1979 International 500-Mile Sweepstakes

Race 4 of 14

Indianapolis
200 laps
Time of race: 3:08:47.97
Average speed of winner: 158.899 mph
Margin of victory: 45.690 sec.
Lead changes: 9 among 4 drivers
Cautions: 6 for 34 laps
Fastest lap: Mike Mosley 193.216
Lap leaders: Mears pole, A. Unser 1-24, Mears 25-27, Foyt 28, A. Unser 29-69, B. Unser 70-73, Mears 74-76, A. Unser 77-96, B. Unser 97-181, Mears 182-200

Race notes: First win for Rick Mears. First pole for Rick Mears. Debut for Tom Bigelow, Larry Dickson, A.J. Foyt, Howdy Holmes, Cliff Hucul, Sheldon Kinser, Jim McElreath, Johnny Parsons, Dick Simon, Jerry Sneva, George Snider, Phil Threshie, and Bill Vukovich, Jr. Only start for Janet Guthrie, Roger McCluskey, and Eldon Rasmussen. Rick Mears took the points lead from Johnny Rutherford.

Video links: Highlights

Finish	Start	Driver	Car #	Sponsor	Chassis	Engine	Tire	Owner	Qualifying Speed	Laps	X Led	Laps Led	Status	Points
1	1	Rick Mears	9	Gould Charge	Penske	Cosworth	Goodyear	Penske	193.736	200	3	25	flagged	1000
2	6	A.J. Foyt	14	Gilmore Racing	Parnelli	Cosworth	Goodyear	Foyt	189.613	200	1	1	flagged	0
3	12	Mike Mosley	36	Theodore Racing	Eagle	Cosworth	Goodyear	Theodore	186.278	200	0	0	flagged	700
4	27	Danny Ongais	25	Interscope/Panasonic	Parnelli	Cosworth	Goodyear	Interscope	188.009	199	0	0	flagged	600
5	4	Bobby Unser	12	Norton Spirit	Penske	Cosworth	Goodyear	Penske	189.913	199	2	89	flagged	500
6	5	Gordon Johncock	3	North American Van Lines	Penske	Cosworth	Goodyear	Patrick	189.753	197	0	0	flagged	400
7	13	Howdy Holmes	46	Armstrong Molding	Wildcat	Offenhauser	Goodyear	Armstrong	185.864	195	0	0	flagged	0
8	34	Bill Vukovich, Jr.	22	Hubler/WNDE	Watson	Offenhauser	Goodyear	Leader Card	187.042	193	0	0	flagged	0
9	15	Tom Bagley	11	Dairy Queen-Kent	Penske	Cosworth	Goodyear	Hillin	185.414	193	0	0	flagged	200
10	31	Spike Gehlhausen	19	Sta-On Car Glaze	Wildcat	Cosworth	Goodyear	Gehlhausen	185.061	192	0	0	flagged	150
11	28	Steve Krisiloff	7	Frosty Acres	Lightning	Cosworth	Goodyear	Fletcher	186.287	192	0	0	flagged	100
12	16	Salt Walther	77	Dayton-Walther	Penske	Cosworth	Goodyear	Walmotor	184.162	191	0	0	flagged	50
13	25	Roger McCluskey	72	National Engineering	McLaren	Cosworth	Goodyear	Hodgdon	183.908	191	0	0	flagged	0
14	30	Tom Bigelow	44	Armstrong Molding	Lola	Cosworth	Goodyear	Armstrong	185.147	190	0	0	flagged	0
15	2	Tom Sneva	1	Sugaripe Prune	McLaren	Cosworth	Goodyear	O Connell	192.998	188	0	0	accident NW	25
16	26	Joe Saldana	69	KBHL-FM	Eagle	Cosworth	Goodyear	Hoffman	188.778	186	0	0	flagged	25
17	29	Phil Threshie	97	Guiffre Bros.	King	Chevrolet	Goodyear	Guiffre Bros.	185.720	172	0	0	flagged	0
18	8	Johnny Rutherford	4	Budweiser	McLaren	Cosworth	Goodyear	McLaren	188.137	168	0	0	flagged	20
19	23	Larry Rice	31	S&M Electric	Lightning	Offenhauser	Goodyear	Santello	184.219	142	0	0	accident SE	20
20	17	Pancho Carter	10	Alex XLNT Foods	Lightning	Cosworth	Goodyear	Morales	185.806	129	0	0	wheel bearing	20
21	22	Vern Schuppan	34	Wysard Motors	Wildcat	DGS	Goodyear	Wysard	184.341	111	0	0	transmission	15
22	3	Al Unser	2	Pennzoil	Chaparral	Cosworth	Goodyear	Hall	192.503	104	3	85	transmission seal	15
23	33	Eldon Rasmussen	50	Bivouac Vans	Antares	Offenhauser	Goodyear	Rasmussen	183.927	89	0	0	header	0
24	24	Larry Dickson	80	Polak Construction	Penske	Cosworth	Goodyear	Polak	184.181	86	0	0	fuel pump	0
25	32	John Mahler	92	Sport Magazine	Eagle	Offenhauser	Goodyear	Sport Magazine	184.322	66	0	0	fuel pump	10
26	20	Dick Simon	17	Sanyo	Vollstedt	Offenhauser	Goodyear	Vollstedt	185.071	57	0	0	clutch	0
27	7	Wally Dallenbach	6	Foreman Industries	Penske	Cosworth	Goodyear	Patrick	188.285	43	0	0	lost wheel	10
28	10	Sheldon Kinser	24	Genesee Beer	Watson	Offenhauser	Goodyear	Leader Card	186.674	40	0	0	piston	0
29	18	Cliff Hucul	29	Hucul Racing	McLaren	Offenhauser	Goodyear	Hucul	186.200	22	0	0	valve	0
30	11	Lee Kunzman	89	Vetter-Windjammer	Parnelli	Cosworth	Goodyear	Hamm	186.403	18	0	0	scavenger pump	5
31	21	Jerry Sneva	73	National Engineering	Spirit	AMC	Goodyear	Hodgdon	184.379	16	0	0	piston	5
32	9	Johnny Parsons	15	Hopkins-Goodyear	Lightning	DGS	Goodyear	Hopkins	187.813	16	0	0	piston	0
33	35	George Snider	59	KBHL	Lightning	Offenhauser	Goodyear	Hoffman	185.319	7	0	0	valve	0
34	14	Janet Guthrie	45	Texaco Star	Lola	Cosworth	Goodyear	Armstrong	185.720	3	0	0	piston	0
35	19	Jim McElreath	23	AMAX Coalar	Penske	Cosworth	Goodyear	McElreath	185.883	0	0	0	valve	0

