1974 California 500

For the first four years, the California 500 was held on Labor Day weekend. In their second year in charge of the track, the promoter group led by Parnelli Jones and Tony Hulman moved the race to early March. Done for several reasons, the main reason being so the promoter group could get two races within 12 months to pay debts.[1] It would also serve as a preview to Indianapolis, generating more interest. Finally, it wouldn't compete with other sports on Labor Day weekend as college football and the nearby Los Angeles Dodgers were in action.[2]

Two months after the last California 500, Mark Donohue retired from driving. It was announced that defending California 500 polesitter, Peter Revson was hired to replace him at Team Penske for the 1974 Indianapolis 500, but would not enter the 1974 California 500.[3]

After suffering serious injuries and burns in the 1973 Indianapolis 500, Salt Walther made his return to racing in the 1974 California 500.

To reduce the rising speeds of Indy cars that exceeded 200 mph in 1973, new USAC rules for 1974 mandated that rear wings be decreased from 53 inches to 44 inches.[4] In addition, teams were only allowed 280 gallons of fuel to run the 500 mile race. This further limited speeds as engines needed to be detuned and limited in power to meet the 1.8 MPG needed to complete the race.[5]

On December 11, 1973, Lee Kunzman suffered a critical head injury while testing at Ontario. His car began to spin in turn one, the car hit the wall head-on and then impacted the wall with the left-rear.[6] Kunzman suffered critical head injuries and was in a coma for two weeks. He did not return to racing until 1975.[7] Kunzman's spot at Fletcher Racing was taken by Jerry Grant while he recovered.[8]

While testing at Ontario on January 29, 1974, Mario Andretti spun in turn two and impacted the wall with the rear of the car. Andretti suffered a concussion and slight whiplash and was hospitalized for two nights.[9][10]

Practice began on Tuesday, February 26, 1974. Bobby Unser was fastest during day one with a speed of 182.916 mph. Rookie Steve Durst spun in turn four while undergoing the 150 mph phase of his rookie test.[11] USAC would not allow Durst to compete in the race and he was replaced by inaugural California 500 champion, Jim McElreath. A. J. Foyt was the fastest driver in Wednesday's practice with a speed of 187.134 mph.[12] On Thursday, Foyt again was fastest with a speed of 188.496 mph. Rain washed out afternoon track activities.[13]

On Friday's practice, Foyt increased his top speed to 190.904 mph. Mario Andretti was second at 187.367 mph. Salt Walther was third at 187.223 mph. Jerry Grant spun exiting turn four and made slight contact with the inside wall.[14]

Both heat race winners earned 200 points toward the season point standings and were awarded a Datsun 620 pickup truck.[16] A crowd of 13,000 spectators braved cold weather and a delayed start by two hours due to overnight storms.[16]

Before the races, motorcycle stunt performer Debbie Lawler attempted to jump a distance of 104 feet across 15 Datsuns on a Suzuki TM250. A 30 mph tailwind pushed her a distance of 146 feet and crashed upon landing and suffered three broken vertebra.[17]

An estimated 90,000 spectators attended the fifth California 500, the first in March.[18] Only 31 cars competed in the heat races. With two spots still available, USAC added Al Loquasto and Johnny Parsons to the lineup.

Defending California 500 polesitter, Peter Revson, attended the race with his girlfriend, winner of Miss World 1973, Marjorie Wallace. Revson died 12 days later while practicing for the 1974 South African Grand Prix.[19]

As the race started, Bobby Unser pushed past A. J. Foyt to lead the first lap. On the backstretch of lap two, Foyt repassed Unser and looked untouchable from that point forward, extending his lead.

On lap 17, Mike Hiss hit the wall exiting turn two. Under caution, Gary Bettenhausen and Joe Leonard collided as Bettenhausen was exiting his pits and Leonard was entering.  Leonard was spun around and Bettenhausen suffered a broken upright on his suspension. Bettenhausen's Team Penske crew took 56 laps to repair the car, but he returned to the race.[20]

On lap 22, a piece of body work fell off the car driven by Salt Walther and was hit by Foyt. The debris cut an oil line on Foyt's car and put him out of the race.[21] Foyt called the odds of such a bizarre incident occurring "a million to one."[22]

Bobby Unser inherited the lead when Foyt retired. After 32 laps, Jerry Karl suffered a suspension failure and impacted the wall with the right rear in turn two. After driving back to the pits, the damage was too severe to repair. Al Unser took the lead on lap 38 and held it for the next 35 laps. On lap 72, Gordon Johncok spun and hit the wall in turn one. Shortly after the restart for Johncock's crash, Bobby Unser passed his brother, Al.

Steve Krisiloff led laps during green flag pit stops. On lap 92, he was black-flagged for leaking oil while leading. He entered the pits, and while refueling, the car caught fire due to a failure of the automatic shutoff on the fueling system. A crew member, Hardy Alan, received first and second degree burns on his arms, face, and legs.[21]

Running ninth on lap 147, 1971 California 500 champion, Joe Leonard blew a left-front tire on the frontstretch. The car instantly veered to the left and impacted the inside pit wall. It continued into turn one and hit the outside wall in turn one. Leonard suffered a compound fracture to his left leg and a shattered left ankle. A piece of debris went into Leonard's helmet and cut him above the eye.[23] Safety crews took 27 minutes to extract Leonard from the car. He was in a full leg cast for eight months. Leonard attempted a comeback in the 1975 California 500 driving for A. J. Foyt but failed a physical due to weakness in his left foot. He filed a lawsuit against Firestone seeking loss of pay compensation, alleging an engineer admitted the tire was defective and separated.[24] Leonard never raced in IndyCar again.

The race was a thrilling duel between Bobby and Al Unser. The brothers led 170 of the 200 laps between them, with Al leading 115. After the last pit stop, Bobby held the lead with Al in close pursuit. As the cars finished the race, Bobby won by 0.58 seconds over Al. At the time, it was the closest finish to a 500-mile race in Indycar history.[18] Jerry Grant finished third, followed by Jimmy Caruthers and Lloyd Ruby in fifth.

For the first time, the California 500 was aired live on television. ABC's Wide World of Sports joined the race at 1:30 P.M. PST and aired the final hour and a half live. Keith Jackson, Jackie Stewart, and Chris Economaki were the announcers.[25]