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 fuel 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 mph (315 km/h), breaking the one-year-old track record by over 17 mph (27 km/h). During the race, Wally Dallenbach Sr.'s car catches fire on each of his three refueling stops.

Race schedule

Race schedule — April/May, 1972 Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat 23   24   25   26   27   28   29 Opening Day 30 Practice 1 Practice 2 Practice 3 Practice 4 Practice 5 Practice 6 Practice 7 Practice 8 Practice 9 Practice 10 Practice 11 Practice 12 Practice 13 Pole Day 14 Time Trials 15 Practice 16 Practice 17 Practice 18 Practice 19 Practice 20 Time Trials 21 Bump Day 22   23   24 Carb Day 25   26   27 Indy 500 28   29 Memorial Day 30   31

Color Notes Green Practice Dark Blue Time trials Silver Race day Red Rained out* Blank No track activity * Includes days where track activity was significantly limited due to rain

Race results

Finish	Start	No	Name	Qual	Rank	Laps	Led	Status
1	3	66	Mark Donohue	191.408	3	200	13	Running
2	19	4	Al Unser	183.617	13	200	0	Running
3	6	1	Joe Leonard	185.223	10	200	0	Running
4	24	52	Sammy Sessions	180.415	26	200	0	Running
5	7	34	Sam Posey	184.379	12	198	0	Flagged
6	11	5	Lloyd Ruby	181.415	20	196	0	Flagged
7	25	60	Mike Hiss	179.015	31	196	0	Flagged
8	5	9	Mario Andretti	187.617	9	194	0	Out of fuel
9	31	11	Jimmy Caruthers	178.909	32	194	0	Flagged
10	32	21	Cale Yarborough	178.864	33	193	0	Flagged
11	21	84	George Snider	181.855	16	190	0	Flagged
12	15	48	Jerry Grant	189.294	4	188	16	Penalized
13	23	44	Dick Simon	180.424	25	186	0	Out of Fuel
14	4	7	Gary Bettenhausen	188.877	7	182	138	Ignition
15	33	40	Wally Dallenbach, Sr.	181.626	18	182	0	Flagged
16	14	89	John Martin	179.614	28	161	0	Fuel Leak
17	30	37	Lee Kunzman	179.265	30	131	0	Lost Tire
18	12	23	Mel Kenyon	181.388	21	126	0	Fuel Injection
19	28	17	Denny Zimmerman	180.027	27	116	0	Ignition Rotor
20	26	24	Gordon Johncock	188.511	8	113	0	Exhaust Valve
21	10	15	Steve Krisiloff	181.433	19	102	0	Ignition Rotor
22	29	31	John Mahler	179.497	29	99	0	Piston
23	13	56	Jim Hurtubise	181.050	22	94	0	Penalized
24	20	14	Roger McCluskey	182.686	15	92	0	Valve
25	17	2	A.J. Foyt	188.996	6	60	0	Turbocharger
26	16	98	Mike Mosley	189.145	5	56	3	Crash T4
27	8	18	Johnny Rutherford	183.234	14	55	0	Rod
28	18	3	Bill Vukovich II	184.814	11	54	0	Rear End
29	22	95	Carl Williams	180.469	24	52	0	Oil Cooler
30	1	6	Bobby Unser	195.940	1	31	30	Ignition Rotor
31	2	12	Peter Revson	192.885	2	23	0	Gearbox
32	9	42	Swede Savage	181.726	17	5	0	Rod
33	27	33	Salt Walther	180.542	23	0	0	Magneto

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 refueled there. USAC ruled that Grant's race ended at that point with 188 laps completed.

• Jim Malloy died four days after a practice crash.

