1967 Indianapolis 500

51st Indianapolis 500

Indianapolis Motor Speedway
Indianapolis 500
Sanctioning body	USAC
Season	1967 USAC season
Date	May 30-31, 1967
Winner	A. J. Foyt
Winning team
Average speed	151.207 mph (243 km/h)
Pole position	Mario Andretti
Pole speed	168.982 mph (272 km/h)
Fastest qualifier	Mario Andretti
Rookie of the Year	Dennis Hulme
Most laps led	Parnelli Jones (171)
Pre-race ceremonies
National anthem	Purdue band
Back Home Again in Indiana	Russell J. Wunderlich
Starting Command	Tony Hulman
Pace car	Chevrolet Camaro
Pace car driver	Mauri Rose
Honorary starter	none
Attendance	250,000
TV in the United States
Network	ABC's Wide World of Sports
Announcers	Jim McKay, Roger Ward, Chris Economaki
Nielsen Ratings
Chronology
Previous	Next
1966	1968

The 51st International 500 Mile Sweepstakes was held over two days, Tuesday May 30 and Wednesday May 31, 1967 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The race was dominated by Parnelli Jones in the radically-new, four-wheel drive STP-Paxton Turbocar gas turbine entered by prolific car owner Andy Granatelli. With three laps to go, however, Jones coasted to a stop when a $6 transmission bearing failed. A. J. Foyt assumed the lead, and weaved his way through a pileup on the final lap, to win his third Indy 500 victory.

Race schedule

Time trials

Pole day - Saturday May 13

Going into time trials, Mario Andretti was the favorite for the pole position. On the final day of practice, he turned the fastest practice lap in Indy history at over 168 mph. Among the others that were expected to challenge for the front row were Roger McCluskey, A. J. Foyt, and Gordon Johncock. Parnelli Jones, driving the new Granatelli STP-Paxton Turbocar gas turbine was in the top ten of practice speeds, but never on top, and some in the garage area were accusing the team of sandbagging.

The first car out to qualify was Ronnie Duman. At about 2:30 p.m., Joe Leonard took over the provisional pole position with a run of 166.098 mph, a new track record. About an hour and a half later, Dan Gurney took over the pole with another record run of 167.224 mph. Gurney's time on top was short-lived, however, as Mario Andretti was the next car to make an attempt. Andretti set new 1-lap and 4-lap track records to win the pole position for the second year in a row. His third lap (169.779 mph) stood as the single lap record, and his four-lap average wound up at 168.982 mph.

At the end of the day, the field was filled to 25 cars. Later in the day, Gordon Johncock (166.559 mph) squeezed himself on to the front row, qualifying third. A. J. Foyt suffered mechanical trouble on his first attempt, and pulled off the course. Later on, he returned to the track to qualify in fourth starting position. Parnelli Jones in the Granatelli Turbine qualified 6th. It was noted later on, however, that Jones qualified with a race day set-up, while the piston-powered competitors typically conducted time trials with special "qualifying setups." In addition, the piston-powered cars were allowed at the time to use nitrous during qualifying to increase horsepower, while the Turbine crew chose to use standard fuel.

Second day - Sunday May 14

The second day of time trials was rained out.

Third day - Saturday May 20

The field filled to 33 cars after 23 attempts were made. Six cars were bumped including Jackie Stewart. Roger McCluskey, who was not able to qualify on pole day, was the fastest car of the afternoon (165.563 mph).

Bump day - Sunday May 21

Graham Hill and Jackie Stewart successfully bumped their way into the field. Jim Hurtubise tried to qualify using a front-engined car, but he was too slow.

Race Summary

Start

The race started on Tuesday May 30 under threatening skies. At the start, polesitter Mario Andretti briefly took the lead into turn one. However, Parnelli Jones driving the Granatelli STP-Paxton Turbocar gas turbine, swept to the outside from 6th starting position, and passed four cars in turn one. Exiting turn two, he dove below Mario Andretti and took the lead down the backstretch. Jones ran the first lap at a record 154 mph, and started pulling out to a sizable lead.

After only a few laps, Mario Andretti pulled into the pits with mechanical troubles. On lap 18, rain began to fall, and the red flag was put out. The race was halted and the conclusion was postponed until the following day.

Restart

Wednesday May 31 was sunny and the race was resumed.

