1981 Indianapolis 500

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Results of the 1981 Indianapolis 500 held at Indianapolis on Sunday, May 24, 1981.

[edit] Recap

After a pitstop on lap 149 Bobby Unser and Mario Andretti pass cars under the caution flag lineup as they exit the pits. Unser goes on to win the race, his third career Indy victory, and Andretti finishes second. However, when official results are posted Monday morning, Unser was penalized one lap for the infraction, and Andretti was declared the winner. Unser's Penske Team appeals the decision, and in October, a USAC appeals court reverses the ruling, reinstating Unser to first place, and instead fines him $40,000. USAC later acts to clarify its vague yellow flag rules and bring them into line with CART's existing rules stating that cars rejoining from the pits during a caution must not pass any cars in front of them, lapped or otherwise. After being declared the winner following this long and contentious debate, Unser announces his retirement.

[edit] Results

Finish	Start	No	Name	Qual	Rank	Laps	Led	Status
1	1	3	Bobby Unser	200.546	2	200	89	Running
2	32	40	Mario Andretti	193.040	12	200	12	Running
3	18	33	Vern Schuppan	186.548	31	199	0	Flagged
4	12	32	Kevin Cogan	189.444	18	197	0	Flagged
5	15	50	Geoff Brabham	187.990	22	197	0	Flagged
6	23	81	Sheldon Kinser	189.454	17	195	0	Flagged
7	16	16	Tony Bettenhausen, Jr.	187.013	28	195	0	Flagged
8	17	53	Steve Krisiloff	186.722	30	194	0	Flagged
9	4	20	Gordon Johncock	195.429	7	194	52	Engine
10	28	4	Dennis Firestone	187.784	23	193	0	Engine
11	7	7	Bill Alsup	193.154	11	193	0	Flagged
12	25	74	Mike Chandler	187.567	26	192	0	Flagged
13	3	14	A.J. Foyt	196.078	6	191	0	Flagged
14	33	84	Tim Richmond	189.254	20	191	0	Flagged
15	31	38	Jerry Karl	186.008	33	189	0	Flagged
16	29	37	Scott Brayton	187.774	24	173	0	Engine
17	9	88	Al Unser	192.719	14	166	0	Flagged
18	19	31	Larry Dickson	186.278	32	165	0	Piston
19	13	35	Bob Lazier	189.424	19	154	0	Engine
20	14	56	Tom Bigelow	188.294	21	152	0	Engine
21	27	90	Bill Whittington	197.098	5	146	0	Stalled
22	8	60	Gordon Smiley	192.988	13	141	1	Crash T4
23	6	55	Josele Garza	195.101	9	138	13	Crash T3
24	24	79	Pete Halsmer	187.705	25	123	0	Crash T3
25	20	2	Tom Sneva	200.691	1	96	25	Clutch
26	11	8	Gary Bettenhausen	190.870	16	69	0	Rod
27	21	25	Danny Ongais	197.694	3	64	4	Crash T3
28	10	5	Pancho Carter	191.022	15	63	0	Compression
29	30	51	Tom Klausler	186.732	29	60	0	Gearbox
30	22	6	Rick Mears	194.018	10	58	1	Pit Fire
31	26	91	Don Whittington	187.237	27	32	0	Crash BS
32	5	1	Johnny Rutherford	195.387	8	25	3	Fuel Pump
33	2	48	Mike Mosley	197.141	4	16	0	Radiator

Failed to Qualify: Tom Bagley (#43), Steve Ball (#85), Pat Bedard (#17), Jim Buick (#86), Phil Caliva (#47, #87), Larry Cannon (#96, #99), Steve Chassey (#64), Bill Engelhart (#29), Dick Ferguson (#95), Bob Frey (#71), Spike Gehlhausen (#23, #34), Ken Hamilton (#63), Bob Harkey (#71, #89, #96), Jim Hurtubise (#65), Herm Johnson (#28), Bubby Jones (#58), Steve Kinser (#78), Phil Krueger (#89), Greg Leffler (#43, #44), Harry MacDonald (#45), John Mahler (#92, #93), John Martin (#57), Jim McElreath (#26), Chip Mead (#49), Roger Mears (#98), Jerry Miller (#65), Johnny Parsons (#8, #12, #18), Roger Rager (#21, #66), Larry Rice (#52), Tim Richmond (#21), Joe Saldana (#24, #69), Dick Simon (#22), Jerry Sneva (#17, #34, #72, #74), George Snider (#84) Bill Tempero (#15), Phil Threshie (#67), Rich Vogler (#44, #46), Bill Vukovich II (#42), Frank Weiss (#93), Dale Whittington (#91)

Notes: When official results were posted at 8 am the day after the race, Mario Andretti, who had finished second, was awarded the victory after Bobby Unser, whose car had finished first, was penalized one lap and dropped from the first place to second for passing other cars illegally under a yellow caution flag. Unser appealed the decision to the U.S. Auto Club and was upheld. A panel ruled the following October that the penalty was too severe and instead fined Unser $40,000, and restored the victory to him. Andretti was returned to second place.

1980 Indianapolis 500 Johnny Rutherford	1981 Indianapolis 500 Bobby Unser	1982 Indianapolis 500 Gordon Johncock

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