The 53rd International 500 Mile Sweepstakes was an auto race held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana on Friday, May 30, 1969. It was the third round of the 1969 USAC Championship Car season. Polesitter A. J. Foyt led the race in the early stages, looking to become the first four-time winner of the 500. Near the halfway point, however, a lengthy pit stop to repair a broken manifold put him many laps down.2001 Indianapolis Record Book - Indianapolis Star/News Despite a hard-charging run towards the end, Foyt wound up managing only an eighth-place finish. Lloyd Ruby, a driver with a hard-luck reputation at the Speedway, was leading the race just after the midpoint. During a pit stop on lap 105, he accidentally pulled away with the fueling hose still attached. A hole was ripped in the fuel tank, and Ruby was out of the race. The incident put Mario Andretti in the lead for the rest of the way.
Mario Andretti led 116 laps total and won for car owner Andy Granatelli. Andretti's victory capped off an up-and-down month of May. He entered the month as a favorite, but during practice, he crashed his primary car, a radical four-wheel-drive Lotus. Andretti suffered burns but was able to qualify a back-up car in the middle of the front row. Mario Andretti's 1969 Indy 500 win is the lone victory at the race for the storied Andretti racing family. As of 2026, no Andretti has won the Indianapolis 500 since. Likewise, it was a triumphant first victory for owner Granatelli, after a long presence at Indianapolis - and a long string of disappointments, first with Novis, and then with the Turbines. Andretti, nursing an overheating engine, crossed the finish line about two laps ahead of second place Dan Gurney.
While Foyt and Andretti qualified 1st-2nd, Leon Duray "Jigger" Sirois's pit crew inadvisably waved off his qualifying run on pole day. It would go down in history as one of the most famous gaffes in Indy history.
After five drivers were killed at the Speedway in the decade of the 1960s, the month of May 1969 was relatively clean, with no major injuries. The only injuries for the month were during two practice crashes. Mario Andretti suffered burns to his face, and Sammy Sessions, who suffered a fractured knee cap. Al Unser actually suffered the most serious injury of the month, when he crashed his personal motorcycle in the infield. He suffered a broken leg the night before time trials was to begin, and had to sit out the race. Bud Tingelstad served as his replacement in the Vel's Parnelli Jones Racing entry.
The car in which Andretti won the 1969 Indy 500 is owned by the Smithsonian, while a replica has occasionally been on display at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum.
Rule changes For 1969, not a single front-engined car managed to qualify for the race, and ultimately, one would never do so again. All 33 cars in the field were rear-engined piston-powered machines. After the famous near-miss failures of the controversial STP Granatelli Turbine machines in 1967 and 1968, USAC imposed additional restrictions that effectively rendered them uncompetitive. The annulus inlet was further reduced from 15.999 in2 to 11.999 in2, and the Granatelli team abandoned the project. USAC stopped short of an outright ban on turbine cars, and it was not the last time one would be entered. However, a turbine car would never manage to qualify for the race again.
By 1969, USAC had slowly begun to relax the rules regarding wings. While bolt-on wings were still not allowed, similar devices such as airfoils and spoilers were permitted, as long as they were an integral part of the bodywork. Several cars arrived at the track with a myriad of aerodynamic devices.
Goodyear arrived at the track in 1969 with a new, low-profile, wider tire.
Race schedule The 1969 race was the most recent Indy 500 scheduled for a Friday; the Uniform Monday Holiday Act was implemented in 1971 and Memorial Day became a three-day holiday weekend (Saturday–Monday) annually. Only one other subsequent year (1973) would the race be scheduled for a weekday. In 1970–1972, the race was scheduled for a Saturday, and beginning in 1974, the race has been scheduled for a Sunday.
Race schedule – May, 1969SunMonTueWedThuFriSat 1Opening Day 2Practice 3Practice 4Practice 5Practice 6Practice 7Practice 8Practice 9Practice10Practice11Practice12Practice13Practice14Practice15Practice16Practice17Pole Day18Time Trials19Practice20Practice21Practice22Practice23Practice24Time Trials25Bump Day26 27 28Carb DayParade29Meeting30Indy 50031Banquet Color Notes Green Practice Dark Blue Time trials Silver Race day Red Rained out* Blank No track activity * Includes days where trackactivity was significantlylimited due to rain
Practice and time trials The track opened on May 1 to light activity for the first few days. By Tuesday May 6, activity had picked up, and the top drivers were lapping in the 165 mph range. On Wednesday May 7, A. J. Foyt turned a lap of 169.237 mph, establishing himself as the top driver during the first week of practice.
During the second week of practice, Mario Andretti took over the speed chart. On Monday May 12, he ran a lap of 170.197 mph, then followed it up on Wednesday May 14 with a lap of 171.657 mph. Al Unser was close behind with a lap of 169.141 mph.
On Thursday May 15, A. J. Foyt joined the "170 mph" club with a lap of 170.875 mph. By the end of the week, three drivers were over 170. Roger McCluskey posed a 170.283 mph on Friday May 16, the day before time trials was scheduled to begin. Through two weeks, though, no drivers had topped Joe Leonard's track record of 171.959 mph set in 1968.
Saturday May 17 – Jigger Sirois Pole day was scheduled for Saturday May 17 from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. However, rain threatened to wash out the afternoon. At the time, the qualifying rules were a bit unclear and they did not necessarily provide extensions for or lay out provisions in case of a rain delay or a rain stoppage during the pole position round. Only cars that made an attempt before the rains came (and before the track was scheduled to close at 6 o'clock) would be eligible for the pole position. Rookie Leon Duray "Jigger" Sirois drew the #1 spot in the qualifying order.
