The 67th Indianapolis 500 was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana, on Sunday, May 29, 1983. After finishing second three times (1977, 1978, 1980), winning the pole position twice (1977–1978), and being the fastest qualifier one additional time (1981), Tom Sneva finally shook his "bridesmaid" status and won his first and only Indianapolis 500. The win also represented the record seventh Indy victory with which chief mechanic George Bignotti was involved.
In the final twenty laps, three-time winner Al Unser Sr. was leading Tom Sneva. Unser was seeking his record-tying fourth Indy victory. His son, rookie Al Unser Jr., was several laps down, but was positioned right behind his father. Al Jr. created a firestorm of controversy when it appeared that he was blocking Sneva intentionally to aid his father. Unser Jr. admitted to running interference for his father, claiming he was trying to create "dirty air" and turbulence for Sneva. He stopped short, however, of calling it "blocking". After several anxious laps, Sneva finally slipped by both Al Jr. and Al Sr., using heavy traffic to his advantage. Sneva opened up an 11-second lead, and took the checkered flag for his long-awaited Indy victory.
Rookie Teo Fabi headlined time trials by winning the pole position, and on race day he led the first 23 laps. Fabi's day was short, however, as he dropped out with a bad fuel gasket. The effort earned him the rookie of the year award. Fabi would go on to win four races during the season and finished second to Al Unser Sr. for the CART points championship.
The 1983 Indy 500 ushered in a new era of civility and stability in the sport of Indy car racing. After four years of conflict and organizational disputes between USAC and CART, the two sanctioning bodies came to an amicable truce. The Indianapolis 500 would be sanctioned singly by USAC, and officially would be part of the ceremonial Gold Crown championship. However, the race was now recognized on the CART schedule, and counted towards the 1983 CART PPG Indy Car World Series points championship. The field for the Indy 500 going forward would consist primarily of CART-based teams, along with numerous one-off ("Indy-only") entries. Despite various squabbles and minor technical differences between the sanctioning bodies, this arrangement would remain in place, with relative harmony, through 1995.
Background The USAC technical committee issued rule changes for 1983, scaling back side skirts and declaring that "all bodywork or aerodynamic devices must be at least one inch above the bottom of the car's tub." During time trials, a total of 15 cars in the qualifying line would fail pre-qualifying technical inspection, raising tempers and drawing the ire of competitors. Some teams charged that USAC was inconsistent in their enforcement and their measuring, since they used a different (and possibly less-accurate) tool than the CART series officials utilized at other races. Some teams claimed the first several cars in line were not scrutinized as heavily as those deeper in line. In addition, turbocharger "boost" settings were reduced to 47 inHg, down from 48 in 1982.
The evolving aerodynamic rules coincided with the emergence of the Robin Herd-designed March chassis becoming the vehicle of choice for the mid-1980s. The March had debuted at Indy in 1981 with the 81C, followed up by the 82C in 1982. Coupled with the widely used Cosworth DFX engine, the "customer car" era began to dominate the sport of Indy car racing. Penske, among other teams, elected to scale back, or even abandon their in-house chassis programs in favor of the English-built March for the next few seasons. The March's aerodynamic advancements, downforce, and affordable cost were among the reasons it emerged as the favorite among the competitors. The "customer car" era also was popular with the smaller-budget teams, as it allowed them access to top equipment, leveling the playing field, and shrinking the differences between haves and the have-nots. March rolled out their new 83C and with a few teams still running the 81C and 82C, March took 18 of the 33 starting positions, including the pole position during time trials. On race day, March notched their first "500" win, and placed five cars in the top nine. The 1983 race would be the first of five consecutive Indy 500 victories for March Engineering.
Race schedule Race schedule — April 1983SunMonTueWedThuFriSat10 11 12ROP13 14 15 16 Race schedule — May 1983 1 2 3 4 5 6 7Practice 8Practice 9Practice10Practice11Practice12Practice13Practice14Time Trials15Time Trials16Practice17Practice18Practice19Practice20Practice21Time Trials22Bump Day23 24 25 26Carb Day27Mini-Marathon28Parade29Indy 50030Memorial Day31 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
ROP — denotes RookieOrientation Program
Time trials Pole day time trials was scheduled for Saturday May 14. Rain, however, kept cars off the track nearly all day. At 4:15 p.m., the track finally opened for practice, but it was brief and interrupted by several yellow lights. Officials closed the track at 5:49 p.m., without a single car making a qualifying attempt. On Sunday May 15, rain washed out the entire day. It was the first time since 1978 that not a single car qualified on the first weekend. Pole day time trials was moved to the second weekend, with the USAC rule stating once the cars made one rotation around the qualifying draw, "pole qualifying" ends and third day qualifying begins.
Three-time winner Johnny Rutherford was sidelined after two major crashes. On May 8, he crashed in turn one, suffering minor injuries. On May 18, he suffered a more serious crash in turn 3. He broke his left foot and left ankle, and was forced to sit out the 1983 race.
With new ground effect rules in place, speeds were slightly down during practice compared to 1982. Since the first weekend of qualifying was rained out, drivers essentially had two weeks of practice befor the run for the pole. Danny Ongais set the fastest practice lap on Friday May 20 at 205.996 mph. Don Whittington, Rick Mears, and Mike Mosley all registered laps over 205 mph. Tom Sneva was close behind at 203.896 mph, and rookie Teo Fabi had turned a lap of 202.481 mph.
Pole Day – Saturday May 21
Pole day started with Mike Mosley (205.372 mph) taking the top spot early on. Rick Mears, a favorite for the pole position, had his effort fall short, and he completed his qualifying attempt at 204.301 mph. Tom Sneva was the next driver with a legitimate shot at the front row, but his speed of 203.687 mph was only third-fastest at the moment.
