CHALLENGE OF CHAMPIONS

[Music] so [Music] 300 000 fans are on hand to watch the most popular sporting event in america and to cheer the men who will write another thrilling chapter in the history of auto racing the indianapolis 500 may 1974 the 58th running of the internationally famous classic [Music] [Applause] [Music] who will be this year's winner let's hear from some of the team managers first george bignott mclaren team's going to be tough and aj foyt is going to be tough and uh of course bobby unser he's he's been winning a lot of races so i think that uh they're the ones that have to be beaten today barnelli jones we think that bobby unser and aj point and rutherford uh possibly will be the three fellows that we have to be dan gurney certainly johnny rutherford has been due for a long long time he's running with a very good team teddy mayer of the mclaren team really only aj pointed bobby unser you know floyd's going to run off unless something happens or he runs out of fuel so aj watson then there's a lot of prosperous running fast they're all tough a lifetime of experience and a year of preparation and the teams are ready for this 500 mile test of men and machines and these are some of the drivers champions all who will compete for more than a million dollars in prize money champions like gordon johncock winner of the 1973 race mario andretti winner in 1969 bobby unser the 1968 winner the popular mike mosley the son of a famous racing father billy vukovich the veteran lloyd ruby and aj foyt who is seeking an unprecedented fourth victory foyt had been the man to beat since the very start of time trial anthony joseph boyd three-time winner of the indianapolis 500 his qualification speed 191 191.6 but five miles an hour slower than he ran in practice although we're not really happy with it we was hoping it may be 193 miles an hour but uh i figured the biggest thing was getting in the show hey jay you said on a poll in 65 and 69 you think it'll do it for 74. no i doubt it very seriously there's uh two or three people running that fast [Music] aj was too pessimistic two days of qualification attempts failed to produce a qualifying speed faster than his [Music] and when the 33 car starting field was filled he still held the pole only one other car johnny rutherford's mclaren number three topped 190 miles an hour but johnny will start in the back of the pack because he qualified on the second weekend i know aj sitting over there in the suite listening and i sure wish i could have smoked him just this one time let's get him johnny rotherford number two position in the front row went to wally dallenbach around wally congratulating him wally right now you're sitting next to aj point i don't have to sit anywhere and let's find a place to sit the lineup of qualifiers reads like a who's who of racing [Music] mike hiss two-time indie winner al unser gary bettenhausen and then there are the rookies some who didn't make it and others like pancho carter who did for this their first 500. uh i was probably a little uh more nervous intense than i should have been i relaxed a little better yesterday and this morning another who will be starting for the first time is bill simpson what's his life jerry scary yeah okay [Applause] driver yeah are you for yeah mostly all the way back daddy rutherford ruby we're all for bobby and served [Applause] here is mr tony hallman with those four favorite squirrels [Applause] [Music] the former indianapolis winners jim rodman is just about to leave [Music] the challenge of champions has begun the start of a 500 mile test of speed and endurance 11 rows of cars 33 of the world's greatest drivers three of rest move away from the starting line on the parade land they're all away except one there's a car stalled on the track it's rick mueser in car number 61 who's having trouble starting his engine now they're pushing him off the straightaway and into the pit area what a frustrating moment from euthan can they get him started and into competition [Music] one big question in 1974 how will new limitations on fuel a safety measure to reduce car speeds affect race strategy can these cars run 500 miles on only 280 gallons how many pit stops will they be forced to make with only 40 gallons on board alongside wally dahlenbach and the stp oil treatment special my pierced in the northern spirit that's the fun road in the second row is gordon johncock mario andretti and mike mosley there is a short shoot if all goes well jim lassman will bring the place car into the fence and then the eyes will be on the race officials including starter pat fedan as they look over the field to make certain everything is right and if it is the green flag will be given to him there is your field let's send them on the way [Music] as the [Applause] it's a safe start a good start and they're on their way with down and back leading aj ford around the first horn into the second turn now and down the back stretch and it's still worried about out of the league a surprising move by dallenbach who said before the race if there is any strategy we're going to have to be a little conservative for a while because i'm sure that we'll be able to go to distance and make a race of it california 500 is out in front at the moment [Music] his time for the first lap a new track record of 184.011 miles an hour and he's still charging to increase his early lead [Music] record 191.408 miles an hour [Applause] [Music] early problems plague some cars as they head for the pits [Music] and here comes johnny rutherford in car number three he's really flying moving