1976 Indianapolis 500
Encyclopedia
The 1976 Indianapolis 500 was held at Indianapolis
Indianapolis Motor Speedway
The Indianapolis Motor Speedway, located in Speedway, Indiana in the United States, is the home of the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race and the Brickyard 400....

 on Sunday, May 30, 1976.

Rain stopped the race on lap 102. Two hours later, the race was about to be restarted, but the rain fell again. Officials called the race at that point and Johnny Rutherford
Johnny Rutherford
For the Major League Baseball pitcher, see Johnny Rutherford . For other people with a similar name, see John RutherfordJohn Sherman Rutherford III , better known as Johnny Rutherford, and also known as "Lone Star JR" is a former U.S...

 was declared the winner. Rutherford walked to Victory Lane, having completed only 255 miles (410 km), the shortest official race on record. It was also the third 500 in four years to have been shortened by rain. Later in the year, the entire track was repaved in asphalt, the first time the entire track had been repaved at once since 1909. The yard of bricks at the start/finish line still remains from the original surface. Longtime Voice of the 500
Indianapolis Motor Speedway Radio Network
The Indianapolis Motor Speedway Radio Network , is an in-house radio syndication arrangement which broadcasts the Indianapolis 500, IndyCar, and the Brickyard 400 to radio stations covering most of North America....

Sid Collins
Sid Collins
Sid Collins was an American broadcaster best known as the radio voice of the Indianapolis 500 on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Radio Network from 1952-1976...

 called his final race, as he committed suicide eleven months later.

Janet Guthrie
Janet Guthrie
Janet Guthrie is a retired professional race car driver and the first woman to qualify and compete in both the Indianapolis 500 and the Daytona 500....

 became the first female driver to enter the Indy 500, but experienced numerous mechanical and engine problems during the month. She was unable to pass her rookie test until the second week of practice, but finally got her car up to sufficient speed. She practiced in A. J. Foyt
A. J. Foyt
Anthony Joseph Foyt, Jr., or as he is universally known as in motorsports circles, A. J. Foyt , is a retired American automobile racing driver. He raced in numerous genres of motorsports. His open wheel racing includes USAC Champ cars and midget cars. He raced stock cars in NASCAR and USAC. He won...

's back-up car on the morning of final day of time trials, but the day ended without her making an attempt to qualify. She instead flew to Charlotte
Charlotte Motor Speedway
Charlotte Motor Speedway is a motorsports complex located in Concord, North Carolina, United States 13 miles from Charlotte, North Carolina. The complex features a quad oval track that hosts NASCAR racing including the prestigious Coca-Cola 600 on Memorial Day weekend and the Sprint All-Star Race...

 and drove in the NASCAR
NASCAR
The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing is a family-owned and -operated business venture that sanctions and governs multiple auto racing sports events. It was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1947–48. As of 2009, the CEO for the company is Brian France, grandson of the late Bill France Sr...

 World 600
Coca-Cola 600
The Coca-Cola 600, formerly known as the World 600, is a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race held each year at Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina on Memorial Day weekend...

.

Race schedule

EWLINE
Race schedule — May, 1976
Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat

 

 

 

 

 

 
1
 
2
 
3
 
4
 
5
 
6
 
7
 
8
Opening Day
9
Practice
10
Practice
11
Practice
12
Practice
13
Practice
14
Practice
15
Pole Day
16
Time Trials
17
Practice
18
Practice
19
Practice
20
Practice
21
Practice
22
Time Trials
23
Time Trials
24
 
25
 
26
 
27
Carb Day
28
 
29
Parade
30
Indy 500
31
Memorial Day

 

 

 

 

 
EWLINE
EWLINE
Color Notes
Green Practice
Dark Blue Time trials
Silver Race day
Red Rained out*
Blank No track activity

* Includes days where track activity
was significantly limited due to rain

Race results

Finish Start No Name Qual Rank Laps Led Status
1 1 2   Johnny Rutherford
Johnny Rutherford
For the Major League Baseball pitcher, see Johnny Rutherford . For other people with a similar name, see John RutherfordJohn Sherman Rutherford III , better known as Johnny Rutherford, and also known as "Lone Star JR" is a former U.S...

188.957 2 102 48 Running
2 5 14   A.J. Foyt 185.262 10 102 29 Running
3 2 20   Gordon Johncock
Gordon Johncock
Gordon Johncock is a former racing driver, best known as a two-time winner of the Indianapolis 500 and the 1976 USAC Marlboro Championship Trail champion. Johncock was most often simply referred to as "Gordy."...

