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a cylinder in practice. As time expired, Bob Harkey went onto the track to begin his qualifying run. He seemingly was assured a spot in the field, regardless of his speed, since there was still one spot open. On his second lap, Harkey's engine blew and he was unable to complete his run. USAC determined the final starting spot by random drawing: Harkey, Sneva, or
Rasmussen. Rasmussen was the lucky winner and earned the 33rd starting spot for the race.
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Late in the qualifying session, 32 cars had qualified for the race, meaning there was one vacant position. Jerry Sneva attempted to make a qualifying run, but was black-flagged for leaking oil. He returned to pit road and got in the qualifying line behind Bob Harkey and Eldon
Rasmussen, who had lost
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Qualifying was a four-lap, 10-mile run. Johnny
Rutherford won the pole with a four-lap average of 195.111 mph. Late in the afternoon, Mario Andretti made a run at 194.900 mph, good enough to claim the second position. Al Unser completed the front row with a speed of 194.774 mph. Joe
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By halfway, the race appeared to be a battle between Al Unser, Danny Ongais, and Gordon
Johncock. Johncock took the lead on lap 152 and had extended his advantage to 17 seconds. Running third with 36 laps remaining, Ongais ran out of fuel on the backstretch. The caution was waved to retrieve his
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broke a hose clamp and entered the pits. While there, she turned her car over to teammate Dick Simon, who was eligible to earn points as a relief driver. "I owe Dick a lot. He's done many favors for me. I was glad to be able to repay him a little." Guthrie then flew to
Darlington, South Carolina
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in June. Near halfway, Mosley left his pits after a routine pitstop and his car caught fire. He stopped in the
Patrick Racing pit stall and jumped out of the car as the fire was extinguished. Mosley returned to the race 12 laps down, but retired after 135 laps due to engine failure.
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Unser was unchallenged after
Johncock's crash. He led the final 25 laps and won his first California 500 by 46 seconds over A.J. Foyt. Tom Sneva finished third and clinched the 1977 USAC Championship. Mario Andretti finished fourth. Seven days later, Andretti won the
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was fastest at 193.440 mph. Rutherford had a close call when Chuck Gurney spun as
Rutherford came up to pass him in turn one. Rutherford was able to squeeze between Gurney's spinning car before he backed into the wall. Gurney suffered a slight concussion.
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posted the fastest speed of all cars in the field at 196.389 mph. Ongais blew an engine on
Wednesday morning and was unable to make a qualifying attempt on Day 1. Because his run came on day 2, he started the race 20th.
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Steve
Krisiloff brought out a caution on lap 12 when he came a stop on track. The fastest qualifier, Danny Ongais, climbed from his 20th starting spot to take the leaf when the leaders pitted under caution.
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The caution bunched up the leaders. With 24 laps remaining, Johncock held a slim one car-length lead over Unser. Entering turn one, Johncock lost control and spun out, lightly hitting the wall.
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From his position in the middle of the front row, Mario Andretti took the lead at the start. On lap three, Dick Simon retired from the race with a burnt piston.
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Saldana and Phil Threshie had separate crashes in turm one on their qualifying runs. Both cars were too damaged to be repaired and withdrew from the race.
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where she competed in NASCAR's Southern 500 the next day. Simon continued until lap 113 when he blew an engine and spun.
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228: in Ontario, California, on Sunday, September 4, 1977. The event was race number 12 of 14 in the
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Rutherford was again fastest on Tuesday with a speed of 197.425 mph. Two days after competing in the
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64:
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made his return to IndyCar racing after suffering a concussion and whiplash in a crash at the
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318:, Mario Andretti began practicing, and posted the second fastest speed at 194.363 mph.
8:
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pace car. The crowd was estimated at 70,000 spectators, the highest crowd in many years.
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Practice began on Sunday, August 28. Defending California 500 champion,
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USAC opened their season at Ontario with a 200-mile race on March 6.
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598:. (California). Associated Press. September 5, 1977. p. 37.
559:. (California). Associated Press. September 5, 1977. p. 32.
