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

1981 Michigan 500

1981 Michigan 500 is 31st CART race. Passed at the Michigan circuit. Tom Sneva won the pole position, Pancho Carter won this race. Tony Bettenhausen jr and Rick Mears also climbed to the podium, in second and third place. Race distance 250 laps (805 km).

Previous race: 1981 Atlanta Champ Cars
Next race: 1981 Riverside Champ Cars
Race Start: 25th July 1981

Interesting facts and statistics about the 1981 Michigan 500

1st victory for the Alex Foods Racing team
1st victory for the Pancho Carter
2nd podium for the Pancho Carter
1st podium for the Tony Bettenhausen jr
16th podium for the Rick Mears

Penske PC7 #5 - 1981 Michigan 500 winner

1981 Michigan 500 results

Position	Name	Car	Points	Result	Team
1	Pancho Carter	Penske PC7, #5	105	3h 45m 45s	Alex Foods Racing
2	Tony Bettenhausen jr	McLaren M24B, #16	80	3h 45m 47s	Bettenhausen Motorsports
3	Rick Mears	Penske PC9B, #6	70	248 laps	Penske Racing
4	Bill Alsup	Penske PC9B, #7	60	247 laps	Penske Racing
5	Tom Bigelow	Penske PC7, #56	50	247 laps	Gohr Racing
6	Gary Bettenhausen	Wildcat Mk8, #12	40	247 laps	Rhoades Racing
7	Scott Brayton	Penske PC7, #37	30	238 laps	Forsythe Racing
8	Phil Caliva	McLaren M16E, #47	25	235 laps	Intersec Security
9	Larry Dickson	Penske PC7, #31	20	227 laps	Machinists Union Racing
10	Bob Lazier	Penske PC7, #35	15	225 laps Engine	Fletcher Racing Team
11	Al Unser	Longhorn LR02, #8	10	196 laps Engine	Longhorn Racing
12	Larry Cannon	Penske PC7, #99	5	190 laps Accident	Kraco Racing
13	Roger Rager	Wildcat ? 1981, #66	5	185 laps	Roger Rager
14	Jerry Karl	McLaren M16E, #38	5	178 laps Clutch	Jerry Karl
15	Billy Vukovich	Watson ? 1981, #42	5	175 laps Engine	Rattlesnake Racing
16	Bobby Unser	Penske PC9B, #3	5	162 laps Engine	Penske Racing
17	Steve Krisiloff	Wildcat Mk8, #40	5	153 laps Overheating	Patrick Racing
18	Mike Mosley	Eagle 81, #48	5	144 laps Engine	All-American Racers
19	Josele Garza	Penske PC9, #55	5	141 laps Engine	Psachie-Garza Racing
20	Steve Chassey	Eagle ? 1981, #64	5	131 laps Engine	Jet Engineering
21	Harry MacDonald	Lola T500, #45	0	120 laps Engine	Armstrong Mould Racing Team
22	Johnny Rutherford	Chaparral 2K, #1	0	112 laps Puncture	Chaparral Racing
23	Tom Sneva	March 81C, #2	5	107 laps Transmission	Bignotti-Cotter Racing
24	Vern Schuppan	McLaren M24B, #33	0	95 laps Engine	Theodore Racing Team
25	Cliff Hucul	McLaren ? 1981, #57	0	89 laps Engine	Hucul Racing
26	AJ Foyt jr	Coyote 80, #14	0	80 laps Accident	Gilmore Racing Team
27	Michael Chandler	Penske PC7, #72	0	79 laps Half shaft	National Engineering
28	Kevin Cogan	Phoenix 80, #32	0	70 laps Engine	Jerry O'Connell Racing
29	Chip Mead	Eagle ? 1981, #49	0	70 laps Engine	Space Racing
30	Dick Ferguson	Wildcat ? 1981, #96	0	64 laps Engine	Kraco Racing
31	Dick Simon	Watson ? 1981, #22	0	63 laps Oil pressure	Leader Card Racers
32	Salt Walther	Phoenix 80, #21	0	53 laps Engine	Bignotti-Cotter Racing
33	Herm Johnson	Lightning ? 1981, #28	0	26 laps Fire	Team Menard
34	Bill Tempero	McLaren M16E, #15	0	23 laps Engine	Bill Tempero
35	Billy Engelhart	McLaren M24, #29	0	18 laps Valve	Beaudoin Racing
36	Gordon Johncock	Wildcat Mk8, #20	0	4 laps Accident	Patrick Racing
37	Bill Whittington	March 81C, #94	0	4 laps Accident	Whittington Racing

