1981 Indianapolis 500 - Protest and Appeals

Protest and Appeals

Roger Penske filed an appeal after the official results were posted. A hearing was June 12, 1981. The USAC appeals hearing resembled a court case. According to some in attendance, witnesses who took the stand were subjected to numerous odd and superfluous questions, many with little or no relevance to the race itself. The hearings reportedly were dragged out with considerable wasted time. Mid-way through the hearing, the meeting was adjourned, and the resumption was scheduled for July 29.

Bobby Unser's primary argument was based on what he considered to be a vague definition of the "blend rule." When exiting the pit area under caution, drivers were instructed to look to their right and see which car was next to them on the track. After accelerating to sufficient speed, the driver was to "blend" (merge) into the field behind that car. Mario Andretti argued that it was an established guideline that the place to look for the car to blend behind was at the south end of the pit straight, where the concrete wall ends. Bobby Unser countered that he understood that, as long as the car stayed under the white line and in the apron, the place to blend in was the exit of turn two. Unser argued that the warm-up apron was an extension of the pit area. He also contended that Andretti had passed at least two cars himself, and should have also incurred a one-lap penalty. In addition, it was pointed out that USAC allowed the alleged infraction to go unpenalized throughout the remainder of the race (instead of acting upon it immediately after it happened).

USAC was faced with a dilemma, as the rulebook was in fact unclear in regards to the blend rule. Officials mulled over the decision for months. On October 9, 1981, a three-member USAC appeals board voted 2-1 to reinstate the victory to Bobby Unser. He was instead fined $40,000.