188.531 3 102 18 Running
4 7 40   Wally Dallenbach
Wally Dallenbach, Sr.
Wally Dallenbach, Sr. is a former long-time open-wheeled race car driver in CART from East Brunswick Township, New Jersey. He drove in 180 Indy Car races between 1965 and 1979, winning five times. He is the father of NASCAR driver and commentator, Wally Dallenbach, Jr.-Biography:Dallenbach nearly...

184.445 12 101 3 Flagged
5 6 48   Pancho Carter
Pancho Carter
Duane "Pancho" Carter, Jr. is a retired American race car driver. He is most famous for his participation in CART races.-Background:...

184.824 11 101 3 Flagged
6 3 68   Tom Sneva
Tom Sneva
Tom Sneva is a former Indy Car driver who was named to the prestigious Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in 2005. Sneva is best remembered for winning the 1983 Indianapolis 500. Nicknamed "The Gas Man," Sneva was an outstanding qualifier, winning the pole position for the Indianapolis 500 three...

186.355 8 101 1 Flagged
7 4 21   Al Unser
Al Unser
Alfred "Al" Unser is a former American automobile racing driver, the younger brother of fellow racing drivers Jerry and Bobby Unser, and father of Al Unser, Jr....

186.258 9 101 0 Flagged
8 19 6   Mario Andretti
Mario Andretti
Mario Gabriele Andretti is a retired Italian American world champion racing driver, one of the most successful Americans in the history of the sport. He is one of only two drivers to win races in Formula One, IndyCar, World Sportscar Championship and NASCAR...

189.404 1 101 0 Flagged
9 22 77   Salt Walther
Salt Walther
David "Salt" Walther , is a former driver in the USAC and CART Championship Car series. He also drove NASCAR stock cars, unlimited hydroplane boats, and was a car owner in USAC....

182.796 17 100 0 Flagged
10 12 3   Bobby Unser
Bobby Unser
Robert William "Bobby" Unser is a retired U.S. automobile racer. He is the brother of Al Unser, Jerry Unser and Louie Unser, the father of Robby Unser, and the uncle of Al Unser, Jr. and Johnny Unser...

187.520 5 100 0 Flagged
11 30 51   Lloyd Ruby
Lloyd Ruby
Lloyd Ruby was an American racecar driver.Ruby raced in the USAC Championship Car series in the 1958-1977 seasons, with 177 career starts, including every Indianapolis 500 race during 1960-1977. He finished in the top ten 88 times, with 7 victories. His best Indy finish was 3rd in 1964...

186.480 7 100 0 Flagged
12 14 93   Johnny Parsons
Johnny Parsons
Johnny Parsons is an American racecar driver.-Racing family:Parsons is the son of Arza and 1950 Indianapolis 500 winner Johnnie Parsons. His parents divorced, and Johnny was raised with half-brothers Dana and Pancho Carter, the product of Arza'a marriage with Duane Carter. The Carters grew up...

182.843 16 98 0 Flagged
13 27 23   George Snider
George Snider
George "Ziggy" Snider is a retired American race car driver. A longtime driver in the United States Automobile Club Silver Crown series, Snider is also a 22-time starter of the Indianapolis 500, the most starts without winning the race. His best finish was eighth in the 1975 Indianapolis 500...

181.141 31 98 0 Flagged
14 32 24   Tom Bigelow
Tom Bigelow
Tom Bigelow , USA, is a former driver in the USAC and CART Championship Car series.-Midget car racing:...

181.965 24 98 0 Flagged
15 11 12   Mike Mosley
Mike Mosley
Mike Mosley , was an American racecar driver.Born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, Mosley died in an off-road vehicle accident near Riverside, California. His young son, Michael, was also riding in the van Mosley was driving, but was uninjured. He was a driver in the USAC and CART Championship Car series...

187.588 4 98 0 Flagged
16 33 8   Jan Opperman
Jan Opperman
Jan Opperman , was an American racecar driver. He won the 1971 Knoxville Nationals, the premiere event in sprint car racing...

181.717 27 97 0 Flagged
17 10 69   Larry Cannon 181.388 29 97 0 Flagged
18 17 9   Vern Schuppan
Vern Schuppan
Vernon "Vern" Schuppan is a racing driver from Whyalla, South Australia. Schuppan drove in various categories, participating in Formula One, the Indianapolis 500 and most successfully in sports car racing.-Formula One:...

