Host: Jackie Stewart Lap-by-lap: Jim McKay Color analyst: Sam Posey
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The 67th Indianapolis 500 was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana, on Sunday, May 29, 1983. After finishing second three times (1977, 1978, 1980), winning the pole position twice (1977–1978), and being the fastest qualifier one additional time (1981), Tom Sneva finally shook his "bridesmaid" status and won his first and only Indianapolis 500. The win also represented the record seventh Indy victory that chief mechanic George Bignotti was involved with.
In the final twenty laps, three-time winner Al Unser Sr. was leading Tom Sneva. Unser was seeking his record-tying fourth Indy victory. His son, rookie Al Unser Jr., was several laps down, but was positioned right behind his father. Al Jr. created a firestorm of controversy when it appeared that he was blocking Sneva intentionally to aid his father. Unser Jr. admitted to running interference for his father, claiming he was trying to create "dirty air" and turbulence for Sneva. He stopped short, however, of calling it "blocking". After several anxious laps, Sneva finally slipped both Al Jr. and Al Sr., using lapped traffic to his advantage. Sneva opened up an 11-second lead, and took the checkered flag for his long-awaited Indy victory.
Rookie Teo Fabi headlined time trials by winning the pole position, and on race day he led the first 23 laps. Fabi's day was short, however, as he dropped out with a bad fuel gasket. The effort earned him the rookie of the year award. Fabi would go on to win four races during the season and finished second to Al Unser Sr. for the CART points championship.
The 1983 Indy 500 ushered in a new era of civility and stability in the sport of Indy car racing. After four years of conflict and organizational disputes between USAC and CART, the two sanctioning bodies came to an amicable truce. The Indianapolis 500 would be sanctioned singly by USAC, and officially would be part of the ceremonial Gold Crown championship. However, the race was now recognized on the CART schedule, and counted towards the 1983 CART PPG Indy Car World Series points championship. The field for the Indy 500 going forward would consist primarily of CART-based teams, along with numerous one-off ("Indy-only") entries. Despite various squabbles and minor technical differences between the sanctioning bodies, this arrangement would remain in place, with relative harmony, through 1995.
^Fox, Jack C. (1994). The Illustrated History of the Indianapolis 500 1911-1994 (4th ed.). Carl Hungness Publishing. p. 22. ISBN 0-915088-05-3.
^Miller, Robin (May 30, 1983). "Sneva! At last!". The Indianapolis Star. p. 1. Retrieved June 2, 2017 – via Newspapers.com.
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Tom Sneva
Teo Fabi
