Former junior high principal Tom Sneva waited until it counted to break the 200-mph barrier at Indianapolis

by Jim Gale

Jim Gale, from Fishers, Indiana, attended his first 500 in 1971 and has attended all but one since. Jim was 16 in 1977 when the race to break the 200-mph barrier at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway was in full tilt. Jim has been a member of the National Indy 500 Collectors Club since 1996.

There is nothing like Pole Day and hearing Tom Carnegie announce “It’s A New Track Record!” Each of these moments is special and memorable. Perhaps the most memorable ones are when a new milestone speed barrier has been reached. In 1962, Parnelli Jones was the first to travel a lap on the clock at better than 150 miles per hour. It had taken forty-three years to climb the time chart from 100 mph to 150 mph. However, just 11 years after breaking the 150 mph barrier, Johnny Rutherford nearly broke the 200-mph barrier with a one-lap record of 199.071 mph in 1973. Indy fans will not forget the rain-plagued and tragic race of 1973, and new rules to slow the cars down immediately followed the event. But by 1977, racing technology had caught back up, and leading into springtime in Indiana, 200 miles per hour was again an optimistic possibility.
There were good reasons for the optimism. The United States Auto Club allowed five more inches of turbocharger boost for qualifications, and for the first time ever, the entire track surface of the Speedway had been repaved with asphalt. Long gone were the notable cracks in the corners. Each of the four famous turns was now smoothed for top cornering speeds. However, the biggest reason for an increase in speed was the improvement in the equipment. The new McLaren chassis, used by both Team McLaren and Penske Racing, was now outfitted with a Cosworth V-8 engine. Also using the Cosworth was Parnelli Jones’ team of Al Unser and rookie Danny Ongais. And of course A.J. Foyt’s “Foyt” V-8 had proven to be fast for the past several years.
Dan Gurney’s new Eagle – to be driven for the second straight year by Pancho Carter – had been redesigned with a new narrow chassis for better straight-line aerodynamics. To compensate for the loss of cornering ability with a narrow chassis, the Eagle featured an offset cockpit to the left, which redistributed the weight through the corners.
The Lightning chassis, introduced in 1976 by car designer Roman Slo.bodynskyj, was back, and its top driver was two-time winner Bobby Unser. The 1972 Polesitter was considered at the time as fast as anybody, no matter what car he was in.
Rumors of 200 mph began early. Gordon Johncock allegedly broke the barrier during tire tests in March, but his lap was caught on stopwatches, and not the Speedway’s electric eye timer. Still, with Johncock’s Wildcat powered by a redesigned 4-cylinder “Drake-Goosen-Sparks” engine, the excitement of fast speeds had begun.
If you attended Practice in May of 1977, you may have bought a one-page “Entry List” to see who was driving which car. On the back of this Entry List was the “Speedway Timing Chart”. Its range of times and speeds peaked at exactly 45 seconds…200 mph. The Timing Chart would prove to be insufficient by mid-week.
Wednesday, May 11 was a hot day. A large crowd had gathered for the traditional “Happy Hour” between 5 and 6 p.m. Foyt got the crowd going with a lap at 199.956, just one one-hundredth of a second shy of the magic mark. Foyt rolled in as Andretti was already on the track and going fast. A.J. got out to change a spark plug as Mario flashed by. Mario’s lap was even quicker, at 199.978, driving the crowd into even more of a speed-frenzy. The next time by, Mario did it an astounding 200.312 mph. Foyt never flinched. If A.J. was bothered by Mario’s speed, he did not show it. With his back to the track, he kept on twisting the spark plug.
Andretti returned to the pits to an ovation, and was mobbed like he had just won the 500 itself. The press ushered him off for interviews, as A.J. returned to the track with just a few minutes remaining before the track closed at 6 p.m. At 5:58, Foyt crossed over the 200-mph barrier, with a timed circuit of 200.177.

Pole Winner Tom Sneva poses for photographers after becoming the first to qualify at over 200 miles per hour. (Photo from Jim Gale collection)