182.011 21 97 0 Flagged
19 29 97   Sheldon Kinser
Sheldon Kinser
Sheldon Kinser , was an American race-car driver.Kinser, a Bloomington, Indiana native, died of cancer. He was a three-time USAC Sprint Car Series Champion . He also drove in the USAC and CART Championship Car series...

181.114 33 97 0 Flagged
20 28 96   Bob Harkey
Bob Harkey
Bob Harkey , is a former driver in the USAC Championship Car series. He raced in the 1963-1979 seasons, with 85 career starts, including the Indianapolis 500 in 1964, 1971 and 1973-1976...

181.141 32 97 0 Flagged
21 15 98   John Martin
John Martin (driver)
John Martin , is a former driver in the USAC and CART Championship Car series. He raced in the 1970-1977 and 1979-1980 seasons, with 52 career starts, including the 1972-1976 Indianapolis 500 races. He finished in the top ten 17 times, with his best finish in 5th position at Ontario Motor...

182.417 18 96 0 Flagged
22 18 83   Bill Puterbaugh
Bill Puterbaugh
Bill Puterbaugh , is a former driver in the USAC Championship Car series. He raced in the 1967-1971 and 1975–1977, and 1979 seasons, with 31 career starts, including the 1975-1977 Indianapolis 500. He finished in the top ten 11 times, with his best finish in 6th position in 1968 at Springfield...

182.002 22 96 0 Flagged
23 21 28   Billy Scott 183.383 15 96 0 Flagged
24 23 92   Steve Krisiloff
Steve Krisiloff
Steve Krisiloff , is a former driver in the USAC and CART Championship Car series. He raced in the 1969–1979, 1981 and 1983 seasons, with 111 combined career starts, and started in the Indianapolis 500 all but 1969–1970...

182.131 20 95 0 Flagged
25 24 86   Al Loquasto
Al Loquasto
Albert John Loquasto , was a Sicilian-Italian-American racecar driver, a descendant of Libertino lo Guasto of Serradifalco, Caltanissetta, Sicily. Surviving spouse Sandra Loquasto and son A.J. Loquasto....

182.002 23 95 0 Flagged
26 26 63   Larry McCoy
Larry McCoy (driver)
Larry McCoy III , was an American race car driver in open wheel racing.Born in Langhorne, Pennsylvania, McCoy graduated from Bristol High School in Bristol, Pennsylvania, and then entered law school at the University of Miami but did not graduate.He drove in the USAC Championship Car series, racing...

181.387 30 91 0 Flagged
27 20 73   Jerry Grant
Jerry Grant
Jerry Grant , is a former driver in the USAC Championship Car series. He raced in the 1965-1977 seasons, with 54 career starts, including the Indianapolis 500 in 1965-1968, 1970 and 1972-1976...

183.617 13 91 0 Flagged
28 8 45   Gary Bettenhausen
Gary Bettenhausen
Gary Bettenhausen is a retired American auto racing driver. He was born in Blue Island, Illinois, raised in Tinley Park, Illinois, and currently resides in Monrovia, Indiana.-Racing family:...

181.791 25 52 0 Turbocharger
29 31 33   David Hobbs 183.580 14 10 0 Water Leak
30 13 7   Roger McCluskey
Roger McCluskey
Roger McCluskey was an American race car driver. He was from Tucson, Arizona.He won championship titles in three divisions of USAC -Sprints, Stocks, and Champ Cars. He won the USAC Sprint Car title in 1963 and 1966, the USAC Stock car title in 1969 and 1970. The Champ Car title in 1973...

186.499 6 8 0 Crash T3
31 9 5   Bill Vukovich, Jr
Bill Vukovich II
William John Vukovich, Jr. , better known as Bill Vukovich II is a former driver in the championship car division of USAC and CART series....

181.433 28 2 0 Rod
32 16 17   Dick Simon
Dick Simon
Dick Simon is one of the oldest men to ever have raced in the Indianapolis 500. He was 55 years old during his final Indy 500 start in 1988. A multiple starter and top-ten finisher in the race, he also became a car owner, founding Dick Simon Racing helping to begin the IndyCar careers of Stéphan...

182.342 19 1 0 Rod
33 25 19   Spike Gehlhausen
Spike Gehlhausen
Daniel William "Spike" Gehlhausen , is a former driver in the USAC and CART Championship Car series. He raced in 11 seasons , with 79 combined career starts, including the Indianapolis 500 in 1976, 1978-1980, and 1984...

181.717 26 0 0 Oil Pressure


Failed to qualify: Ed Crombie
Ed Crombie
Ed Crombie is a former Canadian-born United States Automobile Club Championship Car racecar driver....