Qualifying Results for the 1981 Michigan 500 on the Michigan circuit

Position	Name	Car	Result	Team
1	Tom Sneva	March 81C, #2	35.757s	Bignotti-Cotter Racing
2	Johnny Rutherford	Chaparral 2K, #1	35.84s	Chaparral Racing
3	Rick Mears	Penske PC9B, #6	35.967s	Penske Racing
4	Pancho Carter	Penske PC7, #5	36.129s	Alex Foods Racing
5	Steve Krisiloff	Wildcat Mk8, #40	36.266s	Patrick Racing
6	AJ Foyt jr	Coyote 80, #14	36.324s	Gilmore Racing Team
7	Bill Alsup	Penske PC9B, #7	36.484s	Penske Racing
8	Bill Whittington	March 81C, #94	36.681s	Whittington Racing
9	Bobby Unser	Penske PC9B, #3	36.974s	Penske Racing
10	Al Unser	Longhorn LR02, #8	37.076s	Longhorn Racing
11	Kevin Cogan	Phoenix 80, #32	37.322s	Jerry O'Connell Racing
12	Mike Mosley	Eagle 81, #48	37.358s	All-American Racers
13	Gordon Johncock	Wildcat Mk8, #20	37.372s	Patrick Racing
14	Michael Chandler	Penske PC7, #72	37.44s	National Engineering
15	Billy Engelhart	McLaren M24, #29	37.494s	Beaudoin Racing
16	Larry Cannon	Penske PC7, #99	37.593s	Kraco Racing
17	Bob Lazier	Penske PC7, #35	37.617s	Fletcher Racing Team
18	Gary Bettenhausen	Wildcat Mk8, #12	37.662s	Rhoades Racing
19	Josele Garza	Penske PC9, #55	37.744s	Psachie-Garza Racing
20	Tony Bettenhausen jr	McLaren M24B, #16	37.795s	Bettenhausen Motorsports
21	Tom Bigelow	Penske PC7, #56	37.961s	Gohr Racing
22	Jerry Karl	McLaren M16E, #38	38.173s	Jerry Karl
23	Herm Johnson	Lightning ? 1981, #28	38.37s	Team Menard
24	Larry Dickson	Penske PC7, #31	38.502s	Machinists Union Racing
25	Vern Schuppan	McLaren M24B, #33	38.594s	Theodore Racing Team
26	Billy Vukovich	Watson ? 1981, #42	39.133s	Rattlesnake Racing
27	Dick Ferguson	Wildcat ? 1981, #96	39.523s	Kraco Racing
28	Salt Walther	Phoenix 80, #21	37.876s	Bignotti-Cotter Racing
29	Chip Mead	Eagle ? 1981, #49	38.734s	Space Racing
30	Dick Simon	Watson ? 1981, #22	38.643s	Leader Card Racers
31	Scott Brayton	Penske PC7, #37	38.934s	Forsythe Racing
32	Roger Rager	Wildcat ? 1981, #66	39.247s	Roger Rager
33	Cliff Hucul	McLaren ? 1981, #57	39.78s	Hucul Racing
34	Steve Chassey	Eagle ? 1981, #64	39.911s	Jet Engineering
35	Bill Tempero	McLaren M16E, #15	40.006s	Bill Tempero
36	Harry MacDonald	Lola T500, #45	Engine	Armstrong Mould Racing Team
37	Phil Caliva	McLaren M16E, #47		Intersec Security