20), Larry McCoy (#93), Jerry Miller (#97), Jan Opperman, Bill Puterbaugh (#35), Roger Rager (#66), Billy Scott (#28), Frank Weiss (#50)