 (#67), Larry Dickson
Larry Dickson
Larry Dickson , is a former driver in the USAC and CART Championship Car series. He raced in the 1965-1981 seasons, with 105 combined career starts, including the Indianapolis 500 in 1966-1969, 1971, 1978–1979, and 1981. He finished in the top ten 44 times, with his best finish in 2nd position in...

 (#65), Bill Engelhart (#44), Janet Guthrie
Janet Guthrie
Janet Guthrie is a retired professional race car driver and the first woman to qualify and compete in both the Indianapolis 500 and the Daytona 500....

 (#1, #17, #27), Mike Hiss
Mike Hiss
Mike Hiss is a former driver in the USAC Championship Car series. He raced in the 1972-1976 seasons, with 28 career starts, including the Indianapolis 500 in 1972-1975. He finished in the top ten 13 times, with his best finish in 2nd position in 1972 at Ontario...

 (#11), Jim Hurtubise
Jim Hurtubise
In 1957, Hurtubise started his NASCAR career running two races. Over the next twenty years, he would race 36 races, winning one race at Atlanta Motor Speedway, and amassing eleven top ten finishes.-Award:...

 (#56), Jerry Karl
Jerry Karl
Jerry Karl , was a former driver in the USAC and CART Championship Car series...

 (#8), Mel Kenyon
Mel Kenyon
Mel Kenyon is a former midget car driver. He is known as the "King of the Midgets", "Miraculous Mel", and "Champion of Midget Auto Racing." The Motorsports Hall of Fame of America says "Many consider him to be midget car racing's greatest driver ever." -Racing career:He attended his first auto...

 (#61), Lee Kunzman
Lee Kunzman
Lee Kunzman , is a former driver in the USAC and CART Championship Car series. He raced in the 1969, 1972–1973 and 1975-1980 seasons, with 48 combined career starts, including the 1971-1972, 1977, and 1979 Indianapolis 500...

 (#65), John Mahler
John Mahler
John Mahler , is a former open wheel race car driver in the USAC and CART Championship Car series. He raced in the 1970-1973 and 1976-1981 seasons, with 39 combined career starts, including the 1972 and 1977-1979 Indianapolis 500...

 (#19, #91, #92), Jim McElreath
Jim McElreath
Jim McElreath , is a former driver in the USAC and CART Championship Car series.-Racing career:He raced in the 1961-1983 seasons, with 178 combined career starts, including 15 in the Indianapolis 500 in 1962-1970, 1973–1974, and 1977-1980. He finished in the top ten 101 times, with five victories...

 (#65, #76), Ed Miller (#46), Rick Muther
Rick Muther
Rick Muther , was an American racecar driver.Muther was born in Alhambra, California. He was for the most part The Indy 500's first Hippy race driver. Muther started in SCCA sports car racing in Southern California at Riverside winning the prestigious Tim Mayer award...

 (#99), Bobby Olivero
Bobby Olivero
Bobby Olivero , is a former driver in the USAC Championship Car series. He raced in the 1976-1978 seasons, with 17 career starts, including the 1977 Indianapolis 500. He finished in the top ten 11 times, with his best finish in 5th position in 1977 at Ontario.In 1979, Olivero was the USAC Silver...

 (#78), Eldon Rasmussen
Eldon Rasmussen
Eldon Rasmussen , is a former driver in the USAC Championship Car series. He raced in the 1971 and 1973-1979 seasons, with 23 career starts, including the 1975, 1977, and 1979 Indianapolis 500...

 (#58), Bill Simpson
Bill Simpson
Bill Simpson , is a retired American racecar driver, but is best known as a pioneer in the racing safety business with his company Simpson Performance Products. He left Simpson Performance in a controversy surrounding Dale Earnhardt's death and started Impact! Racing...

 (#38)

Notes: The race was stopped on lap 103 due to rain (which had begun falling on lap 101). Two hours later, the race was about to be restarted but rain started to fall again. Officials at that point called off the race, and reverted scoring back to the completion of the 102nd lap. It is the shortest race in history, and just one lap past the minimum distance of 101 laps.

See also

  • 1976 USAC Championship Car season
    1976 USAC Championship Car season
    The 1976 USAC Championship Car season consisted of 13 races, beginning in Avondale, Arizona on March 14 and concluding at the same location on November 7. The USAC National Champion was Gordon Johncock and the Indianapolis 500 winner was Johnny Rutherford....

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