616:. (California). Associated Press. September 5, 1977. p. 9.
577:. (California). Associated Press. September 5, 1977. p. 9.
143:
479:. (California). Associated Press. August 31, 1977. p. 12.
536:. (Indiana). Associated Press. September 5, 1977. p. 30.
515:. (Indiana). Associated Press. September 2, 1977. p. 34.
497:. (Indiana). Associated Press. September 1, 1977. p. 50.
461:. (California). Associated Press. August 30, 1977. p. 9.
290:. Two months earlier, Sneva and Andretti finished 1–2 in the
224:, the eighth running of the event, was held at the
271:, becoming the first man to win the race for a fourth time.
443:. (Indiana). Associated Press. August 29, 1977. p. 24.
425:. (Ohio). Associated Press. August 28, 1977. p. 23.
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stalled car. Ongais lost eight laps due to the miscue.
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was fastest at 190.496 mph. In Monday's practice,
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473:"Rutherford Has Fastest Time for California 500"
437:"Bobby Unser is Fastest During Ontario Practice"
256:. That same day, Foyt finished third 3rd in the
644:Motorsport competitions in the United States
571:"Should A Lady Offer Her Car to a Gentleman"
401:. 11 of the 33 starters finished the race.
335:In the second and final day of qualifying,
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509:"Ongais is Fastest of Ontario Field"
455:"Rutherford Misses High-Speed Crash"
138:195.111 mph (314.001 km/h)
553:"Al Unser Finally Wins the Cal 500"
13:
14:
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491:"JR Wrestles Car, Pins Down Pole"
230:1977 USAC Championship Car season
37:1977 USAC Championship Car season
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530:"Al Unser Wins as Gordie Spins"
331:Bump Day - Thursday September 1
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322:Pole Day - Wednesday August 31
1:
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288:1977 Formula One championship
243:
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634:1977 in American motorsport
419:"Tom Sneva Eyes USAC Crown"
165:Vel's Parnelli Jones Racing
10:
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610:"Al Unser Ends Long Slump"
267:In May, A.J. Foyt won the
282:entered a second car for
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89:Permanent racing facility
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639:Motorsport in California
298:Practice and Time Trials
260:race at Ontario, won by
399:1977 Italian Grand Prix
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236:, his first win in the
101:500.000 mi / 804.672 km
286:, who was chasing the
232:. The race was won by
226:Ontario Motor Speedway
75:Ontario Motor Speedway
56:September 4, 1977
316:1977 Dutch Grand Prix
269:1977 Indianapolis 500
35:Race 12 of 14 in the
459:Napa Valley Register
222:1977 California 500
91:2.500 mi / 4.023 km
79:Ontario, California
65:1977 California 500
25:
24:1977 California 500
252:won the race over
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596:Los Angeles Times
557:Los Angeles Times
534:Indianapolis Star
513:Indianapolis Star
495:Indianapolis Star
441:Indianapolis Star
308:Johnny Rutherford
215:
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187:A. J. Foyt Racing
124:Johnny Rutherford
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592:"Beat The Rush"
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284:Mario Andretti
258:USAC Stock Car
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238:California 500
217:Motor car race
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107:Pole position
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61:Official name
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354:James Garner
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337:Danny Ongais
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262:Jimmy Insolo
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29:Race details
477:Daily Press
379:Mike Mosley
370:On lap 76,
358:Datsun 280Z
304:Bobby Unser
280:Team Penske
628:Categories
405:References
383:Pocono 500
356:drove the
292:Pocono 500
250:A. J. Foyt
244:Background
183:A. J. Foyt
276:Tom Sneva
220:The
209:Tom Sneva
205:Tom Sneva
254:Al Unser
234:Al Unser
161:Al Unser
99:200 laps
96:Distance
71:Location
207: (
185: (
163: (
128:McLaren
126: (
352:Actor
172:Second
144:Podium
113:Driver
86:Course
194:Third
150:First
348:Race
135:Time
53:Date
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294:.
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Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
