Uploaded March 2018 | Updated September 2026, 2 hours ago
No copyright infringement is intended with this, or any other video I upload., The purpose of uploading this video is for the viewing pleasure for those that watch it.
This is the 52nd Indianapolis 500, which was run on May 30, 1968.
NOTE: This is an expanded version of the Indy 500: The Classics episode dealing with the 1968 race, and includes footage from the film not shown in that airing. Credit for the extra footage goes to tvspnd1228/The Racing Jungle, who originally uploaded the complete film with the extra footage, and Championship Racefilms, who originally produced the film.
This race is best known as being the beginning of a 27-year dominance of the Indianapolis 500 by the Unser family, as starting with this race, a member of the Unser family would win the race in exactly one-third of the next 27 years.
On the other hand, the month's festivities could not have started any worse for Andy Granatelli. He had intended to come to Indy with a four-car team, with the drivers being 1963 Indianapolis 500 champion Parnelli Jones, 2-time World Champions and Indy 500 winners Jim Clark and Graham Hill, and Mike Spence as his drivers. But Clark and Spence were killed in separate crashes, with Spence's coming at Indy. The Jones decide to retire, leaving only Hill as among his intended drivers on the roster. Granatelli then hired Joe Leonard and Art Pollard to complete was was now a three-car team. Still, his turbine cars were the favorites, but a team with past Indy success would have something to say about that.
Bob Wilke's Leader Card Racers, who finished fourth or better six consecutive times from 1959-64 with Rodger Ward, including two wins and a 1-2 finish with Ward and Len Sutton in 1962, returned to prominence in 1968 with Bobby Unser, as Unser seemed to have the only car capable of challenging the turbines, something Lloyd Ruby would also eventually prove wrong in the race.
Ironically, the reigning Indy champion, A.J. Foyt, and 2-time reigning USAC champion Mario Andretti were never factors. Andretti fell out after just two laps and Foyt didn't fare much better at Indy that year.
Al Unser, who had finished second in the 1967 race, was also a non-factor, as he had a rare crash after just more than 100 miles, which also took out Arnie Knepper and Gary Bettenhausen. This would be the first Indy start for both Bettenhausen and Billy Vukovich II, who's fathers had both been killed at Indy. Vuky, despite a spin of his own, fared better as he finished seventh and took Rookie of the Year honors.
The race was dominated by three drivers, Leonard, Bobby Unser, and Ruby. However, all three drivers had problems of their own. Unser suffered gearbox problems late in the race, as he only had high gear in the second half of the race, but it ultimately didn't matter. That's because Ruby suffered ignition problems late, and although his team got him back out fast enough to finish fifth, the damage was done. Then, on a restart following Carl Wiliams' crash, Leonard's turbine wouldn't go, handing Unser the lead and the win. And just for good measure, the same thing happened to Art Pollard at almost the same instant. Unser's win returned both Bob Wilke's Leader Card Races and the Offenhauser engine to victory lane at Indy.
Behind Unser, Dan Gurney finished second, with Mel Kenyon third, reigning F1 Champion Dennis Hulme, Gurney's teammate, fourth, and Ruby fifth. However, this race did have a tragic aftermath. Ronnie Duman, who finished sixth, was killed in a fiery crash at Milwaukee just days later.
All credits go to SPEED (SpeedVision, the predecessor to the SPEED Network, originally aired the content of the video), tvspnd1228/The Racing Jungle, who originally uploaded part of the footage of this expanded version of Indy 500: The Classics episode from 1968, USAC, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and Championship Racefilms.
If there any others who I'm forgetting, please let me know so I can add them to the list of those to credit.
No copyright infringement is intended with this, or any other video I upload., The purpose of uploading this video is for the viewing pleasure for those that watch it.
This is the 52nd Indianapolis 500, which was run on May 30, 1968.
NOTE: This is an expanded version of the Indy 500: The Classics episode dealing with the 1968 race, and includes footage from the film not shown in that airing. Credit for the extra footage goes to tvspnd1228/The Racing Jungle, who originally uploaded the complete film with the extra footage, and Championship Racefilms, who originally produced the film.
This race is best known as being the beginning of a 27-year dominance of the Indianapolis 500 by the Unser family, as starting with this race, a member of the Unser family would win the race in exactly one-third of the next 27 years.
On the other hand, the month's festivities could not have started any worse for Andy Granatelli. He had intended to come to Indy with a four-car team, with the drivers being 1963 Indianapolis 500 champion Parnelli Jones, 2-time World Champions and Indy 500 winners Jim Clark and Graham Hill, and Mike Spence as his drivers. But Clark and Spence were killed in separate crashes, with Spence's coming at Indy. The Jones decide to retire, leaving only Hill as among his intended drivers on the roster. Granatelli then hired Joe Leonard and Art Pollard to complete was was now a three-car team. Still, his turbine cars were the favorites, but a team with past Indy success would have something to say about that.
Bob Wilke's Leader Card Racers, who finished fourth or better six consecutive times from 1959-64 with Rodger Ward, including two wins and a 1-2 finish with Ward and Len Sutton in 1962, returned to prominence in 1968 with Bobby Unser, as Unser seemed to have the only car capable of challenging the turbines, something Lloyd Ruby would also eventually prove wrong in the race.
Ironically, the reigning Indy champion, A.J. Foyt, and 2-time reigning USAC champion Mario Andretti were never factors. Andretti fell out after just two laps and Foyt didn't fare much better at Indy that year.
Al Unser, who had finished second in the 1967 race, was also a non-factor, as he had a rare crash after just more than 100 miles, which also took out Arnie Knepper and Gary Bettenhausen. This would be the first Indy start for both Bettenhausen and Billy Vukovich II, who's fathers had both been killed at Indy. Vuky, despite a spin of his own, fared better as he finished seventh and took Rookie of the Year honors.
The race was dominated by three drivers, Leonard, Bobby Unser, and Ruby. However, all three drivers had problems of their own. Unser suffered gearbox problems late in the race, as he only had high gear in the second half of the race, but it ultimately didn't matter. That's because Ruby suffered ignition problems late, and although his team got him back out fast enough to finish fifth, the damage was done. Then, on a restart following Carl Wiliams' crash, Leonard's turbine wouldn't go, handing Unser the lead and the win. And just for good measure, the same thing happened to Art Pollard at almost the same instant. Unser's win returned both Bob Wilke's Leader Card Races and the Offenhauser engine to victory lane at Indy.
Behind Unser, Dan Gurney finished second, with Mel Kenyon third, reigning F1 Champion Dennis Hulme, Gurney's teammate, fourth, and Ruby fifth. However, this race did have a tragic aftermath. Ronnie Duman, who finished sixth, was killed in a fiery crash at Milwaukee just days later.
All credits go to SPEED (SpeedVision, the predecessor to the SPEED Network, originally aired the content of the video), tvspnd1228/The Racing Jungle, who originally uploaded part of the footage of this expanded version of Indy 500: The Classics episode from 1968, USAC, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and Championship Racefilms.
If there any others who I'm forgetting, please let me know so I can add them to the list of those to credit.
