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The 69th Indianapolis 500 was held at Indianapolis, United States on Sunday, May 26, 1985. Due to a dramatic spin by eventual race winner Danny Sullivan, the race is known in auto racing lore as the "Spin and Win".

Recap[]

Danny Sullivan beats Mario Andretti by 2.5 seconds despite spinning a full 360 degrees between the first and second turn when battling with Andretti on lap 120. Sullivan becomes the third driver to both spin and recover and later lead the same race, after Jim Clark in 1966 and Parnelli Jones in 1967. Sullivan does not, however, duplicate Clark's '66 feat of two spins and two saves in the same race. The Buick engine made its first significant presence at Indy, as drivers Pancho Carter and Scott Brayton qualified first and second with the engine. However, both cars dropped out within the first 19 laps.

According to commentators of the telecast, it was said the Buick was faster than the traditional Cosworth engine, but its reliability was questioned early.

Brayton did not have a major sponsor until after his qualifying run. Hardee's picked up the sponsorship.[1]

Results[]

Finish Start No Name Qual Rank Laps Led Status
1 8 5 25px USA Danny Sullivan 210.298 8 200 67 Running
2 4 3 25px USA Mario Andretti 211.576 4 200 107 Running
3 16 9 25px Flag of Colombia Roberto Guerrero 208.061 17 200 0 Running
4 7 11 25px USA Al Unser 210.523 7 199 0 Flagged
5 26 76 25px USA Johnny Parsons 205.778 28 198 0 Flagged
6 30 21 25px USA Johnny Rutherford 208.254 15 198 0 Flagged
7 20 61 25px Netherlands Arie Luyendyk (R) 206.004 26 198 0 Flagged
8 15 99 25px USA Michael Andretti 208.185 16 196 0 Flagged
9 22 98 25px USA Ed Pimm (R) 205.723 29 195 0 Flagged
10 19 33 25px USA Howdy Holmes 206.372 22 194 0 Flagged
11 32 18 25px USA Kevin Cogan 206.367 23 191 0 Flagged
12 31 29 25px Flag of Ireland Derek Daly 207.548 18 189 0 Flagged
13 5 40 25px Brazil Emerson Fittipaldi 211.322 5 188 11 Fuel Line
14 12 12 25px USA Bill Whittington 209.006 12 183 0 Crash T3
15 24 43 25px USA John Paul, Jr. (R) 206.340 24 164 0 Crash T2
16 27 34 25px Great Britain Jim Crawford (R) 205.525 31 142 0 Electrical
17 17 25 25px USA Danny Ongais 207.220 19 141 0 Engine
18 23 23 25px Brazil Raul Boesel (R) 206.498 21 134 0 Radiator
19 9 7 25px Australia Geoff Brabham 210.074 9 130 0 Engine
20 13 2 25px USA Tom Sneva 208.927 13 123 0 Crash T1
21 10 1 25px USA Rick Mears 209.796 10 122 0 Linkage
22 25 84 25px USA Chip Ganassi 206.104 25 121 0 Fuel Line
23 33 60 25px USA Rich Vogler (R) 205.653 30 119 0 Crash T1
24 6 20 25px USA Don Whittington 210.992 6 97 0 Engine
25 11 30 25px USA Al Unser, Jr. 209.215 11 91 0 Engine
26 14 22 25px USA Dick Simon 208.536 14 86 0 Oil Pressure
27 3 10 25px USA Bobby Rahal 211.818 3 84 14 Waste Gate
28 21 14 25px USA A.J. Foyt 205.783 27 62 0 Front Wing
29 29 97 25px USA Tony Bettenhausen, Jr. 204.824 33 31 0 Wheel Bearing
30 2 37 25px USA Scott Brayton 212.354 2 19 1 Cylinder Wall
31 18 55 25px Mexico Josele Garza 206.677 20 15 0 Engine
32 28 44 25px USA George Snider 205.455 32 13 0 Engine
33 1 6 25px USA Pancho Carter 212.583 1 6 0 Oil Pump

Failed to qualify: Tom Bigelow (#24, #42, #50), Steve Chassey (#56), Dick Ferguson (#69), Chet Fillip (#38, #39), Dennis Firestone (#36), Pete Halsmer (#59), Gordon Johncock (#20), Herm Johnson (#8), Jerry Karl (#51, #62), Phil Krueger (#50, #51), Randy Lanier (#57), Mike Nish (#41), Michael Roe (#71), Jacques Villneuve (#76)

Race events[]

One lap after the restart following Sullivan's spin, Rich Vogler and Howdy Holmes tangled in turn one, sending Vogler hard into the wall in front of the three leaders. Andretti avoided the wreck, but second-place Tom Sneva locked his brakes and spun directly in front of Sullivan, who somehow managed to avoid both Sneva and the debris from Vogler's crash. Sneva was uninjured, but Vogler had to be airlifted to hospital. In Victory Lane after the race, Sullivan said that this second miraculous escape within minutes of the first convinced him that "the sun was shining on me" and that luck was on his side to win the race.

Additional information[]

Carter - Buick engine. Valvoline sponsorship.
Brayton - Buick engine. Hardee's sponsorship.
Rahal - Cosworth engine. March chassis. Truesports team, Budweiser sponsorship.
Mears - Penske Racing team, Pennzoil sponsorship.
Sullivan - Penske Racing team, Miller American beer sponsorship.
Unser, Sr. - Penske Racing team.
Sneva - Dan Gurney Eagle (All American Racers) team, Skoal sponsorship.
Mario Andretti - Newman/Haas Racing team. Lola chassis. Beatrice Foods sponsorship.
E. Fittipaldi - Patrick Racing team. March chassis. 7-Eleven sponsorship.
Foyt - Gilmore team, Copenhagen sponsorship.
Unser, Jr. - Shierson Racing team, Domino's Pizza sponsorship
Reference: Additional information gathered from 1985 telecast of Indianapolis 500.

Quotes[]

"The Indianapolis 500 has a new champion, as Danny Sullivan has won the 69th Indianapolis 500" - Paul Page described the finish of the race for the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Radio Network

"The Old American Hero will lose the race [Mario Andretti], the New American Hero is Daniel John Sullivan III of Louisville, Kentucky who has won the Indianapolis 500." - Jim McKay called the finish during the ABC Sports broadcast.

1984 Indianapolis 500
Rick Mears
1985 Indianapolis 500
Danny Sullivan
1986 Indianapolis 500
Bobby Rahal


Indianapolis 500 seasons

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1930193119321933193419351936193719381939194019411942 • 1943 • 1944 • 1945 • 1946194719481949
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19701971197219731974197519761977197819791980198119821983198419851986198719881989
19901991199219931994199519961997199819992000200120022003200420052006200720082009
2010201120122013201420152016


References[]

  1. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eevlaq12YBg 1985 Indianapolis 500 telecast, ABC, as shown on YouTube. Accessed 14 November 2007.


Smallwikipedialogo.png This page uses some content from Wikipedia. The original article was at 1985 Indianapolis 500. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with Autopedia, the text of Wikipedia is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.


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