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1981 Indianapolis 500 in CART at the Indianapolis circuit. Full information

1981 Indianapolis 500

1981 Indianapolis 500 is 27th CART race. Passed at the Indianapolis circuit. Bobby Unser won the pole position and this race. Mario Andretti and Vern Schuppan also climbed to the podium, in second and third place. Race distance 200 laps (805 km).

Previous race: 1981 Phoenix Champ Cars
Next race: 1981 Milwaukee Champ Cars
Race Start: 24th May 1981

Interesting facts and statistics about the 1981 Indianapolis 500

15th victory for the Penske Racing team
11th victory for the Bobby Unser
19th podium for the Bobby Unser
4th podium for the Mario Andretti
1st podium for the Vern Schuppan

1981 Indianapolis 500

Penske PC9B #3 - 1981 Indianapolis 500 winner

1981 Indianapolis 500 results

Position	Name	Car	Result	Team
1	Bobby Unser	Penske PC9B, #3	3h 35m 41.78s	Penske Racing
2	Mario Andretti	Wildcat Mk8, #40	3h 35m 46.96s	Patrick Racing
3	Vern Schuppan	McLaren M24B, #33	199 laps	Theodore Racing Team
4	Kevin Cogan	Phoenix 80, #32	197 laps	Jerry O'Connell Racing
5	Geoff Brabham	Penske PC9, #50	197 laps	Psachie-Garza Racing
6	Sheldon Kinser	Longhorn LR01, #81	195 laps	Longhorn Racing
7	Tony Bettenhausen jr	McLaren M24B, #16	195 laps	Bettenhausen Motorsports
8	Steve Krisiloff	Penske PC7, #53	194 laps	Psachie-Garza Racing
9	Gordon Johncock	Wildcat Mk8, #20	194 laps Engine	Patrick Racing
10	Dennis Firestone	Wildcat Mk8, #4	193 laps Engine	Rhoades Racing
11	Bill Alsup	Penske PC9B, #7	192 laps	Penske Racing
12	Michael Chandler	Penske PC7, #74	192 laps	National Engineering
13	AJ Foyt jr	Coyote 80, #14	191 laps	Gilmore Racing Team
14	Tim Richmond	Parnelli VPJ6C, #84	191 laps	MACH 1 Racing
15	Jerry Karl	McLaren M16E, #38	189 laps Engine	Jerry Karl
16	Scott Brayton	Penske PC6, #37	173 laps	Forsythe Racing
17	Al Unser	Longhorn LR02, #88	166 laps	Longhorn Racing
18	Larry Dickson	Penske PC7, #31	165 laps Piston	Machinists Union Racing
19	Bob Lazier	Penske PC7, #35	154 laps Engine	Fletcher Racing Team
20	Tom Bigelow	Penske PC7, #56	152 laps Engine	Gohr Racing
21	Bill Whittington	March 81C, #90	146 laps Stalled	Whittington Racing
22	Gordon Smiley	Wildcat Mk8, #60	141 laps Accident	Patrick Racing
23	Josele Garza	Penske PC9, #55	138 laps Accident	Psachie-Garza Racing
24	Pete Halsmer	Penske PC7, #79	123 laps Accident	Arciero Racing
25	Tom Sneva	March 81C, #12	96 laps Clutch	Bignotti-Cotter Racing
26	Gary Bettenhausen	Lightning ? 1981, #8	69 laps Con rod	Lindsey Hopkins Racing
27	Danny Ongais	Interscope 022, #25	64 laps Accident	Interscope Racing
28	Pancho Carter	Penske PC7, #5	63 laps Turbo boost pressure	Alex Foods Racing
29	Tom Klausler	Lightning ? 1981, #51	60 laps Gearbox	Douglas Schulz
30	Rick Mears	Penske PC9B, #6	58 laps Fire	Penske Racing
31	Don Whittington	March 81C, #91	32 laps Accident	Whittington Racing
32	Johnny Rutherford	Chaparral 2K, #1	25 laps Fuel pump	Chaparral Racing
33	Mike Mosley	Eagle 81, #48	16 laps Radiator	All-American Racers

Qualifying Results for the 1981 Indianapolis 500 on the Indianapolis circuit

Position	Name	Car	Result	Team
1	Bobby Unser	Penske PC9B, #3	2m 59.51s	Penske Racing
2	Mike Mosley	Eagle 81, #48	3m 2.61s	All-American Racers
3	AJ Foyt jr	Coyote 80, #14	3m 3.6s	Gilmore Racing Team
4	Gordon Johncock	Wildcat Mk8, #20	3m 4.21s	Patrick Racing
5	Johnny Rutherford	Chaparral 2K, #1	3m 4.25s	Chaparral Racing
6	Josele Garza	Penske PC9, #55	3m 4.52s	Psachie-Garza Racing
7	Bill Alsup	Penske PC9B, #7	3m 6.38s	Penske Racing
8	Gordon Smiley	Wildcat Mk8, #60	3m 6.54s	Patrick Racing
9	Al Unser	Longhorn LR02, #88	3m 6.8s	Longhorn Racing
10	Pancho Carter	Penske PC7, #5	3m 8.46s	Alex Foods Racing
11	Gary Bettenhausen	Lightning ? 1981, #8	3m 8.61s	Lindsey Hopkins Racing
12	Kevin Cogan	Phoenix 80, #32	3m 10.03s	Jerry O'Connell Racing
13	Bob Lazier	Penske PC7, #35	3m 10.05s	Fletcher Racing Team
14	Tom Bigelow	Penske PC7, #56	3m 11.19s	Gohr Racing
15	Geoff Brabham	Penske PC9, #50	3m 11.5s	Psachie-Garza Racing
16	Tony Bettenhausen jr	McLaren M24B, #16	3m 12.5s	Bettenhausen Motorsports
17	Steve Krisiloff	Penske PC7, #53	3m 12.8s	Psachie-Garza Racing
18	Vern Schuppan	McLaren M24B, #33	3m 12.98s	Theodore Racing Team
19	Larry Dickson	Penske PC7, #31	3m 13.26s	Machinists Union Racing
20	Tom Sneva	March 81C, #12	2m 59.38s	Bignotti-Cotter Racing
21	Danny Ongais	Interscope 022, #25	3m 2.1s	Interscope Racing
22	Rick Mears	Penske PC9B, #6	3m 5.55s	Penske Racing
23	Sheldon Kinser	Longhorn LR01, #81	3m 10.02s	Longhorn Racing
24	Pete Halsmer	Penske PC7, #79	3m 17.89s	Arciero Racing
25	Michael Chandler	Penske PC7, #74	3m 11.93s	National Engineering
26	Don Whittington	March 81C, #91	3m 12.27s	Whittington Racing
27	Bill Whittington	March 81C, #90	3m 2.65s	Whittington Racing
28	Dennis Firestone	Wildcat Mk8, #4	3m 11.71s	Rhoades Racing
29	Scott Brayton	Penske PC6, #37	3m 11.72s	Forsythe Racing
30	Tom Klausler	Lightning ? 1981, #51	3m 12.79s	Douglas Schulz
31	Jerry Karl	McLaren M16E, #38	3m 13.54s	Jerry Karl
32	Mario Andretti	Wildcat Mk8, #40	3m 6.49s	Patrick Racing
33	Tim Richmond	Parnelli VPJ6C, #84	3m 10.22s	MACH 1 Racing