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The 57th 500 Mile International Sweepstakes was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Wednesday, May 30, 1973. The race was held over three days due to rain and suffered two major accidents. After 133 laps (332.5 miles), rain halted the race, and Gordon Johncock was declared the winner. It was the first of two Indy triumphs for Johncock (1973, 1982). Going into the month, the mood was bright and excitement was high for record speeds. Competitors, media, and fans were eagerly anticipating the possibility of breaking the elusive and daunting 200 mph barrier during time trials. By the end of the month, however, the mood had turned tragic after several incidents. Miserable weather plagued the track throughout the month, and effectively delayed the race for two and a half days. Accidents during the month and during the race took the lives of three competitors (two drivers: Art Pollard and Swede Savage; and one pit crew member, Armando Teran). The terrible accident of Salt Walther on Monday May 28 left him critically injured, and several spectators were also injured, as burning fuel and debris rained into the grandstand. Due to the tragic circumstances, weather problems, rain-shortened finish, and overall glum mood during the month, the 1973 race is widely considered the worst year for the running of the Indianapolis 500. In contemporary accounts, it was called "jinxed" by Dan Gurney, Chris Economaki and Jim McKay.〔(Indy 1973 ABC News Report )〕 Likewise, national media opinions were highly critical in the aftermath of the race, focusing namely on the lack of safety measures. The circumstances led to sweeping rule changes for 1974, involving wing sizes, turbocharger "boost" settings, fuel capacity, as well as safety improvements to the track itself. Off the track, the Speedway completed construction of its first VIP Suites outside of turn two. Following in the footsteps of Ontario Motor Speedway, Indianapolis becomes the second major race facility to feature luxury boxes. ==Race schedule== In 1971, the Uniform Monday Holiday Act took effect, moving Memorial Day from the fixed date of May 30 to the final Monday in May. For 1971-1972, the race was scheduled for the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend. The Speedway still maintained a policy of not holding the race on Sunday. For 1973, the race was scheduled for the Monday Memorial Day holiday itself. The 500 Festival Committee had a desire to move their annual parade downtown to Saturday afternoon. Previously it had been held at night during the week. For 1973, the parade was held Saturday, the public driver's meeting was scheduled for Sunday, and the race was scheduled for Monday. A decision had been made that starting in 1974, the race would ultimately move to Sunday.〔This was mentioned during the IMS Radio Network Broadcast; and thus was not a response to the tragic circumstances of the 1973 race.〕 * activity was significantly limited due to rain |} |} 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「1973 Indianapolis 500」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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