Mario Andretti won the 1981 Indianapolis 500. Or so it was ruled by USAC sanctioning body officials. This was due to leader Bobby Unser’s infraction of passing several cars while exiting the pits to the track during a late-race yellow flag condition. Although Unser drove to Victory Lane, wore the garlands and drank from the traditional quart of Indy milk – Mario Andretti was awarded the win for the 65th Indianapolis 500 on May 24th, 1981.
Malloy Foundation chief mechanic Marc Hart takes the ‘81 Patrick Wildcat VIII for a high speed test lap.
Yet on October 8th of the same year – stunningly, a sanctioning body USAC’s appeals Board flipped their ruling and announced that Bobby Unser was the official winner of the 1981 Indy 500. Never in the history of the Indianapolis 500 had there been two winners, and none since.
The very racecar that Mario Andretti ran in the 1981 Indianapolis 500 is shown here; the 1981 Patrick Wildcat VIII STP Indy car. Fitted with then state-of-the-art Ford Cosworth power, the Wildcat was entirely built in the Patrick race facility, located just two miles from Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Unknown at the time was that the superior monocoque-structured early “ground effects” Pat Patrick Indy Cars would in fact be the very last such all-American Indy Cars built in the USA. The art and craft of Indy Car design and development had been giving way primarily to British firms, and did so from the early 1980s forward.
Two 1981 Wildcat VIIIs were to be driven by veterans Mario Andretti and Gordon Johncock for Indy ’81, however Mario at this time was hotly contesting the international Formula 1 championship for Lotus in Europe, necessitating conflictive travel back and forth from the USA to Europe. Therefore, veteran driver Wally Dallenbach substitute-qualified the Wildcat for Indy ‘81. Although Dallenbach’s strong qualifying speed of 193.040 technically put Mario’s car on the 3rd row, Mario had to settle for a last-row 32nd spot starting position for the ’81 Indy 500 race because he was not at the wheel when the car was qualified. Bobby Unser, in contrast, won pole position with the quickest lap and the fastest 4-lap qualifying average, 200.546 mph in his Penske PC-9B.
1981 Patrick Wildcat, driven by Mario Andretti, was pronounced the winner of the ‘81 Indianapolis 500 due to a yellow-flag protest technicality against Bobby Unser, who had taken the checkered flag first. This decision was reversed by governing body USAC five months later.
Mario, back at Indianapolis by race day, started from the back of the pack and achieved what was to be a spectacular charge forward through 32 cars as the race progressed. Lap 149 saw the infamous yellow-flag caution during which several cars pitted for fuel and tires, including Bobby Unser and Mario Andretti. Although both drivers passed cars while leaving the pits toward re-entry to the racetrack, Unser passed more cars under yellow than Andretti, both yellow flag passing infractions. Unser and Andretti dueled the final quarter of the 500, with Bobby Unser finishing 1st and Andretti finishing a close 2nd.
The historic yellow-flag penalty controversy that followed, in which Unser’s win was at first ceded due to “rules violations” to Mario and then over four months later adjudicated by USAC officials back to Bobby Unser – sadly clouded the accounts of serious accidents that marred the 1981 Indy 500. These mishaps overshadowed the spectacular performances of Mario Andretti, the Patrick Wildcat VIII, Bobby Unser and the Penske PC-9B Norton Spirit Indy car during the 1981 Indy 500 event. Two extraordinary items worth noting were Andretti’s matchless 32nd-to-2nd place charge and Unser’s inspired driving performance at an advanced of 47 – both record-book Indy driver accomplishments by any measure.
1981 Indianapolis 500 was the only Indy 500 in the event’s 100+ year history that had two winners; Bobby Unser, but was then changed to Mario Andretti, and finally restored to Bobby Unser.
Epilogue
Along with original owner Pat Patrick and driver Mario Andretti, legions of motor racing enthusiasts still believe, to this day, that Mario Andretti won the 1981 Indianapolis 500. Yet Bobby Unser and his Penske PC-9B Indy car are permanently listed as the official winning entry. “Either way, we own the 1981 Indy winning car,” Tom Malloy quips. His Malloy Foundation, Inc. owns the 1981 Patrick Wildcat VIII #003/Cosworth DFX, STP #40 in which Mario Andretti was declared the ’81 Indy winner. And it owns the 1981 Penske PC-9B Norton-Spirit Indy car in which Bobby Unser was declared the ’81 Indy winner!
