The 62nd International 500 Mile Sweepstakes was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana on Sunday, May 28, 1978. Danny Ongais dominated the early stages of the race but eventually dropped out with a blown engine. Al Unser, Sr. dominated the second half, and held a large lead late in the race. However, Unser bent his Lola's front wing during a pit stop on lap 180, causing his handling to go away over the final 20 laps. Second place Tom Sneva charged to catch the crippled Lola but came up 8 seconds short at the finish – the second-closest finish in Indy history to that point. Unser held off the challenge, and became a three-time winner of the 500.
Al Unser, Sr. entered the month having won the 1977 California 500 at Ontario the previous September. Later in the 1978 season, Unser would go on to win the Pocono 500 and the California 500, sweeping the "triple crown" of Indy car racing. As of 2014, he is the only driver in history to do so in the same season, and coupled with the win at Ontario in 1977, set a record by winning four straight 500-mile Indy car races.
Second year driver Janet Guthrie finished ninth, and it was later revealed she drove with a broken wrist.[1] It was the highest finish for a female driver in Indy history until Danica Patrick in 2005. During time trials, Tom Sneva, who had broken the 200 mph barrier a year earlier, bettered his own record. This time he managed to complete all four qualifying laps over 200 mph, setting once again new one and four lap records.
Tony Hulman, the popular owner and president of the track since 1945, died the previous October. For the first time, his widow Mary F. Hulman delivered the famous starting command. Along with the death of Hulman, the race was held just weeks after eight key members of USAC were killed in a plane crash. With dissent increasing amongst the participants about organizational issues and poor revenue, the 1978 race would be the final Indy 500 contested prior to the formation of CART and prior to the first open wheel "split."
Al Unser's victory was the first Indy triumph for the Cosworth DFX V8 engine. The British-based engine building company would go on to win the Indy 500 for ten consecutive years. Taken from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1978_Indianapolis_500
Starting Lineup:
| Row 1 | Tom Sneva | Danny Ongais | Rick Mears | |
| Row 2 | Johnny Rutherford | Al Unser | Gordon Johncock | |
| Row 3 | Wally Dallenbach | Johnny Parsons | Larry Dickson | |
| Row 4 | Dick Simon | Roger McCluskey | Sheldon Kinser | |
| Row 5 | Steve Krisiloff | Tom Bagley | Janet Guthrie | |
| Row 6 | Spike Gehlhausen | John Mahler | Tom Bigelow | |
| Row 7 | Bobby Unser | A.J. Foyt | Pancho Carter | |
| Row 8 | Salt Walther | George Snider | Joe Saldana | |
| Row 9 | Mike Mosley | Jim McElreath | Cliff Hucul | |
| Row 10 | Jerry Karl | Phil Threshie | Larry Rice | |
| Row 11 | Gary Bettenhausen | Jerry Sneva | Mario Andretti | |
| Other Drivers on Entry List: | ||||
| Al Loquasto | ||||
| Billy Vukovich, Jr. | ||||
| Bob Harkey | ||||
| Bobby Olivero | ||||
| Bubby Jones | ||||
| Chuck Gurney | ||||
| Ed Finley | ||||
| Eldon Rasmussen | ||||
| Gary Irvin | ||||
| Graham McRae | ||||
| Jim Hurtubise | ||||
| John Martin | ||||
| Larry Cannon | ||||
| Lee Kunzman | ||||
| Mel Kenyon | ||||
| Mike Hiss | ||||
| Roger Rager | ||||
| Vern Schuppan | ||||
| Race Results: | ||||
| Finish | Driver | Laps | Status | Prize Money |
| 1 | Al Unser | 200 | 161.363 | $290,364 |
| 2 | Tom Sneva | 200 | 161.244 | $112,704 |
| 3 | Gordon Johncock | 199 | Running | $61,769 |
| 4 | Steve Krisiloff | 198 | Running | $39,504 |
| 5 | Wally Dallenbach | 195 | Running | $35,632 |
| 6 | Bobby Unser | 195 | Running | $29,478 |
| 7 | A.J. Foyt | 191 | Running | $29,628 |
| 8 | George Snider | 191 | Running | $25,818 |
| 9 | Janet Guthrie | 190 | Running | $24,115 |
| 10 | Johnny Parsons | 186 | Running | $26,129 |
| 11 | Larry Rice | 186 | Engine | $24,276 |
| 12 | Mario Andretti | 185 | Running | $23,252 |
| 13 | Johnny Rutherford | 180 | Running | $31,805 |
| 14 | Jerry Karl | 176 | Running | $20,930 |
| 15 | Joe Saldana | 173 | Running | $20,691 |
| 16 | Gary Bettenhausen | 147 | Engine | $20,130 |
| 17 | Mike Mosley | 146 | Turbocharger | $20,247 |
| 18 | Danny Ongais | 145 | Blown engine | $33,242 |
| 19 | Dick Simon | 138 | Wheel bearing | $18,516 |
| 20 | Jim McElreath | 132 | Engine | $19,119 |
| 21 | Tom Bigelow | 107 | Rod | $18,000 |
| 22 | Larry Dickson | 104 | Oil pressure | $22,659 |
| 23 | Rick Mears | 103 | Engine | $22,396 |
| 24 | Pancho Carter | 92 | Header | $20,262 |
| 25 | Roger McCluskey | 82 | Clutch | $18,707 |
| 26 | John Mahler | 58 | Timing gear | $16,330 |
| 27 | Tom Bagley | 25 | Oil leak | $16,281 |
| 28 | Salt Walther | 24 | Clutch | $16,560 |
| 29 | Spike Gehlhausen | 23 | Accident | $15,968 |
| 30 | Phil Threshie | 22 | Oil pressure | $15,705 |
| 31 | Jerry Sneva | 18 | Transmission | $18,120 |
| 32 | Sheldon Kinser | 15 | Oil pressure | $15,813 |
| 33 | Cliff Hucul | 4 | Oil line | $15,534 |
| Lap Leaders: | ||||
| 1 11 | Danny Ongais | |||
| 12 | Tom Sneva | |||
| 13-25 | Danny Ongais | |||
| 26-30 | Steve Krisiloff | |||
| 31 | Tom Sneva | |||
| 32-75 | Danny Ongais | |||
| 76-107 | Al Unser | |||
| 108-110 | Danny Ongais | |||
| 111-179 | Al Unser | |||
| 180 | Tom Sneva | |||
| 181-200 | Al Unser |
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