The 57th 500 Mile International Sweepstakes was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana on Wednesday, May 30, 1973. Gordon Johncock won the first of his two Indy 500 victories.
Going into the month, the mood was bright and excitement was high for record speeds. Off the track, the Speedway had completed construction of its first VIP Suites outside of turn two. Following in the footsteps of Ontario Motor Speedway, Indianapolis becomes the second major race facility to feature luxury boxes.[1] Competitors, media, and fans were eagerly anticipating the possibility of breaking the elusive and daunting 200 mph barrier during time trials.
Driver Art Pollard was killed during a practice session on Pole Day at the Speedway on May 12, 1973.
The 1973 Indianapolis 500 race itself was held on a Wednesday, after attempts to run it on the previous Monday and Tuesday failed because of a lap 1 accident on Monday (leaving driver Salt Walther critically injured and numerous spectators requiring hospitalization), and rainy weather on both days. Only a fraction of the typical Indy 500 crowd watched the race by the time it was run on Wednesday, May 30.
The Wednesday race suffered two separate fatal accidents. The first involved driver Swede Savage; the second, pit crew member Armando Teran. Both occurred at lap 59 of the race. After 133 laps (332.5 miles), rain halted the race, and Gordon Johncock was declared the winner. It was the first of two Indy triumphs for Johncock (1973, 1982).
Due to the tragic circumstances, weather problems, rain-shortened finish, and overall glum mood during the month, the 1973 race is widely considered the worst year of the running of the Indianapolis 500. In contemporary accounts, the race had been called "jinxed" by Dan Gurney, Chris Economaki and Jim McKay.[2]
National media opinions, as well as those from team owners and crew, were highly critical in the aftermath of the race, focusing namely on the lack of safety measures.[3][4] The circumstances led to sweeping USAC rule changes made effective for the 1973 Schaefer 500 four weeks after the Indianapolis 500, as well as safety improvements to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway track itself which would be completed for 1974. Taken from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1973_Indianapolis_500
Starting Lineup:
| Row 1 | Johnny Rutherford | Bobby Unser | Mark Donohue | |
| Row 2 | Swede Savage | Gary Bettenhausen | Mario Andretti | |
| Row 3 | Steve Krisiloff | Al Unser | Jimmy Caruthers | |
| Row 4 | Peter Revson | Gordon Johncock | Bobby Allison | |
| Row 5 | Graham McRae | Roger McCluskey | Lloyd Ruby | |
| Row 6 | Bill Vukovich II | Salt Walther | Jerry Grant | |
| Row 7 | Mel Kenyon | Wally Dallenbach | Mike Mosley | |
| Row 8 | David Hobbs | A.J. Foyt | John Martin | |
| Row 9 | Lee Kunzman | Mike Hiss | Dick Simon | |
| Row 10 | Jerry Karl | Joe Leonard | George Snider | |
| Row 11 | Bob Harkey | Sam Sessions | Jim McElreath | |
| Other Drivers on Entry List: | ||||
| Al Loquasto | ||||
| Arnie Knepper | ||||
| Art Pollard | ||||
| Bentley Warren | ||||
| Bill Puterbaugh | ||||
| Bill Simpson | ||||
| Billy Shuman | ||||
| Bruce Jacobi | ||||
| Crockey Peterson | ||||
| Dee Jones | ||||
| Eldon Rasmussen | ||||
| Greg Weld | ||||
| Jigger Sirois | ||||
| Jim Hurtubise | ||||
| John Mahler | ||||
| Johnny Parsons | ||||
| Larry Cannon | ||||
| Larry Dickson | ||||
| Larry McCoy | ||||
| Lee Brayton | ||||
| Rick Muther | ||||
| Sam Posey | ||||
| Tom Bigelow | ||||
| Tom Sneva | ||||
| Race Results: | ||||
| Finish | Driver | Laps | Status | Prize Money |
| 1 | Gordon Johncock | 133 | 159.036 | $236,023 |
| 2 | Bill Vukovich II | 133 | 157.262 | $97,513 |
| 3 | Roger McCluskey | 131 | Running | $60,753 |
| 4 | Mel Kenyon | 131 | Running | $34,488 |
| 5 | Gary Bettenhausen | 130 | Running | $37,966 |
| 6 | Steve Krisiloff | 129 | Running | $30,862 |
| 7 | Lee Kunzman | 127 | Running | $26,350 |
| 8 | John Martin | 124 | Running | $25,377 |
| 9 | Johnny Rutherford | 124 | Running | $29,904 |
| 10 | Mike Mosley | 120 | Rod bolt | $23,675 |
| 11 | David Hobbs | 107 | Running | $20,935 |
| 12 | George Snider | 101 | Gearbox | $21,511 |
| 13 | Bobby Unser | 100 | Blown engine | $30,264 |
| 14 | Dick Simon | 100 | Piston | $19,489 |
| 15 | Mark Donohue | 92 | Piston | $19,950 |
| 16 | Graham McRae | 91 | Header | $19,039 |
| 17 | Mike Hiss | 91 | Drive train | $18,156 |
| 18 | Joe Leonard | 91 | Hub bearing | $17,301 |
| 19 | Jerry Grant | 77 | Blown engine | $16,675 |
| 20 | Al Unser | 75 | Piston | $20,628 |
| 21 | Jimmy Caruthers | 73 | Suspension | $16,009 |
| 22 | Swede Savage | 57 | Accident | $19,368 |
| 23 | Jim McElreath | 54 | Blown engine | $15,655 |
| 24 | Wally Dallenbach | 48 | Broken rod | $14,971 |
| 25 | A.J. Foyt | 37 | Rod Bolt | $14,716 |
| 26 | Jerry Karl | 22 | Running | $17,689 |
| 27 | Lloyd Ruby | 21 | Piston | $14,290 |
| 28 | Sam Sessions | 17 | Out of oil | $14,719 |
| 29 | Bob Harkey | 12 | Seized engine | $14,777 |
| 30 | Mario Andretti | 4 | Piston | $14,564 |
| 31 | Peter Revson | 3 | Accident | $13,779 |
| 32 | Bobby Allison | 1 | Rod | $13,722 |
| 33 | Salt Walther | 0 | Accident | $13,963 |
| Lap Leaders: | ||||
| 1 39 | Bobby Unser | |||
| 40-42 | Gordon Johncock | |||
| 43-54 | Swede Savage | |||
| 55-72 | Al Unser | |||
| 73-133 | Gordon Johncock |
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