At 4:12 p.m., the track was dry and finally opened for qualifying. Sirois took to the track for his first qualifying attempt (of three permitted). He completed his first three laps at: Lap 1 – 161.783 mph Lap 2 – 162.279 mph Lap 3 – 160.542 mph
On his fourth and final lap, his pit crew – seemingly dissatisfied with the run thus far – displayed the yellow flag and waved off the run. The qualifying attempt was aborted, and Sirois returned to the pits. At the time, the rules were strict in that once a car received the checkered flag to complete a qualifying attempt, no further attempts were permitted - regardless of how many attempts were left of the allotted three. Arnie Knepper was the second car in line, and pulled away for his warm up laps. Rain began to fall again before Knepper even saw the green flag. The track was then closed for the day.
That evening, Al Unser Sr., who had won the season opener at Phoenix, took to the infield to pass the time during the rain delay. He climbed on his motorcycle, and started riding around with Parnelli Jones. In a small jump over a ditch, he toppled and the kickstand came down and pierced his left leg. He suffered a compound fracture to his left tibia, and was taken to the hospital.Unser's luck bad again at Indianapolis Unser was put in a cast, and was sidelined for a month and a half.
Sunday May 18 Rain washed out time trials for the second day in a row. It was the first time in modern history that the entire first weekend of time trials was lost due to rain. Pole qualifying was rescheduled for Saturday May 24.
At 1:04 p.m., a few cars make it out on the track for practice, but that lasted for only 18 minutes. Heavy rain and a tornado watch in the area closed the track for the day.
It was quickly noticed by media and fans that had Jigger Sirois' crew not waved off his final lap on Saturday, he would have been the lone qualifier of the weekend and would have sat on the coveted provisional pole position for at least an entire week.
Saturday May 24 After 23 days of waiting, and two rainouts, the field was finally ready to begin time trials. On Wednesday May 21, pole favorite Mario Andretti suffered a serious crash in turn four during a practice run. He suffered burns to his face, but no other serious injuries. His four-wheel drive Lotus machine was destroyed, and Andretti would have to qualify a back-up car.
A. J. Foyt won the pole position with a speed of 170.568 mph. A total of 25 cars completed runs. After his practice crash, Mario Andretti qualified the Brawner-Hawk for the middle of row one. Due to his facial burns, Mario asked his twin brother Aldo to stand in for him during the traditional front row photo session.
The news of Foyt winning the pole was relayed to the astronauts on Apollo 10.
Sunday May 25 The field was filled to 33 cars with two cars bumped. For the first time in modern history, the field lined up coincidentally by speed from top-to-bottom. In the final hour, Jerry Grant blew his engine during his qualifying attempt. The track was oiled down badly, requiring a lengthy clean-up. After a delay of at least 24 minutes, qualifying resumed with several cars still in line, and time running out.
Jigger Sirois had already waved off his second attempt, then dropped a valve on his third and final attempt. As it ended up, Sirois's first attempt on May 17 would have been fast enough to qualify for the race (ranked 31st) and possibly, depending on interpretation of the rules, win the pole position. Sirois never managed to qualify at Indy in subsequent years, and became a source of popular folklore. After rain affected Pole Day again in 1970, the rules were amended such that all cars would have at least one opportunity to make a qualifying attempt for the pole position, even if Pole Day were to be rained out, delayed or halted for rain, and/or stretched into a second (or third) day.
Al Miller (156.440 mph) completed an attempt in a turbine machine, but was eventually bumped. He was poised to be the second alternate, but was disqualified due to an illegal air intake restrictor plate. At the 6 o'clock gun, Peter Revson bumped out Rick Muther, and the field was set. Bob Veith, who had brushed the wall on his previous qualifying attempt, was the first car left waiting in line.
Starting grid (W) = Former Indianapolis 500 winner; (R) = Indianapolis 500 rookie RowInsideMiddleOutside 1 6 A. J. Foyt 2 Mario Andretti 1 Bobby Unser 2 66 Mark Donohue 12 Gordon Johncock 82 Roger McCluskey 3 38 Jim McElreath 67 LeeRoy Yarbrough 8 Gary Bettenhausen 4 48 Dan Gurney 44 Joe Leonard 40 Art Pollard 5 10 Jim Malloy 59 Sonny Ates 84 George Snider 6 45 Ronnie Bucknum 36 Johnny Rutherford 15 Bud Tingelstad 7 22 Wally Dallenbach Sr. 4 Lloyd Ruby 29 Arnie Knepper 8 90 Mike Mosley 11 Sammy Sessions 9 Mel Kenyon 9 42 Denny Hulme 98 Bill Vukovich II 62 George Follmer 10 16 Bruce Walkup 95 Jack Brabham 57 Carl Williams 11 21 Larry Dickson 97 Bobby Johns 92 Peter Revson
Alternates First alternate: Rick Muther (#26)The Talk of Gasoline Alley - 1070-AM WIBC, May 14, 2004 Second alternate: none (Al Miller's car was disqualified)
Failed to qualify Al Miller (#51, #71, #72, #75, #96) – Bumped; attempt was later disqualified due to illegal turbine air intake restrictor Jigger Sirois (#14) – Wave off Jerry Grant (#17, #69, #78, #96) – Blown engine during qualifying attempt Bobby Grim (#16, #71, #89, #94) – Blown engine during qualifying attempt Bob Veith (#79, #90) – Hit wall during qualifying attempt Jim Hurtubise (#56) – Incomplete qualifying attempt Les Scott (#34, #50, #89) – Wave off
George Benson (#89) Chuck Booth (#51) Scott Carr – Withdrew during rookie orientation Max Dudley (#61) Cy Fairchild (#51)