Bobby Unser's first Indy winner 

The big storyline leading up to the 1968 International 500 Mile Sweepstakes at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway centered around turbine-powered race cars. Andy Granatelli had his team of four day-glo red four-wheel drive Lotus 56 cars sponsored by STP Oil Treatment, while Carrol Shelby had a pair of turbine-powered cars sponsored by Botany 500 men’s clothing, and last but least Jack Adams had his single car entry.

Through the month, the Granatelli turbines were fast, but driver Mike Spence was killed in an accident in practice on May 7 as he tested teammate Greg Weld’s machine. After Spence’s accident the #30 car was withdrawn, and veteran Art Pollard was hired to take over Spence’s original ride. Meanwhile, the Shelby turbines were withdrawn under a cloud of suspicion and the Jack Adams car proved noncompetitive.    

On May 18^th in time trials, Graham Hill in a STP Lotus 56 reset the track one-lap and four-lap records with a four-lap average of 171.208 miles per hour, then his teammate Joe Leonard reset the one-lap record at 171.953 and took the pole position with a new record four-lap speed average of 171.559 MPH. The third STP turbine entry driven by Pollard qualified in eleventh place.  

The third fastest qualifier set to start on the outside of the front row on Memorial Day was a conventional rear-engine rear-wheel drive turbocharged Offenhauser All-American Racers Eagle mark four driven by Bobby Unser. The car owned by Bob Wilke’s Leader Card Racers and sponsored by the Rislone Oil additive company, qualified with a four-lap average of 169.507 MPH. Unser came to Indianapolis on a three-race winning streak at Las Vegas, Phoenix and Trenton New Jersey and had surprised many railbirds on May 16 when he recorded the first 170 MPH lap in practice.

Joe Leonard led from the pole position at the start of the ‘500’ for the first seven laps, before Unser took over, and the race continued as a battle between Unser, Lloyd Ruby, and the Pollard and Leonard turbines.  On lap 188, Pollard’s STP turbine coasted to stop inside of turn one, and three laps later Leonard’s race-leading turbine car rolled to a stop alongside Pollard’s, both cars victimized by broken fuel shafts.  

Leonard’s retirement handed the lead to Unser, who lead the last eight laps and crossed the finish line 53.81 seconds ahead of AAR’s owner Dan Gurney’s Eagle. On the strength of his Indianapolis win, Unser won the 1968 United States Auto Club (USAC) national championship by just eleven points over Mario Andretti. Surprisingly, Unser did not the Indy-winning car much the rest of the season because as he told an interviewer, “we had a hard time making that car handle.”

Owned today by the Indianapolis Motor Speedway  Foundation, Bobby Unser’s winning car from the 1968 Indianapolis ‘500’ was on display at the special Unser Family Tribute at the 2018 Performance Racing Industry (PRI) trade show in Indianapolis.  Besides it’s historical significance as an Indianapolis winning car, Unser’s Rislone Special was the last car to win at Indianapolis without the benefit of added aerodynamic devices.  

Footage of Unser's car shot during the 1968 '500' were used in the 1969 Hollywood film "Winning" that starred Paul Newman as Frank Capua as the race winner in the "Crawford Special."  

All photos by the author