Jones lead most of the race. Along the way many of the favorites have problems: defending champion Graham Hill (who almost didn't make the race) is out after only five laps after the restart. his teammate Jim Clark blows an engine five laps later. Leader Jones has a scare on lap 70 in an altercation with Lee Roy Yarbrough. Both cars spin, but are able to continue racing, however, Dan Gurney briefly takes the lead. But Gurney is forced out of the race after 160 laps. Meanwhile, Mario Andretti loses a wheel on his 59th lap. Carl Williams and Bob Veith tangle in turn three and are both eliminated. Wally Dallenbach crashes on the main straightway, and Cale Yarborough spins out during the caution. Several cars get by Cale, but George Snider and Lee Roy Yarbrough both crash into the infield ditch trying to avoid him. Arnie Knepper is out with engine failure, while Jackie Stewart loses an engine and heads back to the pits on foot. Later, Cale Yarborough (who was able to get back into the race) and Mel Kenyon crash, putting both out of the race for good. Bud Tingelstad spins out after 182 laps.

Finish

With 12 laps left, Gordon Johncock spins out. At this point Parnelli Jones has the race wrapped up with almost a full lap lead over A.J. Foyt. But amazingly, with only four laps to go, a 6-dollar transmission bearing fails, once again sealing the fate of the STP Granatelli team. A.J. Foyt drives into first place with only four laps to go, but the drama is still not over. A four car-crash at the north end of the straightaway forces Foyt into some savvy driving to miss spinning cars as he takes the checkered flag for his third win at Indianapolis. Foyt's winning speed of 151.207 mph (243.344 km/h) is a new record.

Box score

Finish	Start	No	Name	Qual	Rank	Laps	Led	Status
1	4	14	A.J. Foyt	166.289	4	200	27	Running
2	9	5	Al Unser	164.594	10	198	0	Flagged
3	5	4	Joe Leonard	166.098	5	197	0	Flagged
4	24	69	Denis Hulme	163.376	20	197	0	Flagged
5	11	2	Jim McElreath	164.241	12	197	0	Flagged
6	6	40	Parnelli Jones	166.075	6	196	171	Bearing
7	27	8	Chuck Hulse	162.925	26	195	0	Crash FS
8	13	16	Art Pollard	163.897	15	195	0	Flagged
9	8	6	Bobby Unser	164.752	9	193	0	Flagged
10	23	41	Carl Williams	163.696	18	189	0	Crash FS
11	28	46	Bob Veith	162.580	32	189	0	Flagged
12	3	3	Gordon Johncock	166.559	3	188	0	Spun T3
13	12	39	Bobby Grim	164.084	14	187	0	Crash FS
14	25	10	Bud Tingelstad	163.228	22	182	0	Spun FS
15	21	22	Larry Dickson	162.543	33	180	0	Spun FS
16	14	15	Mel Kenyon	163.778	17	177	0	Crash T3
17	20	21	Cale Yarborough	162.830	30	176	0	Crash T3
18	29	24	Jackie Stewart	164.099	13	168	0	Engine
19	22	12	Roger McCluskey	165.563	7	165	0	Engine
20	30	42	Jerry Grant	163.808	16	162	0	Piston
21	2	74	Dan Gurney	167.224	2	160	2	Piston
22	18	19	Arnie Knepper	162.900	28	158	0	Engine
23	17	98	Ronnie Duman	162.903	27	154	0	Fuel trouble
24	32	48	Jochen Rindt	163.051	25	108	0	Valve
25	19	45	Johnny Rutherford	162.859	29	103	0	Crash T2
26	10	26	George Snider	164.256	11	99	0	Crash NC
27	26	67	LeeRoy Yarbrough	163.066	24	87	0	Crash NC
28	33	32	Al Miller II	162.602	31	74	0	Oil Cooler
29	15	53	Wally Dallenbach, Sr.	163.540	19	73	0	Crash FS
30	1	1	Mario Andretti	168.982	1	58	0	Lost wheel
31	16	31	Jim Clark	163.213	23	35	0	Piston
32	31	81	Graham Hill	163.317	21	23	0	Piston
33	7	25	Lloyd Ruby	165.229	8	3	0	Valves

Qualification Chronology

Topics

• This was the first Indianapolis 500 to be televised in color by ABC during ABC's Wide World of Sports.
• Andy Granatelli, the CEO of STP, introduced the first turbine-powered car into the Indianapolis 500.

Gallery

• 

  Gas turbine-'STP Oil Treatment Special'

Notes

References

Works cited

• Indianapolis 500 History: Race & All-Time Stats - Official Site