1982 Indianapolis 500

The 66th Indianapolis 500 was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Sunday, May 30, 1982. Gordon Johncock, who had previously won the rain-shortened 1973 race, was the winner. Rick Mears finished second by a margin of 0.16 seconds, the closest finish in Indy 500 history to that point.

Time trials

Pole day

On pole day, Saturday May 15, Kevin Cogan, driving for Penske Racing set a new one-lap track record of 204.638 mph (329.333 km/h), and a record four-lap average of 204.082 mph (328.438 km/h). A few minutes later, he was beaten by his Penske teammate Rick Mears. Mears secured the pole position with a four-lap average of 207.004 mph (333.141 km/h).

About an hour later, the time trials were marred by the horrific fatal accident of Gordon Smiley. At 12:15 p.m., Smiley left the pits to start his qualifying run. On his second (of two) warm up lap, he approached turn three. The back-end became loose, and Smiley overcorrected. The front wheels suddenly gained traction, the car turned and crashed head-on into the outside wall at about 200 mph (320 km/h). The fuel tank exploded with a large fireflash, the car disintegrated into at least three sections, and went airborne for at least 50 feet (15 m). Smiley's exposed body tumbled amongst the debris for hundreds of feet through the short-chute connecting turns 3 and 4. Smiley died instantly from massive trauma inflicted by the severe impact. Nearly every bone in his body had been shattered. His helmet was pulled from his head, and the top of his skull was scalped by the debris fence and asphalt. His death was the first at Indy since 1973, and to date, the last driver to die during a qualification attempt.^[1]

The track remained closed for over two hours after the crash. The catch fencing needed repair, and a patch of asphalt was required to be paved due to the accident. After over two hours, qualifying resumed. Several cars went out over the next two hours, but none challenged the speed records set earlier in the morning. In a solemn mood, qualifying came to a quiet halt around 4:55 p.m., with just over an hour left in the session.

At the close of pole day, the field was filled to 20 cars.

Second day

After the tragic circumstances of the day before, few drivers took to the track on Sunday May 16. A very uneventful day saw only a handful of cars even take practice laps. Only cars made qualifying attempts and only two were run to completion. Rain ended the session a few minutes early, and the field was filled to 22 cars.

Third day

A busy day of time trials saw the field filled to 31 cars. Mike Chandler was fastest of the day at 198.042 mph (318.718 km/h).

Bump day

The field was left with two empty position at the start of the day. Several drivers intended to make attempts but few actually took to the track. Josele Garza and Pete Halsmer went out and quickly filled the field. Only two cars were bumped all day, and despite the track being open until 6 p.m., no drivers went out after 4:03 p.m. With two hours left in the day, Desiré Wilson announced she would not make an attempt, and thus would not have a chance to become the second female to qualify at Indy.

Kevin Cogan crash

On race day, Kevin Cogan started from the middle of the front row, next to pole-sitter Mears, and A.J. Foyt. As the field approached the start/finish line to start the race, Cogan suddenly swerved right, touching and bouncing off of A.J. Foyt's car. He then slid directly into the path of, and collected, Mario Andretti. Deeper in the field, the cars started check-up. A fast-moving Dale Whittington nearly collected Geoff Brabham, lost control, spun across the track and ran into the back of Roger Mears. Both cars were eliminated. Bobby Rahal also reported getting hit from behind, but was undamaged. The green flag had not come out, and the race was immediately red flagged.

Cogan's shocking accident took out four cars, including himself. Foyt's team was able to make repairs, and pushed his car out for the restart attempt. Meanwhile, Andretti and Foyt were furious and outspoken about their displeasure with Cogan. Andretti shunned Cogan's attempts to explain himself with a light shove.

Andretti on live radio and television^[2] made the comment:

Back in the garage area, Andretti complained about Cogan's abilities, claiming that Cogan was "looking for trouble,"^[3] that he "couldn't handle the responsibilities of the front row,"^[3] and that the Penske car he was driving was "too good for him."^[3]

The commonly outspoken Foyt also chimed in during comments to ABC-TV's Chris Economaki with^[2]:

After he had cooled off, Foyt brushed it off a little saying "the guy pulled a stupid trick"^[4] and then back in the garage area^[3][5] of the crash and of Cogan that:

Johnny Rutherford^[3][4] and Bobby Unser^[2] later placed some blame of the incident on the polesitter Rick Mears, for bringing the field down at such a slow pace. Director of competition Roger McCluskey mentioned an overwhelming disdain from the drivers about the poor pace set at the start.^[4] Mears contended that his intentions were to keep the same pace, rather than radically speed up and slow down.^[4] Gordon Johncock pointed out that Andretti had jumped the start, and could have avoided the spinning car of Cogan had he been lined up properly in the second row.^[5] Neither observation gained much attention.

