1968 INDIANAPOLIS 500

The 52nd International 500 Mile Sweepstakes was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Thursday May 30, 1968. For the second year in a row, one of Andy Granatelli's STP Turbine-powered machines was leading late in the race, but once again, it failed within sight of victory.
On lap 174 Lloyd Ruby's engine misfired allowing Joe Leonard to take the lead in the Lotus 56 Turbine. Leonard, however, suffered a flameout on the lap 191 restart, and rolled to a silent and shocking halt. Bobby Unser in the venerable piston-powered Offenhauser, inherited the lead, and despite gear linkage trouble, went on to win his first of three Indy 500 victories.
This was the final Indianapolis 500 to feature a front-engined car in the starting field. Of the 33 cars, 32 were rear-engined machines (including three turbines). Jim Hurtubise's entry, which dropped out after only nine laps, was the last front-engine car to race in the 500. This was also the first 500 won by a turbocharged engine.
During the month, film crews were on hand to film various action shots and stock footage of the race proceedings to be used in the upcoming movie Winning, starring Paul Newman.
With 9.25 inches of precipitation in the Indianapolis area, the 1968 race featured the wettest month on record for the Indy 500.^[1] Rain hampers practice and qualifying, but does not affect race day.

Starting Lineup:

Row 1	Joe Leonard	Graham Hill	Bobby Unser
Row 2	Mario Andretti	Lloyd Ruby	Al Unser
Row 3	Roger McCluskey	A.J. Foyt	Gordon Johncock
Row 4	Dan Gurney	Art Pollard	Wally Dallenbach
Row 5	Jim McElreath	Jim Malloy	Jerry Grant
Row 6	Jochen Rindt	Mel Kenyon	Bud Tingelstad
Row 7	Ronnie Bucknum	Denis Hulme	Johnny Rutherford
Row 8	Gary Bettenhausen	Bill Vukovich II	Bob Veith
Row 9	Bobby Grim	Ronnie Duman	Mike Mosley
Row 10	Carl Williams	George Snider	Jim Hurtubise
Row 11	Sam Sessions	Arnie Knepper	Larry Dickson
Other Drivers on Entry List:
Al Miller (Krulac)
Bill Cheesbourg
Bill Puterbaugh
Bob Harkey
Bob Herst
Bob Hurt
Bobby Johns
Bruce McLaren
Bruce Walkup
Chuck Booth
Chuck Hulse
Chuck Stevenson
Danny Ongais
Dee Jones
Dempsey Wilson
George Follmer
Greg Weld
Henry Pens
Jackie Stewart
Jerry Titus
Jim Clark
Lee Roy Yarbrough
Les Scott
Masten Gregory
Mike Spence
Ralph Liguori
Rick Muther
Rollie Beale
Sonny Ates
Race Results:
Finish	Driver	Laps	Status	Prize Money
1	Bobby Unser	200	152.882	$175,140
2	Dan Gurney	200	152.187	$65,095
3	Mel Kenyon	200	149.224	$44,960
4	Denis Hulme	200	149.14	$26,625
5	Lloyd Ruby	200	148.529	$30,365
6	Ronnie Duman	200	148.232	$19,205
7	Bill Vukovich II	198	Running	$18,520
8	Mike Mosley	197	Running	$17,490
9	Sam Sessions	197	Running	$15,730
10	Bobby Grim	196	Running	$15,170
11	Bob Veith	196	Running	$14,510
12	Joe Leonard	191	Fuel shaft	$37,520
13	Art Pollard	188	Fuel shaft	$12,950
14	Jim McElreath	179	Stalled	$12,910
15	Carl Williams	163	Accident	$14,255
16	Bud Tingelstad	158	Oil pressure	$12,670
17	Wally Dallenbach	146	Engine failure	$11,530
18	Johnny Rutherford	125	Collision	$11,585
19	Graham Hill	110	Accident	$13,810
20	A.J. Foyt	86	Rear end	$11,130
21	Ronnie Bucknum	76	Fuel leak	$10,970
22	Jim Malloy	64	Rear end	$10,130
23	Jerry Grant	50	Oil leak	$9,760
24	Gary Bettenhausen	43	Damage	$9,860
25	Arnie Knepper	42	Hit wheel	$9,760
26	Al Unser	40	Accident	$10,120
27	Gordon Johncock	37	Rear end	$9,480
28	Larry Dickson	24	Piston	$9,160
29	Roger McCluskey	16	Oil filter	$9,460
30	Jim Hurtubise	9	Piston	$9,330
31	George Snider	9	Oil leak	$9,470
32	Jochen Rindt	5	Piston	$9,830
33	Mario Andretti	2	Piston	$9,960
Lap Leaders:
1 7	Joe Leonard
8 56	Bobby Unser
57-89	Lloyd Ruby
90-112	Bobby Unser
113-119	Joe Leonard
120-165	Bobby Unser
166-174	Lloyd Ruby
175-191	Joe Leonard
192-200	Bobby Unser