from 25th to 11th in two laps charging through traffic to catch up with the leaders something's wrong with dallinbach's car he seems to be in trouble he's slowing down at the second turn and there goes point past him on the back stretch and john is right behind aj in second place it's a broken piston on wally dallenbach's car [Music] two tremendous laughs by dallenbach and now he's out of the race aj point has taken over the lead john is second bobby unser the winner of this year's california 500 is third and johnny rutherford is still charging passing one car after another [Music] johnny rutherford is now in eighth position johnny rutherford is now in eighth position as he has moved up from the 25th but starting spot mike mosley another of the pre-race favorites is out on lap number four [Music] and that's bobby unser moving up on gordon john carr it's a battle for second place on the front stretch and unser makes his move [Music] floyd is opening up his lead as the battle for second continues [Music] now it's rutherford pressing john on the front stretch will he get around him he passes john in the first turn and moves up on bobby unser unser rutherford and john all together chasing the leader aj point in car number 14. while another point car number 82 driven by george snyder is on the grass and out of the race in the number one turn johnny rutherford volley unser right together on the race course that's al unser up from 26th to 5th closing in on car number 48 the olsenite eagle with bobby unser johnny rutherford who started way back in 25th position is going for second another battle on the front straight away and it's johnny rutherford trying to get around bobby enzo and he got him he's got it and now for the fullest special that johnny rutherford is second the mclaren special with johnny rutherford is now the second with the leaders in such tight competition the speed and efficiency of pit stops will be critical rutherford makes its first pit stop on lap 23 bobby unser regained second place but remember these cars carry only 40 gallons of fuel and at 1.8 miles per gallon can travel no more than 72 miles or 28 laps without refueling the leader aj floyd plays it safe and comes in on lap 24. in first place now is bobby unser gambling that he can get a few extra laps out of his tank this year cutting down on pit stops through efficient use of fuel becomes a problem in higher mathematics and some teams even use computers to help [Music] monster comes in on lap 28 he loses the lead but has traveled further than his rivals on his tank full of fuel pits top objectives make them few and fast his team manager dan gurney said before the race if we make mistakes in the pits why uh that's one of the things that we have to watch out for and we could very easily lose the race the fact that we only allowed to carry 40 gallons we're gonna have to make 10 or 12 stops carnelly jones on the fuel problem therefore you're going to see a lot of action in the pits and again the pit stops are going to meet a great deal consider that floyd and rutherford now battling for the lead travel about 300 feet a second you can see why seconds came in the pits can win a race as george mcnaughty explains i can remember in 1972 the pit crew won the race for al unser the head of the mclaren car we made four pit stops and they made three but our total pit stops was 23 seconds faster so that gave us the margin of victory there but even the veteran big naughty's cars have trouble squeezing extra laps out of this year's fuel a lot gordon johncock and steve kristel both running out of fuel right at the same lap and then having to they'll get refueled and back into the race but 10 cars are out of competition by lap 59 including young johnny parsons who spent a total of 24 minutes in the pits now it's voight still in the lead johnny rutherford is second unser is now third his brother bobby charging to catch him that's jerry grant and bill bookovich hitting the brakes to get around car number 51. a spin for number 51 with driver jan offerman he's okay thanks to driving skill by himself and the others that'll bring out the yellow flag caution laps with the feel slowed we can look for some pit stops [Music] the lead of this race is aj point and also johnny johnny rutherford coming in and there are the two leaders right together in the events [Music] in second place as he comes in something's wrong in floyd's pit cross signals about a tire change still in there [Music] [Applause] [Music] and they're still having trouble in foyt's pit [Music] indianapolis champion aj foyt of his 15th he's second the green flag is out rather bird car number three is out in front and point is second point is second [Music] al unser is still third [Music] and bobby unser's fourth 115 laps almost 300 miles and another pit stop for aj floyd who's still running second behind johnny rutherford [Music] and johnny is called in too a conservative strategy to match pit stops with his competition [Music] as rutherford comes in point goes out oh oh there's trouble on the third turn that's jerry carl in number 42 who hit the wall the yellow flag again and rutherford the leader has been in the pits under a caution with the field slowed down to 80 miles an hour this is the first serious damage of the day but carl is uninjured others have taken advantage of the caution to pit and bobby unser gets out ahead of his brother all [Music] it takes time to clean up the track after 10 laps rutherford comes in again still under the caution to top his fuel tank a smart move while the field is still slowed down but