Aftermath

Cogan quickly fell out of favor following the humiliation stemming from the accident. It was followed by a noticeable "blacklisting" by fans and press. Cogan nearly had the dubious distinction of taking out two of the most famous American auto racing legends (Foyt and Andretti) on the first lap, in one move, in the biggest race of the season. The incident also further rehashed a standing feud between Penske Racing and Patrick Racing. A year earlier, Penske and Patrick had been the key fixtures in the controversial 1981 race.

Cogan did not manage to win a race in 1982, and was possibly fired by Roger Penske because of it.^[6].

The accident was never explained by the Penske team. Derrick Walker the team manager at the time, claimed that they found "no cause" for the accident.^[7] However, several experts had reasonable opinions. Rodger Ward, working for the IMS Radio Network immediately believed the rear brakes locked up.^[4] It was a common practice for drivers in the turbocharged era to "ride the brakes" during warm up laps in order to engage the turbocharger. Others theorized it may have happened due to a broken CV joint. Fellow drivers such as Johnny Rutherford and Gordon Johncock suggested that due to the slow start, Cogan may have been in first gear, and when he accelerated, the back end simply car came around.^[4] Some feel that Sam Posey on ABC-TV inadvertently may have added to the controversy when he proclaimed "absolutely no idea" to the question of how it could have happened,^[2] and saying "it was as if he turned the wheel intentionally."^[2] The comments led many to conclude, albeit unfairly, that the accident may have been entirely of Cogan's doing. As soon as he climbed from the car, Cogan was observed looking at the rear end axle, suggesting that he thought something broke.

Years later Donald Davidson, the historian for the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, mentioned that team driver, and the more experienced, Rick Mears had a nearly identical accident during private testing at Michigan International Speedway.^[8] The accident was never disclosed to the public, even though it could have vindicated Cogan. In 2009, Roger Penske seemed to brush off ideas, stating "Cogan said something broke, I don't know whether it did or didn't."^[9]

Race running

During the red flag, officials topped off the cars pit-side fuel tanks with a few gallons of methanol. The wasted 4 laps run from the aborted start unnecessarily burned off precious fuel. Overall, the delay lasted over 45 minutes. Only 29 cars lined up for the second start attempt.

A. J. Foyt took the lead at the start. It was the first time in his 25-year Indy career that he led the first lap of the race. After the hasty repairs from the Cogan incident, Foyt's car was precariously unproven, yet Foyt made no effort to "feel his car out" before charging into the lead. Meanwhile, popular second-year driver Josele Garza barely completed the first lap, and dropped out with an oil leak.

Rick Mears soon established himself as the fastest car in the field, and found the lead in the first half.

A. J. Foyt's day ended just short of the midway point. A failed transmission linkage prevented him from pulling out of the pits. Foyt famously climbed from the cockpit, grabbed a hammer and a screwdriver, and started pounding away at the rear mechanics of the car. His attempts were futile, and the car was wheeled back to the garage area. Foyt revealed, during an interview immediately thereafter, that the Cogan crash had damaged the car's toe in alignment, and that it had been handling poorly all race up to that point. The 1982 race would be the final Indy 500 Foyt would lead during his driving career.

Finish

With less than 20 laps to go, Gordon Johncock led Rick Mears. Most of the balance of the field was eliminated, or running several laps behind. The two cars were running right together, and had developed into a late-race duel. Both drivers needed to make one final pit stop to make it to the finish.

With 18 laps to go Mears ducked into the pits. The car of Herm Johnson slowed in front, and Mears bumped into his back wheel. The incident cost Mears several seconds. In his pit box, Mears Penske crew proceeded to fill his car full with 40 gallons of fuel, more than enough needed to make it to the finish. No tires were changed, and no repairs were necessary from hitting Johnson's car.

Two laps later, Johncock dove into the pits. He precariously diced around a backmarker, and slid into his pit box. The Patrick Racing crew conducted a timed pit stop. The team calculated the amount of fuel needed to make it to the finish. When enough fuel has flowed into the car, a pit crew member tapped the fuel man on the back with a stick, and he disengaged. Johncock pulled away, with a pit stop many seconds quicker than Mears'.

Back on the track, Johncock held a lead of more than eleven seconds. Many believed he was cruising to his second Indy victory. However, his car's handling was starting to suffer. The light fuel load he took on was exacerbating a pushing condition.

Meanwhile, Mears' fully-fueled car was heavier, and handling much better. He started closing in, more than 1 second per lap. Johncock started driving very low in the turns, trying to alleviate the pushing condition. It became clear in the waning laps that Mears was dramatically closing in on the lead. Such a circumstance was entirely unprecedented in Indy 500 history, with the exception of the 1937 race. With only 6 other cars left running, traffic was not a factor.

