The 1978 Indianapolis 500 was held at Indianapolis on Sunday, May 28, 1978. For the first time, Mary Fendrich Hulman, widow of Tony Hulman, delivered the command for drivers to start engines.
Danny Ongais dominated the early stages of the race but was eventually passed by Al Unser before going out with a blown engine. Unser had a large lead but bent his Lola's front wing in the pitlane on lap 180. Tom Sneva charged to catch the crippled Lola but came up 8 seconds short at the finish. Unser led 121 laps and held on for his third win on a very hot day. Janet Guthrie finished ninth on this day, the highest finish for a woman in Indy 500 history—a feat that was eventually topped 27 years later by Danica Patrick.
Race results[]
| Finish | Start | No | Name | Qual | Rank | Laps | Led | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 | 2 |  Al Unser
|
196.474 | 7 | 200 | 121 | Running |
| 2 | 1 | 1 | Tom Sneva
|
202.156 | 1 | 200 | 3 | Running |
| 3 | 6 | 20 | Gordon Johncock
|
195.833 | 8 | 199 | 0 | Flagged |
| 4 | 13 | 40 | Steve Krisiloff
|
191.255 | 19 | 198 | 5 | Flagged |
| 5 | 7 | 6 | Wally Dallenbach, Sr.
|
195.233 | 9 | 195 | 0 | Flagged |
| 6 | 19 | 48 | Bobby Unser
|
194.658 | 10 | 195 | 0 | Flagged |
| 7 | 20 | 14 | A.J. Foyt
|
200.122 | 2 | 191 | 0 | Flagged |
| 8 | 23 | 84 | George Snider
|
192.626 | 16 | 191 | 0 | Flagged |
| 9 | 15 | 51 | Janet Guthrie
|
190.325 | 22 | 190 | 0 | Flagged |
| 10 | 8 | 16 | Johnny Parsons
|
194.280 | 12 | 186 | 0 | Flagged |
| 11 | 30 | 35 | Larry Rice
|
187.392 | 31 | 186 | 0 | Engine |
| 12 | 33 | 7 | Mario Andretti
|
194.647 | 11 | 185 | 0 | Flagged |
| 13 | 4 | 4 | Johnny Rutherford
|
197.098 | 5 | 180 | 0 | Flagged |
| 14 | 28 | 88 | Jerry Karl
|
187.549 | 29 | 176 | 0 | Flagged |
| 15 | 24 | 69 | Joe Saldana
|
190.809 | 21 | 173 | 0 | Flagged |
| 16 | 31 | 98 | Gary Bettenhausen
|
187.324 | 32 | 147 | 0 | Engine |
| 17 | 25 | 78 | Mike Mosley
|
188.719 | 26 | 146 | 0 | Turbocharger |
| 18 | 2 | 25 | Danny Ongais
|
200.122 | 3 | 145 | 71 | Blown Engine |
| 19 | 10 | 17 | Dick Simon
|
192.967 | 15 | 138 | 0 | Wheel Bearing |
| 20 | 26 | 26 | Jim McElreath
|
188.058 | 27 | 132 | 0 | Engine |
| 21 | 18 | 43 | Tom Bigelow
|
189.115 | 25 | 107 | 0 | Rod |
| 22 | 9 | 80 | Larry Dickson
|
193.434 | 13 | 104 | 0 | Oil Pressure |
| 23 | 3 | 71 | Rick Mears
|
200.078 | 4 | 103 | 0 | Engine |
| 24 | 21 | 8 | Pancho Carter
|
196.829 | 6 | 92 | 0 | Header |
| 25 | 11 | 11 | Roger McCluskey
|
192.256 | 17 | 82 | 0 | Clutch |
| 26 | 17 | 39 | John Mahler
|
189.723 | 24 | 58 | 0 | 1/2-time gear |
| 27 | 14 | 22 | Tom Bagley
|
190.941 | 20 | 25 | 0 | Oil Leak |
| 28 | 22 | 77 | Salt Walther
|
193.226 | 14 | 24 | 0 | Clutch |
| 29 | 16 | 19 | Spike Gehlhausen
|
190.325 | 23 | 23 | 0 | Crash T2 |
| 30 | 29 | 47 | Phil Threshie
|
187.520 | 30 | 22 | 0 | Oil Pressure |
| 31 | 32 | 30 | Jerry Sneva
|
187.266 | 33 | 18 | 0 | Transmission |
| 32 | 12 | 24 | Sheldon Kinser
|
192.051 | 18 | 15 | 0 | Oil Pressure |
| 33 | 27 | 29 |  Cliff Hucul
|
187.805 | 28 | 4 | 0 | Oil Line |
Failed to qualify: Larry Cannon (#85), Bob Harkey (#4), Mike Hiss (#7, #66), Jim Hurtubise, Gary Irvin (#9), Bubby Jones (#18), Lee Kunzman (#90), Al Loquasto (#8), John Martin (#2), Graham McRae (#33, #34), Bobby Olivero (#78), Roger Rager (#9, #97), Eldon Rasmussen (#58), Bill Vukovich, Jr. (#18, #93),
See also[]
| 1977 Indianapolis 500 A.J. Foyt |
1978 Indianapolis 500 Al Unser |
1979 Indianapolis 500 Rick Mears |
| Indianapolis 500 seasons | ||
|
1911 • 1912 • 1913 • 1914 • 1915 • 1916 1919 • 1920 • 1921 • 1922 • 1923 • 1924 • 1925 • 1926 • 1927 • 1928 • 1929 | ||
|
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