The next car out was rookie Teo Fabi, who had raised eyebrows during the week, posting practice speeds near the top of the speed chart. Fabi set a new one-lap track record of 208.049 mph, and set a four-lap record of 207.395 mph, securing the pole position. Fabi became the first rookie to win the pole since Walt Faulkner in 1950.
A very busy day saw 42 attempts and 33 cars complete qualifying runs. For the first time in modern history, the field was filled to 33 cars in one day.
On a sad note, Tony Foyt Sr., the father of A. J. Foyt as well as his former chief mechanic, died after battling lung cancer. After qualifying on Saturday, A. J. Foyt flew to Houston to visit his ailing father. At 8 o'clock, Tony Foyt Sr. lapsed into a coma, and died at 10 p.m.Foyt Sr. dies
Bump Day – Sunday May 22 The day opened with John Mahler (180.022 mph) on the bubble. Rain again hampered time trials, and the track did not open until nearly 2 p.m.
Phil Krueger wrecked during a practice run. Then Gary Bettenhausen waved off a run after one lap over 193 mph, a move that would cost him the chance to make the race later.
At 4:14 p.m., Dennis Firestone completed a run of 190.888 mph, with heavy rain beginning to fall on his last lap, bumping Mahler, and the track was soaked and closed for the day. The 6 o'clock gun fired with several drivers, including Bettenhausen, Bill Alsup, and Dick Ferguson all left sitting in line.
Carburetion Day The final practice was held Thursday May 26. All 33 qualified cars took laps. Polesitter Teo Fabi (201.795 mph) was the fastest driver of the day. No incidents were reported, though Don Whittington managed only one lap due to mechanical problems.
Pit Stop Contest The eliminations rounds for the 7th annual Miller High Life Pit Stop Contest were held on Thursday May 26. The top four race qualifiers and their respective pit crews were automatically eligible: Teo Fabi, Mike Mosley, Rick Mears, and Tom Sneva. Four additional spots would be available, for a total of eight participants. Qualifying heats were scheduled for May 17–20 in order to fill the four at-large berths. Teams were required to change two tires and simulate a fuel hookup.
Since the first weekend of time trials for the race was rained out, the four automatic berths would not be confirmed until after the second weekend of qualifying. The pit spot contest qualifying heats were held as planned, with the results tentative until the automatic berths were known. The results were as follows: Howdy Holmes (14.489 seconds), Al Loquasto (15.691 seconds), Pancho Carter (16.220 seconds), Bobby Rahal (16.374 seconds), Tony Bettenhausen, Mario Andretti (17.833 seconds), Teo Fabi (21.497 seconds), and Ken Schrader (29.727 seconds).
The eliminations consisted of two rounds. The preliminary round would feature two teams at a time, racing head-to-head against the clock. The two fastest teams overall - regardless of the individual head-to-head results - would advance to the final round. Rick Mears defeated Pancho Carter in the final round to win the event for the second year in a row.
+ Preliminary RoundRank CarNo. Driver Team333 Teo Fabi Forsythe Racing418 Mike Mosley KRACO Racing530 Howdy Holmes Doug Shierson Racing65 Tom Sneva Bignotti-Carter786 Al Loquasto George T. Smith84 Bobby Rahal Truesports
Starting grid RowInsideMiddleOutside1 33 Teo Fabi 18 Mike Mosley 2 Rick Mears 2 5 Tom Sneva 19 Al Unser Jr. 4 Bobby Rahal3 7 Al Unser 9 Roger Mears 10 Tony Bettenhausen Jr.4 20 Gordon Johncock 3 Mario Andretti 30 Howdy Holmes5 1 George Snider 21 Pancho Carter 94 Bill Whittington6 60 Chip Ganassi 35 Patrick Bedard 55 Josele Garza7 56 Steve Chassey 22 Dick Simon 25 Danny Ongais8 16 Kevin Cogan 66 Johnny Parsons 14 A. J. Foyt 9 72 Chris Kneifel 12 Geoff Brabham 91 Don Whittington10 34 Derek Daly 37 Scott Brayton 29 Mike Chandler11 43 Steve Krisiloff 38 Chet Fillip 90 Dennis Firestone
Alternates First alternate: John Mahler (#92) – Bumped Second alternate: none
Failed to qualify
Bill Alsup (#11) – Waved off Dick Ferguson (#69) – Waved off Bill Tempero (#15) – Waved off Spike Gehlhausen (#47) – Incomplete qualifying attempt Gary Bettenhausen (#28) – Incomplete qualifying attempt Larry "Boom Boom" Cannon (#17) – in line when qualifying suspended Tom Bigelow (#6) Phil Caliva (#42) Herm Johnson (#42, #81) Jerry Karl (#61) Sheldon Kinser (#42) Phil Krueger (#46) Greg Leffler (#64) Al Loquasto (#86) Harry MacDonald (#43) Roger Rager (#88) Jerry Sneva (#69) – replaced by Dick Ferguson Bill Vukovich II (#83) Ken Schrader (#98) – Wrecked in practice Jim Buick (#26) – Wrecked in practice Rich Vogler (#8) – Wrecked in practice Bob Harkey (#79) – Wrecked in practice, injured John Paul Jr. (#12) – Wrecked in practice, injured, replaced by Geoff Brabham Pete Halsmer (#66) – Wrecked in practice, injured - replaced by Johnny Parsons Doug Heveron (#41, #61) – Wrecked in practice, injured Johnny Rutherford (#40) – Wrecked in practice, injured Desiré Wilson (#54) – Incomplete refresher test (blew engine) Chuck Ciprich (#36) – Did not complete rookie test Mark Alderson (#17) – Did not complete rookie test Mack McClellan (#17) – Did not complete rookie test