Qualifying Chronology

Att #	Date	Time	Qual Day	Car #	Driver Name	Laps	Qual Time	Qual Speed	Rank	Start	Comment
1	5-13	17:50	1	17	Denny Zimmerman	0	—	—	—	—
2	5-13	17:53	1	14	Roger McCluskey	0	—	—	—	—
3	5-13	17:57	1	2	A. J. Foyt	0	—	—	—	—	Blown engine
4	5-14	14:38	1	4	Al Unser	0	—	—	—	—	Blown engine
5	5-14	14:46	1	3	Billy Vukovich II	1	—	—	—	—	Accident
6	5-14	15:08	1	98	Mike Mosley	3	—	—	—	—	Pulled Off
7	5-14	16:14	1	1	Joe Leonard	4	3:14.36	185.223	10	6
8	5-14	16:19	1	9	Mario Andretti	4	3:11.88	187.617	9	5
9	5-14	16:25	1	18	Johnny Rutherford	4	3:16.47	183.234	14	8
10	5-14	16:31	1	44	Dick Simon	0	—	—	—	—
11	5-14	16:36	1	52	Sam Sessions	3	—	—	—	—
12	5-14	16:43	1	7	Gary Bettenhausen	4	3:10.60	188.877	6	4
13	5-14	16:49	1	6	Bobby Unser	4	3:03.73	195.940	1	1
14	5-14	16:56	1	34	Sam Posey	4	3:15.25	184.379	12	7
15	5-14	17:01	1	72	Mike Hiss	0	—	—	—	—
16	5-14	17:05	1	40	Art Pollard	4	3:18.21	181.626	18	33	Driver injured; replaced by Wally Dallenbach
17	5-14	17:19	1	5	Lloyd Ruby	4	3:18.44	181.415	20	11
18	5-14	17:24	1	95	Carl Williams	0	—	—	—	—
19	5-14	17:27	1	21	Cale Yarborough	0	—	—	—	—
20	5-14	17:31	1	10	Wally Dallenbach	0	—	—	—	—	Flagged Off
21	5-14	17:40	1	10	Wally Dallenbach	4	3:21.77	178.421	—	—	Bumped by #21
22	5-14	17:46	1	42	Swede Savage	4	3:18.10	181.726	17	9
23	5-14	17:55	1	89	JOHN MARTIN	4	3:20.43	179.614	28	14
24	5-14	17:59	1	56	JIM HURTUBISE	4	3:18.84	181.050	22	13
25	5-20	11:02	1	15	STEVE KRISILOFF	4	3:18.42	181.433	19	10
26	5-20	11:07	1	23	Mel Kenyon	4	3:18.47	181.388	21	12
27	5-20	11:13	1	66	Mark Donohue	4	3:08.08	191.408	3	3
28	5-20	11:22	1	58	Jerry Karl	0	—	—	—	—
29	5-20	11:23	1	12	Peter Revson	4	3:06.64	192.885	2	2
30	5-20	11:30	2	2	A. J. Foyt	4	3:10.48	188.996	5	16
31	5-20	11:36	2	14	ROGER MCCLUSKEY	4	3:17.06	182.685	15	20
32	5-20	11:43	2	4	Al Unser	4	3:16.06	183.617	13	19
33	5-20	11:49	2	84	GEORGE SNIDER	4	3:17.96	181.855	16	21
34	5-20	11:55	2	52	SAM SESSIONS	4	3:19.54	180.415	26	24
35	5-20	12:02	2	95	Carl Williams	1	—	—	—	—	Waved Off
36	5-20	12:08	2	31	John Mahler	2	—	—	—	—	Blown Engine
37	5-20	12:13	2	98	Mike Mosley	4	3:10.63	188.848	7	17
38	5-20	12:20	2	3	Billy Vukovich II	4	3:14.79	184.814	11	18
39	5-20	12:28	2	48	Jerry Grant	4	3:10.18	189.294	4	15
40	5-20	12:41	2	24	Gordon Johncock	3	—	—	—	—	Pulled Off
41	5-20	12:57	2	60	Mike Hiss	4	3:21.10	179.015	31	25
42	5-20	17:20	2	95	Carl Williams	4	3:19.48	180.469	24	22
43	5-20	17:52	2	44	Dick Simon	4	3:19.53	180.424	25	23
44	5-21	12:02	3	24	Gordon Johncock	4	3:10.97	188.511	8	26
45	5-21	12:11	3	37	Lee Kunzman	4	3:20.82	179.265	30	30
46	5-21	12:17	3	11	Jimmy Caruthers	4	3:21.23	178.900	32	31
47	5-21	12:27	3	31	John Mahler	4	3:20.56	179.497	29	29
48	5-21	14:43	3	17	Denny Zimmerman	4	3:19.77	180.207	27	28
49	5-21	16:47	3	58	Jerry Karl	0	—	—	—	—
50	5-21	16:53	3	21	Cale Yarborough	3	—	—	—	—	Waved Off
51	5-21	16:56	3	33	Salt Walther	4	3:19.40	180.542	23	27
52	5-21	17:06	3	90	Arnie Knepper	1	—	—	—	—	Blown Engine
53	5-21	17:20	3	19	Larry Dickson	0	—	—	—	—
54	5-21	17:24	3	99	Jerry Karl	0	—	—	—	—
55	5-21	17:29	3	21	Cale Yarborough	4	3:21.27	178.864	33	32	Bumps #10
56	5-21	17:34	3	16	Jerry Karl	0	—	—	—	—
57	5-21	17:39	3	36	Bentley Warren	3	—	—	—	—	Pulled Off
58	5-21	17:45	3	10	Wally Dallenbach	1	—	—	—	—	Pulled Off
59	5-21	17:50	3	61	Lee Brayton	1	—	—	—	—	Waved Off
60	5-21	17:53	3	97	Jigger Sirois	0	—	—	—	—
61	5-21	18:00	3	10	Wally Dallenbach	2	—	—	—	—	Pulled Off

See also

• 1972 USAC Championship Car season

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