Points standings

Rank	Driver	Points	Starts	Poles	Wins	Podiums
1	Rick Mears	1565	4	1	1	3
2	Gordon Johncock	900	4	0	1	1
3	Bobby Unser	875	4	1	0	0
4	Mike Mosley	830	4	0	0	1
5	Johnny Rutherford	730	4	1	2	3
6	Danny Ongais	713	4	0	0	0
7	Al Unser	470	4	0	0	1
8	Tom Bagley	413	4	0	0	0
9	Tom Sneva	331	4	0	0	1
10	Lee Kunzman	270	4	0	0	1
11	Wally Dallenbach	188	4	0	0	0
12	Spike Gehlhausen	166	4	0	0	0
13	Salt Walther	141	4	0	0	0
14	Steve Krisiloff	113	3	0	0	0
15	Pancho Carter	101	4	0	0	0
16	Larry Rice	70	3	0	0	0
17	Vern Schuppan	46	4	0	0	0
18	Joe Saldana	43	4	0	0	0
19	Bill Alsup	40	3	0	0	0
20	John Mahler	16	2	0	0	0
21	Tom Frantz	8	1	0	0	0
22	Jerry Sneva	5	1	0	0	0
23	A.J. Foyt	0	1	0	0	1
24	Howdy Holmes	0	1	0	0	0
25	Bill Vukovich, Jr.	0	1	0	0	0