can he hold his lead [Music] as he comes out still under the caution floyd in his gilmore special is right behind him going into the first turn brother burton point right together now it's going to be quite a race when we get the green flag [Music] and there it is the green flag is out and they're racing [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] he said the automobile definitely let the engine go 150 miles to go and half the cars are out of the race how come you know people ask me say gee you know how come you guys can't build a car run 500 miles well i say sure i can guarantee i can build a car to run 500 miles the only thing is i may not be able to run fast enough to qualify it so another who's out of it is salt walter who had a near fatal accident at the start last year and made a valiant comeback to run again as his father explained philosophically before the race and i hope it just winds up that way at the end of the day now some of us are going to be disappointed because a rod broke or a mag went dead but as long as everybody can walk back and about it we'll all be happy as aj floyd joining for his fourth victory at indianapolis is going at a pace of 183 and a half miles an hour and johnny rutherford is chasing him and it could be pointless smoking out there a little bit yes we could see puffs of smoke coming out of points machine now [Music] as he goes down the back stretch he is still leading however he is still leading [Music] rutherford is hanging in there will he try to pass him no he's backing off to avoid oil spray coming out now we'll take a look at it the next time around the main stretch points in trouble taking a look now and i believe that the frontline might be given to point now there he is aj is in the pit for an inspection johnny rutherford now certainly in command of this event will they let him go out [Music] a.j boyce okay bobby unser in car number 48 a second can't point catch up it doesn't look that way they're calling him in 142 laps and he's back in the pits yes he was given the black flag on the back stretch and now he comes back into the pits again and aj just wheels it right out into the out of the race rutherford has a clear lead only bobby unser is on the same lap johnny rather for getting around pancho carter and there's a rachel carter was bumped and turned number one and it looks like he's okay and with a restart he'll be back in the race rutherford now stretching his lead over bobby unser [Music] and that's billy bookovich in third here is [Music] 175 with 25 laps to go he's got 25 laps out of the last full tank 25 minutes of the last full tank and there goes bobby enzo bobby unzers has taken over the lead and he'll be coming in a long time [Music] a full tank but 25 laps to go will he have enough fuel to make it to the finish without coming in again answer strategy as before is to stretch his fuel for a few extra laps he comes in on lap 179. [Music] notice the way that tank is tipped to get the last drop out of it with only 21 laps to go and a full load he should be able to finish the race without another stop for fuel and there is bobby hunzer back out in 16 seconds they did it what's the fuel situation the rest of the way that's going to be the interesting dramatic story of this race rutherford lost 10 seconds on the stop and he's charging now trying to widen his lead now between johnny rutherford and bobby unser tries to stay with him but he can [Music] now johnny rutherford has built the lead to 17 seconds a 17-second and johnny's crew tells him to take it easy monster's chances now depend on rutherford making another pit stop but on each lap johnny adds a second to his lead [Music] his wife betty has her fingers crossed a 22-second lead now and a lap to go driving like he's on the rails he's out of the turn and under [Music] he's in the second turn now one left to go he swings out of the second turn goes down the back stretch there he is in the fourth turn he's coming out of it coming to the checkered climb a first-time winner in indianapolis here he is after 10 years of trying getting the checkered flag johnny legend [Applause] johnny welcome back from fort worth texas [Music] and bobby unser finishes 22 seconds behind a great drive but here comes johnny rutherford here is your new indianapolis champion library one i thought it was great super race it was so great nobody got hurt the first 10 laps i was just dizzy i mean i was really just freaked out and it's good that there weren't any accidents but thank god we had a safe race today yeah nobody got hurt victory lane where not since lou meyer in 1936 has there been a winner who started so far back there he is there he is johnny rutherford moving into victory lane at the mclaren special the man who went third in the championship trail last year is being pushed up but there is betty and team mcclellan manager mayor recalls a p-race strategy well i think he'd been beaten over the head that uh he was 25th to start and uh there was very little he could do about it and i told him jokingly i'd find him 500 for every car he passed on the first lap but he did a super job he really did i had my doubts when we started so far back but the way everything worked out is great of course anytime you tangle with aj you know you got a race on your hands i knew what i had to do and all the guys in the garage they put it all together and i just drove it and we we've got hella we won the big one a team effort all the way that went on to win at milwaukee and pocono of course having a team like valvoline on our side you know we're grateful you