Mears closed to under 3 seconds with 3 laps to go. With two laps to go, the margin was less than 1 second. In turn three, Johncock's car was handling so poorly at that point, he mentioned afterwards that he nearly crashed.

With one lap to go, Mears pulled alongside on the mainstretch. The cars took the white flag side-by-side. Johncock refused to give up the lead. He "chop-blocked" Mears in the first turn, and stayed ahead. Mears lost considerable momentum, but began to reel Johncock back in down the backstretch. As they exited turn four, Mears tried to slingshot pass Johncock for the win. Johncock held off the challenge, and won by 0.16 seconds, the closest-ever in Indy 500 history to date. It would stand as the closest finish in race history for ten years.

Starting grid

Note: Following the Kevin Cogan crash on the pace lap, the cars of Cogan, Mario Andretti, Roger Mears, and Dale Whittington were eliminated. When the field was lined up for a second attempt to start the race, none of the four cars joined the field. Holes were left in the grid as those four spots were left vacant, with the first two rows conspicuously holding only two cars each, and only 29 cars took the green flag.

Row	Inside	Middle	Outside
1	Rick Mears	Kevin Cogan	A.J. Foyt
2	Mario Andretti	Gordon Johncock	Bill Whittington
3	Tom Sneva	Don Whittington	Danny Ongais
4	Pancho Carter	Chip Ganassi	Johnny Rutherford
5	Danny Sullivan	Herm Johnson	Héctor Rebaque
6	Al Unser	Bobby Rahal	Howdy Holmes
7	Roger Mears	Geoff Brabham	Dennis Firestone
8	Mike Chandler	Dale Whittington	Jim Hickman
9	Johnny Parsons	George Snider	Tony Bettenhausen
10	Jerry Sneva	Chet Fillip	Gary Bettenhausen
11	Tom Bigelow	Pete Halsmer	Josele Garza

     Yellow indicates the driver was eliminated during the Cogan crash, and did not start the race

     Green indicates the driver was involved in the Cogan crash, but managed to start the race

Results

Finish	Start	No	Name	Qual	Rank	Laps	Led	Status
1	5	20	Gordon Johncock	201.884	5	200	57	Running
2	1	1	Rick Mears	207.003	1	200	77	Running
3	10	3	Pancho Carter	198.950	10	199	0	Flagged
4	7	7	Tom Sneva	201.028	7	197	31	Engine
5	16	10	Al Unser	195.567	23	197	0	Flagged
6	8	91	Don Whittington	200.725	8	196	2	Flagged
7	24	42	Jim Hickman	196.217	18	189	0	Flagged
8	12	5	Johnny Rutherford	197.066	16	187	0	Engine
9	14	28	Herm Johnson	195.929	19	186	0	Flagged
10	18	30	Howdy Holmes	194.469	32	186	0	Flagged
11	17	19	Bobby Rahal	194.700	29	174	0	Engine
12	30	8	Gary Bettenhausen	195.673	22	158	0	Engine
13	15	52	Héctor Rebaque	195.684	21	150	0	Fire
14	13	53	Danny Sullivan	196.292	17	148	0	Crash T4
15	11	12	Chip Ganassi	197.705	13	147	0	Engine
16	6	94	Bill Whittington	201.658	6	121	0	Engine
17	22	68	Mike Chandler	198.042	12	104	0	Gearbox
18	31	27	Tom Bigelow	194.784	28	96	0	Engine
19	3	14	A.J. Foyt	203.332	3	95	32	Transmission
20	25	34	Johnny Parsons	195.929	20	92	0	Spin
21	26	35	George Snider	195.493	24	87	0	Engine
22	9	25	Danny Ongais	199.148	9	62	1	Crash T2
23	28	69	Jerry Sneva	195.270	26	61	0	Crash T2
24	29	39	Chet Fillip	194.879	27	60	0	Crash T2
25	32	66	Pete Halsmer	194.595	30	38	0	Transmission
26	27	16	Tony Bettenhausen, Jr.	195.429	25	37	0	Crash FS
27	21	75	Dennis Firestone	197.217	15	37	0	Rear End
28	20	21	Geoff Brabham	198.906	11	12	0	Engine
29	33	55	Josele Garza	194.500	31	1	0	Engine
30	2	4	Kevin Cogan	204.082	2	0	0	Crash FS
31	4	40	Mario Andretti	203.172	4	0	0	Crash FS
32	19	31	Roger Mears	194.154	33	0	0	Crash FS
33	23	95	Dale Whittington	197.694	14	0	0	Crash FS

Failed to Qualify

References

External links

• Video of the finish of the race
• Video of the start crash caused by Kevin Cogan

See also

• 1981-82 USAC Championship Car season